How to make casual look chic
Jeny Howorth (Photo by Darren Gerrish/Getty Images)
Sometimes you just spot someone who nails it. Their style just feels so effortless, and so right for them (and possibly for you; but not in a Single White Female way). That was the case at the Bella Freud perfume launch, last week, where this amazing woman caught my eye. Her low-key, relaxed approach is quite a simple formula – and one that’s right up my alley. I couldn’t help but glance over at her, repeatedly. She looked elegant and confident and casually chic; in her, cropped jeans, tunic top, patterned scarf and suede mules. It was only afterwards that I found out that it was Jeny Howorth, the 1980s model. Famous for her blonde crop and gamine looks, Howorth often appeared on the cover of Elle and iD magazines. Do you remember her?
Wearing Claude Montana
Who’s inspiring you at the moment?
Note the cross body bag. And now for some more casual chic:
Discussion (45 Comments)
Heidi K. says:
I remember her. At this age, she looks still beautiful and also very genuine. Comfortable in her clothes, comfortable in her own skin.
Oh my goodness just love this post proving fashion can be as effortless as you please.
Remember all the faces to grace the glossy covers what a lovely throwback and she looks stylish regardless of age.Little Brown Bird says:
I had a crop like that! So eighties! Love her style; just looks effortlessly pulled together.
I’m on the hunt for a couple of cross body bags at the moment, so many good ones to choose from at every price point
Jane Amies says:
Oh I remember her very well indeed! And yes she does look great and real and that is my kind of dressing………..
YES!!!! Perfection that doesn’t shout but makes you look twice. And what was compelling in that younger face (the depth of the gaze from those beautiful eyes) is even more so now. Love the emerging wrinkles, a face that can tell a few stories. . .
Mumbai says:
From a certain age you should know who you are, what to wear ……Though no role model because me it’s 100% me and that doesn’t
mean that I spot other chic women.maudie says:
How right you are, Alyson – she has NAILED it! So confidently casual better than any trussed up look anyday.
Gretchen says:
This. The whole thing. Exactly my style….such an ageless, timeless, ideally comfortable élan.
Hilary says:
I do remember her. It’s lovely to see those covers again – I don’t think they have dated at all. Her clothes now do look great. I’m starting to realise I actually look better when I stay more casual (more me?) then when I dress up.
I don’t want anyone to take this the wrong way but I did think she looks a little like Fergie now.Dee says:
Jeans to a perfume launch? Really? Sorry, not appropriate and just not a good look. She looks sloppy and too casual. Sorry, this one’s just not working for me. Much more stylish ways to dress up casual than this one, which misses the mark.
Janice says:
Love that look. From Downunder, I’d call it the “Nina Proudman” look from the tv show Offspring
Linda says:
She looks fabulous, but I’m afraid that I’m with Dee. This outfit seems best for mucking about at Field Day or doing the week’s shopping, not attending any sort of event honoring anything or anyone. For me, appropriateness is respectful and that’s inseparable from stylishness.
Janice says:
Perhaps it’s because I live in the San Francisco Bay area, and everyone dresses almost exactly like that all the time, I’m not so excited by her clothes. Far more impressed with the casual looks you pull together, Alyson. However, her face is gorgeous and she does look comfortable in her skin. I do know what you mean, though. Once (during a very uptight time in my life) I saw a woman dropping someone off in a rush at the airport. She jumped out of her car in a brown leather bomber jacket, light denim jeans, and a messy ponytail, and I couldn’t stop staring as she helped them unload their bags out of her trunk. She was just who I wanted to be in the world at that time. It was probably 15 years ago, and I’ve never forgotten how it made me feel.
Very nice and so simply , your shoes are doing impression. 🙂
Rach with an E says:
What’s wrong with jeans at a perfume launch? It’s just perfume , after all. I had a crush on Jeny in her cropped blonde model days. She still looks like herself, not a Botoxed version. Good for her.
Dottie says:
She is beautiful and reminds me of Stella Tennant- another favorite of mine.
I’m 62 and have been wearing a cropped hair style for 2 years now & love it- will never go back.Betty Frazier says:
She is still beautiful..I would like to see her in this same outfit minus scarf and a shorter hair cut. Plus dangling earrings.
Clara says:
Her model experience really shows, it’s a stylish outfit but her posture and poise takes it to that next level to which we all
aspire. Love.that JH removed her glasses for the photo, don’t we all?
The one thing that surprises me, is the sun damage, as an Australian of similar vintage, sun protection was already on the agenda, but incidental sun damage is our lot.Mandajrt says:
Oh yes, I remember Jeny Howorth well. And in terms of who is inspiring me now? I love Thelma Speirs.
ong yes I do, confidence that comes with age is and being happy in your own skin is where real beauty comes from!
bestDiane says:
Absolutely remember her from the 80s. Gorgeous then, gorgeous now. Have always thought Agyness Deyn was something of latter day Jeny Howorth.
She actually looks more beautiful now. She had me at that angular face of hers–and the fact that she hasn’t had fillers makes her more stunning. You know, sometimes you just see someone and they ooze of style. I mean, look at her ensemble. It isn’t “perfect’ but it is just so freakin’ chic with fuss and all that shit. This is the style I love. Had I seen her in public, I would have snapped a pic too!
She is THAT woman that makes you think about how to put those casual clothes together to make them just look imperfectly perfect! I am filled with love over this ensemble and believe me, I dig love!Wilson says:
Lovely lady. I like mules too. I found that I can slide a light insole in a mule- so much better than clunky, orthotic shoes. Now there’s a shoe industry in need of a makeover! My favorite cool girl / girl crush, whatever, on the NY Fashion Week blogs last week, was simply dressed too- in casual top, skinny jeans and fabulous Manolo Blahnik ballet slipper mules! (pointy toe, big floppy bow ) I like Jeny’s neutral mules too.
Susan says:
My favorite icon is Ines de La Fressange. She always looks effortlessly chic. French chic. She seems to know what looks goog on her body. She also knows how to put together an outfit, from head to toe. If you look at photos of her online, you can see for yourself how beautifully groomed this woman is. Susan
Rochelle says:
In my next life, I’m going to be 6 feet tall with long skinny legs, a long neck and big blue eyes. Then, like lucky Jeny, ANYTHING will look good on me.
Jane Dalea-Kahn says:
Gorgeous then and now. Great to see women who look so natural and confident with who they are. Touche!
Cassie says:
What a beautiful bag Jeny wears! It is the “SAC .5 a crossbody” by AGNESBADDOO! I am obsessed with all her bags. Beautiful, LA made, leather bags!! Website is agnesbaddoo.com
I LOVE Jeny’s Agnes Baddoo Sac .5 cross body bag http://www.agnesbaddoo.com/product/sac-1-5-a-crossbody-black-buffalo
SFord says:
I also had a ‘stop and stare’ moment at a stranger. Walking around a north Cornish quayside on a summer evening with her (I assume) partner/husband and older teenage children. She had a ‘grown out crop’ hairstyle, ankle skimmer jeans, a Breton top, converse and a scarf. I would guess aged late 40’s/early 50’s and looked amazing
Why not jeans? – she looks totally comfortable with herself and her surroundings. All I would have preferred is some Big ‘F’ off earrings dangling around!
Juliette says:
I had a total crush on Jeny Howarth in my teens, and love how she looks now – the French call it ‘bien dans sa peau’. Her mules are from Zara TRF if I’m not mistaken, still available in a Size 6 on the UK website, they also come in black: http://www.zara.com/uk/en/trf/shoes/flat-leather-shoes-c269216p3710056.html
Thank you for your blog Alyson and for keeping us on our style toes!Mamacita says:
I don’t know exactly who she is, but she is the spitting image of Deborah Cavendish (Duchess of Devonshire). Another commenter had her pegged for Stella Tennant, the Duchess’ granddaughter. It’s uncanny.
Caroline 
Sweet Sue 
Jane 
Susan 
Robyn 
jackie 
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I adore her short hairstyle. I wonder how she would look now with a crop. She is still stunning