Today we say goodbye to actor and musician Jane Birkin, the original French girl style blueprint. There has been much written into history on the English expat’s inimitable style over the decades: how effortless, how eternal, how eccentric and elegant all at once. She was the one who got away with it all, never missed a beat. After relocating to Paris from London in her early twenties off the back of her first lead role in Slogan, where she first met her decades-long romantic and musical partner, Serge Gainsbourg, Birkin’s arrival on the scene came with some of her most canonised looks.

There were the ultra-mini dresses and the flared blue jeans, the cotton blouses and the mary-janes. For the everyday, it was the charming “insouciance” of jeans and a t-shirt, establishing the French girl roadmap for classic dressing. For the evenings, part of Birkin’s magic was filled with perfectly balanced sartorial stunts. Paco Rabanne dresses paired with her signature wicker basket and messy bangs; or gala dresses with the same rule applied. The lore of her wicker basket will perhaps be more enduring than the story of the Hermès Birkin, which was first sketched on the back of an air sickness bag when she once sat next to Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight.

She was the fashion embodiment of a cultural movement, and one that continues to ripple through to this day, practically becoming the term “je ne sais quoi”. But those who have read her diary-style memoir, Monkey Business, know that there is more to it than that. She was one who felt deeply and lived with abandon, creating richness wherever she could with her girls and with her loves. This is perhaps the ultimate–and only–formula one needs for a perfect wardrobe: to live properly. Her insecurities never translated in pictures, just exuberance. 

As much as she was able to contradict herself in her personal life, her wardrobe followed suit. Both feminine and masculine, rugged and poised, laid-back yet ever-so glamorous, the Jane Birkin style roadmap lies in the undone.

Below, we round up some of Birkin’s most iconic style moments as an homage to the most prolific It-girl of all time.

At the Premiere of Slogan, 1969. Birkin's iconic "naked dress" was reportedly totally an accident, telling Vogue Paris, “I didn’t realise [the dress] was so transparent. This is the flash effect of the photographer’s camera. If I had known, I would not [have] put knickers on!”

The Artists Union Gala in Paris, 1969. This crochet gown was one that Birkin apparently wore backwards and used a brooch to pin the plunging neckline closed. Another moment solidifying her knack for unique accessories.

Cannes Film Festival, 1974. Birkin accessorises another gown with a piece of jewellery, this time in the firm of a string of pearls around her waist like a belt. 

At New Jimmy's in Paris, 1968.

At the beach in the 1970s wearing her classic jeans and t-shirt combo.

At Cannes Film Festival in 1974 with her infamous basket in tow.

An iconic street style image of Birkin in Paris.

Attending The Salon Des Ambassadeurs In Cannes, 1973.

Dancing with Serge Gainsbourg in 1972. This was one of her many iconic Paco Rabanne mini dress moments after forming a relationship with the groundbreaking designer.

Crochet was somewhat of a constant in her wardrobe.

Making a case for swapping out linen blouses for cotton blouses this summer.