Smoking En Vogue? Why is Smoking considered “sexy” in our world?

    A cigarette has become a fetish. A fashion accessory. If one carries a cigarette in their hands, they are considered hot and “mysterious”. Want to increase mystique? Fiddle with a cigarette between your fingers. Even runway models are sporting the nicotine. 

And despite smokers smelling like absolute trash in person (I purposely cough in front of smokers), the idea of being a tortured intellectual, a rich and mysterious Hollywood icon, a famous detective, cold and brooding, all have a small accessory in common. Smoking. Vaping? God no, that’s just trashy, but there’s some classiness to a Marlboro. After all, fashion is all about looking like you didn’t try too hard. How has society done a complete 180 from the anti-smoking ads we used to see? It has done a 360 and gone back to when smoking was considered cool. And in today’s world, a cigarette is classic. The LBD of accessories.

A nonchalant aura, a mysterious purpose, popping the slender rod fitting perfectly in your mouth gives people automatic confidence. A film noir mood. A sleazy sexiness. All the while your lungs shrivel up and turn black. I think this revival of the cigarette statement has to do with the Kate Moss “Heroin Chic” revival we see alongside the Tumblr girl blogger revival (tehee) and the overall depressive mystique of the Lana Del Rey Ultraviolence sad girl aesthetic. 

Oh, and the new corporate IT girl, the office siren. The girl who’s so done with her job that she smokes, but she’s so good at it, class and elegance follow her every sensual step, a subtle ooh la la when she walks by. Smoking was considered manly, and trashy for any young woman to smoke, but it was a normal habit for men. Like drinking tea. But fashion is always looking to rebel, so in the 20s we saw ads of the flapper woman smoking, a rebel, a sexually deviant woman reveling in her independence and power. In the 20’s, women were heading to a more androgynous figure anyway. With notions of rebellion and independence all the rage, flapper models were often pictured in advertorials with a cigarette in hand. In the 70s to 80s, smoking served to indicate that women were recognised, and accorded status, as consumers. Now, it is a feminine elite hobby. 

The Flapper Girl

In the 90s, when Kate Moss was rarely seen without a cigarette in hand, luxury high fashion brands even went ahead to collaborate with cigarette companies to create “luxury” cigarettes, gearing the market even more towards women. Specifically, to the young and fashion-forward elite woman, seeking to replicate or even become one of the supermodels of the 90s. To smoke or not to smoke, that was your choice, but how could one refuse a YSL or a Givenchy Ritz?

Ritz and YSL cigarette collaboration, 1988.

Despite the absolute irony of the logo in the corner, warning folk of the carbon monoxide present, cigarettes are still seen as a fashion statement to this day. In February this year, multiple models swaggered down the Christian Cowan catwalk with a cigarette bopping between their fingers in a collection depicting the elevated glamour of the rich housewife. Think Audrey Hepburn and her long cigarette stick. One specific look was, to me, a direct call back to the flapper persona. 

The industry is known for its rebellious spirit and its intention to provoke, so it’s no surprise that cigarettes are still linked with fashion. But it’s not just in the industry, it’s also in Hollywood. The two are often intertwined anyway, so who can say we’re surprised? Throughout Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, lead actor Cillian Murphy smoked roughly 3,000 cigarettes, a figure so high that he has vowed to play a non-smoker in his next film. TV is no better. HBO’s The Idol featured plenty of scenes of its star Lily-Rose Depp, who smokes in real life, puffing seductively on various cigarettes from scene to scene. As I said, a direct call back to the coquette ultraviolence Tumblr girl blogger. The starved smoker, if you will.

Do I think the nostalgia for the 90s and the whole Y2K movement have something to do with this? Absolutely

And yet, the recent romanticization of smoking on our screens and runways coincides with rising rates of smoking among young people. In January, a new study from University College London (UCL) revealed that there was a major surge in 18- to 24-year-olds in England taking up smoking during the pandemic. Before COVID-19, the number of people smoking overall was falling 5.2 percent per year, but since 2020, the rate of decrease has slowed to just 0.3 percent. Yikes. 

But we all know smoking is disastrous for your health, the literal cancer stick causes diseases such as heart disease and lung diseases like COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and lung cancer. But you can either look cool or die, so pick your vices. Essentially, it’s sexy to smoke and cool to not care. It’s an easy metaphor for grungy rebellion, something the industry has a soft spot for. 

Do not let the sleazy stick fool you, though, as in reality it is a smelly, sticky stench filled object, clinging to your fingertips and hair. And here’s my PSA for the day! Smoking is NOT hot, having nice bubblegum pink lungs is  🎀And so is reading this blog.