As the colder months draw near and Summer comes to a close, so do the appropriate clothing trends begin to filter out of our feeds. Now, it’s time for layers, furry coats, scarves and hats. Now that the autumn aesthetics for 2024 have started to surface, it seems the ‘frazzled English Woman’ is the main trending look.
Pioneered by everyone’s favourite hot mess Bridget Jones, the frazzled English woman aesthetic embodies classic styles and silhouettes but with a slightly chaotic twist. My Tiktok FYP seems to be flooded with frazzled English woman looks, and people lip syncing along to the most iconic Bridget Jones lines whilst ‘Suddenly I see’ hums on in the background. Perhaps, it’s a trend spurred on by the up and coming film Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy set to be released early next year almost a decade on from the original trilogy. Other influences seem to be Kate Winslet in The Holiday and Keira Knightly in Love Actually. But regardless of its origin it seems to be on the tip of every trend lover’s tongue right now.
So, who and what is the ‘frazzled English woman’? The things you would typically find in herwardrobe are: chunky jumpers, stripy scarves, claw clipped up hair, knee length skirts, overstuffed handbags, knee high boots and – of course – the baker boy hat. Basically the typical wardrobe of your English 90s-00s heroine in cinema. Their look is always slightly untidy and messy, but always in a cool, hot girl way. Despite their outward appearance, all our frazzled women all seem to generally lead fulfilling lives. They are generally writers who spend their days typing and evenings holed up in their South London apartments: chain smoking marlboro cigarettes in one hand and sipping on a fully filled glass of merlot in the other. Despite the romantic issues they face (we have all been there…) these women often end up with both the man and the job at the end of the film. They also earn an invaluable sense of security that they are liked ‘very much’ for being ‘just as [they] are’.
However, this depiction also seems ironically Americanised. If you were to ask a British person what ‘English popular culture’ was, I would hedge my bets that Keira Knightley in a cashmere sweater and messy bun is not the first thing that springs to mind. A more likely response is a quote from Gemma Collins screamed back at you through a fit of laughter. Moreover, the issue of class plays a major role in the understanding of this aesthetic. They all embody the tradition of upper class English women. Women without much financial concern and the freedom to mess around at their whim and to little consequence. The clothes they wear are likely high quality pieces they have had for years. Though an environmental plus in underconsumption, this idea also works on the assumption that to dress in this aesthetic should already be within your capabilities.
It’s a trend that has seemed to resurface a few times for the colder months over the past few years, but it still seems to be gaining traction. If being a mess is fashionable then sign me up because I reckon I have that part down. The ‘frazzled English woman’ doesn’t quite have it all figured out, yet they are still beautifully put together, or beautifully undone, I suppose.