‘Hill Billy’ Chic?
A recent visit to the charity shop has revealed a possible new trend..so what do I spy with my ‘fashion eye’? Well Stephanie resplendent in a straw hat ‘suitably distressed’, yes the look is what I would describe as quite definitely ‘Hill Billy’. This is not a look that crops up in fashion very often but well if you look around you will find traces of this style ‘undesirable’ as it may seem..Steph’s hat made me think of the straw hats at the Viktor & Rolf’s S/S 15 show, now these are mightily exaggerated, they are huge, though they may be an artistic expression they are not very ‘practical’ unlike Steph’s look which is much more attainable. Pictured below are 2 versions I found on the High St, one at Peacock’s, the other at a ‘smaller boutique’ & several more in 2 charity shops, so not too hard to find. Her flowered dress also fits in with the Viktor & Rolf show where floral dresses also featured but again, much more elaborate in silhouette & style…Steph’s is a much more watered down & wearable version, very safe actually (I suppose we can’t have everything can we?)
Image screenshot from dezeen.com
So I was interested to find that Viktor & Rolf’s inspiration for this collection was the paintings of Vincent van Gogh, which makes perfect sense in how they are depicted, ‘rustic earthy & very very bold’. So it’s almost ‘comforting & reassuring’ that Steph’s new look ‘Hill Billy chic’ can be traced back to such a poignant part of art history….well I may be the one ‘exaggerating’ here, but everything comes from somewhere & that includes Hillbilly’s! I think the resurgence of the ‘nouveau pauvre’ look from a long while back maybe rearing its head…& I’m please to say that Steph is ‘spearheading’ this look on a ‘local’ level…I mean it’s a look that anyone can join in with…if you’re rich you can spend lots of money looking ‘authentically’ poor & if you’re rather ‘cash strapped’ well it doesn’t matter because the beauty of this look really is ‘less is more’ if you see what I mean…
I returned to the charity shop a couple of days later to find an addition of a gold woven shoulder bag which really worked as this ‘mixed’ things up very nicely indeed, the ‘rich gold’ of the bag contrasting with the pared back ‘poor’ look of the hat, & with the price tag stuck on the bag fastening I was most impressed! (Could that also ‘catch on’??) Yes a really ‘beautiful’ touch & the price? £1.50 – about the same as a bag of potatoes.. now that got me thinking.... van Gogh would be possibly painting the potato..cake..or waffle…eaters now…hmm that’s a rather ‘disconcerting’ yet amusing thought…
Image screenshot on dazeddigital.com