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Best Dressed List Style Profiles: Betsy Lowther

January 6, 2010 by Ryma Chikhoune

Fashion writer and Fashion is Spinach blogger Betsy Lowther has the kind of garment racks that you’d be so happy and willing to raid. This Best Dressed List:DC finalist has some great vintage/thrift shop finds and a fantastic assortment of hats. Take a peek…

all photos: Shauna Alexander

BYT: When did you start blogging?

Betsy Lowther: Originally, about 10 years ago. I think I started my first blog in the year 2000. Back before anyone knew what a blog was…I don’t even think Blogger existed then. We used a different platform.  The fashion blog, in particular, started almost four years ago.

BYT: How old were you then?

BL: I was 23. So, now I’m 32.

BYT: What made you want to start?

BL: Originally, I had a couple of friends who were in the forefront. And they were into it and they shared things they thought were cool. I’ve always had a blog in some form. For a while, it was just things I did throughout my day.  Then, it morphed into more photoblogging when I moved to China.  I went to China in late 2003.  From there, for a while, I was really getting into fashion. I was a fashion reporter by day…that’s what I did. I was reporting on fashion across Asia.

But a lot of the things that I did were about the business side of the fashion industry or the marketing side or strategies and things like that. My editors here were less interested in those awesome little boutiques of designers who didn’t make an impact on things, like, in America. Occasionally, I would do a great travel story where I would get to highlight some of those. But, it would only be once in a while. So, I kind of wanted to start the blog to write about things that I thought were really cool or very inspiring.

BYT: What does having style mean to you?

BL: That’s a good question. To me what is most important is finding a look that you’re really comfortable with and that reflects you. And that can change, day by day.  I don’t really subscribe to the idea that you have one singular look and that’s what you should wear all the time…and you can’t deviate from that. Some days, I will wear a hot pink vintage dress with a big poofy skirt and, you know, a fun, little clutch purse. And other days, I will wear, you know, a kind of funky, little, leather vest with skintight jeans and over-the-knee boots. It just really depends on my mood.

I think a lot of people see fashion as either a label or a way they are supposed to look as oppose to a way they feel really comfortable…People talk a lot about style being a lot about confidence, and I think that’s very true. You can see someone wearing a $2000 dress, but if they feel uncomfortable in it…if it doesn’t quite fit them…maybe they feel…I don’t know….out of sorts…then the dress looks awful.

BYT: What is reflecting your style today?

BL: This very second? I mean…I don’t know.

BYT: Why did you choose to wear this dress?

BL: Well, usually, what’s newest in my closet is what’s most exciting to me at that moment. So, this is a pretty new dress, and I haven’t had the chance to wear it much. I wanted to give you something I hadn’t been photographed in before….

I used to be a freelance writer…I spent a lot of time sitting around in my pajamas. After a while, I kind of realized that if you sit around in pajamas all day, you start to feel like a little bit of a slob, so I always tried to make an effort after a while….to take a shower, put on something nice, even if it was just a little sundress to go walk around the neighborhood, so I felt like a real person…

People often ask me where I shop. And because I sort of write about fashion for a living, I am constantly shopping. Everything I own comes from somewhere different. And I can usually remember where I got almost everything. [The dress I have on] is actually from a consignment shop. It’s Rachel Roy, who is a designer I love and cannot really afford at full price.  I came across it in a consignment shop.

BYT: In D.C.?

BL: Yeah…Julep. The nice thing about D.C. is that I think that sometimes people buy really interesting pieces, because they see them and are attracted to them, but don’t wear them and end up taking them to consignment…D.C. gets a bad [reputation] for not being stylish. You know, sometimes I think that’s true. But even people who aren’t daring themselves seem to really appreciate that other people are.

Often, even when I don’t think I’m wearing anything super exciting, people will stop me in the street and compliment my shoes or my coat or my dress and it’s really nice to hear and makes me feel good, but it’s also a good reminder that people do, even if they’re not wearing something unusual themselves, appreciate that other people are.

BYT: Do you have a favorite place to shop in the city?

BL: It depends.

BYT: What about for vintage?

BL: For vintage, although I will stop by place like Remix on Capitol Hill, I’m a big thriftier. I’d rather go and find it myself for $5 than go to a vintage stop and pay, you know, more….it’s also part of the hunt. If I had a recommendation, the Maryland side is generally much better for thrifting. I love Value Village….when you find that thing like a Dior skirt for $5, which I have, that is so much more fun than going to the store and finding it for $200, you know. I’m a big bargain shopper overall.

BYT: I’m curious…how did you dress back in high school?

BL: I did not dress stylishly at all. At least not by my standards today. I grew up in Delaware, in a pretty small community. I went to a prep school, and we didn’t have uniforms, but everyone wore Gap, J.Crew…When you’re young, trying to find your place, you sort of go with the crowd. Being different wasn’t rewarded…but I did love reading things like Sassy magazine, which I thought was phenomenal. It was all about being different. I really respected it, but never really thought I could be that way.

I think I really started to get into fashion when I went to college. Then, when I graduated from college, I went to New York and worked at magazines there for several years and was just introduced to this whole world of fashion….everything from Prada to the flea market, which I had never really been to or shopped at before.

BYT: Do you read a lot about fashion?

BL: I do. I have an ongoing vintage library. At any given point, I’m reading about 10 books. I read a lot about fashion…designers or autobiographies about people in the industry….I probably get every single fashion magazine…My favorite is Vogue.

BYT: Will you continue to blog?

BL: Yeah, you know, blogging takes up a lot of time. My blog is very personal and just about me and what’s appealing to me. I think if I ever gave it up…and the only reason I would, would be because of time…I would miss it within about three or four days.

Check out these other style profiles, nominate your favorites and come back for more.

Holly Thomas
Eric Brewer
Jade Floyd
U.S. Royalty
Carole Greenwood

and make sure to get tickets for our Best Dressed List Awards CRUISIN’ party on the Potomac, February 11th

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