Jeanne Menard, Parisian Style, and Parisian Politics
If you are looking for the epitome of Parisian style, look no further than Jeanne Menard. Known as @jeanne_andreaa on Instagram, this Parisian influencer is infusing our feeds with French art, fashion and culture.
Photo: Alvaro Leonel Castro via @jeanne_andreaa
She is the founder of Retro Jeanne, a vintage e-shop based in Paris carrying true vintage pieces. Her business and her history in the art market means that she has access to a vast collection of beautiful vintage fashion and the eye to spot stunning pieces.
Menard epitomizes the French Girl aesthetic. It is a wardrobe of simplicity, one that makes the most of timeless pieces with just enough interesting details to make them unique. It is also a wardrobe that understands that simplicity does not mean that you can’t accessorize.
Photo: @jeanne_andreaa
You can find her on Instagram sporting simple, chic looks with quirky pops of personality. She usually wears wide legged jeans, white or ecru pants, simple trousers, or dressy mini skirts. These are paired with flowing dress shirts and cozy sweaters, all key pieces in a French wardrobe. Most importantly, she accessorizes her outfits with sunglasses, scarves, bright kitten heels or heeled leather boots, and even hair bows.
Photo: @jeanne_andreaa
Her Instagram grid is the quintessential view of the romantic Paris that we fantasize about. It is almost too perfect, her look almost too French, for it not to be a facade. No French girl is that put together, caters so closely to what we think Parisians look like. But such is the life of the influencer.
Her last posts show her posing in her beautiful outfits in front of Parisian cafes and boulangeries. Nowhere in sight are the piles of garbage that were on fire in the streets of Paris right now, the angry protests that ended just yesterday over the hike in the retirement age amongst sanitation workers.
Photo: Julien De Rosa via Le Monde
This is not necessarily a criticism; there is a time and a place for everything. She knows her brand, and that people who follow her have no interest in seeing her post pictures of garbage. Still, it is a little bit jarring to switch between a TikTok feed of protesters running through streets lit on fire, then over to Instagram and to Parisian luxury.
But this is a criticism of social media much more broadly; I do not place any blame on Menard. I, like most, like to look at beautiful pictures, daydream about my time in Paris, or about how to recreate her outfits. Later, I will look at videos of protests and worry about what I can do, or about the state of the world. Such is the world that we live in. There is room for both.