Chic Sightings Archives - Page 2 of 9

Chic Sightings: Polka Dots!

August 16, 2019

I was out and about the other day, wearing dots... And suddenly I saw them everywhere!

This isn't precisely what I was wearing, but it's sufficiently close that you could pick me out of a crowd...

Dots are great - they're truly timeless and classic, but they're sufficiently interesting and uncommon that they bring a sense of fun and whimsy to any outfit...

I particularly love the idea of a dotted dress... How can I have managed to never have one for my entire life?

I'm pretty sure I had a dotted skirt, back in the days of my corporate wardrobe. I was pretty racy... This next skirt would be great for the entire year - can you imagine this outfit for the winter holidays, with a cozy cardigan on ... View the Post

Do the Colors in Your Outfit Have to Match EXACTLY? Consider Camaïeu…

July 24, 2019 Camaïeu is a kind of color palette that uses 2 or 3 tints of single color to create a look with subtle contrasts. In other words, your colors don't have to be perfect "dye-lot" matches for each other! The woman I saw, on a sweltering day in Chicago, was wearing shades of ivory and white. She looked (relatively) cool, and really stood out in the sea of black that is the city:

This makes a lot of sense - colors are not going to look the same if they're in different fabrics, even if they are dyed at the same time from the same kinds of dye. The texture of a sweater is very different from that of a silk blouse - one will reflect much more light, and the color will "feel" somewhat different.

The first thing that I ... View the Post

National Stripes Day? 10 Ways to Wear a Striped Skirt

June 21, 2019

I honestly don't know if National Stripes Day is anything more than a made-up thing by J.Crew to sell more striped things, but the idea amuses me...

So I saw this skirt and saw both the potential and the challenges:

These colors are lovely, but they're certainly not easy to find in the world of clothing...

Just to make things interesting - and tough - I'm sticking with the general structure that I used for the last skirt for which I conjured 10 Ways to Wear...

In warm weather, a denim jacket might seem odd, but in the world of excessive air conditioning and unpredictable weather, it might make sense. Right now, in Chicago, it's plenty cool enough to wear it!

A simple tee shirt is always such an ... View the Post

Chic Sightings: 10 Ways to Wear a Floral Skirt

June 12, 2019

A language digression: to me, something that is floral is MADE of flowers - a floral arrangement, a floral offering etc. Something printed with flowers is "flowered."

But NOT when you're searching through the world of garments and accessories.... If you want something with flowers, search for "floral."

I must be confused...

The first (and so far one of the only) really lovely early summer days here in Chicago brought out the floral skirts in abundance; I got so many ideas! So I picked a bright, unusual example:

I've been assured that the dark color here is navy; if it's black, nothing really changes here except navy garments and accessories could be swapped for black. I get really irked by the poor ... View the Post

Start with a Jacket: Travel Six-Pack

June 5, 2019

I saw her in O'Hare last week, wearing a deeply amazing and eye-catching jacket...

I've chosen NOT to use that jacket as the core of this wardrobe, because of both the price and limited availability. But it wasn't difficult to find another beautiful jacket in a bright and joyous mix of prints!

Destination: To Be Determined! She's going to Europe, but beyond that, nothing is definite. Maybe cool, maybe warm...

So she's dressing for the unexpected...

Since she's not sure where she's going to go (probably where the train tickets are least expensive!) she's packing small, and very versatile:

She's erring a bit on the dressy side, because she plans to sleep quite a bit, and do some very lovely ... View the Post

Chic Sighting: Striped Tee Shirt & Floral Skirt

February 22, 2019

this post is dedicated to Hazel...

If you have been making carefully-chosen wardrobe purchases for a while, and you've stuck with a color palette that's reasonably restricted, you might find that you can assemble an outfit like these from your current wardrobe! That's where having a wardrobe plan pays off...

I spotted this combination on a little girl, but I quickly realized that this kind of outfit suits lovely ladies of any age! One of the things I like the most about having a floral skirt is that it often makes clear what your accent color will be for your outfit. The tee shirt and skirt above would also be lovely with white sandals (or a pair of white Keds!) and a white bag...

The touch of sea ... View the Post

Chic Sighting: Printed Dress and Black Cardigan

January 16, 2019

Yes, they were only going out to breakfast as a family, but she considers that a special occasion! So she put on her favorite black, white and red printed dress, with her dressy black cardigan, black tights, and short boots. (it just cracks me up to see people wearing boots here in Florida on days when I personally would be wearing sandals...)

Other people might not be dressed quite as nicely, but that's okay too...

This outfit idea works for hot weather too!

Lunching at a nice restaurant?

This idea works well for work:

There are a lot of places that you could wear this outfit!

You can even get quite dressed up using this idea! (and note the subtly heart-shaped earrings - ... View the Post

What They’re Wearing in Paris in December 2018

December 21, 2018

Yes, my trip was lovely...

I made 1 serious miscalculation when I packed - my coat that I wore wasn't quite warm enough! But I knew that Uniqlo carries quite nice long underwear, so I dashed in and grabbed another couple of shirts; that's not really an extravagance when you live in Chicago - I'll be able to use them a lot through the winter.

I had packed the printed top and the black pants to wear as pajamas - they worked out really well. The morning that I left, I had already packed everything except my backpack. I was able to smash my pajamas into a tiny ball and cram them into the bottom of the bag - my toiletries went in on top, and I was good to go! I had purchased the tights in Chicago before ... View the Post

Chic Sighting: Stripes and Prints!?!

July 25, 2018

I was in Pittsburgh for the weekend... it was lovely! Of course I was thinking about you, and The Vivienne Files, while I was there... As I was waiting for my cab to the airport, a woman walked past me wearing a royal blue and white striped tee shirt, with a royal and white paisley print skirt - it was amazing! And it got me to thinking about how this might work for all of us...

If you have a color palette chosen for your wardrobe, it's entirely possible that you already have these kinds of pieces in your closet! Pick a neutral from your wardrobe - or even an accent color - and look for pieces that have prints in "scales" that are compatible. By that, I mean that a teeny floral print skirt might need a smaller, narrower ... View the Post

Part 2: What I Saw Being Worn in Paris (and what was for sale, and what was in the windows, and on the walls…)

June 8, 2018

Let's start with some inspiration, shall we?

One of the first things that I noticed when I got back to Chicago is the absolutely boring way people dress here. Yesterday Belovedest and I walked about 5 miles - from near Wrigley Field to our home in the downtown. The majority of women we saw - of all ages and body types - were wearing workout tights of some embarrassing level of revealing, with a tee shirt and a sweatshirt. I don't for a New York minute believe that all of these women had been working out, or were headed that direction. In a world in which we collectively own more clothing than at any time literally in history, why are we all dressed so much alike, and so unflatteringly? Hmm...

So while I saw some ... View the Post

Part 1: What I Saw Being Worn (and Purchased) in Paris, May 2018

June 4, 2018

One of the advantages of the unexpectedly warm weather in Paris is that I got to see the entire city shifting into their warmer-weather wardrobes!

As I always do when I travel, I tried to keep my eyes open for things that I saw - in stores or on people - that were different from what I would see in Chicago. In Paris, there were LOTS of things that caught me eye - so much that it's going to take me 2 days to tell you about them all!

I can't swear that white eyelet is a trend this year, or if it's just something that everyone pulls out and starts to wear when the weather warms up. It really is more of a classic... But we saw lots of cute little dresses, and PLENTY of tops with eyelet trip being worn with shorts, ... View the Post

Warm Grey and Cool Grey – Spotting the Difference

Last week when I told you that I saw lots of women in Paris stocking up on varying shades of grey, it brought up the question of different greys - warm and cool.

Of course, in its purest sense, grey is just black mixed with white, and thus should be neither cool nor warm. But when you start talking about textiles - many of which have a natural, underlying warmth to them (think unbleached cotton, or raw wool), things get more complicated.

Rather than try to come up with a theory about all of this, I'm just going to share with you a whole bunch of various items, arranged as best I can from the warmer toned to the cool. And yes, I completely cheated by putting a gradient background under these, so you can more easily see the yellow or ... View the Post