Friday 20 March 2015

Step 6: Your Style

It's a long while since my last post, partly due to illness (I had flu-like symptoms and no energy) and partly due to going on holiday to Madrid for my DH's birthday then to London to celebrate Mother's Day with my children. Normal service is now resumed!

Continuing with my 7 Steps to Style series, where I am talking about Imogen Lamport's 7 Steps to Style system, we've now reached Lesson 6: What's Your Style? This step was particularly useful for me as it covered what patterns and prints suit me best and helped me understand why some prints look good on me while others are unflattering. I was aware that large, bold patterns aren't good on petites, but I didn't realise how facial features also influence which patterns suit you the best. I have combination features (a mix of curves and straight lines), which helps explain why the shirt below doesn't do anything for me as the lines are all straight.


Another element to consider when choosing patterns is your personal contrast level. In my case it is high however the contrast shown above is medium, which is another reason why the shirt isn't flattering. Imogen also talks about the density of prints - in general terms, denser prints are more slimming - negative space, which can draw attention to areas of your body that you may not want to highlight and focal points, which have a similar effect to negative space. The outfit below flatters me a lot more than the one above as it includes curves as well as straight lines, plus the colour is better on me.



Having reached this far, I had a very clear picture of what styles, colours and shapes suited me, also taking my style personality and lifestyle into consideration.  I was ready to shop, however at this stage I was being encouraged by Imogen to shop my wardrobe. The idea is to create as many outfits as possible from your existing clothes, ensuring that they flatter you and are appropriate for your lifestyle, while looking for any obvious gaps that you will need to fill with new purchases. As part of this exercise, take a note of what you want more of and less of. 

The next step is to build up one or more wardrobe capsules. I have written several posts about wardrobe capsules (search for capsule using the box at the top) however I like Imogen's brief definition: "a capsule wardrobe is a collection of around 10-15 garments that all work with each other, so you can mix and match them, and you will create 30+ outfits easily."   That will give you a different outfit for every day of the month, which sounds good to me, but note the important words "that all work with each other". Imogen suggests that you choose 2 jackets/cardigans, 4 skirts/trousers and 6 tops, which should work no matter what your lifestyle and style personality are. You should include 1 or 2 neutrals plus 2 to 4 colours that harmonise with each other. You may want to create capsules for different aspects of your life such as work, home and going out. Another good idea is to create accessories capsules based around different colours (that go well with the clothes in your wardrobe capsules) and different aspects of your life.

Now is the time to write out your shopping list: favourite items that need replacing; garments to make your capsules work; wardrobe gaps identified in Step 5 and any accessories needed. Don't forget though that there are seven steps, so wait until you've read my next post before going on a spending spree!









13 comments:

  1. Welcome back Sue I have missed your honest comments It's great to know you are OK Stay well

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  2. Welcome back Sue I have missed your honest comments It's great to know you are OK Stay well

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  3. Welcome back Sue I have been haunting your site & worrying about your absence It is so good to know you are OK You are the person that I most relate to blogging about retirement although I am 5' 7 and live way down in NZ Stay well retirement

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    1. Thank you so much for your comments. Whereabouts in NZ do you live? We've been there twice: once for a wedding and the other time after visiting Australia for a masters athletics championship. It's a beautiful country!

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  4. Glad to see you are doing better. I'm finding it harder to shop my closet as I keep putting things in the charity pile after wearing them and realizing, they need to be loved by someone else! But I am enjoying see your journey unfold in such a positive way.

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    1. Thanks, Robin. It's funny how you start seeing your clothes in a different light once you know what really suits you. My rejects go into the recycling bins, which are for a charity. When I was in the UK recently I looked into several of my favourite shops but didn't find anything I loved enough to buy.

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  5. Hi Sue,
    So glad you are back....have been checking daily. Sorry you've been under the weather but hoping you're "all better" now!
    Andrea

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    1. Hi Andrea

      Good to hear from you. I'm feeling a lot better now, thanks. Hoping to do a 10k walk this week, but only if the weather improves! I'm a fair weather walker.

      Sue

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  6. Glad you are feeling better. I really enjoy your posts, though I have never commented before. There are so few blogs for our age group that I really missed your voice. I find your wardrobe journey very helpful,as I too am trying to sort out my wardrobe for retirement life. Thanks, Jean.

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  7. Thank you Jean. It's great to hear that you enjoy my posts and are finding my wardrobe journey helpful. Any suggestions for future posts?

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  8. I'm seeing what you mean about the deeper colors. I've finally broken into the online clothing market and have ordered some tops from Penney's this past month. The ones that look the best on me? The brightest and deepest colors. I used to be able to get away with pastels but now I can plainly see it's wrong for me.
    I enjoy your blog because I need reminding what my mom never could teach me that it matters what clothes you have on. Yes I'm 63 and still need to hear it.

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    1. Thanks for your comments, Debbie. What I've noticed with many fellow over 60s is that they often wear black and pastels thinking that the black will make them look slimmer and the pastels will be more flattering for their skin. That may be true for some women, but it definitely isn't for me! I hope in this blog to encourage other women to choose the most flattering colours and styles for themselves.

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  9. Very nice to discover this blog! Thank you, you are inspiring.

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