21 Steps to a More Stylish You

Regular readers will know how much I enjoy doing style courses in the hope that one day I will become super stylish! My latest attempt has been the most intensive yet, as it contains 21 steps. At the time of writing I'm on step 15: prints and texture.

The topics covered so far include style personality, lifestyle and age, colour, levels of refinement, style goals, the golden ratio and the ideal silhouette. The on-line course is being run by Sylvia of 40+ Style along with Ruth, who is a UK based stylist. If you click on the link you will find many helpful articles as well as information about joining the Style Club.

Most of us know about colour analysis and have some idea whether we have warm or cool, soft or bright and deep or light colouring. Or do we? Having been told in the past that I was a Winter, more recently the consensus has been that I have warm colouring! I won't mention the make-up consultation that I had on a recent trip to London though, where I was told that I have cool colouring....! Putting that on one side (I'm guessing that I'm a border-line case) my lifestyle is clear, as is my age and body shape. My style personality when I did a style analysis was Natural Gamine, and my own interpretation is colourful casual chic. I think the photo below sums me up well: definitely colourful, obviously casual and hopefully chic.

My lifestyle is very casual as I'm retired, plus I spend a lot of time walking my dog Lisa, going to exercise classes and sitting at my PC writing blog posts, as well as reading other blogs. I do go to the theatre sometimes, as well as dining out with friends, so occasionally I dress up a bit more. I found the step on levels of refinement very helpful, as it described the types of clothes that fit into the five levels. Most of my wardrobe is level two (very casual or sports clothing) and level three (casual or smart casual), with a smattering of level four (very smart daywear or evening wear). 

Another helpful topic was the golden ratio, which is particularly relevant to those of us who are vertically challenged! Even when I buy petite tops, I have to take care that they don't cut me in half, giving me a 50-50 ratio, which can make me look wider and shorter. I often resort to wearing long cardigans or waistcoats (vests) to give me a more flattering silhouette.

The above photo highlights the use of a longer cardigan, plus a column of colour, to create a more flattering shape. I am also using a touch of my favourite red in the scarf plus my bag.

I am in the process of going through my spring and summer wardrobe and already it has become apparent that I have lots of colourful tops and mainly neutral trousers. Not exactly a surprise to those who know me. At the same time, I will be going back to step 13 (closet edit) and step 14 (what's missing?).  All of this has to be completed over the next few weeks, ready for a trip to Paris and London at the beginning of May, with the aim of blending in with all those super stylish Parisians and Londoners!

Project 333 following 7 Steps to Style

This is where I start using the lessons learnt through following Imogen's 7 Steps to Style system to create my latest wardrobe for Project 333.

For any newcomers, Project 333 refers to creating a wardrobe of 33 items of clothing to cover three months.  Here is my Winter 33, which is from the beginning of January (I know, I'm a bit late!) to the end of March.
      

Winter outerwear, including my new mulberry coat

Signature colours are ones that relate to your personal colouring and therefore flatter you the most. In my case the neutrals are dark brown (the colour of my hair) and grey (I have some grey in my eyes, and the odd pesky grey hair appears amidst the brown ones from time to time). I am also including navy, as the rim round my pupils is navy and I already have several navy garments in my wardrobe.

Here are some of my favourite colours (rather than neutrals) from the Enigmatic swatch. I'm hoping in time to cut the number down from sixteen (yes 16!) to just a few signature colours. However judging by the colours in my capsule wardrobe above, there will have to be at least one red, teal, green and purple in there. I know that some of the tops in my existing wardrobe are a bit cool, however I can't afford to replace them all at once. What I can do is add scarves and necklaces in my Enigmatic colours until I can phase them out. I will also use accessories to provide high value contrast where needed.

My style is casual chic and it is winter, which can be surprisingly cold in Spain, so I decided not to include any skirts in this capsule. The 33 items above include a pair of dark grey trousers, navy jeans, dark brown jeggings, aubergine leggings and black jeans.  Yes, I know that black wasn't mentioned in my signature neutrals above, but I can't afford to replace them at the moment and at least they won't be near my face, so they should be fine when worn with my new tops.

Six cardigans may prove to be excessive, but I do like to wear layers at this time of the year and I decided to make keeping warm one of my priorities.  If I find that I'm not wearing them all then I may replace one or two with another long-sleeved top. Four of the tops are short-sleeved, so they will definitely need to be worn with a cardigan until the weather improves. You may notice that, although they are different colours, the style is the same for all four of them. The v-neck is flattering for those of us who have rectangular or H shaped bodies, plus it also helps petites look taller. The cross over effect and ruching helps to disguise my lack of a waist, which has to be a bonus. Three of the tops (coral, brown and teal) go really well with my swatch too.

One of the lessons that I learnt doing the 7 Steps was that creating a column of colour makes me look taller and slimmer. How wonderful is that? My navy cardigan will go with the navy jeans, the grey cardigan is just right with my grey trousers and as for the multi-coloured patterned cardigan, there's some dark brown in it, so today I'm wearing it with my brown jeggings. In all of these examples the column is on the outside, however I could wear my green cardigan over the brown top and jeggings, in which case the column would be on the inside. The other members of the 7 Steps group approved of the outfit below, including Imogen, so it seems as if I'm going in the right direction. The aubergine cardigan is shown in the fifth picture tied at the waist, but I think I prefer it loose as it has a lengthening effect.

Because you are working with a more limited wardrobe when doing Project 333, it is advisable to choose items of clothing that will mix and match with each other to create as many outfits as possible. Of course you can do this by choosing mainly neutrals, but my style recipe is "Parisian Casual Chic with a Dash of Colour and a little bit Quirky". Yes I've changed it yet again, however you'll notice that the word colour is still there, justifying the number of different colours in my winter capsule.

The advantage of working with a colour palette is that all the colours work together, so how many potential outfits can I make from my Winter 33? I'm going to ignore the aubergine leggings, as they are mainly for when I do Tai Chi or hiking, though I can also wear them under the two tunics shown above in the sixth picture.  There are four other pairs of trousers and jeans, which can be worn with any of the seventeen tops.  Grab your calculator and work this one out: yes, that makes 68 different outfits, not including the two tunics. As the teal tunic is almost knee length I can actually wear it as a dress too, with thick tights.

I nearly forgot the cardigans, Remember that I said the navy one makes a column of colour with my navy jeans and the grey one works well with my grey trousers? If I add a cardigan to any of those 68 outfits it will create even more variations. Did you think that a wardrobe of 33 items of clothing wouldn't provide you with enough options? Hopefully I have convinced you otherwise. If you follow the link above and read the rules for Project 333, you'll notice that I've bent the rules slightly and not included shoes and other accessories,  Hopefully Courtney won't pop over to Spain to check my wardrobe!

If you've been reading my posts about the 7 Steps to Style system, don't worry, I'll be back with the final three steps very soon. The next step ties in very neatly with Project 333 too: Step 5 Your Wardrobe.

Fashion Feng Shui: the verdict

What did you think about my series on the five Fashion Feng Shui types? Did you identify your Feng Shui element and type?

Briefly, the five different elemental types are: Water, the Philosopher, whose style is creative; Wood, the Pioneer, whose style is sporty, Fire, the Pleasure Seeker, whose style is dramatic; Earth, the Peacemaker, whose style is traditional and last (but definitely not least!) Metal, the Perfectionist, whose style is elegant.

It's possible to be one type in your appearance but feel that essentially it isn't really you.  Perhaps you have the golden colouring, soft, full features and apple shape of a Peacemaker, but deep down you have a creative personality. Or you may look and feel like a sporty Pioneer but work in a field where you are expected to wear the styles of a Peacemaker. This is where I like the idea of Feng Shui fashion, as it allows you to add touches of other elements to your wardrobe to express yourself more fully. Maybe you are forced to wear conservative styles in the office where you work, but that doesn't mean you can't wear bright red underwear to express your inner Pleasure Seeker!

If you want to explore the ideas of Fashion Feng Shui more fully, you might want to download a copy of the book shown above.  I won't receive any commission if you decide to buy it, by the way!

Alternatively, if you enjoy playing on Pinterest as I do, why not search for pictures of the different types there? This board in particular has lots of inspiring pins: Jane Rekas. I have also created my own Fashion Feng Shui board: click here.

The picture above immediately appealed to me as I do love a touch of red and purple in my wardrobe. Finally, I believe that fashion should be about wearing what you enjoy and whether you follow the guidelines of Dressing Your Truth, Seasonal Colour Analysis or Fashion Feng Shui, remember that they are only guidelines. Our aim should be to express ourselves and love what we're wearing.

Fashion Feng Shui: 5 types

Following on from my post about yin and yang, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the Fashion Feng Shui types and see if you identify with any of them.

There are five types, relating to the five elements that are used within Feng Shui: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. You may have read about the power of Feng Shui within your home or office environment and how each feng shui area relates to a different element, colour and life area, but did you know that it can also affect the way you look and the way you are perceived?

If your personal style is creative, then your element is Water and your type is the Philosopher. If you like comfortable clothes and your personal style is sporty, you are a Pioneer and your element is Wood. Are you a dramatic? If so, your element is Fire and you are a Pleasure Seeker. If you tend to be a bit conservative in the way you dress, then your personal style is traditional, your element is Earth and you are a Peacemaker. Finally, we have the Perfectionists whose style is elegant and whose element is Metal.

Many of us will identify with more than one type, except perhaps the Perfectionists who are perfect just the way they are! In my case I am definitely happiest wearing sporty, comfortable clothes, but I do like a few creative touches and at times I aspire to be elegant.

The power of Fashion Feng Shui though doesn't just lie in the way you look physically but also embraces your essence or authentic self and your intention or ideal self. Let's assume that you work in an office where your colleagues are very conservative and you are expected to dress in a traditional way, however your personal style is creative and essentially you are a bit dramatic.  If you spend all your working day dressed in a conservative way you won't be dressing true to yourself and you will probably feel a bit stifled. However if you choose to wear an asymmetrical top under your classic suit with maybe an animal print belt or scarf, you will feel more balanced and true to yourself, as you are expressing the other elements of your personality.

The book that I highly recommend if you are interested in reading more about Fashion Feng Shui is the book by Evana Maggiore. Most of the information in this series of posts is based on what I have learnt from Evana's book. Obviously I'm no expert, however I plan to explore the five types in the following posts, to help you identify your personal style and give you hints on how you can express your authentic self or work towards achieving your ideal self.

A bad look for over 60s?

I've just finished reading the latest post on one of my favourite blogs: Une Femme d'un certain âge, and the first comment on her post made me pause to think. I thought the post was excellent, as usual, and Une Femme's views on trends are very similar to mine. Don't go overboard and risk looking like a fashion victim, but by embracing the latest trend through accessories, for example, you can look modern without being over the top.

One of the trends mentioned is peplums and the person who commented was questioning why middle-aged women would want to add visual weight to that part of their body. Good point, however I am sitting here wearing a peplum top as we speak!  Obviously I immediately rushed to look in the mirror to reassure myself that I didn't look too fat and then I decided to ask for a second opinion.

When I bought this navy top (it was in the sales at Hobbs otherwise I might not have bought it!) I actually thought it gave me a waist and therefore was a flattering look. As a comparison, here is a photo of me in an ordinary top (which happens to be pink: Robin, please note!) so I would be interested in your views.  The jeans, by the way, are also pink - though when I first saw them I thought they were red - so maybe pink is becoming my signature colour.

Which of these two looks is the most flattering, in your opinion?

 

Would you wear this style? Are there any other recent trends that you have followed?

Style Statement - part 1

Generous, warm-hearted, adventurous, independent, creative, compassionate: these are the words a dear friend used to describe me when I was trying to define what type I was for Dressing Your Truth.  I am now trying to establish my individual style within the DYT guidelines, and part of the April Style Challenge is to find your personal style statement, so this seemed like an opportune moment to do so. 

The words for type 1s in DYT include: light, animated, buoyant, crisp, fresh and fun.  From these words, I think the ones that best express the way I like to approach fashion are light, crisp and fun. Looking at my friend's list, the words that I would hope to convey through the way I dress are warm-hearted, independent and creative. Imogen from Inside Out Style described my style as colourfully, comfortably relaxed.  

Colourfully, comfortably relaxed?

Is there a common theme here?  As Imogen is the style expert, I will look at her words first. "Colourful" probably relates to the light, fun part of me that uses colour to brighten up my outfits and I hope that this makes me seem more approachable and warm-hearted too.  The "comfortable" aspect is light again, and crisp, as I don't like to wear anything that feels heavy or drapes too much. "Relaxed" ties in with the comfort factor too.  I hope that I am expressing my independent side by not slavishly following fashion, but using the latest styles if they happen to suit my lifestyle. I like to think that some of my looks are creative, but the main criteria when I wear a particular style is "does it feel good?" and any creative touches are secondary to that. So, not surprisingly, I think that Imogen was spot on - she is the style expert, after all!

I think that "colourfully relaxed" is a good starting point for me, as it also represents the way I like my home to be.  At the moment I am working my way through "The Style Statement" book so I plan another post on this topic, in which I will reveal the two words that are my personal Style Statement.