An It girl is a charming, sexy young woman, or one who has just broken into mainstream cinema. The reign of an "It girl" is usually temporary; some of the rising it girls will either become a fully-fledged celebrity or her popularity will fade. The term "it boy", much less frequently used, is the male equivalent. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Clara Bow and It (1927)

Elinor Glyn, who coined the term, "It girl"

The term was coined by English romance novelist and screenwriter Elinor Glyn to describe actress Clara Bow when she appeared with success in the Hollywood silent film It in 1927. Based on Glyn's novella of the same title, the movie was planned as a special showcase for the popular Paramount Studios star. Owing to Glyn's widely publicized pronouncement, the term it, a euphemism for sex-appeal, not only catapulted Bow to fame but became a catch phrase, eventually entering the cultural lexicon. Bow's contemporary and friend, the actress Louise Brooks, who popularised the bobbed hairstyle of the 1920s, was also widely described as an "It girl", especially retrospectively. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (626x784, 174 KB)Elinor Glyn This work is a copyrighted publicity photograph. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (626x784, 174 KB)Elinor Glyn This work is a copyrighted publicity photograph. ... Elinor Glyn (October 17, 1864 - September 23, 1943), born Nellie Sutherland in Jersey, was the author of It, Three Weeks, Beyond the Rocks, and other novels in a similarly softcore vein. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... Elinor Glyn (October 17, 1864 - September 23, 1943), born Nellie Sutherland in Jersey, was the author of It, Three Weeks, Beyond the Rocks, and other novels in a similarly softcore vein. ... Clara Gordon Bow (July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress and sex symbol, best known for her silent film work in the 1920s. ... It is a 1927 romantic film which tells the story of a shop girl who sets her sights on the handsome owner of the store where she works, only to find her plan endangered when a reporter writes a story claiming she is an unwed mother. ... Louise Brooks (14 November 1906 – 8 August 1985) was an American dancer, showgirl, and silent film actress. ... Woman sporting bob with finger waves, late 1920s A bob is a haircut, usually for women but occasionally for men, in which the hair is cut short, but a weighted area is left to fall between the ears and chin. ...

Bow's film was turned into a musical called The It Girl in 2001, which opened at the York Theatre Company off-Broadway starring Jean Louisa Kelly^[1]. Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Jean Louisa Kelly (born on March 9, 1972 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA) is an American actress and singer. ...

Modern "It girls"

Britney Spears, who was one of today's most famous modern It girls

Since 1927 the term has been extended beyond the world of film, referring to whoever in society, fashion or the performing arts was in vogue at the time, including, from the 1960s onwards, singer and Rolling Stones' muse Marianne Faithfull; Talitha Getty, second wife of John Paul Getty; actress and comedienne Goldie Hawn; 1980s "wild child" Amanda de Cadenet (christened by Compton Miller as "patron saint of It Girls": Who's Really! Who, 1997); socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson; fashion writers Plum and Lucy Sykes; fashion icon and actress Chloe Sevigny; actress and "boho"-queen Sienna Miller; actress from The O.C. Mischa Barton; actress and singer-songwriter Kylie Minogue; actress Scarlett Johansson and socialite/actress Lindsay Lohan; Iconic Pop Star Britney Spears and broadcaster and actress Ksenia Sobchak (described by the Guardian as "Moscow's answer to Paris Hilton, the American heiress, and Russia's chief 'it' girl": 3 June 2006). ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (606x855, 91 KB) Britney Spears performs on the National Mall. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (606x855, 91 KB) Britney Spears performs on the National Mall. ... Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is a Grammy Award-winning[1] American pop singer, dancer, actress, author and songwriter. ... This article is about the rock band. ... In Greek mythology, the Muses (Greek , Mousai: perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- think[1]) are a number of goddesses or spirits who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music and dance. ... Marianne Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress whose career spans over four decades. ... Talitha Getty in 1968 Talitha Getty (n̩e Talitha Dina Pol) (1940-71) was an actress, of Dutch parents, who, largely posthumously, became a style icon of the late 1960s. ... Sir John Paul Getty (September 7, 1932 РApril 17, 2003) was a wealthy American-born British philanthropist and book-collector. ... Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an Academy Award-winning American actress, director and producer. ... Amanda de Cadenet (born May 19, 1972) is a British-born actress, and the daughter of British race car driver Alain de Cadenet. ... Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (born December 23, 1971) also known as TPT[1], is a well-known one-time English it girl, television personality, presenter, commercial model, columnist and sometime concert pianist. ... Victoria Plum Sykes is a British-born fashion-writer, novelist and New York socialite. ... Chlo Sevigny (born November 18, 1974) is an American actress and model. ... Short floaty skirt, 2005 Boho-chic was a style of female fashion (c. ... Sienna Rose Miller (born December 28, 1981) is an American-born English[1] actress and model. ... The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on FOX in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. ... Mischa Anne Marsden Barton (born January 24, 1986) is an English-born American actress and fashion model, best known for her role as Marissa Cooper on the former Fox television teen drama series // Mischa was born in Hammersmith, London, England, to an English father, Paul Marsden Barton, and an Irish... Kylie Ann Minogue (born 28 May 1968) is an Australian dance-pop singer-songwriter and occasional actress. ... Scarlett Johansson (born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. ... Lindsay Dee Lohan[1] (born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and pop music singer. ... Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is a Grammy Award-winning[1] American pop singer, dancer, actress, author and songwriter. ... Ksenia Anatolyevna Sobchak (also Kseniya, Russian: , born November 5, 1981 in Leningrad, Russia) is the daughter of the first democratically-elected mayor of Saint Petersburg Anatoly Sobchak. ... Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American celebrity and socialite. ...

The writer William Donaldson observed that, having initially been coined in the 1920s, the term was applied in the 1990s to describe "a young woman of noticeable 'sex appeal' who occupied herself by shoe shopping and party-going" (Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics, 2002). At around the same time the term posh tart was coined as a broad equivalent, though this tended to be reserved for those, such as Palmer-Tomkinson and Lady Victoria Hervey, daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol, who came from the "higher" echelons of society. An example of the male equivalent of a "posh tart", or celebrity partying with family money, would be the Englishman William Wales, more usually styled as Prince William. In 2006, a fashion journalist, Emma Hill, declared in the Sunday Times Style supplement, "Forget Sienna Miller, forget Paris Hilton. These days, the real It girls are make-up artists. Just look at Charlotte Tilbury and Jemma Kidd" (22 October 2006). In the 00's the phrase is generally referring to a modified version of the Brewsters quote "an IT girl is a young woman of noticeable 'sex appeal' with rich parents who occupies herself by shoe and fashion shopping and party-going with accompanying media attention as they attend events at well known celebrity night spots" William Donaldson (January 4, 1935 - June 22, 2005) was a British satirist, writer, rake and playboy, author of The Henry Root Letters. ... The Lady Victoria Frederica Isabella Hervey (born 3 October 1976), an English socialite and It girl, is the elder daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol and his third wife Yvonne Sutton. ... HRH Prince William of Wales William Arthur Philip Louis His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor) (born June 21, 1982) is a member of the British Royal Family, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and first son of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. ... Cosmetics or makeup are substances to enhance the beauty of the human body, apart from simple cleaning. ... Jemma Madeleine Kidd (born 1974) is an English countess and fashion model. ...

External link

• Clara Bow, the original It girl.

References

1. ^ It Girl Musical.