I was clued into Chadwicks many years ago by a collegue at work. She always wore the best work basics, nothing fancy but clean lined and well fitting. When I asked her wear she got her clothes, she told me Chadwicks. I checked them out and even brought a couple of things from them over the years. And as my butt got bigger, I started checking out their plus size sister, Jessica London.
But over the years, the style of clothes at Chadwicks, well frankly, got worse and worse. They seemed to be stuck in a 70's time warp of long jackets and one too many fluorescent colors!
(Sister Jess, by the way, is STILL suffering from that! Riddle me this - why is that so many purveyors of plus size dressing are firmly convinced that plus-size women want to dress as a sherbet cup? : - / )
Well recently, the word on the street (Well at least from one of my shopping goddesses, The Budget Fashionista in this post Cheap Chic: Chadwicks Town and Country Tote
) is that Chadwicks is finally going to get back in the fashion game by getting some real designing talent to start creating their clothes. I admit, however, that, great source not withstanding, I was sceptical.
Well it appears that Chadwicks really is trying to get back in the game. A look at their latest catalog (yes, I'm still on the mailing list - hope springs eternal!) does show a change of offerings for the better!
A few of my favs:
Dresses:
I love the bold print and the modern, simple lines of this dress!
I'm not a huge fan of crepe and, yes it's polyester - but I like the sleeves, the color and the unusual pleating detail - definitely worth a look!
If I still had my size 14 body - hell, my size 16 body! - this Chi-town girl would buy this dress in a New York minute! A couple of thick wooden bangles and just the right sandals - honey you could not talk to me! ; - )
And I'd pair it with the following jacket:
Or at least I'd try to - looking at it, there might be too much belt action going on for these two pieces to work together! But the jacket with a dark chocolate brown or black pencil or A-line linen skirt - growl!
And last, but not least...
One of the challenges that just about every woman faces as she gets older is the fact that the upper arms just don't always show themselves at their best in sleeveless clothes. I love the laser cut-out detail on the sleeve of this simple top - shows a bit of skin while giving some cover to the "jiggle" show:
Now don't get me wrong - Chadwicks has not totally given up their old ways by any means! But they are obviously in recovery - let's hope it continues!
Now if someone would just do an intervention over at Jessie L.'s!
3 comments:
Mid 90s I used to LOVE Chadwick's! I got great basics for my business casual job - tee shirts with a refined look and stretch, simple twill skirts, well-made cropped pants and trousers, cute simple dresses... then they turned into junk. This also has happened to Newport News and Spiegel and many other mail-order catalogs. Glad to hear they are sprucing up their look!
I hear you about the plus size. Either you dress like a sherbet cup or a cheap hooker. Why can't they just make plus size look like smaller sizes, just a bit bigger with a few modifications? It's not like you hit size 16 and suddenly lose all sense of style...
Amen, Ms. Allie, AMEN! ;-)
Nice selection..! Chadwicks is my favorite for appare shopping.
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