From Kendall Jenner to Gigi Hadid: make way for the Tombabes

They're hot, cool and having fun. Meet the girls who want to be one of the babes, not the boys
Tombabe: Gigi Hadid
Startraks Photo/REX

Doing it like a dude has always been cool. “Androgynous” suggests an arch, languid grace — fierce wit and intelligence, wearing trousers like the boys because it’s still clear you’ve got the best legs in town.

And in the playground the grubby boys respected the class tomboy — she was good at footie but also had the kind of swishy hair that already made them feel a bit funny, though they didn’t know why yet, so they pulled it when they went in for a tackle. She didn’t mind, obviously.

Both belong largely to other eras, though – the former is a Forties Hepburn ideal, the latter a bit Nineties (tomboys love Sporty Spice). But as with every trend this one has returned — its millennial iteration is the tombabe.

Tombabes are young but they’re not kids. Like androgynous women, they’re cool, hot and unattainable — but unlike androgynous women, they don’t take anything particularly seriously, except work, which they’re quietly and peerlessly brilliant at.

Both haughty tomwomen and fidgety tomboys have something to prove; tombabes are almost baffled by the issue of whether girls are as good as boys — it’s obvious they are. And you don’t have to hate the boys, either: tombabes flirt unashamedly with them and then share the pints afterwards. There’s nothing contrived about it — they’re hot and they’re having fun.

The new model army are tombabes. Topshop’s latest star, Gigi Hadid, and her best pal Kendall Jenner are poster tombabes; Jennifer Lawrence is definitely one. Lily Allen is a tombabe. Alexa Chung is a grown-up tombabe: sleek and polished but with a naughty, quirky edge.

Largely, they’re a product of our liberal times — women aren’t quite on the same par as men but we’re getting there. There are fewer prescriptions about how we look, what we wear and what we do.

Kendall Jenner: an undone kind of babe-dom
Broadimage/REX

The tombabe has grown up in this age — if you ask her she’ll say that of course, she’s a feminist, though she might not like Taylor Swift all that much. Which is fine because we’re allowed to make our own decisions and talk about them loudly on Twitter. Tombabes like Twitter, but they like Instagram better — especially uploading in-jokes so that everyone wants to be in their girl gang.

Obviously, though, the main thing is that you’re a babe — admittedly, we still have some way to go towards enlightenment.

Gigi Hadid for Topshop

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It’s an undone kind of babe-dom: long, thick hair, all-round tan, mussy brows. You don’t dress like a slob, nor do you dress like an actual boy — your clothes are relaxed and casual but ultimately feminine: fitted jeans and tank tops; dungarees and tailored tees; luxe-trainers. They’re outfits you could run in but would also wear on a date. It’s a bit girl-next-door but without the wide-eyed naivete: tombabes are worldly and fun.

One of the boys? You’d rather be one of the babes.

Follow Phoebe Luckhurst on Twitter: @phoebeluckhurst

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