I'm no fashionista by any stretch of the imagination, but when I think of the words "classic" and "fashion" together, my mind tends to drift off to a world of prohibition, bow ties and waistcoats.
I know this isn't a classic look to fall back on in everyday life, but it's a look I've always admired and enjoy trying out now and then.
If I had a lifestyle that allowed me to dress up like this more often, I'm certain vintage fashion would occupy a larger percentage of my wardrobe space.
Hippie/Bohemian for sure! I love how the style is labeled as one but is comprised of many individual styles.
I love the simplicity of classic French style, and always have. There's something very attractive about the way that many French women seem to realise that "less is more", and don't try too hard in the way they dress. Or in the way that they don't appear to be trying, anyway.
In reality, it's not quite as easy as that, of course - as classic French casual chic relies on simplicity, which requires that clothes be really well-cut, and made of good quality fabric.
I'm less than five feet tall, and always think that, the tinier you are, the less fussy your clothes should be, so casual French chic will always be my first choice in terms of a classic style.
It helps if you can combine the clothes with the Frenchwoman's very appealing attitude too - the one that says they don't give a damn whether other people approve of how they dress, or not.
That attitude always makes people more attractive than those who worry about their appearance a lot, and who can seem self-obsessed, as a result.
The photos above are both quite old now, but they do go to show how classic French chic stands the test of time.
My most up-to-date style icon - and the person who I'd dress exactly like, if I could afford to, is Carine Roitfeld, ex-editor of French Vogue, and muse to many a famous fashion designer.
She doesn't try to look younger, eschews Botox and plastic surgery, and doesn't dress inappropriately. She just ignores her age completely, and dresses how she likes - and almost always gets it right.
There's a great article here, which does a good job of explaining why French women are so famed for their style.
I love this quote, in particular:
"It's not the surface glam that gives French women their allure...It's this: French women don't give a damn."
The article goes on to say that this doesn't mean that French women don't look after themselves - because they do - but that "they aren't pre-occupied with 'fixing' themselves."
I like to think this is because they are more interested in what's going on around them, and in other people, than they are in what they look like - which is maybe why I love their style so much.
Thinking about all this, it's probably not a coincidence that the fashion designer who did the most to liberate women (from corsets, not being able to tan etc), was archetypal Frenchwoman, Coco Chanel!
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