Great Style Profile: Sarah Bancroft

What defines great style in Vancouver and beyond? This is the primary question that led AIV to contact great style thinkers and trendspotters who could respond to just such a question. Over the next few months look forward to this series under the heading Great Style Profile with interesting personalities working in fashion, publishing, journalism, literature, arts and culture.

Sarah Bancroft is the co-founder and editor-in-chief Daily Dose Media which publishes vitaminv.ca, a daily style supplement about Vancouver, now with editions in Toronto and Montreal. She was the Western Editor of FASHION Magazine for 6 years, Associate Editor of Vancouver magazine, and started her career as a fashion buyer for Aritzia.

Many people use the terms fashion and style interchangeably. Is there a difference between fashion and style?

Sarah Bancroft: I find the people who are most into fashion are the least fashionable. They follow trends too religiously. People with true style wear what they want and are so good at picking up cultural cues from their travel, the books they read, film, art and their other interests, that they end up looking the most forward and unique and trend-setting. It sounds cliché but style is innate and fashion can be learned.

What is great style?

SB: It’s a fallacy that people who have a lot of clothes, shoes, jeans, handbags, etc are the most fashionable. It’s actually the opposite. The truly stylish person has few clothes but they are beautiful and fit her properly. Stylish people buy three of the same perfect black sweater, while “fashionistas” will buy 30 things a season.

Who are your great style icons?

SB: French women in general are great at understated, easy elegance. They had the whole rich-hippie vibe nailed well before the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson. Think of Charlotte Gainsbourg, Carla Bruni, Vanessa Paradis and Emmanuelle Beart as the new generation of Gallic style icons.













Bancroft's Photo Caption: Vanessa Paradis, the French chanteuse, wears vintege-y, chanel-type looks without looking too costume-y, or she might show up in a peasant dress, you never know. It also doesn’t hurt that she has the best fashion accessory a girl could have: Johnny Depp.

What is great style in Vancouver?

SB: The best thing about Vancouver is how easy it is to be stylish. Walk into an art opening in a gorgeous painted floral maxi-dress and Grecian flats and you can pretty much guarantee you’ll be the only one there in anything similar. And everyone will go nuts for it. It’s fun to take risks because you’ll be amply rewarded.

Paris: Skinny Jeans

Noticed: Skinny jeans were made for the figures of French women full-stop. While these unmentionables are on their way out for a more forgiving, wider pant leg, the skinny jean persists in France. And, why not? They look simply perfect on the majority of the figures of young women here. I also love this girl's haircut. A great of example of how to wear blunt bangs well.

So how is a section dedicated to Paris street photographs about Vancouver? Well, easy answer is not much, except that understanding how fashion and style operate in other cities sharpens ones awareness. So what defines French style from a Vancouver girl's point of view?

1. Ritual grooming (Truly, I suspect they even iron their jeans).

2. A daring use of bold colour in unexpected places...such as socks, glasses, scarves.

3. Pulled together outfits that appear effortless.

4. One has the sense the people are drawing on traditions about style, passed on from generation-to-generation.

5. A great eye for detail.

6. 101 ways to tie a scarf and a scarf for all seasons.

7. The best approach to cutting bangs. I never thought it possible for someone with fine hair to have bangs. A Parisian hairdresser named Isabelle at Des Hair A La Mode (90 rue des martyrs, Paris) just proved me wrong.

8. An ability to balance oneself in nine-inch heels on wet, cobblestone streets.

Paris: Tall Boots

Noticed: Women with boots above the knee, with laces at the back.

Paris: Fur and Cell Phone

Paris: Bubble Skirt

Noticed: Fur trimmed jean jackets.

Classic Vancouver

Who: Dawne
What: I'm a fan of her French inspired black and white stripped shirt. A great bag.

Where: Downtown Vancouver

Déjà Vu

Who: Karine, Designer

What: We knew Karine was familliar...she made our top ten best dressed list at FUSE in October. Here she is again with the same hits of yellow felted fabric found in her scarf, hat and bracelet, all her own designs.

Where: Portobello West Market

All Zippers

What: The ruffle bag with zipper trim is fabulous on her. It's shocking to me that some people are able to pull off the skinny jeans so well. I like the little touches in this ensemble, the lace stockings, the peacoat buttons that only go part way.

The Green Harrods Bag

Who: Emi
What: I first noticed her boots, her white coat and then the bag. Why don’t our department stores create more stylin’ shopping bags?

Miss Match

Who: Makoto
What: I love how she mixes a sporty knit toque with a chic dress, coat and boots.

Hand-Me-Downs

Who: Amy
What: One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure. The woolen scarf is a hand-me-down from her sister’s closet. It stood out because of its unusually long, almost unraveling threads.

One Bold Piece

Who: Veronica

What: A red kettle purse, given to her by a friend, really stands out against all black. Great haircut. I like how her bangs go up on the sides, rather than being straight and blunt across.