The other 1 %
Diane Pollack
We all know that there are some old-school fashion rules that no longer apply.
White after Labor Day
No suede in spring and summer
Matching your bag to your shoes
Not mixing metals (OK, I am still a fan of wearing 1 metal)
No more rules - What I prefer are guidelines
There are many guidelines I recommend to my clients (and I adhere to myself) for what I think is a more stylized look. They help keep proportions, don’t compete with other items you are wearing and can simply be the touches that make an outfit look substantially better.
Oh sorry, are you asking for those tips? Because that is not really the focus of this piece. However, if I have whet your appetite, you may want to check out How to Style a difficult item in 5 easy steps.
So what do we think of the picture below?
Image from The Zoe Report
Did I hear “Yuk” to a few things going on here? And yet she is a fashionista. All of the “Yuk” is intentional !!!
So who should go by these guidelines and who can break them and still look fabulous?
Sometimes I call this the “Kate Middleton” effect. So many people are enamored by her style, but if you saw some of those items on a hanger or even tried them on yourself, would they look great?
Probably not. So getting over the fact that she is “royalty,” the other helpful elements are that she is young and pretty with a good figure. She carries clothing well and can get away with a lot more than the rest of us.
I know another woman who fits under the young, pretty and good figure category and always seems to look great. On closer look, if I check out her outfit, I think “why would she ever choose to wear those shoes with that dress” and “her necklace is the wrong color and competing with her neckline” and yet I have to agree, she is someone who can just get away with it and looks great despite that.
Another example is a beautiful woman I used to know. One day she shows up wearing Timerlands - yes, those construction boots and somehow she still oozed sexy.
Don’t get me wrong. Do I think you need to be young, pretty and have a good figure to be able to pull off tricky outfit choices. Not necessarily, although it doesn’t hurt. Also, note I did not use the word tall in any of my examples (although Kate Middleton is indeed tall).
So here is the thing - these ladies are part of the other 1% (in fashion), Who knows, maybe it is 2 or 5%, but nonetheless, a very small percentage of people who ooze style and can get away with some things that would look pretty terrible on the rest of us :(
If you would like to find out more about my guidelines and what I would suggest for you personally, email me to discuss.