Term used in the United States c. 2005 for a "homeless" style, similar to boho-chic, that was initially popularised in Greenwich Village. Its main features were floppy hats, sunglasses and "dust-catcher" skirts. Bobochic was used in a similar sense.
Beach chic
"Beach chic" was the title of an article in 2006 by the Times fashion editor Lisa Armstrong about shopping for accessories to accompany a bikini. These included a "cover-up", flat sandals, a hat, a fake tan and - with the comforting footnote, "No, you will not look like a WAG " - denture cleaner to whiten finger-nails. The Sunday Times referred to the Moroccan resort of Essaouira as the "boho/barefoot-chic beach". See also Seaside chic.
"Casual chic" is a difficult term to define, but can perhaps best be described as "dressing down" in a stylish way. In 2007, the clothing retailer Marks & Spencer suggested that some of the elements of "chic casual" were skinny jeans, "longline, clingy jerseys", "statement" bags and chunky jewellery, slouchy sweaters and hoodies with comfortable flats. Singer Victoria Beckham was identified as epitomising this style. Easy chic has similar connotations.
Chav chic
Checkout chic
Referring to fashion ranges promoted by major supermarkets: "Tesco has stepped up its 'checkout chic' war with Asda by launching a design-led range of clothes to tempt female shoppers". Cheap chic was used in a similar sense, though more in terms of the comparison between prices at supermarkets and those of leading fashion houses: "You can achieve this season's look just by visiting your local supermarket".
Used by the Sunday Times for fashionable trends among well-heeled "Sloane Rangers" in the Chelsea area of south west London.
Communist chic
Council house chic
"Council house chic" or chav chic referred to the fashions of working class "chavs" who shared Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall's taste for Burberry check. See also Camilla chic.
Cycle chic
To be well dressed and smart in everyday clothes whilst cycling for ordinary journeys.
Title of a "connoisseur's guide" by Gavin Baddeley to dark or Gothic culture. Among those associated with the "goth look" were the late 1970s punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees, American punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls, formed in 2000, and Betty Curse, described by The Times in 2006 as the "princess of Goth pop".
Heroin chic
was a look popularized in mid-1990s fashion and characterized by pale skin, dark circles underneath the eyes and angular bone structure. The look, characterised by emaciated features and androgyny, was a reaction against the healthy and vibrant look of models such as Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer. A 1996 article in The Los Angeles Times opened that the fashion industry had "a nihilistic vision of beauty" that was reflective of drug addiction, while U.S. News & World Report called the movement a "cynical trend".
Applied to the sort of "everyday" sense of style that might be spotted in any metropolitan or provincial setting; most likely to be associated with prevailing "shop window" fashions. In 2004 the Observer wrote of the singer Dido that "she drifts on stage dressed in high-street chic: faded denim and a tracksuit top, which she slips off to reveal a pink camisole vest". Samantha Cameron, wife of British Conservative Party leader and future Prime Minister David Cameron was described in 2006 as "spurn the designers... for high street chic".
Hippie chic
Broadly similar to boho-chic, the Hippie chic was associated in the mid-1990s with Tom Ford’s collections for the Italian house of Gucci and, indeed, various aspects of hippie fashion re-appeared periodically after the "Summer of Love" of 1967 when hippiedom and psychedelia were at their peak. Art-school chic had roughly similar connotations. Talitha Getty chic was applied by Hedley Freeman in the Guardian to the hippie style associated in the late 1960s with the actress wife of John Paul Getty. Talitha Getty is said to have inspired Ford's hippie-style creations.
Marzahn chic
Refers to the clothing style seen in some eastern and northern parts of Germany. It is composed of sweatpants or tracksuits, baseball caps and running shoes, commonly in bright colors like neon pink or yellow. The name originates from the locality Berlin-Marzahn where this style can frequently be seen. It also refers to the clothing style of Cindy aus Marzahn, a fictional character played by German comedian Ilka Bessin.
Military chic
Adoption of military gear such as camouflage patterned clothing, war medals, military insignia, surplus clothing or dog tag necklaces into fashion. The term and the similar soldier chic were widely applied c.2003-5, although in fact military apparel, such as the flight jackets worn by pilots during the Second World War, had frequently influenced fashion and paradoxically was often in vogue at times of anti-war feeling, such as in the late 1960s when protests against the Vietnam War were at their height : "One would have thought, given the unpopularity of armed forces activity in some quarters, that 'military chic' would not be, well, chic".
Nazi chic
is the incorporation of Nazi style clothing and culture, often used for shock value, as a form of rebellion against the status quo, although it is sometimes accompanied by a genuine sympathy for or adherence to the ideology of National Socialism.
Northern chic
Occasionally applied retrospectively to aspects of the musical and cultural boom generated by the rock group, the Beatles, and other artists such as Gerry & The Pacemakers and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas in 1962-4. "Northern" is a reference both to Northern England and Northern Songs, which published compositions by the Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Parisian chic
Frequently applied to anything stylish connected with the French capital Paris or to the style of French celebrities. Variants included "Left Bank" or "Right Bank" chic. Gainsbourg's mother, the British-born actress Jane Birkin, remarked that she would choose "English eccentricity over Parisian chic every time", adding, "chic you can learn - it's just a form of grooming". The term bon chic bon genre or BCBG was applied in the early 1980s to the French equivalent of British "Sloane Rangers", their typical "uniform" including a mackintosh, ballet shoes, trousers, a cashmere sweater, and accessories such as a "Birkin bag" and a Cartier Tank Française wrist-watch. To a large extent, it refers to upper-class, or upper-middle-class, young men and women who are well-bred, or appear so, with good bones, slim bodies, and a sophisticated, but restrained and elegant, sense of style. In the U.S., the Ralph Lauren sense of style would be the equivalent.
Porn chic
"Porn chic" was first applied to films such as Deep Throat and Emmanuelle which were commercially successful and thus tended to bring "soft" pornography into the mainstream. Subsequently, it has been used to refer more generally to pornography in popular culture.
Prairie chic
Flat caps and floral dresses or aprons over jeans.
Radical chic
First coined by journalist Tom Wolfe in 1970, radical chic has since entered broad usage as a derogatory term for the pretentious adoption of radical causes by celebrities, socialites, and high society.
Rich-girl chic
Said to be "oozed" by a New York socialite in Plum Sykes' The Debutante Divorcée.
Rock-girl chic
"Rock-girl chic" has meant different things during differing periods of music and fashion, but was often associated with a hippie image and was similar enough as a phrase to the slightly patronising "rock chick" to convey a sense of being a "groupie". This and similar terms, such as "boho-rock", were often applied to model Kate Moss, about whom Rebecca Ley from Times Online wrote that "Kate veers effortlessly between rock-girl chic and dripping-in-diamonds elegance". Moss's relationship in 2005–7 with Pete Doherty of the group Babyshambles tended to emphasise the tag.
Rural chic
Applied by the Sunday Times to a fashion collection designed and modelled by Savannah Miller, Cotswold-based sister of actress and 2000s "boho-queen" Sienna Miller, for the Hong Kong based label, Shanghai Tang.
Shabby chic
The deliberate use of worn and shabby materials in interior design or fashion. The effect of limewashing timber-framed buildings has been described as "shabby chic".
Soldier chic
Talitha Getty
Terrorist chic
Tropical Chic
Tropical and Beach themed home accents that are influenced by island styles and tropical designs. Tropical Chic style includes modern appointments, yet casual island style living.
Waif Chic
Characterized by crochet-knit tops, over-sized sweaters that hang loosely off a thin frame, flats, and circle-frame glasses that accentuate a doe-eyed appearance. Waif chic first came to prominence in Cambridge, MA and is a popular look among college students and young professionals in the area.
