Stylish Filles: Style Icons past and present - Lou Doillon

While many of my style influences tend to date back to gorgeous women from distant decades, every once in a while I see a girl in the here and now who instantly impresses in the style stakes.

Lou Doillon is a true stylish fille (she is French after all) with real individuality that impresses and influences even the fashionista crowd. The actress and model is, like her mother Jane Birkin, something of a sex siren and all the while wonderfully unconventional looking.

Lou's look is often defined by her personal individuality, mixing fashion forward trends with vintage influences and quirky accessories (what else can you call wearing a top hat on a red carpet?). Her long, tousled mane toes the line between unruly and 'styled to look messy' with grace.

Above all, what I love about Lou is, with true continental flair, she defines how to be stylish while so involved in the fashion world. While she knows how to be ahead in fashion, that doesn't stop her stamping out her personal style. She selects the trends which suit her body and personality best and gives them her own twist. The result? Effortless and enviable.

More stylish filles: Brigitte Bardot

Stylish Filles: Style Icons past and present - Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot was a very stylish fille indeed. The french model, singer and actress was a fantastic poster girl for the '60s...quite literally. Being the pin up and even muse of many a man, she oozed sex appeal in her hey day.

I count her among my personal style icons, purely because she knew how to do sexy with all her clothes on so very well. Her trademark blonde hair was often styled into a fantastic sixties bouffant or perfected into what can only be described as 'sex hair'. She accompanied this with classic silhouettes in clothing, pencil skirts, figure hugging dresses, clean lines and a dollop of distinctly french flair.

Of course, true to all stylish sixties girls, Brigitte was always seen in dark kohl eyeliner, with fantastically overdone lashes too. A style I'm forever taking off.

Brigitte is a reminder of how sex appeal is supposed to look, not like so many stars of this decade who've gotten their arse cheeks out to get attention. Not that Brigitte wasn't known for showing some flesh when the occasion was right...

Check out Brigitte Bardot with Tom Zé, showing exactly why every man loved her flirtatiousness, and she loved it right back.