How to be the ‘It’ girl, according to Brittany Howard
“An ‘It’ girl is unstoppable and is not looking in anybody else’s lane.” – Brittany Howard
At the turn of the 20th century, the concept of the ‘It’ girl largely centred around any woman who possessed a mysterious brand of je ne sais quoi. Back then, the ‘It’ girl was more defined by the male gaze and how her modesty intertwined with her mystique. As described in a 1904 short story by Rudyard Kipling: “Some women’ll stay in a man’s memory if they once walk down a street”.
Of course, the concept has changed exponentially since then, albeit much of what constitutes the ‘It’ girl has remained focused on how beauty is emitted through confidence and cultural significance. In the 1960s, for instance, the ‘It’ girl was the muse spotlighted by artists like Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick, and in the 1970s, the term continued to be connected to figures at the centre of attention, like Diana Ross.
Until recently, the idea of a non-white woman being the ‘It’ girl, who is not only passionate about campaigning for the greater good but also takes tangible action, seemed relatively sparse. Traditionally, the ‘It’ girl title was associated with a specific kind of public figure, who, aside from names like Ross, rarely challenged this norm, resulting in the exclusion of women from diverse backgrounds who actively work for positive change.
As Brittany Howard once told The Cut, the ‘It’ girl is “somebody who is themself, proud of themself, carries themself that way, and treats other people with kindness and goes about their business with confidence, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.” To Howard, the ‘It’ girl is someone like Nina Simone, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Angélique Kidjo, and, of course, herself.
While the ‘It’ girl changes through the ages in almost every aspect except name, what makes such figures worthy of the coveted label, according to Howard, is how authentic they are and how much they challenge society by being unapologetic. For instance, Howard claims that Simone was an ‘It’ girl because “she made great music, and she stayed true to her artistry.”
On Turner, it was her resilience that made her the ‘It’ girl: “You can be strong enough to not only escape your abuser but to be much, much, much greater.”
Regarding Kidjo, Howard said: “She does so much for the people of Africa — all the different countries, all the different walks of life. She’s performed in front of the U.N. She’s someone who’s politically engaged, but she’s a humanist. She represents people who are going through it. I also see the way she carries herself with so much strength. I think she’s ‘It’.”
Although she admits she feels she “wouldn’t be a likely candidate for someone who goes up there and wins five or six Grammys,” Howard regards herself as an ‘It’ girl because she “fulfils all of those qualities” of being confident, open, honest, and immovable when it comes to what she knows to be true. As a result, the label applies to those who embody these traits beyond just winning awards or achieving traditional measures of success. For Howard, being an ‘It’ girl means representing and living out these values in a way that influences and inspires others, regardless of cultural restrictions or conventional accolades.
