The Style Issue

Style is meant to be elusive. There's no dictionary definition, no laundry list of elements that make one person have style and another completely lack it. Style, though it may borrow from moments in the past, is about the present, about a "now" look that's fed to us equally from those who dictate haute couture and those who strive to defy the mainstream. What style usually isn't, or at least isn't presented as, is real. Practical, even. So this year at CP we're mixing a little of the fantasy of style with a healthy dose of reality.

No matter what the current trends are, there are always those clothes and accessories defined as "basics." So we started with the basics (very basic, in fact, as our in-the-buff cover photo can attest). We put two stores that claim to offer cheap but trendy basics, Target and the new-to-our-area H&M, to the test. Read about City Paper's day at the mall and see which store comes out on top on page 22. Then check out Christina M. Felice's photos of Rachel and Nawi, our brave models, on pages 23-26.

To complete your look, A.D. Amorosi examines makeup maven and fashion photographer Francois Nars' latest work on page 27.

If fantasy is more your bag, join Meredith Broussard as she gleefully leaps off the deep end to create a file from the Fashion Police, Philly style. Find out who gets cited on page 28.

Style may be elusive, but we went after it with the same vigor as when we search for a good bargain, to bring you some insight for your forays into the wilds of fashion.

Happy Hunting.

Photo by Christina M. Felice. Nawi wears a tank top, $9, jacket, $25, and sunglasses, $4.50, from H&M.

On the cover: Nawi, Rachel, the City Paper elevator and an oh-so-carefully-placed umbrella, $4.50 at H&M. Photo by Christina M. Felice. Hair by Lisa Russell, makeup by Christina Wills.

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