Jennifer Alfano and Preston Davis, the founders of the increasingly popular
Keep it Chic blog, like to say they are two editors with 28 years of combined experience between them. And "editors" is the operative word here. What makes their blog so indispensible to so many is its authors' ability to synthesize daily pearls of pithy style wisdom down to no more than a few, easy-to-digest sentences. With close to 40,000 hits per month since Keep it Chic launched in February of last year, these former Vogue and Harper's Bazaar staffers, whose fashion industry friends are among their most ardent supporters, are definitely on to something. Here, Dana Linett-Silber, a regular contributor to The Inside Source, eBay’s digital style magazine, finds out how they do it.
: How did you come up with the name Keep it Chic?
Jennifer Alfano: When we were at Vogue, Anna Wintour used to always say, “keep it chic." And we thought that kind of summed up what we are trying to do—help create a lifestyle where every aspect can be chic.
TIS: Your posts are so short and sweet. How do you manage to keep from going on and on about something you love?
JA: I think things can get too long, and the women we speak to are so busy with work and their kids, so they need posts they can get something from quickly. Our goal is to do quick bites you can take with your morning coffee.
TIS: What sets you apart from all the other style blogs?
Preston Davis: I think one of the main differences is that most blogs for women are by younger women either someone who can’t find work or is still in college. They’re blogging before they have any experience. We’re coming at it from a different perspective. We’ve had careers; we are editors and so we’re able to be precise about what’s important to us. We have a very targeted, sweet spot audience. Jennifer and I don’t say here’s the look from the runway and here’s how to get it for less. Our readers are established, so we say here are the exact pieces and here’s the trunk show where you can buy them.
TIS: Do you stick to certain topics?
JA: We are definitely fashion and home/interior obsessed. We talk every day and we usually have more than we can actually run. We try to post every day, during the week but if we have more to say, I’ll put up twice in a day.
PD: I push for it to not be completely fashion centric. Jennifer is the fashion person. I’m more lifestyle. I want to do more on art, profiles of women we find interesting, style setters. I did three questions with Kate Betts and I think that is the essence of the site.
TIS: So you’re really into different things?
PD: We are the same demographic, but we have different takes on things, and that’s what makes it work. Together we appeal to a larger audience. We are both women living our lives, raising children, and at the end of the day if you can do it all and keep it somewhat chic, well, bravo! We both want to answer the question, “How do you keep it all together with a sense a sense of style?”
TIS: Is it hard to come up with something good every day?
JA: No, what we write about is really heartfelt and I think that’s why it works.
Jennifer Alfano tells us her current favorite eBay keywords include "Chanel 2.55 bag," "Hermes," "Celine" and "Derek Lam," while Preston Davis cites "Hermes trim," “Brunschwig & Fils” (specifically bird), “Cowtan & Tout” and “Pattern Paris Original” among her saved searches.
Meredith Barnett is the Editorial Director for The Inside Source, a digital style magazine presented by eBay. The Inside Source writer Dana Linett-Silber authored this article in its original form. Click here to read it in full.Photo: Courtesy of Caroline Cox