The Five Stages of Style Development
According to Heiko Ernst, the writer of Style: the signature of personality (click here for pdf), the formation of style takes place in five phases:
- Fundamental: up to age ten, one’s person is defined and the environment is absorbed.
- Reorientation: from ten into teens, a gradual disassociation from parents and also from the preceding youth culture.
- Individualisation: during the teens and into early twenties a range of different youth subcultures offer opportunities for identification and influence of one’s individual style.
- Expressive: roughly until one’s late twenties, style elements become fixed to form the individual’s own distinctive style.
- Establishing: with the onset of responsibility, young adults tend to withdraw into other priorities; public display of style becomes less important than career and relationships.
Each of us, as we are contemplating this progression and how it fits or does not fit, can no doubt set it to music. What’s on the soundtrack of your life?
For the record (he hee, stealth pun), my earliest years are set to The Doors, Simon & Garfunkel, the Hair soundtrack, and assorted forgettable movie music. And I never liked 80s music much, even in the 80s.
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Friday Fashion Lab: Is Black Really Slimming? The Real Life Version
Last week I ran a “cheater” fashion lab, something I’m wont to do from time to time due to my laziness and lack of skill in photography (to be very honest, unlike many bloggers I also have little interest in photography). Then Jody of Gumbo Lily (the lovely Jody, fair princess of the kingdom of Gumbo Lily) pointed out that it’s kinda tough to evaluate whether or not black is slimming when looking at clothes on a twig.
But I don’t know if this is really any better; Jody looks so cute in all these outfits. (I LOVE the black & white print top!)
 So what do you think? Everybody still sold on black?
Thank you so much to Jody, for modeling. And remember, fashion lab is open to everyone. Have a question you’d like to get input on? Contact me and we can figure out how you can be a model too.
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Reader Question: Fashion for a Round Face
A reader writes:
So here is my “dilemma.” I have inherited a round face and a bit of a double chin–hmm. Are there any fashion tips for this type of face? I really like to wear high turtlenecks or other high collars in pictures. I also like to pose looking over my shoulder, because my jawline looks tighter…
My wedding is in October, and I’d really like for my wedding dress to be flattering.
Without further ado, what I found about this fashion question (which, incidentally, is one of the harder I’ve been asked).General principles:
- Go for tops with v-necks or scoop necks, or wear open-collared button-downs.
- Another option: A high turtleneck.
- Steer clear of neckline and collar styles with curved horizontal lines (although if done in a dark color they will probably tend to accentuate your eyebrows more than any double chin).
- Choose longer earrings to create a vertical effect next to the face.
- Be careful, too, what shape earrings you choose. Our eyes tend to seek out and focus on similarities. These, featured at Blooming Lily, are a style which creates vertical line movement and focus on dark eyes and hair.
Supplemental advice from about.com:
- Hairstyles for Round Face Shape. The smooth Kelly Clarkson is, I think, my favorite.
- More tips for looking thinner in photos.
As far as the wedding dress, it’s hard for me to imagine that you won’t be just as cute as can be in whatever you choose. Selecting a dress with a lower neckline, of any shape, with some sort of interesting detail may serve to camouflage the area you are concerned about by surrounding it with space (making it less significant) and diverting the eye elsewhere.
What tips would you readers add?
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New Theme: EuroStyle
A new theme is emerging around here - okay, at present it’s only in my mind - and that is European style. Specifically, since a friend will be moving to Italy before the year is out, how to dress as an American there has been on my mind since really before I started the blog even.
Now Susan in Texas, a real life friend who has been reading almost from the beginning, has brought the theme to the forefront with this proposal/question:
I am planning a trip to Paris and wonder if you could come up with wardrobe suggestions for me. Of course, Katie wants to actually walk into the Chanel boutique and though that frightens me, I know we will do just that! Most of our days will be spent museum going/walking/wandering the streets. Any ideas as to what to wear in order to not “stick out†as the “American Tourist†(I don’t mind being a tourist and am certainly proud to be an American, but don’t want to be labelled as a “hickâ€, if that makes sense). I think most Europeans think of all Americans as wearing jeans and baseball caps.
Susan
And to bring it all a little closer to home, I applied for my passport yesterday. Just in case an opportunity arises. You never know.
Another tidbit you may not know is that I lived in Europe for five years when I was growing up, Germany to be precise. My most vivid memory of the American vs European sartorial clash takes me back to ninth grade, our return to the States. At the time bell-bottom hip-huggers had been around for some time. Logically, it seemed time to move on. So I got myself a really cool 
pair of jeans from a German store, not skinny, but definitely less wide, and with all kinds of funky seams on them.
Too bad for me Moses Lake, Washington, just wasn’t ready for that look yet. I was a big dork.
Susan is unlikely under any circumstances to come off as a big dork. Nevertheless, this should be fun to think about. What fashion advice would you give to the American headed for Europe?
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Teen Style Tuesday: Leggings & Shorts?
Surely none of you fine readers, especially those who weren’t even a twinkle in your beloved father’s eye back in the ’80s, would sink to wearing leggings as pants. Let’s all say “eeeeiuw!”
No, leggings are tights. Which just may be the reason I’m having a little more trouble adapting to the idea of wearing them under shorts. Have a look at these pictures, what do you think? Would you wear leggings under shorts?
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Blogspotted!
The Space Between My Peers made the local newspaper.
Frank Sennett, who writes the Spokesman Review’s Blogspotter column, featured this blog in his column this week. And he didn’t make me sound stupid (thanks, Frank!) The funny thing is, it didn’t even occur to me until after I had done the email interview that perhaps it was for the newspaper and not just for online. He hee.
Then a real life friend sent the nicest email and said she learned something about me from the newspaper. Hey, bloggers, here’s a question for you: do all your RLFs know you blog? How did you tell them?
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Commonsense Guidelines for Dressing Like an Adult
The following post was actually a comment by Josi of The Art of Crochet on the question of risk-taking and acting your age, posed by Tricia at bits and bobbins. Josi has kindly given permission for me to re-publish it here.
Perhaps part of what is meant by dressing one’s age is dressing appropriate to the situation. When we are young, we are allowed a certain amount of social folly but consider these:
1. Don’t upstage the bride, or guest of honor. If the event is in celebration of someone other than yourself, an adult woman understands she has a certain obligation not to be overly flashy (and certainly not if the guests of honor are more subdued).
2. Similar to #1, if you are attending something held by those with conservative tastes, it is considerate to show up accordingly. Being considerate might be boring for some, but it is a hallmark of acting like an adult. Remember - some people’s ideas of taking chances involve showing a lot of skin, or glitter, or mismatching shoes… all of which are perhaps best left in the closet when attending a luncheon with one’s future in-laws.
3. Being weather-inappropriate just looks stupid. Period. High heels in the snow, or scarves in the heat - just dumb.
4. It’s a fact of life that people will attribute qualities to a person based upon her clothing. A woman in a Chanel suit appears more professional that a woman in a Betsey Johnson dress. Can both pull off a business meeting - well, that depends upon the person. I would say a naturally confident woman could pull it off, but a more shy and unsure woman might want the advantage in initial reaction that the suit provides.
I think one of the main differences between acting like an adult and acting like a child is the ability to compromise. Every situation isn’t, primarily, an opportunity to be a fashion-plate, and being able to set that aside isn’t about conformity, but about learning how to respect a situation. (For instance, most legal offices have a ‘no knees’ rule which I don’t find stodgy at all. A legal office and a night club should have differences in the appropriate apparel.)
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Three Things My Dad Did Right
In honor of Father’s Day, I wish to call attention to just a few of the many things my dad did right in raising me:
- He took me to church. From church, I learned to value the Bible as God’s Word, so when I eventually went looking for answers to life’s questions, I knew where to look.
- He treats my mom well. I could go on all day about how that has impacted me positively.
- He likes my husband. One of the smarter things I did, after a long period of foolishness in my life, was to ask my dad if he thought I would be happy if I married my hero. I highly recommend considering in-law relationships before marriage. (One fun little note: my dad and my mil were acquainted, kinda through business, before they met through us. She recognized my smile from having met my dad before.)
Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!
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A Complete Summer Shoe Wardrobe in Four (or Five) Pairs of Shoes
A few years ago, when Birkenstocks were still big and the young wore sport sandals with everything, I was looking for a true go-anywhere summer shoe. With the first pair of Chacos I saw (actually two pairs, at the same wedding), I was sold. I bought my Chacos in a snowstorm, on a day when it was 20 below.
Since I already had a gorgeous pair of vintage ivory sandals that had belonged to my late grandmother (which now live in dd2’s wardrobe), my next need was for something for dressy casual. My hero found my wedges for me at the Nordstrom Rack. If I were shopping now, I might consider one of these (btw, all these pictures are linked to their Zappos pages, in case you want more info):
Realistically, I would have been quite able to get by with just these two pairs of shoes (plus my Reef flip-flops, which live with my swimwear).
Except my Chacos are beginning to wear out. And I’m craving something a little more delicate than the oversized lug sole. And Angie doesn’t like them.
But then my mom and my grandma sent a box of treasures ’round. And in it was a pair of tan sandals which fit me nicely. And would have been in my idiom, but for being backless. For free, though, why not give them a try? When I told my grandma that they fit me, she said she had another pair, brand new, that didn’t work for her. These are sling-back!
The last pair, the really dressy ones, came in the box we took home to go through later. In a shoebox marked “vintage 1940s lizard dance shoes”. Believe it or not, they are a shiny rose-brown peep toe slingback style. And fit me! Oh yeah!
A friend shot me when I wore them the other night, but I haven’t received the picture yet. Until then, enjoy these beauties:
Oddly enough, I wear the same size shoes as my mother and both of my grandmothers. Last weekend I visited my mom and grandmother and came home with shoes! My entire summer shoe wardrobe is now housed beneath my dresser and, when I was contemplating the completeness of it the other day, I noticed they are all brown or tan.
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Just Linking: June 15, 2007
The Zafu blog noticed the same jeans I posted yesterday, the ones bonnie wants. Wide legs are big this season. he hee.
Just for fun: The World’s Most Fashionable Slippers via The Fashion-y Blog.
Blest with sons is celebrating her smallness by enjoying dresses. And enjoying allowing her inner fashionista to come out and play. 
She asks the riveting question: who are you hiding inside?
As I flipped through the party photos from the CFDA awards at Style.com, I observed: not everyone pictured in them looks fabulous. Which I take as encouragement to be less fearful regarding fashion. And speaking of fear and risk-taking in fashion, here’s Tricia’s post on the age question. Prompted, sadly, by a commenter accusing her of dressing too young for her age.
Found via Pearls: Inspired Outfits.
What is an inspired outfit? All outfits are collected by fashion stylists from pieces found at consignment, vintage, thrift, and retail stores and shops (Note: most items are gently used, second hand, or vintage). Outfits are then are matched together and sold as a complete look for one low price. Each outfit is a “one-of-a-kind” combination and is not likely to ever be exactly recreated.
I could do that.
So what’s going on in your fashion world?
