Hits and Misses

Chicago, like every great city, is diverse. And with that diversity comes a diversity of styles. Sometimes this combination of influences is successful, and sometimes it's not. Here are the style hits and misses I spotted in my week in the city:

Hits:
1. Green Girl: A gorgeous African-American girl who really knew how to play up her beautiful skin coloring. She wore a green dress with a wide navy belt, green thong sandals (not exactly the same shade, so it worked!) and metallic olive green polish on her toes. Somehow, it all worked! She looked perfect, cool, and effortless.
2. My friend Trevian: Trevian owns G'bani, a funky-hip boutique on Chicago's posh Oak Street, and she has incredible style. When we stopped by a couple of days ago, she was wearing a purple and cream striped fitted sweater that laced up on the sides, and purple peep-toe pumps. Her hair was pulled back under a fabulous little hat. Flawless.
3. Tall Blonde Girl: Okay, I know this is an obvious choice, but I saw a girl at our hotel who glided out the door. She seemed virtually weightless on her feet, like she was a dancer. She wore a beautiful short gauzy dress that was subtly dotted with sequins, beautiful flats, and long straight simple hair. Her face seemed makeup-less and simple and perfect.

Misses:
Black Lipstick Girl: We've all seen them, and somehow they never get the memo that the rest of us received years ago. These are the dark-lipliner girls. This case was extreme. She was working at a coffee shop that I frequented, and every time I went in she was wearing the same harsh look: Vamp-dark lipstick rimmed in heavy black uneven lipliner. Scary!
Extreme Nails Girl: There were a few of these, but the one I remember most had super-long, menacing nails painted in a metallic coppery color. Yikes!
Black Bra Girl: This otherwise cute and stylish girl made one grave mistake when getting dressed. She forgot to look in the mirror. The result? Disaster. She wore one of those super-thin tee shirts, in pale pink, with a black bra underneath. Not only was the bra completely visible beneath the shirt (these were meant to be layered!), but both the bra and the shirt were too tight, producing unappealing bra bulges on her back, even though she was thin. Tragic!