gamine
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Short description|A chic, elegant, thin, young woman}}
File:Audrey Hepburn screentest in Roman Holiday trailer.jpg has been cited as the epitome of a gamine.]]
The gamine is a popular archetype of a slim, often boyish, elegant young woman who is described as mischievous or teasing, popularized in film and fashion from the turn of the 20th century through to the 1950s. The word gamine is a French word, the feminine form of gamin, originally meaning 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:
{{quote|An elfish young woman. Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday was the archetypal, unforgettable, adorable gamine.The Times, 3 November 1997}}
Gamine has been used particularly to describe 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). For example, in a press release of 1964, impresario Andrew Loog 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 (1910–2014) as Paul Muni's "waif-wife" in the 1937 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.
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),{{cite news |last1=Zimmerman |first1=Jean |title='Girls In The Picture' Traces A Friendship In The Flickers |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/01/17/577723549/girls-in-the-picture-traces-a-friendship-in-the-flickers |access-date=17 October 2021 |work=NPR |date=17 January 2018 |language=en}} 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),{{cite news |last1=Kanfer |first1=Stefan |title=When Words Go Lightly to Screen |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703615104575329310203829130 |access-date=17 October 2021 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=28 June 2010}} notably in Way Down East (1920); and Louise Brooks (1906–1985),{{cite book |last1=MacDonell |first1=Nancy |title=In the Know: The Classic Guide to Being Cultured and Cool |date=30 October 2007 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-4406-1976-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CcRPWHcdQkUC&pg=PT69 |access-date=17 October 2021 |language=en}} whose short bobbed hair, widely copied in the 1920s, came to be regarded as both a gamine and a "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 (credited as "A Gamin") in one of his last silent films, Modern Times.{{cite news |last1=Wilmington |first1=Michael |title=A restored, rousing 'Modern Times' as modern as ever |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-12-26-0312260212-story.html |access-date=17 October 2021 |work=Chicage Tribune |date=26 December 2003}}
Audrey Hepburn and gamines of the 1950s
In the 1950s "gamine" was applied notably to the style and appearance of the Belgian-born actress Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993): for example, in the films, 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),{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Susan |title=Gene Kelly's widow recalls magic of the film 'An American in Paris' as the stage version comes to SoCal |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-american-in-paris-musical-20170316-htmlstory.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=16 March 2017}} who played the leading role in the 1958 musical film of Gigi; Jean Seberg (1938–1979),{{cite news |last1=Anniss |first1=Elisa |title=A Classic in Stripes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/fashion/10iht-rstripe.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=9 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311061123/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/fashion/10iht-rstripe.html |archive-date=11 March 2010}} best known in Bonjour Tristesse (1958) and Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960); Shirley MacLaine (b. 1934),{{cite news |last1=Bahr |first1=Lindsey |title=Shirley MacLaine sets the record straight |url=https://www.mcall.com/entertainment/us-film-shirley-maclaine-20170303-story.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The Morning Call |date=10 March 2017}} in films like Some Came Running (1958), Hot Spell (1958), and The Apartment (1960); and Jean Simmons (1929–2010),{{cite news |title=That Was One Classy Dame |url=https://www.glamour.com/story/that-was-one-classy-dame |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Glamour |date=19 October 2007}} for example, in Angel Face (1953). The French singer Juliette Gréco (1927–2020),{{cite news |last1=Piccalo |first1=Gina |title=Juliette Greco, actress, singer and muse of postwar France, has died |url=https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2020-09-23/juliette-greco-muse-postwar-france-dead |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=23 September 2020}} who emerged from Bohemian Paris in the late 1940s to become an international star in the 1950s, also had gamine qualities.
1960s and beyond
Audrey Hepburn's most iconic "gamine" role, as the main character Holly Golightly, came in 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's. In many ways, the "gamine look" of the 1950s paved the way for the success of the following English models: Jean Shrimpton (b. 1942), one of the first to promote the miniskirt in 1965; Twiggy (b. Lesley Hornby, 1949),{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Laura |title=They call me 'Twiggy' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/they-call-me-twiggy-1741009.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The Independent |date=31 October 2011 |language=en}} who became "The Face of '66";[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/breakfast/4725427.stm "The face of '66"] BBC News and Kate Moss (b. 1974),{{cite news |last1=Elser |first1=Daniela |title='I had a nervous breakdown': Sad truth behind iconic Kate Moss image |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/i-had-a-nervous-breakdown-sad-truth-behind-iconic-kate-moss-image/LHSNVOEUNFH264L2DJPSD4M2Y4/ |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=3 November 2019 |language=en-NZ}} 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 was part of a trend of "wafer" thin models which was satirized in Neil Kerber's strip cartoon "Supermodels" in the magazine Private Eye.
Other gamines
Others who have been described as gamines include: Danish-French actress Anna Karina (1940–2019);{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Mel |title=Out of shape : debunking the myths about fashion sizing and fit |date=June 1, 2013 |publisher=Affirm Press |page=73 |isbn=978-1-92221-314-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDE8DwAAQBAJ&q=Anna+Karina+gamine&pg=PT73 |access-date=August 25, 2021}} American actresses Edie Sedgwick (1943–1971),{{cite web |last1=Cox |first1=Rebecca |title=How To Dress Like: Edie Sedgwick |url=https://graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/shopping/edie-sedgwick-style/ |website=Grazia |access-date=August 25, 2021 |date=May 18, 2016}} Mia Farrow (b. 1945),{{cite web |last1=Kelly |first1=Marie |title=Style Icons According To Marie Kelly: Mia Farrow |url=https://www.image.ie/style/fashion/style-icons-according-to-marie-kelly-mia-farrow-74264 |website=IMAGE.ie |access-date=August 25, 2021 |language=en |date=21 April 2018}} Liza Minnelli (b. 1946),{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Liz |title=Liza still lively at 65 |url=https://buffalonews.com/news/liza-still-lively-at-65/article_53c431e2-8cbb-5c67-9086-ba4b07483510.html |access-date=17 October 2021 |work=The Buffalo News |date=11 March 2011 |language=en}} Sissy Spacek (b. 1949),{{cite news |last1=Kerridge |first1=Jake |title=Stephen King: True compassion lies at the heart of horror |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/10320475/Stephen-King-True-compassion-lies-at-the-heart-of-horror.html |access-date=10 October 2021 |work=The Telegraph |date=19 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518175259/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/culture/books/booknews/10320475/Stephen-King-True-compassion-lies-at-the-heart-of-horror.html |archive-date=18 May 2017}} Jennifer Jason Leigh (b. 1962),{{cite book|last=Lodge|first=David|title=Consciousness & the Novel: Connected Essays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IuPzOOXEBJQC&pg=PA212|year=2002|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-00949-3|page=212}} Demi Moore (b. 1962),{{cite book|first=Delia|last=Jarrett-Macauley|title=Reconstructing Womanhood, Reconstructing Feminism|year=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134818754|page=195}} Calista Flockhart (b. 1964),{{cite news |last1=Staff Writer |title=THE ACCIDENTAL STYLIST |url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/article-1181780/ |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Women's Wear Daily |date=22 January 2001}} Bridget Fonda (b. 1964),{{cite book |last1=Kael |first1=Pauline |title=5001 Nights at the Movies |date=15 May 1991 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-8050-1367-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eOfNPnS08-IC&pg=PA657 |access-date=13 October 2021 |language=en}} Mary Stuart Masterson (b. 1966),{{cite news|last1=McEnroe|first1=Colin|title=Casting About in a Sea of Same-named Actresses|url=https://www.courant.com/1992/01/27/casting-about-in-a-sea-of-same-named-actresses/|access-date=25 August 2014|work=Hartford Courant|date=27 January 1992}} Julia Roberts (b. 1967),{{cite news |last1=Calder |first1=Peter |title=Erin Brockovich |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/erin-brockovich/BBXDV6V2YC72RD7O25OCMMI6LA/ |access-date=August 25, 2021 |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=June 29, 2000 |language=en-NZ}} Winona Ryder (b. 1971),{{cite journal|last1=Traill-Nash|first1=Glynis|title=Cream of the gamine crop|journal=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=1 April 2007|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/cream-of-the-gamine-crop/2007/03/31/1174761805542.html|accessdate=29 August 2014}} Selma Blair (b. 1972),{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Chris |title=One of the tops in the trade |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-sep-26-ca-gettingright26-story.html |access-date=17 October 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=26 September 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114151659/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-sep-26-ca-gettingright26-story.html |archive-date=14 November 2020}} Gwyneth Paltrow (b. 1972),{{cite news |title=Proof we always had a taste for celeb titbits |url=https://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/241171/Proof-we-always-had-a-taste-for-celeb-titbits |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Daily Express |date=17 April 2011 |language=en}} Michelle Williams (b. 1980),{{cite web |last1=Ginsberg |first1=Merle |title=BAFTA Fashion: Michelle Williams Follows Chanel, Victoria Beckham, Valentino With H&M? |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/bafta-fashion-michelle-williams-follows-chanel-victoria-beckham-valentino-h-m-289832/ |website=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=August 25, 2021 |date=February 12, 2012}} Anne Hathaway (b. 1982),{{cite news |last1=Means |first1=Sean P. |title=Monsters emerge from pain in inventive 'Colossal' |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5171078&itype=CMSID |access-date=August 23, 2021 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=April 17, 2017}} and Rooney Mara (b. 1985);{{cite news |last1=Lacey |first1=Liam |title=The girl with the sudden cachet |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/the-girl-with-the-sudden-cachet/article4181259/ |access-date=September 7, 2021 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=December 16, 2011}} English actresses Susannah York (1939–2011),[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jan/16/susannah-york-dies-battle-cancer Susannah York, the gentle star of 1960s cinema, dies after battle against cancer | Film | guardian.co.uk]. Guardian. Retrieved on 18 October 2011. Rita Tushingham (b. 1942),{{cite news |last1=Hodgkinson |first1=Will |title=Interview with Rita Tushingham |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jun/15/artsfeatures |access-date=12 October 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=15 June 2001 |language=en}} Helena Bonham Carter (b. 1966),{{cite news |last1=Rees |first1=Jasper |title=MAYBE SHE CAN ACT, AFTER ALL |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/maybe-she-can-act-after-all-1251635.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The Independent |date=23 October 2011 |language=en}} Tara FitzGerald (b. 1967),{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Neil |title=Valley of the doll's house Tara Fitzgerald flirts with her dangerous side as Nora in a vivid new version of Ibsen's play |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12520560.valley-of-the-dolls-house-tara-fitzgerald-flirts-with-her-dangerous-side-as-nora-in-a-vivid-new-version-of-ibsens-play-by-neil-cooper/ |access-date=August 25, 2021 |work=HeraldScotland |date=February 2, 2004 |language=en}} Keira Knightley (b. 1985),{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Brian D. |title=KEIRA THE CONQUEROR |url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/2005/11/14/keira-the-conqueror |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Maclean's |date=14 November 2005}} Carey Mulligan (b. 1985),{{cite web |last1=Shone |first1=Tom |title=Great Expectations: The Inimitable Carey Mulligan |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/great-expectations-carey-mulligan-as-daisy-buchanan-in-the-great-gatsby |website=Vogue |access-date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429134318/https://www.vogue.com/article/great-expectations-carey-mulligan-as-daisy-buchanan-in-the-great-gatsby |archive-date=April 29, 2017 |date=April 15, 2013}} and Emma Watson (b. 1990);{{cite web |last1=Schulte-Hillen |first1=Sophie |title=Emma Watson's Bouncy New Bob Is Our Midweek Beauty Inspiration |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/emma-watson-haircuts-bobs-waves-berry-lipstick |website=Vogue |access-date=August 23, 2021 |date=December 9, 2015}} Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros (b. 1965);{{cite book |last1=Dunn |first1=Megan |title=Things I Learned at Art School |date=August 17, 2021 |publisher=Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited |page=107 |isbn=978-0-14-377486-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fk4vEAAAQBAJ&q=%22Maria+de+Medeiros%22+gamine&pg=PT107 |access-date=August 25, 2021 |language=en}} French actresses Juliette Binoche (b. 1964),{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Roger |title=JULIETTE BINOCHE ARRIVES HAPPY WITH 'JET LAG' |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2003-09-17-0309160330-story.html |access-date=August 25, 2021 |work=OrlandoSentinel.com |date=September 17, 2003}} Caroline Proust (b. 1967),[https://www.newstatesman.com/node/164494 Detective chic]. New Statesman. Retrieved on 2 January 2021. Vanessa Paradis (b. 1972),{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Mathilde |title=The French Beauty Solution: Time-tested Secrets to Look and Feel Beautiful Inside and Out |date=2015 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-59240-951-8 |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6W8CDAAAQBAJ&q=%22Vanessa+Paradis%22+%22gamine%22&pg=PA39 |language=en}} and Audrey Tautou (b. 1976);{{cite magazine |last1=Susman |first1=Gary |title=Audrey Tautou will join Hanks in Da Vinci |url=https://ew.com/article/2005/01/24/audrey-tautou-will-join-hanks-da-vinci/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=August 25, 2021 |date=January 24, 2005}} English-French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (b. 1971);{{cite news |last1=Merkin |first1=Daphne |title=The Unfairest of Them All |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/style/tmagazine/the-unfairest-of-them-all.html |access-date=August 23, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=October 16, 2005}}{{subscription required}} Australian actress Mia Wasikowska (b. 1989);{{cite news |last1=Mottram |first1=James |title=Mia Wasikowska: A new Aussie movie queen |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/mia-wasikowska-new-aussie-movie-queen-8095866.html |access-date=August 23, 2021 |work=The Independent |date=August 30, 2012 |language=en}} Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman (b. 1981);{{cite web |last1=Okwodu |first1=Janelle |title=At 40, Natalie Portman Remains Hollywood's Vegan Fashion Queen |url=https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/natalie-portman-style-evolution |website=Vogue |access-date=August 25, 2021 |date=June 9, 2021}}{{subscription required}} English-American actress Lily Collins (b. 1989);{{cite news |last1=Embleton |first1=Fiona |title=Lily Collins on her all-time favourite beauty products and why being different is cool |url=https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/beauty-news/lily-collins-why-being-different-is-cool-670940 |access-date=17 October 2021 |work=Marie Claire |date=19 October 2019 |language=en}} Canadian model Linda Evangelista (b. 1965);{{cite news|last1=Hochswender|first1=Woody|title=The Ultimate Marketplace – The Models and the Glamour Trade|work=The New York Times|date=12 November 1989|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/12/magazine/the-ultimate-marketplace-the-models-and-the-glamour-trade.html|accessdate=23 July 2014}} American models Tina Chow (1950–1992){{cite news |last1=Sweet |first1=Matthew |title=The Gamine |url=https://www.economist.com/1843/2015/05/27/the-gamine |access-date=19 October 2021 |newspaper=The Economist |date=27 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919153111/https://www.economist.com/1843/2015/05/27/the-gamine |archive-date=19 September 2020}} and Kristen McMenamy (b. 1964);{{cite news|last1=Sajbel|first1=Maureen|title=Style : Spring Beauty : The Latest on Looks : Making Waifs|work=Los Angeles Times|date=4 April 1993|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-04-tm-18790-story.html|access-date=15 August 2014}} Welsh-French model Lucie de la Falaise (b. 1973);{{cite news |last1=Hume |first1=Marion |title=FASHION / He's not famous, he's my brother |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/fashion-he-s-not-famous-he-s-my-brother-remember-when-the-designer-accessory-was-baby-well-now-infants-are-out-this-is-the-year-of-the-supersibling-1494275.html |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=The Independent |date=26 June 1993 |language=en}} Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia (b. 1975);{{cite news |last1=Jupp |first1=Emily |title=Natalie Imbruglia: 'The 90s are back in. Have I just become vintage?' |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/natalie-imbruglia-firebird-new-album-baby-pop-music-1180487 |access-date=17 October 2021 |work=inews.co.uk |date=3 September 2021 |language=en}} and American singer Cat Power (b. Chan Marshall, 1972).{{cite magazine |last1=Frere-Jones |first1=Sasha |title=Wonder Woman |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/10/wonder-woman-2 |access-date=19 October 2021 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=3 December 2007}}
Penelope Chetwode (1910–1986), 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 film =
{{see also|ingénue}}
Among the notable gamine characters of film are: Gelsomina,{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Loren |title=Fellini's Masterpiece 'La Strada' Shines in New Restoration |url=https://www.newportthisweek.com/articles/fellinis-masterpiece-la-strada-shines-in-new-restoration/ |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Newport This Week |date=19 November 2020}} the street performer from La Strada (1954), played by Giulietta Masina (1921–1994); Bree Daniels,{{cite news |last1=Kirwin-Jones |first1=Ellie |title=Jane Fonda details working with 'crush' Robert Redford 'Think I'd done something wrong' |url=https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1333849/Jane-Fonda-Robert-Redford-films-crush-quiet-not-speaking-BBC-Radio-2-news-latest-update |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Daily Express |date=10 September 2020 |language=en}} the prostitute played by Jane Fonda (b. 1937) in Klute (1971) (whose hairstyle was sometimes referred to as the "Klute shag"); Nikita,{{cite news |last1=White |first1=Rosie |title=Violent Femmes: Women as Spies in Popular Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kmr_U-2i2-MC&pg=PA108 |access-date=13 October 2021 |publisher=Routledge |date=13 November 2007 |isbn=9781134198078 |language=en}} the titular punkish junkie in Luc Besson's 1990 film, played by Anne Parillaud (b. 1960); Amélie,{{cite news |last1=Kaltenbach |first1=Chris |title=So sweet it might make you ill |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2001-11-09-0111090021-story.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=9 November 2001}} in the 2001 romantic comedy of that name, played by Audrey Tautou; and, most recently, Alice Cullen, the vampire played by Ashley Greene (b. 1987) in The Twilight Saga (2008).
Gamines share similarities with the modern, cinematic "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" stock character.{{how|date=December 2021}}
Literary quotations
In the modern romance The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by Fay Weldon, one of the female characters is a 'gamine', wife of the Doctor Black, the surgeon of Ruth Patchett, the heroine of the story.
Notes
{{reflist|33em}}