Who/What/Wear: Charlottesville Street Style

I stopped BREE outside her workplace, Low Vintage, because her ’70s-inflected ensemble seemed too groovy to be true. Every piece, from head to boot, is Low Vintage. Bree looks to her older sister and nature for inspiration when getting dressed and finds that working with flowers at her second job (at Hedge Fine Blooms) helps hone her eye for shape and color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ran into PATRICK as he was headed home from work at New Dominion Bookshop one afternoon. The vegetable gardener and co-founder of Cville Foodscapes also practices screenprinting on the side and has had his work exhibited at local galleries The Garage and The Shuckster. Patrick’s utilitarian flannel cleverly camouflages the shirt and tie required for work and lends credence to his proclaimed inspiration, Oliver Twist. Patrick’s jeans are Levi’s, his tie was purchased on Etsy and his 1920s-era frames were picked up at Fabulous Fannies in Manhattan, “The place to go for vintage frames.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I came across ELEANOR on Fourth Street as she was strolling the Downtown Mall with her younger sister. A Charlottesville High School sophomore, Eleanor draws inspiration from British style icon Alexa Chung, whose collections for Madewell she loves, and the work of designer Marc Jacobs. “I get a lot of my stuff from secondhand shops and the Goodwill,” said Eleanor, an avid painter who notes that, “My colors in my art and my colors in my clothes are really similar.” Her menswear-inspired outfit features a secondhand Ralph Lauren shirt, combat boots by Steve Madden, an upturned Etienne Aigner belt and a piece of vintage lace used as a hair tie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spotted EILEEN as she was headed into her studio at the McGuffey Art Center. The Banana Republic merchandiser is completely decked out in the brand, which she relies on to keep her look current. The one aspect of her wardrobe Eileen feels in total control of
is color—as a lifelong painter, it is Eileen’s trained eye that allows her to mix bold
brights so effortlessly. The local artist credits attending high school in London as her “fashion beginning.” “Skirts were so short when we got there!”