30 chic days: day 18: is vintage chic relevant to today?


                          

Are some of her hints relevant now?

Since starting to record Look Like A Million by Leslie Field, circa 1978, I have been on the look-out to see if the clothes advice applies to today. I left out things like stockings, Chanel bags, Gucci belt buckles & boots, because the market for these, doesn't apply to Ms Everywoman, today.

Leslie was focused on showing every woman how to look & feel great, & also, for those who could afford it, how to look ...expensive, by using a few well-chosen investment pieces, along with cheaper items. Not everyone wants to look expensive, but most of us do want to look our best.

Mostly, yes, I do think so

But I did feel that her advice was still good, for wardrobe building, whether you were a business person, or a woman who worked part-time, a new mum, an older lady. Yes, from what I have been seeing, it still all applies. Yesterday, I saw a friend dressed most originally, from an op shop...but she looked great in her jeans, patterned blouse (shirt!), scarf & jacket, each of which picked up one of the colours of her shirt.  I see women all the time, dressed in jeans with a tee, maybe a long sleeved one, ballerinas, long cardi. Today in the Inner City I saw a woman wearing black boots with black jeans tucked into them, a clear red 3/4 coat, a red & navy bright scarf tied most artfully, & a whitish, plain, tucked in, jumper. And a large plain leather hold all bag. She looked amazing. Casual, elegant, chic.

Her advice applied to those on budgets too

Leslie gave advice for those who had money, & for those who didn't. When I re read the suggestions, I could see that one could go to an op shop, el cheapo shop like KMart, markets, or a low cost import clothes shop, & get the basics:

  • a pair or 2 of jeans last through the whole year
  • black tights (3/4 & long)
  • tees & tank tees
  • a skirt
  • a wee light weight summer cardi or a plain cotton shirt to wear as an extra layer
  • swimsuit or bikini
  • lavalava
  • jandals
  • an unusual cheap dress, long or short
These can see us right through summer
  • even just a lavalava & a tank tee look great for casual times in the hot weather
  • if we had one nice plain pair of heels & one bag, this would do us most of the year
  • and in winter we could wear tights under our skirt, tees under wee jumpers
  • we could add a warm solid cardi like a cable knit, & also have a sloppy cardi
  • we could add knitted scarves with our jeans & layered tops
Then we add our own pizazz, the little extras that are just us. So yes, I do feel that it's still a great framework.

But it's not just the clothes

The thing is about chic....it's not just our clothes that matter. Other things are important too. About which Leslie had some great, still relevant, tips.




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