The Feminine Suit
Due to the cyclical nature of fashion, the ladylike suit, although out-of-favor for a time, is in its comeback season. There are lots of good reasons to buy one now:
- Fabric technology continues to improve. Avoid a plastic-looking suit. Research has shown that many people associate obviously synthetic fabrics with negative character qualities.
- Easter is April 24th this year. A feminine suit is a lovely alternative to an easter egg pastel dress.
- Suits which are sold as separates allow you to buy the size(s) you need even if you don’t wear the same size jacket and skirt. You can also buy two trousers, or a skirt and trousers, to avoid unequal wear to the matching pieces.
- Unlike many contemporary styles of dresses and sweaters, people generally understand suits. That does not include the ”mini-skirt suit”.
Now through March 6th, take $100 off a suit at The Limited. A suit consists of any jacket with either a pant, skirt, or dress. Shop The Limited Online.
Do suits work in your idiom? Why or why not?
Related Posts:
Seven Year Trend Cycles
God, in his infinite wisdom, has woven certain rhythms into the fabric of our world. One of them is the seven year cycle. Who can forget in the Laura Ingalls Wilder classic The Long Winter (Little House)
Does that affect what you wear? I think it does. Recently I took another analytic look at Suzie Woodward’s fashion cycles (which we last discussed in June of 2009). If I assume a seven year trend cycle, rather than the five years Suzie suggests, the three silhouettes fall right in place with what I’ve experienced, say, in the last forty years.
- we are now solidly in a sophisticate cycle (in 2007, we were debating whether we would wear baby doll tops, jeans tucked into boots, or leggings).
- prior to this, we were in a separates cycle (think Clinton and Stacy)
- most of the ’90s was characterized by the “saucy” cycle. And puffed sleeves.
- following the seven year cycle back, puts the sophisticate cycle back in the days of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the TV show Dynasty. Right where it belongs.
- Prior to that was another separates cycle, from the mid-1970’s to the early ’80s.
I don’t remember much prior to that. 
Related Posts:
When Trends End
How to spot a trend nearing its expiration date:
a popular piece is increasingly burdened with laborious design embellishments.
Here at The Space Between My Peers, I publicize my own mistakes in hopes you will not have to repeat them. For example, a couple of years ago, I bought a funky pink velvet blazer. I love the color, but the buttons and pockets and ruffles have made it a less-than-stellar investment (although I didn’t spend much). Simpler would have been better.
How does that relate to today? Boots!
After I bought the boots pictured here, with my birthday money, I started searching the internet for comps. Apparently this knee-high boot super-cycle is very mature; shoppers searching for an elegant, classic pair will be paying bank. Or shopping thrift! That is the upside: when a trend is mature, it is usually abundantly available in thrift stores.
Here are some of the more tortured offerings to be found:
For more information about any of the pictured boots, click on the picture. Don’t let me dissuade you. They are all under $100. Except the ones I bought; unfortunately, they are no longer available.
Related Posts:
Strategies to Avoid Being “Out of Style”
Most women, I believe, care little about keeping up with every passing fad. What we DON’T want is to be “out” of style, right? Recently I’ve been ruminating on two common strategies:
One: Buy only timeless styles.
Two: Buy new styles that really work for you.
As you can see, these two approaches are not dichotomous, but can easily be combined into a blend specific to your own idiom.
Two additional thoughts that I have written about in the past:
- Flattering clothes have greater staying power.
- Getting in on the front of a flattering trend is frugal.
One other thought concerning timeless styles: we have, in our household wardrobe-building philosophy, a concept I call “the permanent wardrobe”. Even true wardrobe classics cycle to a degree; that is, there is an ebb and flow to their popularity. Since I don’t know which way is “ebb” and which is “flow”, allow me to suggest simply that a classic piece which is also flattering and in good condition is a good candidate for exception to the “if you haven’t worn it in a year” rule.
Related Posts:
Wearing Head to Toe Black
It’s the week before Labor Day. Twice in the previous two days I have taken note of a woman, blithely going about her business, dressed completely in black from the neck down including black backpack purse and flowy, ankle-length skirt. In both cases, after wondering all kinds of things - is she a nun? test-driving her halloween costume? - I determined that this was just a woman dressed in her regular clothes, that just happened to be all black.
Allow me to just say clearly: being completely covered in black in late August/early September, at least in The Great Northwest, is an eye-catching look. Not in a good way.
Related Posts:
Leopard Print Velvet Blazer
I just wanted to show you Boden’s Velvet Blazer
. It comes in great colors for Fall 2010: berry, black, purple, cyan, pewter, and leopard print. The price? $98, which is what I would expect to find an item like this priced for at a moderately priced store. Generally, you can find a link to Boden USA in my sidebar, offering additional savings.
According to Harper’s, camel will be the new color for fall. Of course, many of us have always believed camel, and leopard print, to be “classics”. Good for us; when a classic we like is declared the “in” thing, that is the time to buy! At any rate, one thing I like about many animal prints is the mixing of cool and warm colors (although I think I would have used a lipstick red scarf rather than the dusty purple, if I were styling the outfit pictured).
How about you: will you be adopting camel this fall, either in a leopard print or straight up?
Related Posts:
On Falling in Love with the Look of Another
The following just in from the comments on a previous post:
Hello everyone — it’s me again — Sarah. I need help! Having seen a super-stylish woman in Topshop, I find myself wanting to buy the coat she was wearing. “Wanting” is hardly a strong enough word to describe the feeling, actually. On the positive (”good excuse”) side, I have golden blonde hair and have been wanting to find a coat and shoes and boots in my hair color, as suggested by Rebecca, and the woman’s coat was definitely in that spectrum.
But on the negative side –
(1) It is rather thick and furry faux leopard skin (OTOH, thick = warm - good)
(2) Will leopard skin be as OUT next year as it is in this winter?
(3) I think that I look best in slim, or at least waist-cinching attire, but this coat is……. quite a wide swing coat hitting at the upper thigh!!! It is the ultimate triangle shape! How can I possibly want it or think it will look good on me?
(4) The girl I saw was very tall, whereas I am not. She looked good because of her endless legs.
(5) The girl I saw was wearing black flat (yeay!) ankle boots and what looked like either black leggings or thick black tights. No other clothing was visible. It looked good on her, but she had very dark hair and black footwear. Whatever would I myself be able to wear it with? I have been unable to think of other ways to wear it, and that seems terribly limiting.
Is this insanity not another example of my misquidedly being psychologically swayed by current fads? Would I think that girl stylish if she were wearing that some other time, when triangle-shaped swing coats were not in fashion? Somehow I doubt it. But there it is: to me, now, she looked fabulously stylish and I want to copy her look. You can see that I need help, can’t you?
In my defence, I should perhaps mention that I have not actually tried on the coat yet, and this season I have rejected as unflattering to me several trends (fads, I’d say) deemed essential for this season on another excellent blog I read. So it might be that the moment I try on said coat the full horror of the bulky faux fur triangle (possibly 9 months pregnant?) swing coat will hit me, but what I can’t understand is — why hasn’t it hit me already, given that I am fully aware of the tendency to be swayed by current fashions? I know it intellectually but I don’t yet FEEL it, if tyou know what I mean? Eek!
Duchesse responds:
Sarah: You have described a common phenomenon: falling in love with someone else’s look- and trying to copy it. (Which is how I once bought a trench coat that made me look like a sack of potatoes.)
First, the good news: swing coats flatter everyone (if they are not too big and end at the right length for your build.) Leopard is classic, always conveying a slightly eccentric, quirky attitude. Though some season it’s especially in, it’s never really “out”.
Now the bad news: You will not look like her. Even if you too were very tall, had legs for miles and hair the same colour, you will not look like her. But short blondes can wear leopard. You DO have to keep the clothes and shoes simple or risk looking like a bag lady.
So try on your leopard and if you like it, buy it. But make it your own. Perhaps with red gloves.
Finally, make sure you have another winter coat (one from past years is fine). You can tire of wearing an animal print. When I had a leopard swing coat it was such fun to wear, but not every day.
What are your thoughts? Should Sarah buy the leopard swing coat?
Related Posts:
Generational Fashion Fallacies
Is it just me or have you noticed that people of similar age have similar fashion misconceptions? Such as:
- the 60-something who thinks she needs to carry a brown purse because she’s wearing a green outfit
- the 40-something who pairs her bright top with any bottom, as long as it’s black
Here’s the deal, IMHO: if you wear something because you LIKE it - like, say, you really LIKE mules - by all means, wear it. The fact that I actively dislike it doesn’t signify. HOWEVER, if you wear it because you are obeying some outdated rule: FLY, BE FREE!
From what fashion fallacy would you like to set someone free?
Related Posts:
Regional Casual Uniform
Originally posed by Jody, this question is so much fun:
Suppose you stepped off a plane in your neighborhood, city, or country. Could you tell you were home by how people were dressed? Is there a Regional Casual Uniform? What do people (and you may narrow down to a specific segment of the population if you like) wear when they are going out, during the day, going to be seen, but not needing to dress up?
Bottoms Up.
- Here in the Great Northwest, while the bottom may be a skirt, shorts, or pants, there will be something “outdoorsy” about it. If it isn’t denim and/or it doesn’t have cargo pockets, no doubt it is tree-colored.
- No such variety in tops, though. One MOPS meeting, when I was trying to point out a particular mom, it went something like this: “See the lady in the black shirt? Well, behind her is another lady in a black shirt. Then there’s so-and-so, wearing a black shirt. Well, the lady you’re looking for is the next one. Wearing a black shirt”.
So there you have it, the Great Northwest Casual Uniform. What do the streets look like in your neck of the woods?
Related Posts:
V-necks Are Out
So we’re sitting around the table visiting the other day, discussing our wardrobe challenges, one of mine being tops, and my daughter who considers herself “trendy” (meaning she runs a bit ahead of the pack stylewise) announces, “v-necks are out”.
Now, this didn’t take me by surprise because they have been so popular for so long. And believe me, I know that most of you like them! So here’s my reason for bringing it up: I predict that before long v-necks will be looking matronly. And moms all over the country will be thinking they are a basic, buying them for their teens, and then wondering why they won’t wear them. (Have you ever heard a teenager say, “mom, that looks matronly”?)
Continue to wear v-necks:
- in cute layering combinations
- if they are a staple part of your personal idiom. Honestly, some people just look so good in them they should never stop.
Personally I have them in the “stop buying” category.
