Gamine

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Biography

A gamine is a slim, often boyish, wide-eyed young woman who is, or is perceived to be, mischievous, teasing or sexually appealing.

The word gamine is a French word, the feminine form of gamin , originally meaning Street Urchin|urchin , waif or playful, naughty child. It was used in English from about the mid-19th century (for example, by William Makepeace Thackeray in 1840 in one of his Parisian sketches), but in the 20th century, came to be applied in its more modern sense.

Lexicography

In 1997 the publisher HarperCollins drew up a list of 101 words – one a year – that defined the years 1896 to 1997.See The Times , 3 November 1997 "Gamine" was chosen for 1899, being described by Philip Howard in The Times as follows:

Gamine has been used particularly of such women in the performing arts or world of fashion. In that context, the closest English word – of Anglo-Norman origin – is probably “waif” (although “gamine” is often seen as conveying an additional sense of style and chic (style)|chic ). For example, in a press release of 1964, impresario Andrew Oldham described the 17-year old singer Marianne Faithfull as "shy, wistful, waif-like"; Faithfull – An Autobiography , 1994 and writer and musician John Amis referred to German-born actress Luise Rainer (b.1910) as Paul Muni 's "waif-wife" in the 1937 film, The Good Earth (film)|The Good Earth . The Oldie , August 2006

Gaminerie has sometimes been used in English with reference to the behaviour or characteristics of gamin(e)s.

Gamines in silent films

In the early 20th century, silent films brought to public attention a number of actresses who sported a gamine look. These included the Canadian-born Mary Pickford (1892–1979), who became known as “America’s Sweetheart” and, with her husband Douglas Fairbanks , was one of the founders of the film production company United Artists ; Lillian Gish (1893–1993), notably in Way Down East (1920); and Louise Brooks (1906–86), whose short bob cut|bobbed hairstyles, eponymous|hairstyle , widely copied in the 1920s, came to be regarded as both a gamine and a “ boho-chic|Bohemian ” trait (this style having first appeared among the Paris demi-monde before World War I and among London art students during the war.Virginia Nicholson (2002) Among the Bohemians ) In 1936, Charlie Chaplin cast his then-girlfriend Paulette Goddard (1910–1990) as an orphaned gamine in one of his last silent films, Modern Times (film)|Modern Times .

Audrey Hepburn and gamines of the 1950s

In the 1950s “gamine” was applied notably to the style and appearance of the Belgium|Belgian -born actress Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993): for example, in the films, Sabrina (1954 film)|Sabrina (1954) and Funny Face (1957). Hepburn also played the role of the gamine Gigi in New York (1951) in the play of that name, based on the novel (1945) by Colette , who had personally "talent-spotted" her when she was filming in Monte Carlo .Judith Thurman (1999) Secrets of the Flesh – A Life of Colette On film and in photographs, Hepburn’s short hair and petite figure created a distinct and enduring “look”, well defined by Don Macpherson, Stars of the Screen (Marks & Spencer, 1989) who cited her “naïveté which did not rule out sophistication”, and described her as “the first gamine to be accepted as overpoweringly chic”.

Other film actresses of the period regarded as gamines included Leslie Caron (b.1931), who played the leading role in the 1958 musical film of Gigi (1958 film)|Gigi ; Jean Seberg (1938–79), best known in Bonjour Tristesse (1957) and Jean-Luc Godard ’s Breathless (1960 film)|À bout de souffle (1960); Jean Simmons (b.1929), for example, in Angel Face (1952); and Rita Tushingham (b.1940), whose first starring role was in A Taste of Honey (film)|A Taste of Honey (1961). The French singer Juliette Greco (b.1926), who emerged from Bohemian style#Post-Liberation Paris|Bohemian Paris in the late 1940s to become an international star in the 1950s, also had gamine qualities.

1960s and beyond

In many ways, the “gamine look” of the 1950s paved the way for the success of the English models Jean Shrimpton (b.1942), one of the first to promote the mini-skirt in 1965, Twiggy (b. Lesley Hornby, 1949), who became the "The Face of '66", BBC News and Kate Moss (b.1974), associated in the 1990s with the “ waif ” look and what, notably through an advertising campaign for Calvin Klein in 1997, became known as “ heroin chic ”. Moss set a trend for “wafer” thin models which was satirized in Neil Kerber ’s strip cartoon, "Supermodels", in the magazine Private Eye . Reviewing the film The Devil Wears Prada (film)|The Devil Wears Prada (2006), David Denby (film critic)|David Denby described a "montage of semi-starved beauties pulling on lingerie and clothes as they dress for work ... like the lock-and-load scenes of soldiers strapping on their weapons in war movies" New Yorker , 10/17 July 2006 Natalie Portman and Audrey Tautou are also described as gamine.

Other gamines

Others who have been described as gamines include Danish people|Danish -French actress Anna Karina (b.1940); Carey Mulligan (b. 1985) American actresses Julia Roberts (b. 1967) (she was often compared to Audrey Hepburn at the start of her career), Edie Sedgwick (1943–1971), Elizabeth Hartman (1943–1987), Mia Farrow (b.1945), Sissy Spacek (b.1949), Winona Ryder (b.1971),. Independent.co.uk (12 March 2004). Retrieved on 18 October 2011.. Comcast.net. Retrieved on 18 October 2011. Gwyneth Paltrow (b.1972),. Austinchronicle.com (27 February 2009). Retrieved on 18 October 2011. and Calista Flockhart (b.1964);. People.com (11 May 1998). Retrieved on 18 October 2011. English actresses Suzannah York (1939–2011),. Guardian. Retrieved on 18 October 2011. Suzanna Hamilton (b.1960), Helena Bonham Carter (b.1966),. Calendarlive.com. Retrieved on 18 October 2011. Tara FitzGerald (b.1967), Olivia Williams (b.1968), Rachel Weisz (b.1971);Richard Ward, She , July 2005 Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros (b.1965); French actresses Juliette Binoche (b.1964) and Vanessa Paradis (b.1972); New York model Tina Chow (1951–92), whose "gamine look made her the darling of Cecil Beaton and Arthur Elgort"; The Times , 2 November 2006 Russian tennis player Anastasia Myskina (b.1981), who was French Open champion in 2004; and the singers Cat Power (Chan Marshall, b.1972) ("The French, in particular, took to her gamine looks and confused air"Sasha Frere-Jones, The New Yorker , 10 December 2007), Keira Knightley (b.1985),. Select.nytimes.com (9 May 2004). Retrieved on 18 October 2011.. Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk (14 October 2010). Retrieved on 18 October 2011. http://www.celebitchy.com/category/keira_knightley/ Is Keira Knightley’s gown totally ugly/strange or lovely? 3 March 2010 Zooey Deschanel (b.1980), and Claudia Labadie, the latter of the London vocal duo, Gamine.. Gamine. Retrieved on 18 October 2011. and Emma Watson .. Instyle.co.uk (28 July 2011). Retrieved on 18 October 2011.
Penelope Chetwode (1910–86), later Lady Betjeman, wife of the Poet Laureate, John Betjeman , was described by Betjeman's biographer A. N. Wilson as "gamine of feature, but large-breasted".A. N. Wilson (2006) Betjeman Corinne Bailey Rae alleged that she was called a gamine in her song, "Choux Pastry Heart" (2005).

In Gideon Defoe 's book, The Pirates& #33; in an Adventure with Napoleon , the author describes some women of the isle of St. Helena as quite gamine.Gideon Defoe, The Pirates& #33; in an adventure with Napoleon , 2008, p. 64

Japanese 1990s J-Pop rock band vocalist Maki Watase was called a "spry gamine firecracker" in a review in the New Music Express.

La Strada , Klute , Nikita and Amélie

Among the notable gamine characters of film are Gelsomina, the street performer from La Strada , played by Giulietta Masina ; Bree Daniel, the prostitute played by Jane Fonda (b.1937) in Klute (1971) (whose hairstyle was sometimes referred to as the "Klute shag"); Nikita ( Anne Parillaud , b.1960), the titular Punk subculture|punkish Substance dependence|junkie in Luc Besson 's Nikita (film)|1990 film ; and, most recently, Amélie ( Audrey Tautou , b.1978) in the Amélie|2001 romantic comedy of that name .

Notes

Category:Fashion aesthetics
Category:Film and video terminology
Category:Terms for females

pt:Gamine

Copyright Citations

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