This past Friday, along with everyone else in New York, I donned fast fashion hot pink and wore face glitter to the movies in honor of the release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. I thought it was awesome, and I will not be taking comments. But apparently some fans of French film director Eric Rohmer are ditching the over-the-top Barbiecore aesthetic for the understated fashion style of Rohmer’s New Wave films, according to the New York Times. (Peep the Instagram account @rohmerfits for inspo, or check out some of our New Wave inspired French fashion looks here.)
There might be some overlap between the two, though. Gerwig was apparently inspired by films from French New Wave director Jacques Demy, whose use of color in movies like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort heavily influenced the look of Barbieland. (Both films, starring controversial icon and French Barbie Catherine Deneuve, are currently streaming on Max, if you’re looking for a lighthearted double feature.)
Then, there’s the Ken of it all. The Internet lost its mind this weekend over the French poster for the Barbie movie, which features the words, “Elle peut tout faire. Lui, c’est juste Ken.” It should translate as, “She can do it all. He’s just Ken.” Except for the fact that “Ken” is French slang for sex, a verlanization of the word “niquer.” (Check out our guide to verlan if you’re confused.) So the poster can also be translated to, “She can do it all. He can just f—.”
But hey, at least Ken gets off easier than the unfortunate Kevins of France.
Things I found on the Internet…
Why you should never let French people find out what the Germans do to wine. LA’s shawarma crunch wraps bear a startling resemblance to the horror of horrors known as the French taco. And some fabulous illustrations of silly French idioms.
Ciao,
Catherine Rickman
Managing Editor, frenchly.us
Stay in touch! I’d love to hear from you: [email protected].
