Ever since Joan of Arc stormed into battle, French women have been celebrated as coquettes, fiercely independent femme fatales, and fashionistas.  With this in mind, we thought it fitting to launch Truly French with the one woman who is perhaps most synonymous with France: Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic itself.

“ Imagine the surprise that greeted Delacroix’s Marianne back in the day, which depicts what might be the world’s most famous wardrobe malfunction.”

We’ve all seen busts of Marianne. She graces French monuments and civic buildings and is depicted on countless official French documents.  Many French women we love have posed as the bust of Marianne, from Brigitte Bardot to Catherine Denueve and even Laetitia Casta (who, in case your memory fails you, was once a Victoria’s Secret model). But of all the representations of Marianne, none is better known than the bare-breasted and barefoot French revolutionary in Delacroix’s famous painting called “Liberty Leading the People.” Imagine the surprise that greeted Delacroix’s Marianne back in the day, which depicts what might be the world’s most famous wardrobe malfunction.

Marianne represents democracy, freedom, and justice, among other things. But in Delacroix’s famous painting, doesn’t she seem perfectly French for other more mundane but equally compelling reasons? Here are three of them:

1.   She’s accessorized. (Phyrgian cap, braided belt)

2.   She’s free and uninhibited in the company of men.

3.   She’s topless.

Let’s recall that during the time of the French Revolution, women still wore whalebone corsets and petticoats. Exposing your ankles was risqué. Imagine the surprise that greeted Delacroix’s Marianne back in the day, which depicts what might be the world’s most famous wardrobe malfunction.

But Marianne was spearheading a revolution that took place not just politically, but socially: When Delacroix was painting his version of “Liberté,” the bra – or le soutien-gorge – wasn’t even invented. American women had to wait close to another century before Mary Phelps Jacobs tied a few silk scarves together and went on to patent the first American bra. (News flash: Phelps Jacobs was a party-animal and political radical who lived in France, was part of the “Lost Generation” of American expatriates in Paris, and hugely influenced by French culture.) That said, women were already starting to assert their rights for freedom of expression and movement – and that included freedom from the constraints of the corset.

For decades, Americans held fast to the stereotype of the topless French woman on a St. Tropez beach. The reality isn’t so black and white: Yes, French women do go topless on beaches, merci beaucoup. But for centuries, they have also coveted their lingerie, wearing it not just a tool of seduction but as an essential feel-good part of celebrating themselves as women – for nobody but themselves. Now that’s true freedom.

We salute these French women, including the iconic Marianne, who has gone done in history as the ultimate symbol of France. As a historian once said, “France is a woman.” Indeed she is.