Girl Crush - Elle Fanning

My new girl crush is on 13 year old Elle Fanning, who looks so exquisitely gorgeous at just such a tender age. When I was 13, I looked like crap with a cropped short bob, heavy spectacles and just a really skinny, underweight body. And I have absolutely no idea about fashion, nor did I care about how I look when I dress up. Heck, I don't think I even dressed up, I just put on clothes.

But Elle Fanning has already been dressed by the world's top designers, including Marc Jacobs, Valentino, Marchesa and Rodarte AND starred in several movies, her latest one being Somewhere by Sofia Coppola. She is also a fashion darling for the editors, having been shot and featured in Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, Interview and some others. There has been talk that she looked way too old and mature in many of those fashion editorials - and yes I think so as well but fashion has always been obsessed with youth since the young has better dewy looking skin and slimmer bodies. Which is also the ideal aesthetic held by our society today. Don't blame the magazines for styling Elle that way. They styled her so because it is a result of our demand for such stylised images and ultimately influence the reader to purchase the clothes.

A look at some of Elle's editorials -

Elle Fanning for

Interview Magazine

Elle Fanning editorial series for Marie Claire July 2011

The soft black and white images were shot for Interview Magazine, which I felt was rather well done as it portrayed Elle Fanning's youth and innocence, despite being dress in some adult clothes. I liked the subsequent Marie Claire editorial too, but I felt that there was too much emphasis placed on men's idea of feminine - the Bridgette Bardot hairstyle with flyaways, the short hotshorts...She did not look like a 13 year old in that one but can be easily passed for being 20 years old.

A look at Elle's red carpet dresses -

I'm not sure how much of Elle Fanning's red carpet picks are done by her stylist, but each of these looks are very well put together and gives her a girly yet elegant image. I especially love the flared A-line dresses on her, they look extremely ladylike, but yet do not make her age. My favourite look is the embellished light blue/turquoise Marc Jacobs dress which Elle wore to the Venice Film Festival to promote her new film, Somewhere. She paired it with gold mary-jane heels - great colour combination - and the result is really fresh and classy.

Considering that lots of celebrities always get it wrong on the red carpet by wearing something too skimpy and inappropriate, or by wearing something that looks unflattering, or something too cliche, I think Elle Fanning's sartorial choices are stellar. She gets it right everytime with a girly knee-skimming dress and closed-toe pumps.

A polyvore set that I made inspired by Elle Fanning's girly yet elegant style. This is what I think 13 year old girls should wear - everything saccharine sweet but yet not too overpowering combination of lace insert shirts, floral print corset and tulle skirt. Paired off with a bunch of my favourite Shashi bracelets (the lower priced range of Ruby Kobo). Especially appropriate since cord bracelets and friendship bracelets are getting a revival since the 70s influenced trend and use of neon colours this Resort season.

Elle Fanning Inspired Flowerchild by nakedgloryvera featuring cord bracelets