Ask The Stylist: Creative Wardrobe Planning

Harper's Bazaar photo courtesy of www.Thesimplyluxuriouslife.com

Dear Kate,

You write about dressing for the Time, Place and Occasion, (T.P.O.), and in the Autumm/Winter Shoe Basics post, you say:  "For shoes, there are three categories that E.G.C.'s focus on:  Work, Casual, and Going-Out."

And in Building Your Basics:  Get to the Core of the Matter, you suggest building a core wardrobe based on four bottoms and seven tops.  And just like with the shoes, you write that categories are essential when developing a core wardrobe.  I need a set for "going out", a set for "going to the beach" (yes! In Argentina, it is summer now!!!), etc…BUT...

What happens when your Casual/Work/Going Out life is the same but a little different? I work with designers, architects, and editors--all "creative" people.  I have very flexible working hours and work in a relaxed environment.  So the categories, Work, Casual, and Going Out, become blurry.

Sometimes I feel this "relaxed environment" puts so much more pressure on my wardrobe than it would in the usual office/work environment. I struggle with this.  If I have to go to a party or an event, I shine—I have no doubts about what to wear.  But these day meetings, when you have to be chic, cool, hip and casual all in the same outfit, and when you have to go from an afternoon in the studio to cocktails with cool people without changing, is overwhelming. I don´t know what to do... what to do?!!!!

To add insult to injury,  the women in this creative environment don´t wear heels: They are,  "I'm soooooo hippie...but look at my Birkin bag!" or "I´m sooo cool with my yellow sneakers".  But  I love heels because I feel more pulled together with them.  I don’t know.  On the other hand, I´m a tall Italian girl and with heels I summon attention and sometimes I don´t want to.

Sincerely,

Practical-Yet-Creative-Italian-Glamazon

Photo of Constance Jablonki, Vogue Nippon, courtesy of www.fashiongonerogue.com 

Dear Practical-Yet-Creative-Italian-Glamazon,

I love flexibility with fashion--blurred lines means more fun!  Forget those Rich-Bohemian/Pseudo-Hippies with their Birkin bags.  Pass on the yellow sneakers.  Instead, go for a style that you can call your own.  I think you should wear heels with abandon.  What is wrong with summoning attention?    As a creative professional, competition is fierce—it is essential that you stand out.

You want to stand out in a good way.  You want to be cool and unique without looking like you got dressed after kicking back a Bourbon on the rocks.  And when you have meetings during the day and then go out for cocktails directly after, you want to achieve a casually hip yet subtly sexy air without trespassing on va-va-voom territory.  You want to feel at ease in a variety of situations, you want to look polished, and because you are practical, you want dressing in the morning to be a snap.  You want a streamlined wardrobe, because Everyday Glamour Chicks, (E.G.C.’s), know that less is more.  Is that too much to ask?

While you must look creatively chic, you sense that there is an underlying dress code in your field that is hard to pinpoint.  And since you are a creative person, you have a lot of ideas and can go off on tangents, which means that your wardrobe can grow by leaps and bounds very easily.  Uh-oh.  

Well, I have a solution for you.  You must enforce parameters, Ms. Practical-Yet-Creative!!  My method is the most focused way to get the best bang for your buck, wardrobe-wise.  Rest assured that this method is simply a technique to bring you focus.  Afterwards, you can go back to being the free-spirited creative that you are!

The first thing you must do is to create personalized situational wardrobe categories.  Specify the categories.  Here are my own personal categories that can serve as an example:

1. Personal Stylist—What I wear to meet clients or go to a networking event, (which may include cocktails), not too casual but not too buttoned up.
2. Weekend in the City—What I wear when I have creative freedom and want to enjoy my clothes as I see fit.  When I’m not overly casual but not so calculated.
3. Mom on the Playground—Obviously there are days when heels look ridiculous.
4. Night Out--The opposite of Mom on the Playground wear...yippee!

What are your categories?  Of course there is overlap with my clothing.  I can wear my indigo skinny jeans in all four categories, for example, and I love that!  But you still need to know what your categories are.  Specify. 

Photo of Constance Jablonski courtesy of www.absinthrill.blogspot.com

Everyday Glamour Chick Guide to Building a Core Wardrobe:

1. For this technique to work, I am asking you to use your creative imagination!  Imagine that you are packing for a trip that could last up to a month and you can only use one suitcase for clothing, not counting accessories.  Ok, a LARGE suitcase is fine.  OH, don’t complain, at least I’m letting you pack your accessories in another suitcase!   You need to keep your packing as streamlined as possible.  The good news is that your days will be similar, you will only need to pack one category.  You will have to limit yourself to 4 bottoms and 7 tops, that can be mixed and matched together, not counting accessories.  That’s a grand total of 28, (roughly), different outfit variations.   This is like a puzzle.  
2. Always start with the bottoms.  Pull out 3 bottoms and one dress to focus on.  (Or 4 bottoms, or all dresses, whatever it is you want to wear.)  Four very different bottoms, please.  Not variations on the same thing.  Also, you may have more than 4 bottoms but  for this exercise to work you must restrict yourself to only 4 bottoms.  You are creating an ideal collection for a “fantasy trip”.  Parameters!!  If, on the other hand, you do not have 4 bottoms for the category you are working on, then you know where your wardrobe gaps are.
3. Try them on, one bottom, (or dress), at a time.  Always start with the dress.  Go through your wardrobe and try to figure out what your best tops will be for this “fantasy collection”. Pull together the outfit variations.  Ask yourself honestly if you will feel very comfortable wearing the outfit in your chosen situational category.  The less clothing you currently own, the easier this exercise will be.  If you have boatloads of clothes, well, this is going to be more difficult for you.  Try to restrict your choices as much as possible.  
4. Take notes as you go.  Decide on what pieces of clothing you need to wear or bring when out shopping for fill-in pieces, if necessary.  For example, I need to wear my pencil skirt out shopping so that I can find the perfect top to wear with it.
5. I can’t stress this enough:  With shopping, take your good time!!  You created a "fantasy list" of clothing that you need to shop for.  Even if you get only one of the items on your list this year, that is one step closer to the ideal.  And you need not feel restricted because this one item will definitely mix with other things in your wardrobe.  

This technique simply gives you focus.  Of course you have other stuff to wear—you are a creative type after all!

Kindness and A Smile

"Wear whatever you want in life.. But remember this:: ur never really dressed fly.. Without kindness & a smile."  --Reverend Run, September 29, 2011, via Twitter

Photo of Chanel Iman courtesy of www.fashionart.blogfa.com

That rapper got me thinking.  We all dress for ourselves, but we also dress for others.  Everyday Glamour is an art and a state of mind:  It is the outward expression of our identity as well as our aspirations.   

Fashion and style have power—the power to change our own minds about ourselves, and to help us believe that we can be something more.  My raison d'être as a Personal Stylist is to help people to feel confident through fashion, to help give them a little pep in their step, to help them be happy, dammit!! 

Lest we overemphasize outward appearances.  Lest we forget kindness and a smile.  Some call it je ne sais quoi.  Some call it charisma.  Some call it magnetism.  It all boils down to inner beauty.  Reverend Run is right.  Without inner beauty, without substance,  there is no point in dressing well. 

So with my penchant for lists, of course I came up with an inner beauty list.  Why not?  When life gets stressful, I plan on gazing at this list and counting to 7.

The Everyday Glamour Chick, (E.G.C.), Guide to Inner Beauty:

1. Humor.
2. A childlike sense of adventure and creativity.
3. Open body language:  Stand Tall.
4. Intelligence:  Be present, listen well.
5. Integrity:  Life tests us all.  Integrity is for the strong.
6. Remembering that Nothing is Permanent.
7. Patience and grace, kindness and a smile.

Thank you, Reverend Run!  And without further ado, let us Walk This Way…

Tomboy Style

 Photo of Crystal Renn courtesy of www.Vogue.it.com

The SoHo playground buzzed with the spirited giggles and shouts of SoHo Children.  Straight past the hissing sprinkler and to the right of the jungle gym, with the bang, bang, bang of little boys feet climbing up the slide, I spotted her—SoHo Mom.  SoHo Mom happily pushed her adorable SoHo Child on a swing.  With her denim cut-offs, her perfect white t-shirt, her sturdy brown Frye boots, and her blond waves that rested blithely on her shoulders, SoHo Mom was at once cool, sexy, and completely nonchalant.  At that moment I knew exactly what I was looking at:  SoHo Mom was a M.I.L.E., (Mom I’d Like to Emulate).

How is it that a t-shirt and jeans can look so good?  What was SoHo Mom’s secret?   She possessed the rakish charm of the cutest boy in Fifth Grade…that’s it!  She had Tomboy Style! 

Tomboy Style is a simple, low-maintenance way of looking sexy and casual.  It the perfect non-prissy method to accentuate your femininity.  Tomboy Style works especially well on the most girlie of girls, and the most womanly of women, because there is power in the contrast between the masculine and the feminine, the yin and the yang.  In short, when you wear what a boy would wear—you make it sexy.  Worried about looking age-appropriate?  Don’t.  Tomboy Style can be tweaked to suit your age.  It is all in the nuance:  Younger women dress like the boys while older women adopt the style of an older gentleman on the weekend—watching quality and looking slightly more finished.

You don’t have to dress like a Sexy Secretary, a Downtown It Babe, or an Under the Radar Chick every day to be an Everyday Glamour Chick, (E.G.C.).  Some days you will need to dress down, after all.  E.G.C.'s know how to dress up, and how to dress down with finesse and appeal.  Variety is the spice of life.  Variety is sexy.  

Image courtesy of www.WhereTheSidewalkBegins.blogspot.com

The key to keeping the Tomboy look out of the dreaded CUTE-ZONE are fit, flattery, and SHOES!  Here is the copy-cat list:

• Jeans that flatter your shape.  See It's Just in the Jeans for more on this.
• Cut-off jeans shorts.  This summer staple makes the list, but of course it is not for everyone.
• T-shirts in neutral colors.  Find ones that flatter your figure.
• Sweaters that slouch unexpectedly off the shoulder, or are cropped.
• Blue chambray shirt
• Leather jacket.  Find something soft, supple, and very fitted.
• Coat with casual menswear styling
• Gold or silver jewelry.  A subtle, lightweight pendant necklace that grazes your clavicle, for example, or an artful ring.
• A relaxed leather hobo handbag with a long shoulder strap, or a satchel like the schoolboys have.
• And the shoes:  Although you can and should mix the Tomboy look with heels occasionally, you also need to anchor the Tomboy Style with casual short boots:  Motorcycle, Desert, or Lace-up boots or cool sneakers make the look!

The Secret Glamour Makeup Trick

New Year’s Eve is right around the corner, so why not consider pulling out all the stops this year by making yourself ultra-glamorous for the big party?  Everyday Glamour Chicks, (E.G.C.’s), have their sneaky ways:  They have secret glamour makeup tricks, to kick the glamour quotient up--way, way up, into the stratosphere.  Come closer and I will whisper their secret into your ear…

Photo of Sophia Loren, courtesy of www.ferhatgedik.blogcu.com

Fake eyelashes.  SHHHHHH!!  Don’t tell!!  Wear fake eyelashes strictly in the evening and no one will be the wiser.  Wear fake eyelashes during the harsh light of day...well, I will pretend like I don't know you because everyone will be able to tell you are wearing them--the falsies will most assuredly make you look tawdry.  When it comes to fake eyelashes, dim lighting is your friend.  So why bother?  Because worn correctly, fake eyelashes will make you look otherworldly beautiful and what’s more, the pictures will be fierce!!

How to Wear Fake Eyelashes And Not Look Tawdry

 1.  Apparently, individual fake lashes look more natural but I say they won’t look natural if you make a mistake!  The full eyelashes are easy.  I like the “Beyond Natural” ones by Revlon.  I like them because they are beyond.  And because you can get them at the drugstore. Pick up a pot of black gel liner while you are at it.  Get it cheap from the drugstore.  It comes with an applicator brush.

2.  Don’t bother washing off your makeup from the day.  You will be touching it up and adding the falsies. Retouch your eye shadow.  Blend a lighter tone under your brow and on your lid.  Blend a darker tone in the socket crease.  If you usually smudge a neutral powder liner around your lash line, go ahead and touch that up too.

3.  Layer the black gel liner along your upper lash line and build a thick line.  At this point you will look ridiculous and fake.  Good job—you are on the right track.  (Not to worry, by the end you will look beautiful.)

4.  Dab glue onto your fake eyelashes.  You only need very little.  Spring for the glue that has a small tip applicator built in, and this will help you to spread the glue sparingly.

5.  The directions on the back of the fake eyelash package will tell you that once you apply the glue to the lashes, that you are then to “bend them like a horseshoe” while waiting for 20 seconds.  I have no idea why.  Whatever, just do it.

6.  Now place the lashes as close to your lash line as possible and gently press down.  You know when you have not placed them closely enough because they will resemble caterpillars crawling on your eyelid, which is quite attractive.  If you are worried about the lashes falling off in the middle of your special evening out, then you can gently press down with the back of a pair of tweezers just to be sure they are securely fastened to your lid.

7.  Now look in the mirror.  Shocking, right?  But in a good way...

8.  To curl the fake eyelashes, or not to curl the fake eyelashes.  That is the question.  Do what you want.

9.  Now cover your tracks with more black gel eye liner.  No one wants to see glue, Missy.

10.  Fill in your eyebrows, use tinted moisturizer, concealer, a bit of blush and natural looking lipstick.  No red lipstick allowed!!  Keep repeating, "Sophia Loren, Sophia Loren, Sophia Loren..."

Ask The Stylist: Holidays With The Soon-To-Be-In-Laws

Photo of "Meet The Parents", courtesy of www.friant-movieword.blogspot.comDear Kate,

I'm going to my soon-to-be-in-laws for Christmas.  The pressure is on!  I have to look polished and put together for 6 days…but get this…they live in the mountains in Utah.  I don’t want to look like I’m putting on a runway show.  What should I pack that’s warm and polished?  THANKS!

Sincerely,

Not-Putting-On-A-Show-But-I’m-Not-Amish-Either-Fiance

Photo of "Meet the Parents", courtesy of www.swotti.com

Dear Not-Putting-On-A-Show-But-I’m-Not-Amish-Either-Fiance,

How lovely!  My congratulations to you!  I can understand your jitters.  Yes, it is true—the pressure is on!  Meeting the future in-laws always calls for classic dressing.  Trust me, even the most liberal of in-laws, you know, the ones who attended grad school at UC, Berkeley in 1968, the ones who studied Philosophy, the ones who, when they weren’t being groovy studying Philosophy at Berkeley in 1968, spent their free time analysing the deep meaning embedded in the lyrics of Bob Dylans’s Highway 61 Revisited…while dining on hash brownies…even those in-laws want you to dress ultra-classic upon the first few meetings.  I don’t care how many daisies your future mother-in-law wore in her hair on her wedding day, you absolutely must er on the side of conservative dress when meeting them.  The main focus of this meeting is not about you expressing your individuality through fashion—let’s get real, it’s about impressing them!  Even the groovy parents secretly want you to appear wholesome at first.  Hey, I didn't make the rules!!  Just play along and think Sandy--not Rizzo.  

When spending some quality time with future in-laws, Everyday Glamour Chicks, (E.G.C.'s), are able to look casual, polished, and classic all at once.  Think about what major activities you will be involved in on this trip.  Will you be skiing?  Hiking in the mountains?  Will you attend a party?

When packing for a party—think 1950s era.   Please no poodle skirt and bobby socks, just wear something fitted but not slinky.  Knee length.  Sleeveless is fine if you have good arms, but if you are not sure, then wear sleeves.  Black is fine.  Black sheer hose.  Black evening pumps.  Neat hair.

Milly dress, Holiday 2011, courtesy of www.Net-a-porter.com

When packing for outdoor activities—Save the Lululemon running tights for another time.  Perhaps for this trip you can find a looser silhouette for your athletic pants.  I know...bummer.

Now fill in the rest of your 6 day wardrobe.  3 bottoms, 3 tops, and 2 sweaters that mix and match together will give you at the very least, 9 outfit options, oh heck, more than that!!  You have 18 outfit options!

 Marc By Marc Jacobs Cardigan, Fall 2011, courtesy of www.Net-a-porter.com

Keep your clothing choices simple and classic.  Here are some suggestions.  These are merely suggestions.  Pull out what you have in your wardrobe, and I am sure you have most if not all of these pieces already:

Bottoms: 1.  Classic blue jeans, 2.  Black pants, 3. Dark, fitted cordouroys, (not black)

Tops:  1. White long sleeved t-shirt, 2.  Brightly colored top, 3.  Printed top or blouse

Sweaters:  1.  Long cardigan, 2. V-neck pullover.

Footwear: 1.  Cute sneakers, 2.  Somewhat flat but polished boots

And....a warm wool scarf, a cute knit cap, and a brown satchel or hobo handbag.

Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful time!