Cheap Chic Forever

1974...  or 2015?

Cheap Chic is my fashion bible.  Forget Vogue.  Well, maybe don't forget it, but it's not my bible.  I'm not alone.  Peruse Amazon and see that my fellow fans wished they printed more copies of this, are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for the rare, out-of-print book, and are stoked that it will be reprinted this September!  I just got on the list.  Woohoo!

 

The above picture could have been taken this past summer, or perhaps summer 2015.  Did you know that jelly shoes are a classic French maritime sandal?  Can you picture all these macho fishermen wearing these super cute shoes?  A style classic, I tell you.  Her chic beach coverup, glasses, and large bag can all translate well 40 years into the future.  You see, for even though this book was published forty years ago, and was of the moment then, about 90% of it still translates to current days because it is modern and classic.  Classic is modern.

 

The picture I wanted to share with you that would not rotate properly for whatever reason was a fashion photo from 1978, from the Cheap Chic "Update."  It looked like it could have been for Fall 2015, the current fashion season being shown at NYFW.  Oh, and let's talk for a moment about NYFW 2015.  Just do a google search and see that basically every trend from the 70's, from bell bottoms to feathered hair, is back.  (And let me remind you that various aspects of 70's style were actually stolen from the 40's golden age of style...)

 

Cheap Chic has different chapters for various aspects of style--classic, sporty, work wear (including surplus), vintage/antique (which at the time could also mean gorgeous slips from the 30's!), ethnic (breaking down amongst countries and continents).  It guides you on how to incorporate whatever aspect of this you'd like into your own wardrobe.  You can do it on the cheap.  Or, you can get a lovely pair of boots for $$$ but they will last you forever, which is probably a better thing than buying a cheap pair that will fall apart in a season. 

 

The tone of the book is like going shopping with a friend.  A fun, cool friend who wears really cool clothes!  And, dispersed throughout the book are short interviews with fashion stalwarts like Betsey Johnson, Yves St. Laurent, and in the Update version, even a fun interview with the legendary Gilda Radner.

 

This style guide really is the best.  With all the talk of capsule wardrobes, responsible fashion, American made classics, thrifting, etc., that we see in 2015, this book is so ahead of its time and still relevant.  For an even better writeup of this gem, click here.  The blogger at into-mind has also included more photos of the book, so you can see just how much coolness oozes out of every page!

 

Hope you have a chic weekend.  :-)