Establishing a Shopping List
Once an individual has established a wardrobe that works, I have found, refinement will still be needed. Various ways of establishing a shopping list have been suggested by shopping experts, here’s another one that occurred to me recently:
Identifying the compromise pieces in your wardrobe, consider what replacement item for each would make your wardrobe more ideal.
Some possible improvements:
- replace generic neutral pieces with garments in your signature color(s)
- is one of your favorites getting small or fading? Things don’t last forever. Perhaps it’s time to replace a staple.
- in my wardrobe, I have occasionally had to compromise on fabric to have a look covered. Keep looking for that washable, rather than dry clean, dress, or wool suit to replace polyester.
Sometimes one perfect item can replace several compromise pieces.
What items do you wear on a regular basis that you would really like to replace?
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The Elements of Hair Style
Recently, when I was reading In the Dressing Room with Brenda: A Fun and Practical Guide to Buying Smart and Looking Great
Hairstyle should be used to create proportional harmony between the length of the head and the width of the shoulders.
The harmonious ratio we are looking for is 1 to 2, in this case. If, like me, your shoulder width is not quite twice the length of your head, I suggest keeping the length of the hair above the shoulders (I will be asking for a little shorter when I go in later this week for my haircut). Conversely, broader shoulders relative to head length would look appropriate with longer hair, bisecting the shoulder line.
In addition, the proportional ratio of head to total body length is 1 to 8. There are two ways to visually effect this proportion using hair styling techniques:
- shorten the apparent head length by wearing bangs
- add to the apparent head length by adding volume to the top of the hair style
Personality
Why is it that a hair style can look chic on one person and matronly on another? I propose personality.
Today, on the radio, I heard about a kids game based on the DISC model. It’s called Kids Flag Page, and it helps families discover childrens’ native “countries”: Control, Perfect, Peace or Fun. Allow me to borrow that concept and apply it to hairstyles for a moment:
- If you are a Control person - that is, an active, in-charge type - you might wear edgy, textured, or chunky hair well.
- If you are a Perfecter, every hair should be in place.
- A Peace person needs soft, blended hair.
- The native of Fun country may want flippy, almost messy, hair.
Texture
The hairstylist’s biggest complaint is women who come in with a picture of a style which will not work with the texture of their hair. An example of that with my hair would be a blunt bob: there is no power on earth, that doesn’t smell like hairspray, that would make my hair turn uniformly under.
Explaining how to choose a hair style based on your hair texture is beyond the scope of this particular post. Your hair professional should be able to provide you with the guidance you need.
Facial Particulars
Another element of hair style which I am unable to cover here is how to make your hair style perfect for your face shape and features. Unfortunately, it seems that most hair professionals are completely clueless about this as well.
Perhaps the internet has answers?
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A New Dress A Day
My aunt sent me the link to this inspirational blog, New Dress A Day. The concept, both creative and frugal, is this:
The thing that makes this girl happiest is scouring flea markets, vintage stores and garage sales for the perfect pieces to add to my wardrobe. I love finding vintage goodies that may not fit me perfectly or translate well with the current state of fashion and then make them work on me. (thank you Tim Gunn – “make it work” has become my mantra) I get out my trusty sewing machine to change hems, cut sleeves and tweak to transform a lowbudge piece that had its’ moment back in 1976 and give it another shot today, decades later. I have to say that whenever I wear my handmade pieces, I always get complimented and the best part is that I get to tell everyone that I bought it for $1 and just shortened it, dyed it or cinched it to make it chic and current.
So, that’s where my ode to no traditional shopping begins. This year, I will be foregoing trips to Bloomies and Nordstrom for brand new gear. Goodbye to H&M purchases and accessory grabbing at Forever 21. And seeing the “must have” French Connection dress in People’s Style Watch will just have to suffice as a cut out on my inspiration board.
Instead, the only shopping that I’ll be able to do is that of pieces that have been used and worn already. So long to mall trips and hello to sifting through piles of vintage pieces at flea markets and at neighborhood garage sales. Each day for the entire year, I’m going to introduce a new piece into my existing wardrobe that I’ve found from these places. On top of this, I’m giving myself a budget of $1 a day.
(excerpted from the blog’s “about” page)
I love these dress makeovers! 
Sadly, while I can come up with lots of cool ideas for making over garments, I’m not so fab with the follow-through. That is, I never actually get around to doing anything. Hence, the racks of garments hanging in my studio. It always seems there is ironing or dishes, blogging or painting, and before you know it, there’ll be homework. Someday.
In the meantime, hopefully this will be inspirational for you!
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August Wardrobe Roundup
Late August, and back to school, is upon us. Since the day I left my retail career, back to school has held little importance for me. However, that does not mean I’m not thinking about wardrobe and related planning issues. Here are some of the things I’m working on in August of 2010:
- Renewing my cosmetic collection. A couple of times a year, it’s good to review and refresh, buy new mascara and lipstick, etc. Last week I bought foundation.
- Taking inventory of my shorts and tank tops. I’ve picked up a couple of items recently on clearance. Plus, I’ve concluded that some just need to be passed on, for the primary reason that they have shrunk. When I stepped on the scale today and saw I was at my “goal weight” (5 pounds above my “ideal weight”), I figured there was no better time to decide whether a pair of shorts with a tight waistband was ever going to fit.
- Performing maintenance tasks on my fall stuff. It’s all back from the cleaners, and I’ve washed my Pumas. Soon I’ll start thinking about when to get it out.
Next up: the fall haircut.
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Does This Make Me Look Fat?
At one time or another we’ve all asked the question. Does this make me look fat? It might.
Is it:
1) The wrong silhouette, or shapeless altogether?
2) Too small?
3) Put together in such a way that it creates a focal point where you would rather not have one? Like the wannabe glamourous young lady in black pants and black sweater, swath of white lace encircling her hips & derriere?
(A friend of mine used one of these long shirts with the lace hem to create a much more flattering look: matching the lace to the color of her skirt, she created the effect of a coordinating lace belt, and wore a contrasting top over.)
If creating a slimmer appearance is your foremost fashion concern, the book Does This Make Me Look Fat?: The Definitive Rules for Dressing Thin for Every Height, Size, and Shape
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Identifying Your Values
Color values, that is. What you value is clearly important in terms of what you wear, but not the topic of this post.
Value = the relative lightness or darkness of a color
In my watercolor class, we talk alot about value. In fact, our instructor hammers us about getting the values right, while allowing just about any approximation of hue. If one of us were to decide to make a certain shape lighter or darker than it is in the reference photo, the entire picture would have to adjust right along with it, keeping the mathematical relationships between color values the same.
You can do the same in your wardrobe, using the gray scale & value finder or just “close enough” visually.
How to use the tool:
- place the tool against the surface to be matched so that the color appears in the keyhole
- try different keyholes until you identify the one that is the same degree of lightness or darkness
You have now identified the color value, designated by the number on the corresponding gray!
To assemble an harmonious ensemble:
- identify the values present in your personal coloring: hair, skin, and eyes
- repeat those exact values in your ensemble
- OR use two of the three
- OR calculate the difference between them and use colors with the same difference in value
- throw in an accent of black and/or white to add drama
Anyway, this inexpensive tool, which can be purchased here through Amazon or at your local art supply store, is going to live on my dresser for the next month or so, as I move into planning my fall wardrobe.
Value is about the most noticeable element of one’s personal appearance. How do incorporate the concept of color value into your wardrobe planning?
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The Triumph of Individual Style
If you were to own only one “what (not) to wear” book, this is the one to buy! It is a college art text. Formerly no less than $68, Amazon now has sells it for quite a bit less
Book Description
This text aims to teach the reader how to assess her body type and then choose clothing that looks good on her. The process involves what the authors call an individual’s “design pattern.” This pattern is made up of lines, shapes, proportions, body particulars, scale, colors, and textures. How they fit together in harmony and how an individual infuses them with her innate creativity is what authors call “style.”Text Features:1.Principles of art as they apply to understanding and enhancing the female body
2.Art reproductions from museums such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Musee du Louvre, illustrating women’s body forms and surface features
3.Hundreds of line drawings suggest contemporary wardrobe strategies
4.Two color wheels and pages of charts for skin, eye, and hair color.
5. Provides color swatches to create a color wheel
Personally, after studying this book, I have found that there is a way to figure out any “what-to-wear” problem “from scratch”, providing freedom from the legalism of following somebody else’s list of “shoulds” and “how-tos”.
If you’ve been considering taking the plunge, now could be the time! (My copy was a birthday gift from my hero.)
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Leopard Print Velvet Blazer
I just wanted to show you Boden’s Velvet Blazer
. It comes in great colors for Fall 2010: berry, black, purple, cyan, pewter, and leopard print. The price? $98, which is what I would expect to find an item like this priced for at a moderately priced store. Generally, you can find a link to Boden USA in my sidebar, offering additional savings.
According to Harper’s, camel will be the new color for fall. Of course, many of us have always believed camel, and leopard print, to be “classics”. Good for us; when a classic we like is declared the “in” thing, that is the time to buy! At any rate, one thing I like about many animal prints is the mixing of cool and warm colors (although I think I would have used a lipstick red scarf rather than the dusty purple, if I were styling the outfit pictured).
How about you: will you be adopting camel this fall, either in a leopard print or straight up?
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