Shoe love!

OK, so I am a big fan of the whole "shop local" philosophy. (I'd be a bigger fan if they'd use the right descriptive word form.) I am also a fan of having a minimal wardrobe with only a few quality items, so today I decided to stop by one of our local boutiques and check it out. It's a cute place, but the clothes were a little too trendy and not enough timeless for my taste. There was one shirt I liked, but while trying to figure out what 75% off of $178 dollars was, my eye was caught by these wonderful sandals. I've been thinking about a pair of silver shoes to go with some of my dressier outfits for some time now, and since these were only $24, which is about what I would pay for a decent pair of sandals at WalMart, I decided they were meant to come home with me. It may seem strange, but they go better with everything in my wardrobe than black or brown would (+:

These will be next summer's sandals. It's pretty much normal for everything I own to be a year out of date since I mostly shop end of season clearance, but if you buy what works for you, this is never much of a problem.

 

Like a Rolling Stone

Sometimes you can't always get exactly the jewelry you want either, but again, if you try, sometimes you can make what you need. I've made a bunch of earrings for friends and neighbors from bits and bots I purchased at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, and today...

I am so excited to finally have a decent consignment shop in Houma. The Goodwill here scares me and department store shopping overwhelms me. Deja Vu Consignment is a cute little boutique, so my head doesn't explode when I shop there. Today I found this wonderful bracelet. It was originally a gold color, but I loved the design so much that I bought it anyway and then brought it home and introduced it to my can of silver spray paint (+:

You can't always get what you want....

...but if you try sometimes you can make what you need. Last fall I decided I desperately wanted a dark purple knit blazer. I searched in vain though. At the end of the season, I did find a knit blazer at Wal-mart that was on sale for under $10. It was bubble gum pink. I should have taken a before picture, I know, but I didn't so you will just have to use your imaginations.
Now, why on Earth would someone looking for a dark purple blazer buy a pink one? Simple: it was mostly cotton and there was dye to be had in the laundry detergents isle. Two boxes of purple and one box of denim blue later, I now have a blazer exactly the color I wanted.
My kitchen sink is no stranger to the dye packet. Last summer I bought a pair of chambray capri pants. I loved the cut and fabric. Try as I might, and in spite of the fact that chambray was insanely popular this summer, I just couldn't make them work in my wardrobe. I could have donated or consigned them, but when color turns out to be the only issue I have with an article of clothing, I don't consider that a reason to banish it from my closet unless it is a synthetic fabric that cannot be dyed. One pack of dark brown dye later, and I have a pair of capri pants that fit right in with the rest of my clothes and get worn often.
I will admit that dye doesn't always do exactly what you think it will, and if you are changing something that is already a color, that is when having a little knowledge of color theory comes in handy, but overall, I've had good luck changing things from colors that don't work in my closet to things that I love.

What I would do differently

We've all seen TV makeovers that have turned out only "so-so" that we have thought, "Wow, I could have done that better." So this blog is devoted to one that I think I could have done better--and it would have saved the victim...eh hem client....a load of money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEoRTQMjPM

First off, I am going to say that I think the hair and makeup were both a good change and I would stick with those. The clothing on the other hand was a disaster. Seriously, she came in wearing clothing that was much better suited to her shape than what she left in. She came in wearing clothing that draped nicely over her figure and left looking like what would happen if the Pillsbury Doughboy decided to become a rap star.

So, what could she have done to soften what she was already wearing to suit her "soft subtle" personality? Easy, soften the look by adding a scarf. She's wearing a dark pink, so a baby pink scarf would look great as would a lacey soft white one--or she could just take the scarf off of the girl who was supposed to be dressing her to look better. Then I would add a pretty broach to the cardigan, something like a cameo, and some delicate earrings to add a touch of romance. I would suggest that she swap out her black pants for soft gray ones in the future.

There is no need for this woman to throw away her entire wardrobe as is often suggested by these sorts of programs. (Makes you wonder if they are actually in cahoots with the fashion industry after all, doesn't it?) She can easily work with the pieces she has to soften them with accessories and different color combinations. Obviously, she already has a good idea of how to dress her shape, she just needed some ideas on how to dress her personality as well. Rather than throwing her money away on a failed style consultation and new clothes, I think she would have done well to have chosen one or two stylish friends and asked them for some ideas. People who actually knew her would probably have given her good advice that she could have experimented with and it wouldn't have cost her a dime.

So the moral of this story is: Never trust anyone who tells you that you are dressing completely wrong for you. You've been living in your skin your whole life. Chances are, you've gotten at least some of it right.

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner!

The other day I was surfing through youtube videos looking for one about profiling for my Ethics class when I came across a bevvy of videos regarding beauty profiling and the Dress Your Truth series. I was intrigued. I watched several of the videos with fascination--the same sort of fascination with which you would watch bodies being pulled from the ocean after a ferry crash.
I have to admit that some of the makeovers turned out fairly well, but some of them were total disasters. Take these twins: one looks great, and the other, well I can't take my eyes off of the huge roll of fat around her middle long enough to really appreciate her hair and makeup.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeXe9FgMNBY
This seems to be the standard result for the Type 2. Pretty hair and makeup, horrible, ill fitting clothing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEoRTQMjPM

When will American women learn? There is no formula for dressing! There are no hard and fast rules for looking great! Fashion is as individual as the woman wearing it and anyone who tries to put all women into just a few categories is selling you a lie.

Consider color profiling--A useful tool that is actually based on science. When it first came out, there were basically 4 seasons, now these are subdivided into 4 categories each. Even so, getting your colors done is simply a helpful tool that will provide you will some guidelines--NOT RULES. When you have your colors done and are handed your palette, walk outside and take a good look at it. Are there colors you hate? Ditch them. Pick three or four that you love and are drawn to. Do you love black but were told you can't wear it? Of course you can, just keep it on the bottom half of your body. If you aren't sure of the colors you have been handed, by all means, get a second consultation from someone else. No one person is infallible.

Then there is body shape profiling. Again, it is a useful tool for helping a woman pick shapes and styles of clothing that will be flattering for her figure. The poor Type 2 women both needed more structure on top to avoid the nasty fat rolls that we all despise. Again, though, these are just helpful guidelines. If you see something you are drawn to, try it on. So what if it doesn't look great? Just put it back and think of the money you just saved. Women get discouraged trying on clothing and body shape profiling can help you avoid that, but it should not prevent you from trying on something just to see how it looks. In fact, that is the only way you will ever build a wardrobe you love. You have to try things on and be honest with yourself about whether they flatter your shape or not. Dressing well takes work.

Finally, you do have to take your personality into account and this is about the only thing I see of value in the Dressing Your Truth videos. You also have to take your lifestyle into account. If you are a girly, girl who loves pink and ruffles and lace, but work in an office that requires you to wear a suit, there is nothing stopping you from wearing a pretty dove gray suit with a ruffled pink blouse.

Ask any well dressed woman and she will tell you that looking good is a little bit science, a little bit art, a little bit psychology, and quite a bit of effort. It requires you to use your head but trust your gut. That would be your gut not someone else's, and certainly not some packaged formula that tries to stuff you in a category.

Not Every Woman Needs a Pair of Jeans

I know that nearly every fashion guru in the world would disagree with this statement. Jeans are on Tim Gunn's list of top ten must haves. Stacy London and Clinton Kelly make sure that every woman who appears on What Not to Wear walks away with the "perfect" pair of jeans--even that one poor girl who really hated jeans and even commented at the end that the $200 worth of denim she was wearing made her uncomfortable. I know the gurus would disagree, but the fact is, jeans are not for everyone.
I grew up on a farm, so not only did I love jeans, but I practically lived in them. Then, the jeans started to change, and quite frankly, so did my body. The jeans got tighter and stretchier, the waist bands got lower, and before long, the jeans were more spandex than cotton, and by the end of the day, I felt like I was in need of suspenders.
Then, like a lot of women in their mid to late 20s, I was diagnosed with IBS. I've talked to a lot of other women who are in the same or similar boats. One friend has Chrone's and insists that she has to wear low rise jeans because anything that sits at her natural waist causes her discomfort. I, on the other hand, am driven mad by a low rise pant. I've talked to women who only wear skirts and one woman who only wears dresses because anything that constricts the abdominal area causes pain, and let's face it, pain is just not sexy.
Even discomfort is not sexy. If you aren't comfortable, you aren't smiling. End of story. It took me some time to get things figured out, but after awhile I realized that any pants with a button and zipper waist were going to send me over the edge the minute I sat down in them. Still, I desperately wanted jeans. Afterall, who doesn't want Tim Gunn's approval?
I didn't wind up with acutal jeans, but I do now possess two pairs of denim pants. One is a pair of Faded Glory denim jeggings. I tried on a lot of jeggings before settling on these because of the comfortable elastic waist and the heavy denim fabric. I bought them a size larger than I really needed both for comfort and so they will fit more like a skinny jean than a legging. An added bonus is that they were under $15. I also bought and love the Westbound Park Ave fit denim pants from Dillard's. I am not a fan of the other fabrics in this pant, but the denim is awesome. The pant is comfortable and slimming and had little details to make it look like jeans as long as your shirt is untucked--the lighter color looks even more like jeans.
http://www.dillards.com/product/Westbound-PARK-AVE-fit-SLIM-FX-Denim-Pants_301_-1_301_502032382?df=03149225_zi_medium_indigo

I have to wonder if Stacy and Clinton don't know about these pants. I'm sure they don't shop at Dillard's and would never consider buying pants that only cost $18, but I bet that little gal they sent home with the $200 jeans that she is probably never going to wear would appreciate knowing about these.