1 of 7
Sydney Page Lester wears a vintage leather skirt and Ferragamo kitten heels from Baggio Consignment.
2 of 7
Lester’s grandmother, who recently passed away, traveled extensively and passed down her collection of jewelry from around the world to Lester.
3 of 7
With a love for eclectic accessories, Lester has an extensive collection of vintage belt buckles, most of which she found at the Clothes Rack in The Fan.
4 of 7
Lester’s bookshelves are accented with secondhand tchotchkes like a globe from Yesterday’s Heroes, a Fan boutique that sells both new and used fashions and home décor.
5 of 7
Lester scored this vintage hand-knotted wool rug at Cannon’s Auctions and then took it downtown to Christian-Lorraine Oriental Rugs for cleaning and repairs.
6 of 7
A vintage Sears Silvertone radio from Muse.Me Décor accessorizes a bookshelf in the music room, which also is home to Andrew’s electric guitars and amps.
7 of 7
Lester prefers clutches to purses, and her collection is thrifted from local shops. Her favorite is a green leather pouch with silver studs.
Fashionista Sydney Lester's penchant for secondhand items started in her closet and eventually found its way into the other rooms of her home, a 1950s ranch in Forest Hill.
Her cozy abode, which she shares with three cats and her husband, Andrew, is tidy and minimal, with an eclectic array of furnishings that complement her fashion M.O.
Much like her wardrobe, Lester’s home décor consists of neutral and classic core pieces that are accessorized with personal and vintage accents. In the living room, secondhand finds include matching Midcentury record cabinets from Urban Dwellers (one repurposed as a TV stand and the other as a bar), a hand-me-down upright piano, a round mirror from Consignment Connections in Lakeside and a sculptural coatrack from an estate sale.
Lester is the stylish 30-something behind Chic Stripes, a personal styling and shopping business that grew out of a fashion blog she started in 2009 while finishing both her masters in social work at Virginia Commonwealth University and a Christian Education degree from Union Presbyterian Seminary.
After graduating, Lester pursued social work, doing grant writing and community development with River City Comprehensive Counseling, an agency that helps people coming out of jail and prison to reenter the community. In 2014, Lester took her hobby to the next level when she received her personal stylist certification through the School of Style based in New York City and Los Angeles. Today, with a toe still in the grant-writing world, Chic Stripes is her main focus.
Her blog evolved over the years until she eventually found her fashion forte, secondhand clothing. In 2013, Lester committed for a year to shopping exclusively secondhand, visiting only thrift and consignment stores and quickly discovered she could live on a dime. Then she visited Baggio in the Gayton Crossing Shopping Center, which introduced her to “legit” designer consignment. “When I discovered designer consignment, my whole world exploded,” she says. “I realized I can get Jimmy Choos for $100!”
Lester’s experiment stuck, and now she regularly shops at local thrift and consignment stores. “I love stopping the cycle of buying only new things,” she says, “and even [more] so for home items.”
Four years later, she thinks more consciously about what she brings into her house, whether it be clothing or home décor, and through Chic Stripes she helps her clients put greater thought into their own wardrobes. “There should be intention behind the things we are buying,” she says.
