Vogue March 2006 Cover: Natalie Portman as Art
So perfectly refreshing that it stopped me in my tracks, was that really a magazine cover without cleavage? Closer examination revealed a composition of simplicity and beauty.
What elements make this arrangement so aesthetically appealing?
Clothing selection: Natalie Portman’s pixieish crop significantly decreases the visual weight of the star’s hair. Thus, with her fair-skinned luminosity, the painted linen Prada balances her visual lightness.
Photography: Balance is not all about symmetry. Note how the neckline acts as a frame for the face.
Color: The overall beauty of the composition includes the background (matching the dress and framing the face) and the surrounding print layout (the black enhancing her hair and eyes, the pink bringing out her cheeks and lips).
Rip it off and take it home (not the magazine cover, the artistic concepts):
Visual weight: Choose clothing that harmonizes with your personal presence. Volume, texture, and depth of color all add visual weight.
Balance points: Simply stated, a neckline that is deeper than the face is long is a distraction.
Color: Try a neutral that is the same color value (dark or light), but not the same color, as your skin; accent with colors from your own personal coloring (eye, cheek, hair, or lip color).
Natalie Portman is a work of art, but so are you!
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See-through at Work? Maybe
With the current popularity of knitting, it should come as no surprise that crochet is one of this year’s big spring looks. So why does that idea prompt groans from both men and teenagers? Because they’re sick already of seeing mature women’s undergarments.
So, if you have see-through garments (crochet, sheer, or peekaboo) you would like to wear and still be viewed as professional, try this principle:
Wear a see-through garment as an accessory, like a scarf, not as an article of clothing.
For example, a sheer blouse in teal could be worn in many professional settings as long as it topped a matching teal, or black, long-sleeved tee-shirt. And, for Casual Friday, a crocheted sweater in a neutral could layer over something bright.
Do’s and don’ts:
- Do wear a tee-shirt under a knit or crocheted sweater. A camisole in a color normally associated with underwear doesn’t cut it.
- Do wear a sheer tailored blouse, with a matching shirt under. A blouse has the advantage, over a scarf, of offering camouflage to the less slim.
- Don’t choose a skin-toned garment to wear under something sheer. People will have to look closely to see whether you really are properly clothed.
- Don’t wear black underwear with a white shirt. That look has passed, and it now just looks tacky.
- Do approach the wearing of lace with caution. At best, it is associated with romance or considered a little old-fashioned. At worst, it looks like lingerie.
It’s up to you to protect your professional presentation. When in doubt, don’t.
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Glamour Stiletto Run
In the Truth is Stranger Than Fiction category, the perfect punctuation to our stiletto discussion: Glamour Stiletto Run.
Any takers?
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Uniform Thoughts
Most of us, when we consider the concept of wearing a uniform, find it somewhat restrictive. A few, however, would be relieved. If you are one of those few, pay close attention now. I am going to make your life easier.
When I was growing up, my mom wore a uniform. Not a company logo polo shirt, or fatigues, or navy shirt and shorts; she had a certain formula for dressing that just worked for her; a template, if you will. Wearing a suit everyday in my former professional life was the same concept. Easy, but with variety not afforded by a traditional uniform.
My early post Facing Tomorrow Without Trauma struck a chord with some of you. In it, I chronicle my development of a personal template for what to wear to church.
The project (this should be fun):
- Get out your collages (or envelopes or piles) from the Sunday project I previously suggested. You should have one for each lifestyle segment.
- Work on one season at a time. Depending on where you live, you may choose to work on Winter or Spring, or even Summer at this time of year.
- Identify a “template” you would like to use for the season you are working on, in each category.
- “Bottoms up”: Start with pants or skirt, add shirt, top with jacket or sweater. To be very thorough, plan also for shoes, coats, accessories, and even undergarments.
Here’s a fictional Winter template plan:
Leisure = jeans + cotton tee-shirt + wool sweater
Casual = wool trousers + dress shirt + blazer or cardigan
Business = pant or skirt suit + silk blouse
Social = dark sleeveless dress
Enormously helpful in my life, this concept adds structure to our thinking about what to wear. Comments, suggestions, snide remarks?
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Return of the Salty Jacket
If you’ve been with me since the beginning, you will remember that in my early post A Salty Fashion Tip I prescribed wearing a blazer the color of your hair. Then, in Complementary Colors, I offered the option of using the complement of your haircolor instead. Now, I would like to further develop the theme.
First, a clarification or two:
- Read the word “blazer” to mean any jacket or sweater.
- Most of the color combinations I suggest can be inverted, the jacket color becoming the shirt color.
Using a personal coloring-based wardrobe plan, you would expect to be able to wear a jacket in any color present in your own coloring. You would be right. But here’s the trick to wearing your skin color next to your skin:
- Separate the garment from your face with a swath of contrasting fabric.
- Choose an accent color from Beauty is in the Eye … or use your lipstick color.
Would you like an illustration? How about a tan-skinned person in a camel jacket? Now picture that person wearing a crisp white shirt with the collar outside the jacket, separating the jacket from the face. A look both comfortable and chic.
And salty!
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Recipe for a Bad Hair Day
What’s the secret to the uncooperative hair that distinguishes our most high profile days? In order to bring you the answer, I tested the following at a recent teen event.
12 weeks since last haircut
7 degrees fahrenheit
35 miles per hour winds
1 fleece hatoptional:
6 hours in ponytail and visor (best if started while hair is still damp)If starting the day before: add hairspray to touch.
My conclusion? Truly bad hair is most reliably attained in conjunction with the certainty of being photographed. Make sure there’s going to be a videographer present.
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Parents, Teach Your Children
Here’s a concrete reason for parents to teach their children the skills that enable them to be considered attractive in our society. Sure, it shouldn’t matter, but since it does, let’s do what we can. We all know of people who are widely considered attractive but, if only their natural physical attributes were considered, unadorned, it would be otherwise.
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The Space I’m Staring at Today
Part of the space I’m staring at today is the question: is there a compelling reason for me to spend so much of my life sitting at the keyboard,trying to persuasively blog the art and science of getting dressed?
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When Styles Collide
No doubt some of you ladies have been wondering about your husband’s fashion personality. Does it clash with yours?
My friend, who shall remain anonymous according to proper blog etiquette, made functional look exceedingly elegant prior to marrying a genuine alternative dresser. Adding zany socks and trendy hair to contemporary clothes, she has crafted a personal style idiom which ties them together as a couple. Very romantic!
Go back and read my previous post What Not to Wear … Casual Friday and its comments. Can you guess my husband’s fashion perspective? Purely functional! (He has taken the quiz, but he especially enjoyed the descriptions in my post The Fashion Train.)
So, a few years ago, when I had my traumatic moment of realization that we did not look like a couple, I took action. I wish I could say I did it as smoothly and effortlessly as my friend. Alas, such was not the case. Swinging too far first one way, then the other, my pendulum is finally gently swaying inside my comfort zone: primarily contemporary, but with alot of functional.
Stop two on the road to your personal style idiom is optional, but likely to pay domestic dividends. Take your fashion personality and add a nod to his.
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The Space I’m Staring At
From this evening’s dinner conversation:
“Sometimes the space I’m staring at is the Big Picture.”
A statement that’s destined to catch on.
