Jolie Icon: Josephine Baker

"Beautiful? It's all a question of luck. I was born with good legs. As for the rest. . . beautiful, no. Amusing, yes," Josephine Baker joked, according to BellaSugar.com’s Brittney Stephens. Though her features lacked classic perfection, she knew how to encite intrigue and worship. Self invention produced a goddess who earned the titles “Black Venus” and “Jazz Cleopatra”. In Hungry Heart, Steven Gaines shared Ernest Hemingway’s impression, “The most beautiful woman there is, there ever was, or ever will be.”

Josephine Baker was born in the slums of St. Louis, raised on the stages of New York, and reinvented in Paris as “La Baker”. The pioneering performer’s “banana skirted” Revue Negre debut sparked stardom. The eccentric adopted a pet Cheetah, Chiquita,

and a “rainbow tribe” of children. She was an honored World War II spy and Civil Rights rebel. Now, she is a beauty icon.

Her stylized features epitomized flapper “it”. Finger-waved, kiss-curled, and face framing, her slicked down pixie was the chicest “do” of the day. Her image even graced a namesake styling pomade, “BakerFix”. She masterfully juxtaposed a dash of “vamp” and a splash of glam, on a bold Black canvas. It was all in her exoticly smoked Cleopatra eyes and adoration for adornment. She took the bob haired world by storm. Baker was not just “it”, she redefined “it” for generations to come.

Baker’s look has inspired women since her 1920’s reign until recently. Essence beauty editor, Tia Williams, reported, “we're obsessed with the original ‘Jazz Baby’ herself.” Prada’s Spring 2011 collection was an homage to Baker’s visage. Vogue Italia’s “Black Allure” editorial alluded to Baker’s essence. Superstar Rihanna is rumored to be starring in a Baker biopic. Baker is back.

My favorite photograph of Baker, the one holding court on my boudoir wall, captures her grandeur and grace. Nude except for ribbons of crystalline jewels and wings of white feathers, her sultry kohl rimmed eyes tease. Her cupid bowed lips are smiling bright. She is dark, flirty, mischievous. The moment pictured is the ultimate incarnation of her sophistication. In that moment she becomes a muse. 

Image courtesy of KayKeys.net