The Essence of Smart Casual
Casual. An ambiguous term at best. To some it means “anything goes”, to others it means “the necktie goes”. Then we add modifiers: business casual, smart casual, semi-casual. What does it all mean? In my system of lifestyle segmentation, “casual” is defined as nicer, but relaxed, clothing: khakis and sport shirts for men, less-crisply-defined equivalent for women.
In my mind, the essence of smart casual =
clothing which fits in (nearly) any lifestyle segment, depending on the shoes worn with it.
In other words; worn with flip-flops, the outfit reads leisure. Throw on a pair of platform sandals or snappy flats with the same clothes for a casual ensemble, or metallic shoes and statement jewelry for cocktails. How smart is that? And perfect for travel!
Dog-walking clothes, ball gowns, and smart casual; what more do we need?
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Cover Your Basics
At one time or another, most of us encounter a wardrobe crisis: a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear. Perhaps you’ve changed sizes or lifestyles. Or perhaps you haven’t; perhaps you have simply stayed the same size and worn the same things until your everyday clothes have all worn out, leaving you with a closet full of decades-old L.B.D.s and nothing to wear. No matter how we get there, with a day dedicated to shopping and $100, most of us can be on the road to Wardrobe Recovery.
Your wardrobe needs variety; you can add that later. Your first priority is to be able to get dressed.
First decide what you want to wear every day: a business suit? shorts and tee shirt? khakis and a button-down? Think next about where you are most likely to find those needed items for a reasonable price. Then go buy some. Do not allow yourself to be distracted by whatever is easy for you; buy what you need.
If your lifestyle is mostly leisure, try to get two pairs of jeans and three of your favorite tee shirts (nice-fitting solid or print tees, not sloppy message tees). Starting with $100, if you go to Old Navy or JCPenney or somewhere similar, you should have money left over for something fun. Pictured pieces available today at Old Navy’s online store for a total of less than $50, click on picture to go to the website.
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Stock Up on Basics for Spring
An integral part of personal idiom is what you consider a basic. Those tee shirts, camis, cardis, or leggings that don’t really constitute a fashion item, but without which you can’t get dressed? Those may need to be replaced annually, and in duplicates. White and black are especially vulnerable to losing the freshness of their color.
Old Navy Semi-Annual Stock-Up Sale is here with basics starting at $4! Offer ends 3/17.
I’ve been thinking for some time about suggesting a basic accent color based on personality. In addition to one’s eye color, these are my top personality-based color recommendations for those pieces that tie the rest of the wardrobe together:
- expressive: white
- gentle: gray
- dynamic: red
- reflective: black
Because I wear jeans alot, buying some of these kinds of pieces to blend with jeans makes sense too.
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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?
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Polos Are NOT Business Casual for Women
The quintessential business casual uniform template for men:
khakis + leather shoes + polo shirt
If only it were so easy for women! Consider the following insightful comment made (several years ago) by Mella DP:
My job: engineering consulting. That often means having to demonstrate credibility in the executive conference room and on the plant floor on the same day. Dressing in a way that works for both situations is tricky. It’s easier for the guys - most men can wear chinos and a polo shirt and and sturdy shoes and look decent and functional (if a little dull). Most women in a similar outfit would look like an Applebees hostess. (Emphasis added.)
Indeed!
The other primary reason, IMO, polos don’t work for women’s business casual is this: historically the polo is athletic wear, making it fall into the leisure category. Although I’m not entirely certain why it is otherwise for men.
My advice? When you hear the word “polo” substitute “sweater”.
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A Single Coat
The hero wanted to buy me a really nice wool coat for Christmas and, in truth, I really needed it. My existing one had expired on several levels:
- It was too big, unless I was wearing a really big jacket underneath.
- The fabric, 100% merino wool, was worn through in several places. Not the lining though. I could stick my finger through the holes in the cuffs.
- Dd, the starving college student, was wearing it more than I.
I was going to show you the two top contenders, but I couldn’t find a picture of the other one. So here is what we bought. $100 at TJMaxx. It is 70% wool, 20% nylon, and 10% cashmere, medium gray in color.
I titled this post “A Single Coat” because if I were to limit myself to one coat, a wool topper-length coat would be the one.
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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.
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Following My Own Rules
The main reason I write about all this stuff is to help myself. While sometimes I wish I was one of those people who could just buy and wear what they like, I never have been. So I invent rules for myself. And share them.
One of the”rules”, or perhaps I should say “guidelines” or “proverbs”, I have adopted is this:
If a coordinating piece is available, buy it.
Yesterday I had an opportunity to employ it. With my mind sorta set on bts and another sweatshirt, I stopped at Target and scanned the clearance. I by-passed a pair of workout/weekend shorts at $7, until I found the coordinating jacket at $9. Even if I never wear the set together, I have that option and the same other pieces will coordinate with both. Coincidentally, the one tee-shirt I chose from the rack of $2 tees and tanks turned out to be the exact same color: a tint of tomato red that is almost coral.
The moment I got home, the hoodie pictured back here went in the biffer bag. I just really dislike hoods. For me.
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Back to School as Student
Along with what seems like record numbers of my peers (and children!), I am formally a college student. Classes begin next week.
This past spring, in my single quarter as student at a local community college, I studiously dressed as myself-as-student. My goal was social. For the first three to four weeks of classes, I carefully put together outfits from the leisure lifestyle segment which reflected my personality. After that, I eased up only a little, occasionally throwing in a blazer or a heel with trouser jeans. Ultimately, I found this strategy to be very effective: I was received as well as I have ever been. Somehow the other students picked up quickly and accurately what kind of a person I was and interacted with me accordingly.
My uniform template for Fall 2010, at least in theory:
dark skinny jeans + cotton tee + structured sweatshirt or leather jacket + 3 mile shoes
A word about book bags: most people my age use a rolling backpack; my daughter has forbidden me from doing so. No worries. I picked up a decent-looking, light gray backpack (for $19.99 at the Eddie Outlet). I will not be hauling a computer in it.
Happy Back to School!
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Establishing a Shopping List
Once an individual has established a wardrobe that works, I have found, refinement will still be needed. Various ways of establishing a shopping list have been suggested by shopping experts, here’s another one that occurred to me recently:
Identifying the compromise pieces in your wardrobe, consider what replacement item for each would make your wardrobe more ideal.
Some possible improvements:
- replace generic neutral pieces with garments in your signature color(s)
- is one of your favorites getting small or fading? Things don’t last forever. Perhaps it’s time to replace a staple.
- in my wardrobe, I have occasionally had to compromise on fabric to have a look covered. Keep looking for that washable, rather than dry clean, dress, or wool suit to replace polyester.
Sometimes one perfect item can replace several compromise pieces.
What items do you wear on a regular basis that you would really like to replace?
