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Posts Tagged ‘American style’

Our ethos has always been about creating clothes that real women truly want to wear – revitalizing American classics to offer collectable pieces.

Catherine Holstein – American fashion designer and creative director of Khaite

Ms. Holstein was recently featured, among other up and coming American fashion designers, in Harper’s Bazaar magazine.

I like her idea of “collectable pieces.” I’m a collector and instead of buying more, I prefer to create new looks with what I already own. Since I create my own style, trends are not an issue. I’m more likely to weave in a trending color or accessory – for example hobo handbags are back and I just happen to already have one from years ago.

I’m concerned about the impact the fashion industry is having on our planet so I try to be careful about how much I buy.

Speaking of sustainable fashion, today kicks of Fashion Revolution Week, April 18-24, an annual event that recognizes the anniversary of the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, where 1,100, mostly women seamstresses, died and 2,500 people were injured. FRW is a movement that seeks to raise our awareness of what’s really going on in clothing/fashion industry.

From the Fashion Revolution website: Currently, there is a lack of understanding and appreciation of the true cost of clothing. Price tags fail to reflect the social and environmental cost of production, while as consumers, we don’t always care for our clothes in the way we should. We need to scrutinize what it is we’re really paying for. Throughout Fashion Revolution Week, we’ll educate and inspire our global community on the real value of what we buy and wear. 

Click here for more information.

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Quirky British fashion icon, Vivienne Westwood. Illustration by Zoe Taylor, Selvedge magazine.

Eccentricity would have to be at the top of the list. While we marvel at New York professional polish or LA’s laid-back cool, we Brits possess a certain nerdy quirkiness that manifests in chunky, hand-knitted jumpers, heritage fabrics, and off-beat accessories—we championed ‘ugly’ trends way before they hit the mainstream. Our muses include Alexa Chung, Vivienne Westwood, and Cara Delevingne—all wonderfully weird in their own ways yet also undeniably cool.

Joy Montgomery, assistant editor at Who What Wear UK.

Ms. Montgomery is describing key elements to British style and her quote is part of a longer article about where the Brits think Americans go wrong with their “style.” (Flip flops, hoodies, baseball caps.)

And apparently they secretly but politely laugh as us.

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getty-jackie-o-zelin

Simple, elegant, comfortable. Jackie Kennedy Onassis did it well.

For many critics, the American style of dressing has gone too far. Yoga pants, hoodies, and flip-flops appear in all sorts of places they shouldn’t, like restaurants, offices, and European capitals … Comfort is not to blame. It appears that we’ve forgotten about panache. The most classic American women style icons always perfected both. Think of Jackie O. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Lauren Hutton and Michelle Obama. They share a simplicity and elegance in their choice of clothes, adding a pop of flair with a scarf or hat, a hair twist, or an elegant shoe. 

From the book Brooklyn Street Style: The No Rules Guide to Fashion by Anya Sacharow and Shawn Dahl (Abrams Image).

This quote points out something very important – that comfortable fashion is not the same as sloppy fashion, or it doesn’t have to be.

We can be casual and still chic by keeping it tidy, choose the right size, and add an accessory or two.

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