Chic little things
Among the things I miss during this still-disrupted period are the small accessories that puff a bit of chic into life. Not the fierce, hard-edged sort you see on the runway, but the grace notes that lift clothing from functional to pleasurable.
In the windows today, an assortment for a late-winter lift. They may not suit you climactically or aesthetically, so I'd appreciate hearing of your picks, too.
Merino bib
Worn over a turtleneck or shirt, this merino bib (in historic costume language, a tabard) adds warmth without bulk, and looks simultaneously classic and modern, which to me is a cornerstone of chic. Now sold out at Arket, but next week's windows will be filled with more of these.
Making a case for lipstick
Jewelled earrings
I sipped the Netflix doc, "Franca: Chaos and Creation" about the late Italian Vogue editor Franca Sozzani, like a fine amaro, watching in several sittings to make it last. Sozzani was many things I am not, physically: tiny, blonde, long-haired, model-slim. The personal signature I noticed watching her expressive face: jewelled retro or antique earrings with everything from the simplest shirt to an evening gown.
You can find the look at any price point from modest to dizzying, and if you have Great-aunt Annabelle's Victorian garnet chandeliers, now is the time to wear them! In the window, a fine jewellery example.
Photo: BestOldJewelry |
Sunglasses
Sunnies control glare in any weather and some posit may even have a protective effect agains the coronavirus by reducing entry points for respiratory droplets. A proven effect: a sharp pair is the very keystone of chic.
I have worn budget knockoffs that held up for years and pricey ones that broke in a few months.Though there is a level of cheap that looks it, high-street sunglasses can rival many designer models. Which ones below cost twelves times as much as the other?
Top: Tom Ford "Andrew" sunglasses; now s/o but abut $300 on sale. (If you seek luxe brands, check The Outnet, which often has them at half-price.)
Bottom: Big tortoiseshell frames from Mango, sale price, $CDN 25.
A "Smallet"
Time was what a woman carried in her handbag was personal and prized, as cherished as her jewellery. She might have a monogrammed lighter, a slender gold pen, a mirror in a suede case. Times change, and not only for lighters; I have not seen coins in my wallet for a year, and carry but one moth-eaten $20 bill. A cleaned-out wallet lightens the load—why not make it beautiful?
Photo: Lucrin of Geneva |
Fuchsia leather small wallet by Lucrin of Geneva; price, about $US 95, with options for monogramming or custom stitching. Offered in an array of glorious colours and leather types. Lucrin make larger wallets and bags, too, all delicious.
If a woman embeds small chic things into her life, does that make her chic? Possibly, provided she inhabits them naturally, and has an eye for what suits her.
These items transmit "simple elegance with a dash of insouciance", which is as close as I can come to describing that rare butterfly, lepidopterans chicus, which alights at its pleasure, but is quite resistant to appearing on demand.
Comments
I do wear lipstick occaisionally at home - just to lift my mood.
I now carry hand fans wherever I go. (No doubt, I will have hot flashes in my grave.) A fan can be quite chic to pull out of my bag and snap open. Bright colors are the best, and occasionally will color coordinate, but not required at all.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/gilbea?ref=yr_purchases
https://www.wolfandbadger.com/us/mighty-monarch-party-khu-social-butterfly-collection/?fo_c=3545&fo_k=4a7430d785ba6690470273ad2bd8f692&fo_s=gplaus&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgomBBhDXARIsAFNyUqPon0xlZftWHvorZuRHCwe1qS7yxWj3EYb8lhvDmCbdZADt_0FTanwaAlywEALw_wcB
In the handbag, I have a beautiful slim cigarette case that I have repurposed as a pill holder. It perfectly holds heartburn tablets, headache tablets and anti-histamines so they don't end up pulverised in the bottom of the bag.
Elegant details.
Inside was a tiny stub of deep red lipstick which had a heady grown-up scent to it. I used to carry it around and take a sniff at it now and then, thrilling at the thought that I would one day be old enough to have such treasures of my own.
Of course by the time I was a teenager and could buy myself make up, all I wanted was a Mary Quant lipstick (colour "Posh Prune") in an inexpensive case with a plastic daisy stuck on it!
Jane in London
Ms Liz: I love pins and brooches and if shopping the secondhand market, really good ones are bargains compared to earrings and rings, because not everyone wants them. There, I have revealed a secret ;) I like a pin on a beret and sometimes wear one on the cuff of a shirt, instead of a bracelet.
Leslie M: Arket, makers of that tabard, also showed dickeys this winter. Cos sell them too, calling them a "shirt bib". (How is that a better term?) Funny how they vaulted over a generation, at least, but I always thought they were a good idea. A hand fan is a more interesting accessory than one of those batter-operated models.
Melissa: Oh, what a good idea for a beautiful cigarette case! And also thank you for the tip that turns lipstick into a lip stain.
Jane in London: When I researched this post, I found that the youngest generation of lipstick wearers are asking for refillable cases, for environmental reasons. Those heavy metal refillable cases! My mother would take out the used one, pop in a refill to carry in her bag, and keep the used one at home, digging out every bit of lipstick with a little brush. Children of the Depression carried the habits for life.
Here's an old post about wearing pins:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2872918251244874644/4730870842621547450