What does CHIC mean to you?

[stilettogirl84]

i think chic is the air or impression of you looking absolutely "fantabulous" but at the same time its almost like " oh, this old thing? i just threw this on because i had nothing to wear"...i hope that makes sense

I understand- it's self assurance, and ease

 

[Love$2shop]

The girl in this pic embodies CHIC to me:

 

[PrinceOfCats]

chic is a particular style/look that is clearly defined....

Defined by whom? How can the connotations of an adjective referring to an abstract concept be clearly defined... To imagine that they could be is absurd unless this is some kind of fashion metaphysic.

 

[jennifer~]

Defined by whom? How can the connotations of an adjective referring to an abstract concept be clearly defined... To imagine that they could be is absurd unless this is some kind of fashion metaphysic.

'Those of you whose names haven't been called may want to check whether you have the right class...'

 

[laboheme]

What is Chic?

This quote is an excerpt from the book, _The Emperor of Scent_ by Chandler Burr, about Luca Turin & the fragrance industry.

I'm interested in how the following passage might relate to 'chic' fashion & style(clothes/accessories/grooming). It's sort of late, so I hope this actually makes sense to someone in the morning.

http://www.chandlerburr.com/newsite/content/emperorofscent/excerpts/5.php

There were a few different languages moving around the air, French and English and something Russian-like and Italian, and Turin cocked his head at them. "The French like luxury," he said, looking thoughtful and sipping something, "but what the French call luxury is actually call-girl chic. Put it this way. After finishing secondary school in Milan at sixteen, I went back to Paris to go to university, Paris XII, Pierre et Marie Curie. I rented a room from Madame Clouzot, the sister of the film director Henri-Georges Clouzot, right near the Champs Elysées. She explained that there were only really two great French perfume makers. Guerlain and Caron. Guerlain, she said, was for cocottes-kept women. Caron was for the duchesse. But in fact it is 1880s cocotte style that today passes for chic in France. What the French consider 'chic' is actually a sort of kept-woman vulgarity." He looked very grim, then permitted himself to pronounce "Hermès" and then "Vuitton." "Caron, on the other hand," he said, brightening, "is absolutely proper, proper chic." And what is that? He laughed, thought about it, said "um" and "oh God." "Chic is, first, when you don't have to prove you have money, either because you have a lot and it doesn't matter or because you don't have any and it doesn't matter. Chic is not aspirational." He sighed, despondent. "Chic is the most impossible thing to define. Luxury is a humorless thing, largely, and when humor happens in luxury it happens involuntarily. Chic is all about humor. Which means chic is about intelligence. And there has to be oddness-most luxury is conformist, and chic cannot be. Chic must be polite and not incommode others, but within that it can be as weird as it wants...

Any thoughts? TIA

 

[As You Like It]

When I say that somebody is a chic dresser or that an item is chic I mean that it has a definitive stylishness to it. To me, chic is shorthand for an sort of efficient attractiveness. Generally, simple garments are more chic than fussy ones, tailored garments are more chic than amorphous ones. Well-chosen costume jewelry, or a few balanced pieces of "real" jewelry are chic. Wearing everything in the jewelry box, or loads of bling is not chic.

To me, an element of control is a necessary component of chic. Proportion and balance are necessary. Subtlety as a general rule, but a willingness (and ablity) to shock is necessary occasionally. Pucci, Lily Pulitzer, and Schiaparelli have their places in the chic cosmos just as much as Chanel, vintage Givenchy, and Tahari do.

Generally when something is touted as luxury, especially when it carries overtones of excess, I tend to discount the possibility that it could be considered chic. I have a gut reaction to reject fashion items which proclaim themselves as status symbols. I don't like things that are super flashy, overdecorated, trendy, or luxe-for-luxe's-sake. Chic makes a statement without making a big fuss, and that "hey look at me, I have $$" aesthetic that you see in people like Paris Hilton definitely falls into the realm of making a big fuss.

I may be a bit stiff-necked in my views about what is "chic" but I've long held the belief that fashion and style are two quite separate things, and while the fashions of the moment may or may not be stylish, things which are stylish will never go out of fashion.

 

[nuyste]

for me personally, chic is defined as understated and classy. not trendy.

 

[laboheme]

Thanks for the responses! I'm so glad other ppl are interested in teasing this out too. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how jumbled/muddled the terms (chic, stylish, fashionable) were (and still are a bit) in my mind.

I found this NYT article a few minutes ago(requires a viewer like Adobe Acrobat Reader or Mac Viewer)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F00E7DB103FE63BBC4F53DFB667838C669FDE


the date says 1877??? If this is accurate then I guess it is a very old question.

WHAT IS CHIC?

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October 7, 1877, Wednesday
Page 3, 664 words
Chic is one of the few things which, refusing to bow down and worship fashion, is not crushed under the wheels of that Juggernaut. Chic is to fashion what poetry is to prose, cold veal to roast partridge, a gad-fly to a bull. What is chic may, in a ...

 

[eternitygoddess]

Attitude.

 

[Couture_Tribe]

We had this disscussion some where in this forum.... there is a thread for sure... let me search.

here, found it!

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f58/your-meaning-chic-48963.html

 

[laboheme]

We had this disscussion some where in this forum.... there is a thread for sure... let me search.

here, found it!

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f58/your-meaning-chic-48963.html

Thanks for the link CT! Maybe this can be merged?

 

[xPedro]

Chic is be inteligent!

 

[Kadu]

Chic's be Leonardo! hahahahahhaah

 

[just_me]

The French Paris Vogue girl's are all very, very chic to me.

But it cannot be clearly defined.

I wonder who is chic nowadays.

 

[LeBelAge]

To me, Chic is knowing what works on your body and being able to carry it with aplomb and confidence and sometimes simplicity, regardless of whether or not it is in style, vintage, trendy, last season, expensive or not. I once saw a woman in Chelsea, she was wearing khaki shorts and T-shirt, brown leather sandals, and she still managed to be totally Chic and all eyes were on her. Of course, she also had a perfect body...

There is no such thing as one-dress-type-fits-all. If you put the most expensive dress on the wrong body type, sorry, it is not Chic. Chic can be learned. So study your body type, pay attention to fashion role models who have your body type, and learn from them.

Can you be zaftig and still be Chic? I think it's more difficult, as we're not seeing heavier women in fashion mags wearing Chic clothing, so they have less role models to learn from. I have a couple of full-figured Chic friends, and they pay careful attention to the cut, style and fit of clothes. They seem to look best in dresses, as opposed to pants.

 

[MUXU]

funny, some of you guys' definetion was exactly what i was thinking!

a woman who is pull together but slightly thrown off, like an element of their outfit is thrown off. something aloof, something a little airy.

it's like having a good aura, it's born with and hard to cultivate.

i think Anna Karina was chic.

myspace

 

[kristi_b]

It's just so over used. Almost cliche' in itself. I really just think people love to use the word, however it always does have a positive connotation.

 

[Butterfly*]

I think anything can look chic.

Whether you're outfit is silly, wild, edgy, avant guarde, quirky, whimsical, conservative, modest etc, as long as there is a touch of sophistication/elegance/class... then it's chic.

B)

 

[MUXU]

i was just thinking how the Gibson girl was really the original "chic" lady for me. looking at alot of charles dana gibson's illustration of his girls reminded me alot of how audrey hepburn was in the 60s.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Well, to me Gibson girls are not chic, though they are beautiful, so I guess for me there is a modern, current connotation to it ... even if it's something from decades ago or even longer, if it still resonates and pops for me now, it's chic ...