10 Fashion Insights from Style Expert Ginnie Chadwick-Healey
By Holly Howe
We work in a visual field and how we are perceived professionally can impact our success. However many of us spent lockdown in tracksuits, so as part of AWITA’s upskilling series, Ginnie Chadwyck-Healey spoke to members about exploring how to change the way we think about how we present ourselves. Ginnie worked for British Vogue for 12 years and currently has a fashion column at the Telegraph. In 2018, she set up the fashion advisory firm VCH Style. Here are her 10 fashion insights.
3 Great Colours for Life: Navy, Camel, and Burgundy
Navy is always a classic: “I love navy because it’s less dramatic than black, less draining on my skin tone, and it still looks classic – no matter what you’re wearing it with.”
If you don’t know where to start with red, Ginnie recommends trying burgundy, “especially as we get older, is a lovely warming colour, but equally it can be brought to life a bit more in springtime when it's paired with something like a powder blue. It is going to work year-round, it just depends how you’re going to warm it up or cool it down accordingly.”
Camel is a timeless classic – “it’s basically a rich-looking colour (not that there should be rich or poor colours, but it is a rich colour), and that is why brands like Max Mara will always offer a camel product.”
3 Pieces for Every Wardrobe: Silk Shirt, Denim, and a Blazer
If you don’t know where to start and you want to have something new to go out in, silk shirts are great. Ginnie explains that a good silk shirt “needs to glide, it needs to hang over a bust if you have a bigger bust, it needs to move over the trousers you wear.”
There’s more to denim than jeans. “It’s not always going to be a hard fabric, or a rigid fabric or a casual, rugged look – it can be very elegant and it can be very feminine as well. It still gives the notion of the everyday look. I’m not sure if many people would wear a denim blazer, but a really smart denim shirt tucked into a pair of camel, white, or black trousers can really be very chic.”
Blazers can really uplift your overall outfit. “I don’t just mean a standard, classic blazer – you might go for a longer-length blazer, or a cropped blazer if you want to enhance your waistline, if you’re petite and slim for instance. Then you have the oversized boyfriend-look which definitely has to be tried on first.”
3 Trends: Stripes, Red, Uptown Denim
You don’t have to buy a new trend every time you’re bombarded in weekend supplements, your favourite magazine, or your favourite blog. First look at what you already own.
Stripes: “We all have something that’s striped and if you don’t, I’d say that’s a good one to try. You can get a great striped shirt, tuck it in with jeans, pair it with loafers, and it’s a nice weekend look.”
Red: “If you ever have to present, red is a great confidence booster. If in doubt, have something red on you – red lipstick, red pants, red bra, red shirt, red blazer – whatever it might be.”
Denim: “Everyone should be aware of how useful high-waisted denim is. It just sits a little bit higher, pulls you in, and you’re going to gain that much compared to if you were to wear them at your hips. This style can be very elongating, so high-waisted denim is a no brainer if you’re looking for a new style and you’re overwhelmed by choice.”
Spring/Summer ‘21 Trends
The spring/summer 2021 season provided a failsafe, timeless set of colours and styles that offered up something refreshing, but were executed in a more reserved manner than we might normally see at that time of the year.
3 Colour Juxtapositions to Consider
Always try to have one colour that underpins two brighter ones. Ginnie recommended three different combinations.
Bottle green, pink, and camel: “It’s just a failsafe way to think ‘Am I overdoing it or have I got it just about right?’”
Blue, yellow, and grey: “It’s about understanding how colours can work together, and therefore you can access colour if you find it a little intimidating or too shouty.”
Camel, cobalt blue, and burgundy: Be creative mixing things. “It might be a blue beanie hat, a burgundy jacket, and a camel trouser, or shoe. There are ways of re-looking at your wardrobe and you can start pinning different pieces together.”
Conscious Consumption
Ginnie recommends we shop in a more considered way. She has three key questions we should ask before making a purchase: “Do you know what the fabric composition is of what you’re wearing? Do you already own the item you’re going to buy? What will you do with the item that this one will replace?”
Investment Dressing
Ginnie recommends two key pieces for investment dressing that are incredibly versatile. Choose a formal dress, that works when you’re going out for dinner, works with a great boot in the winter, yet can also be worn with lighter shoes in the summer.
Loafers are also a key item and a great alternative for those who don’t like ballet pumps. It’s a shoe “that goes with dresses but isn’t too heavy with dresses, that goes with work, that goes with trousers, that takes you to dinner, that could take you to brunch with friends, or that you could walk to a meeting in.”
One item that every suits every person over 20
Ginnie loves a sleeveless jacket or waistcoat. “It’s such a game changer. It’s so flattering. If you want to appear taller, it’s going to elongate the line that your onlookers see. You can buy them at different lengths – some might stop just below the bottom, some might go straight down to the ground. It’s a very sharp look that can be belted, which I think is always helpful. If you have a big bust, or you’re aware of your size, again it’s going to create that two panel effect going down the body. Optically it works as elongating and slimming. It’s tailoring without having to wear a full suit.”
What does VCH Style love right now?
Ginnie shared seven brands that VCH Style loves: Khaite, AllBirds, Sea NY, Eskandar, Bamford, Colorful Standard, and John Lewis.
One to watch
Ginnie closed her talk with her recommendation for the designer she thinks we should all be watching: Chloe’s creative director Gabriela Hearst. She explained: “Her whole outlook is on sustainable fashion – and I don’t just mean it in the ‘they’re going to use better fabrics’ way, she’s really looking at every single element of the supply chain, in terms of transparency, in terms of offsetting carbon emissions – not in a nebulous way, she really means business.”