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Style inspo: Sofia Coppola in the early 2000s

I remember how fresh and elegant she was in the early 2000s. She’s very sophisticated now but she had more of a California verve in the days she was married to Spike Jonze and lived in L.A. Perhaps she wasn’t as fulfilled emotionally in that relationship — they divorced, after all — but she never looked quite as singular or fun, I think.

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Style inspiration: Amalia Dayan

One of my enduring style inspirations isn’t a well-known celeb or fashionista, though I did first read about her in Vogue. But I have always been fascinated by “gallery girl” style, and I love Amalia’s mix of polished classicism with relaxed, elegant bohemian flair. She looks put-together but is never stuffy, with lots of sleek neutrals, neat silhouettes but an eye for downtown detail.

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Taylor Swift and her city girl classics

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Style inspiration: the return of Jennifer Lawrence

She seems to have adopted a very sporty/minimal/elegant style of late and looks great, so chill and confident all at once. Lots of neutrals, clean shapes, some artful items and playing with proportions, but still very all-American. Like deconstructed girl-next-door!

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Style inspo: Katie Holmes in floaty dresses

I have been on a inspiration kick lately, hunting down new sources of intrigue when it comes to fashion and style. Especially since getting Cool Girl as my archetype in the Style Key system, I’ve been thinking about what makes someone cool and chic and stylish? But it’s very funny, I notice that I start to get a little worried that investigating Cool Girl means giving up traditionally feminine things like floral dresses and floaty, pretty garments.

Anyway, after I hunted down Katie Holmes as inspiration and thought that, ugh, she doesn’t wear florals, I actually went out and found a bunch of shots of her wearing pretty dresses. I mean, they’re still cool — interesting shapes, details and lines make them not so traditional. But it’s fun to see how diverse her style and that one can still wear florals and be cool, lol.

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Style inspo: Katie Holmes

I’ve been seeking out inspiration for cool girls of a certain age, as they say. Like a mature woman who has a certain sense of freedom, independence and, well, cool about how she dresses. I did a Marisa Tomei post earlier, but then I remembered… Katie Holmes! I knew she was a street style star when she went viral with the Khaite cashmere cardigan and bra set, but then I checked out the rest of her street style and I LOVE IT ALL. I love that she takes risks, she’s artful but casual, she’s polished but never stuffy. My own style is a little more romantic than hers but it’s still inspiring!

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Style inspo: James King in the 1990s

I remember reading Jennifer Eagan’s article “James is a Girl” in The NY Times magazine in the 1990s, chronicling the fast life and high times of young model James King, who we now know as Jaime King.

It makes me sad, years later, to know that King was battling with a heroin addiction at this age. But the article’s atmosphere of louche 90s grunge glamour still transfixed even now. I don’t want to glorify heroin chic and do think King looks shockingly thin now. But she also had a hypnotic, knowing take on dissolute glamour that feels very of the time.

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Style inspiration: Selena Gomez in floral dresses

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Style inspiration: Marisa Tomei

I love that she’s in her 50s and is so cool!

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Style inspiration: Rose Cholmondeley, née Hanbury, in full-on Marchioness mode

I promise, I’m not obsessed or a crazy stalker, I’m just a completist! I just think it’s nice to see how a style evolves over time — what vibes carry through, what changes, especially as a role or station or just the years change, as they do.

Anyway! Rose is in and out of the tabloids for her association with the now Prince and Princess of Wales, so party pics and such are generally no more, now that she is in the private Norfolk set. But you can still get a glimpse of her style on Insta, which is where most of these are from, I think. They’re very “posh dinner party on the estate” vibes, very ladylike and elegant and vintage-inspired:

Which aligns with her recent appearance at the Coronation, where she wore Ossie Clark:

Lots of evening gowns, but more classy than the cocktail and party dresses of the past:

You do see a few garden party type of frocks:

And maybe more casual evening looks as well, though they still have a pastoral elegance:

I love this dress she wore to her baby’s christening:

And a few shots of her looking fabulous with family and friends:

Overall, the style is still feminine and romantic, but less sexy and more ladylike:

But it still looks very full of ease, natural and unpretentious:

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Style inspiration: when Rose Hanbury becomes the Marchioness of Cholmondeley

Continuing on my fascination with Brit aristos with a more bohemian bent (but still very natural and elegant), here are some pics of Rose Hanbury with a more polished style befitting her social status:

It’s less overtly sexy but more upscale bohemian. I love the nature graphic in the above dress, it’s very striking. This pic below fascinates me because it’s a bridge between her London nightlife-centric style and her more elegant, soignée style:

When she married, she became mistress of a very renowned country estate, Houghton Hall, and her portraiture became grander. But I like the informality of her outfit here. Not casual, still polished but also not a fancy ball gown that you’d expect:

Here she is with the very wealthy and titled husband, I love the Talitha Getty vibes of her outfit here:

This pic is much more “we are very posh and relaxed.” I wish Rose were standing up, I want to see her dress!

I love that her “ball gown in a fancy place” portrait is one where she is pregnant:

But I love Rose best when she is dressed with romantic but natural simplicity. It is very cottagecore, but when the cottage is a grand estate in Norfolk, I think we’ve superceded the term:

I mean, it’s all right out of a classic novel. Or at least a book about eccentric British style, which is where this pic is from:

Here she is with her daughter on the grounds of her home, looking like a character in a Henry James novel:

Since becoming the mistress of Houghton Hall, her style has become both refined but still romantic. She experiments more with bolder color and prints in an artful way:

Yet she always seems unpretentious, unforced, at ease. I generally think a lot of the Turnip Toff gang dress pretty safe and uninspiring, but Rose has genuine style to me. I have some more recent pics of her but don’t worry — this isn’t turning into a Rose fashion fan blog anytime soon. This milieu isn’t big on publicity and photos aren’t churning out like crazy. But it’s fun to hunt down what I can!

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Style inspiration: Early 2000s Rose Hanbury

Yes, I’m still on my early aughts “British quasi-aristos as London cool girl” steez. I’m fascinated by the co-opt of Glastonbury bohemianism in an almost Sloane-y direction. Before she was a marquess, Rose Hanbury was part of a sister socialite act. I enjoy the posh yet va-va-voom take on Kate Moss-ish London girl style in the early 2000s, she was like a more rock-chic boho version of Kate Middleton:

She became prominent with her sister Marina for going to parties and being pretty:

She’s (in)famous now as the rumored affair partner of Prince William but back then she was basically a girl from a rich family known for partying in a posh milieu and looking more for a husband than a career:

I enjoy how early 2000s style looks almost naive compared to the very studied chic of our contemporary era, I mean this is like the epitome of the worst impulses of the era:

But then she looks good as well:

It’s almost bohemian bombshell here:

Here’s the whole family, they were quite known for their parties:

I mean, she’s a gorgeous girl, no amount of bad fashion dims that. But she was starting to look more posh as time went on, perhaps because she began dating a very rich aristocrat when she was about 19 or 20?

This final pic here is sort of a nice transition between the bombshell bohemian into the more grand and elegant iteration of her style evolution later:

Definitely going to do another post of her post-marriage Marquess style. I know when she somewhat scandalously married the Marquess of Cholmondeley (who is 20-plus years her senior) and gave birth only a few months later, she was working as a researcher for a conservative politician. Well, everyone has their flaws, right?

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Outfit roundup: April 2023

Here are a selection of my outfits from this past month! The weather was all over the place, so it was quite an adventure to get dressed sometimes! These are in order of very satisfied to last satisfied — but honestly, I felt pretty good with my style this past month.

I really enjoyed when styles felt more sensuous, open, flowing and discreetly revealing. I also experimented with more color, which was great for spring!

Even when my outfit was perfect, I still felt satisfied, mostly because I was focused on “feeling myself” versus making it look good for an outside lens.

I really do see my style formula at work: elemental, romantic and downtown. I really am enjoying my clothes, so why do I feel this sense of insecurity about me? Why do I feel like something is missing? Am I more “up” than I realize? Something to think about, hmmm…

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Style stuff: the three-word method

Beyond the Style Key system, I've also been exploring other systems on and off since I discovered Kibbe during the pandemic. (I've let Kibbe go -- too weird, cultish and persnickety, and too many toxic online communities around it.)

I love Style Key because it goes deep internally, and appeals to bridging my inner self and world with my outer aesthetics. But sometimes simplicity is great, which is why I dig the three-word method that went viral on TikTok.

After looking at my fave outfits and my closet staples, I've picked these three words: earthy, romantic and downtown.

Sometimes I use synonyms in the combination: elemental/sensual/modern, for instance. Or natural/sexy/edgy. But the idea is the same. A down-to-earth, unpretentious, earthy neutral component, a presence of the divine feminine and a twist of modernity and sophistication.

I’m still feeling out the “down to earth” part and trying out the best word. Sometimes it’s earthy, sometimes it’s natural or elemental. With the feminine aspect, romantic always feels accessible to me, while I don’t always feel sexy or sensual in that delectable way. Right now, I use downtown because it’s more evocative, but in the past I’ve leaned upwards to edgy and downwards to modern, which feels more flexible and broad.

It’s funny because the combo really does sum me up in a profound way. My spirit, my journey, my allegiances. My past, present and future. The earth, the divine feminine, the city.

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Style inspiration: Rose Hanbury, i.e. Marchioness of Cholmondeley

This is part of my weird fascination with British aristocrats! I don’t need to go into who she is; some Google searches will set you right. But I do like the Brit take on haute bohemia. She’s quite fancy now but like skate Middleton, I liked her early aughts style:

Think Kate Moss and Sienna, right? She was sort of more va va voom than Kate Middleton:

Sort of a classic English rose base…

But made scruffy:

Very London cool girl in the early 2000s:

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Style inspiration: Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star

In the 90s I worshipped at the altar of PJ Harvey but I think I knew innately that Polly was too theatrical to be the style icon. Hope Sandoval, though, spoke to my alternawaif heart:

She seemed very laidback but with dark romantic touches:

There is some hippie flair to her, but I think she’s defined by her muted quietness, a combination of ease and elemental and delicacy:

Also she is so beautiful!

Even when she’s punkier, her softness and mystery stand out:

Even in more recent years, she is still gorgeous:

Such a beauty:

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Style inspiration: Sally Owens in Practical Magic

By almost accounts, Practical Magic is not a great film. But in terms of conjuring a world (and house, and wardrobe) I want to live in, it succeeds like no other.

Sandra Bullock’s wardrobe in the film is how I want to vibe these days:

Earthy, romantic and authentic a tad of the offbeat, literary and utilitarian: that’s how I want to look, really:

I think Sandra Bullock looks so lovely in the film:

And who wouldn’t want to live in this house?!!