When I asked what people though about my style and I got a lot of responses with the word chic I felt like a fraud. Truth be told I don’t feel chic. I always felt like chicness was something effortless that you either naturally had or you didn’t. I definitely DO NOT wake up every morning ready to run out the door and look put together. The dictionary defines chic as elegantly and stylishly fashionable. There’s nothing in that definition about the level of effort ones takes to achieve that fashion ability. And so I realized that my style has an everyday chicness to it.
What is Everyday Chic Style?
I say Everyday Chic as opposed to just chic because I think chicness is approachable and attainable. You don’t have to be heading to a fancy party to be chic. Nor do you have to dress up for your everyday life to be chic. It’s things like putting on a pair of ballet flats instead of sneakers when running errands. It’s putting fresh flowers on your table when have friends for dinner and taking the extra 10 minutes to arrange the charcuterie platter rather than just put food on a plate straight out of the package. It requires a little bit of thought and effort but not a lot of work.
But more than define what chic means to me, I want this to be a place to share how to achieve chicness in your everyday life.
Recently I was reading one of Rachel Hollis’s books and was amused by how she shared about a time when her audience got upset with her during her blogging days. From Rachel’s point of view she was publishing six blog posts a week filled with high quality images of a beautifully curated life. She just assumed her audience would understand that her blog was produced by a team of people. From her audience perspective Rachel never mentioned this team, never mentioned that her blog had an office and to them presented herself as a mom running a blog. So they imagined her working on posts at home creating these magical moments with her children. This story amused me because honestly it’s something that annoys me about bloggers too.
There’s so much effort put into looking like you’re not really trying. I don’t think it’s fair that we compare ourselves to a filters and edited image. I couldn’t help but wonder how many moms at one point had read Rachel’s blog and felt bad about themselves. And then I thought something even scarier – how many times has someone looked at something I posted and felt the same? Have I made my life look easier and more fabulous than it really is?
I’ve been guilty myself of feeling like I’m not good enough. Feeling like I’m not pinterest / insta worthy because my clothes aren’t as expensive as another blogger’s. Or my home isn’t as nice and certainly isn’t as clean. Or I don’t go on luxurious vacations. But then I think about the stuff I do post. All this time I thought I was sharing about my life and being honest and real. While I was sharing my real life at some point over the past year I got away from sharing in a manner that was beneficial to others. Instagram makes it so easy to take a pic of cute outfit and just post it without much thought. Sitting down and putting together a whole blog post takes planning and a having something to say. I’ve missed having something to say.
Being chic is about being intentional – and that’s exactly what I want my life to move towards. I want to be intentional with the things I have, with how I spend my time and with what I share with the world.
About my look:
I couldn’t talk about what I consider everyday chic without giving you a visual example of course! This outfit is from Ulla Popken and I love how easy it is. Statement skirts are a great way to achieve an everyday chic look with minimal effort. Just pair with a solid cotton (ie super comfortable) top grab your favorite pair of statement earrings, some simple heels and viola! A super chic look for your everyday life. I especially love midi and knee length skirts because you don’t have to worry about them riding up and getting too short – tugging on your clothes all day is NOT chic.
xx,
