July 2023 | The Village Journal | Elegance
Dearest Friends,
I have this funny habit (please tell me some of you do this, too!) where, when walking through the streets of my town I like to squint my eyes just a little bit and imagine what people these people in front of me would've looked like, say, 150 years ago. Suddenly, in my mind's eye, the streets are full of elegant women, smartly dressed men, and no one is staring at a phone! I do find it fun to trade a baseball cap for a boater or sweatpants for a lovely dress. Needless to say, I love imagining a new, elegant scene in front of me!
Is it actually my true desire that we go back to the fashions of 1870? No, not necessarily. Each era has its own styles and fashions that naturally evolve and change over time. That said, we have access to more styles/quantities of clothing than any era of history before, and this has not resulted in an increase of beauty and elegance, but a reduction of it.
Elegance used to be the norm and now is most certainly the exception. Give yourself permission to BE the exception - to wear the pretty dress you've been storing in the back of your closet or to hold fast to the manners that may seem outdated to some. Striving for elegance brings along with it a spark of beauty and joy. Do not underestimate the power of elegance in shaping and changing a culture for the better - let us wake up every day and renew this mission of beauty!
Warmly, Blair
Founder | The Village Green
“A truly elegant taste is generally accompanied by the excellence of heart.”-HENRY FIELDING
"She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron (1788-1824)
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!