Today’s guest on my Chic Files series is Christel, author of the blog Captivated by Image. Christel is one of my blogger friends and visiting her wonderful blog has become part of my daily routine. When I invited her to be part of this feature she confessed she was a little surprised of my asking her, because I had hardly seen an outfit photo of her. That was true. But it is also true that following her beautiful posts day after day, fashion, interior design and photography alike, is all it takes to discover her impeccable taste. Welcome, Christel!
{Zara skirt, H&M top}
How would you describe your style? Overall I’d say my style is versatile and classic with a modern approach. Things shouldn’t be too edgy or rough. I love feminine clothes. Finding basics that are twisted with a beautiful detail like lace, buttons, a sheer part, a puffed shoulder or scalloped edges makes me very happy.
Who are your style models? I don’t have any specific style models. Whenever an outfit is worn the right way I can really appreciate that and sometimes draw inspiration from it. I can name a couple of women that I find to have impeccable style nowadays, like Diane Kruger, Giovanna Battaglia and Olivia Palermo.
Your signature day outfit: a chino pant, brogues or heels, a basic top or jumper, a scarf and probably a vest or blazer.
Your signature evening outfit: a dress or full skirt and high heels.
Is there an item you don’t leave the house without? A scarf.
Your favorite wardrobe item: my dark camel winter coat.
5 items a woman should have in her closet: pumps, dark pants, jeans, a knee length dress and a blazer.
What is the most underrated piece in a woman’s wardrobe that should
deserve more attention? In my opinion it’s not one item, it’s the wardrobe of women above 50 in general. Dressing according to age is so hard for that target group, either they dress too young or too old, because that’s what they can choose from mostly. Form fitting clothes are a problem as well.
{Mango dress, H&M knit, vintage scarf from my mother}
Can you choose from these?
Flats or heels? Both. In reality flats are more practical, so I wear those more often than heels, but I love wearing the latter more.
Shoes or bags? I have more shoes, but that doesn’t mean I love bags any less.
The 20s, the 30s or…what is your favourite fashion decade? The 50’s. I love the sweeping, full skirts and the fitted waist, gloves and pearls. The ultimate feminine look.
Neutrals, pop of colour or colour blocking? Neutrals and a pop of color.
Stripes, polka dots or florals? Mostly florals.
Above the knee, knee-length or mid-calf? Knee-length.
Audrey or Marilyn? Audrey.
The LBD or other colour? I love color, so I instead of plain black I think I’d rather wear a colored one. Or a black one with, for example, cream appliques or a beautiful print. For summer I’d choose a nude or white dress and in winter a chic dark red, dark blue or olive green one.
Paris or Milan? Paris.
Hermès Birkin or Chanel 2.55? Definitely the Birkin. It’s classic, chic and simple features are so timeless.
Your own piece of advice on style. Wear fashion that fits your personality and body type and do so elegantly. Spend time finding out what fits you best, in which you feel comfortable and don’t be satisfied too quickly. Try to invest in a few beautiful basics that you can vary with anything. I’d also want to add: don’t play safe and dare to wear color every now and then.
{Laundry Industry coat, Fred de la Bretonniere bag, Paul Noyen boots}
Thank you, Christel. It was a pleasure to feature you.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend!
Good morning, ladies! Hello, Christel! So nice to see you here. Beautiful photos and such smart advice. You are both so inspiring. My life is not so stylish right now with a lot of travel and lugging all my camera gear. But you help me dream! xo – g
Lovely feature Ada. I agree with the Birkin, at the knee, Audrey and mostly flats! Hope you’re having a great day. Helenxx
She is so beautiful! I’ve only recently discovered her blog, but I loved it as soon as I saw the first post. Wonderful interview! xxx
I so enjoyed Christel’s answers and I love the last photo, such an elegant look.
Have a wonderful weekend Ada 😉
She’s so interesting, love her way of looking at fashion. And her coat and bag in the last picture are amazing! xoxo
What a lovely interview! Have a beautiful end of the week, Kellie xx
What a wonderful interview and such a stylish beautiful girl – have a very good weekend Ada xx
http://fashionandfrank.blogspot.com/
So lovely to see Christel here today! I always love visiting her beautiful blog and her style is impeccable! xx
So happy to see Christel featured on your blog! And the pictures are lovely: I really like her casual & chic style, and I really hope we are going to see more outfit posts on her blog! Ada, actually I have to thank you because thanks to your blog I added Captivated by Image amongst my daily readings…I wish you a great w-e!
Thank you dear Ada for the feature and your sweet words and for forcing me to think about my personal fashion style, it was a pleasure!
I hope you’ll have a great weekend with lots of Spring signs;)
Beautiful pics and definitely a very stylish blogger;)
It was absolutely nice to read the interview!
Xx
Alexandra
http://www.fashion-bridge.blogspot.com
Christel’s blog is also one of my daily reads. She is lovely and so is her sense of style. I enjoyed this feature. Thanks Ada! Enjoy your weekend!
Love getting to see Cristel and read more about her wonderful style! Hope you have a wonderful weekend Ada!
xo Mary Jo
Great interview, was really interesting to read!
http://styleservings.blogspot.com/
love this! christel is so beautiful and love her sense of style!! bravo xoxo
fantastic write up….
her scarf is beautiful…
have a lovely weekend.
xo,
katie
I heart christel, she has got such amazing style!! Love learning a little bit about her, thanks for featuring!
I love the patchwork of magazines on her coffee table.
Andrea x
I very much enjoy these series of chic files, Ada! Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for your beautiful guest post :*!
wonderful to see Christel on your blog, Ada! I enjoyed the questions, the answers, the photos…especially the last one. Happy weekend and a big hug
One of my favorite bloggers—so lovely to see her featured! Great interview, and so nice to see pictures of this lovely lady—I adore the last image most especially
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