WHAT IS STYLE?

I wish I could say style was always tasteful but it's not. It isn't always current either; some of the most stylish women I know haven't shopped since 1982. It's definitely not about spending a lot of money, and it's not about matching your purse to your shoes. Sometimes style doesn't even look good. True style can't be copied and there's no formula for it. And no matter how much money you throw at an un-stylish gal she still won't have "style"--she'll just have on a nice outfit. Style implies something about the woman herself, an authenticity that doesn't come from a label. Stylish women can wear a paper bag and make other women want to wear a paper bag too.

Kids have style. They dress for themselves and delight in their choices regardless of what Vogue says in the latest issue. When my 3 year old comes downstairs in a pink tutu, orange sweatshirt, wrinkled tights and boots I wonder why I didn't put it together that way. 

In the end, real style is about the woman, not the clothes. Confidence. Effortlessness. Guts. Vogue put it best when describing Coco Chanel in 1954: "the essence of The Chanel Look was Chanel herself." I couldn't agree more.