What is boredom? In his Mother’s Day sermon, our pastor claimed it occurs when something in us is going unused. Which explains why I could never really differentiate between boredom and loneliness. (If you don’t get that, go back and read my post “Why I Won’t Stop Talking”.)
And might explain dcrmom‘s troubles, feeling bored with basics but uncomfortable with some of the more dramatic looks (I’m paraphrasing out of necessity, I lost the link to where she explained it for herself.) If she sticks with familiar looks, she may be neglecting to accent within her individual idiom.
This is how it works for me, combining Contemporary Classic* with a strongly Functional* (menswear or sporty) accent:
- My pants (or skirt) will almost always be my main style personality – contemporary.
- Shoes will be on the functional side.
- I try to put everything together well (which is a contemporary characteristic) and feature something menswear or sporty near the face.
- Hair and glasses are contemporary, although hair will be on the messy side.
If I somehow end up going out of the house dressed entirely as a contemporary classic, you guessed it, I will feel boring.
Now, some of you, no doubt, have a single, high-congruence style personality*. Wonderful! Others, however, will be like me, with a style idiom constructed of style personality types that are polar opposites*.
How about you, are you a single style or a blend?
* Some of the vocabulary I use to describe the different style personality types fluctuates. My apologies if it’s unclear.
Can you be contemporary & Romantic at the same time?
I’m getting older, and my trend-setting days (and many of my bohemian pursuits) don’t seem appropriate. Or maybe it’s four kids and a budget. I never bought expensive clothes, so it must be the four kids combined with the difficulty of shopping! Or maybe it’s the baby weight?
I’m one confused woman when it comes to fashion (can you tell?). I like the idea of “boredom” with outfits, though. I’m right there with you. What kind of men’s wear do you put around your face?
Yes. I’m pretty convinced you can be any two very closely, with a bit of a third as well. Contemporary and Romantic is a nice combination (Jenna admits to that style).
Menswear – nothing intense. But there’s a little element of menswear to a crewneck or point collar shirt that’s very comfortable for me.
If you are contemporary and romantic, this is a great style season for you and if you can’t afford to stock up now, perhaps there’ll be good selection in the thrift stores soon. Also, is there a nice consignment store where you are? Sometimes they can be a little easier to shop, for not very much more money.
Just an observation: people who have a romantic element ot their style do really well with half-ponies (that’s a hair-do – does everybody use that term? ) .
Unrelated: I am totally going to try to go to Ross today or tomorrow.
Somehow, I got lost in terminology. 🙁 And the style personality link seems to be be a bit broken.
But my guess is, I’m a mixture of not necessarily polar opposites!
Oops. That link was to a page that needed to be logged into, blah blah blah. Sometime I will just snag it and make it a post of its own.
Wendy, I think you are a contemporary classic. If anything else, possibly timeless classic with a hint of glamorous?
Yes, I think contemporary classic pretty much covers it. With a slight hint of either glamorous or rock chick … depending on the occasion.
Oh yes, I can see that! 😎
Yes, I’m a contemporary romantic! But mostly contemporary and due to necessity (read: baby and budget) leaning towards functional (I can’t remember what the correct title is for that). And the half-pony observation is so interesting! I know that I for one wear my hair pulled back like that with a rubber band or barrette quite often. 🙂
For me…I know that I like to look well put together (although it doesn’t always happen) and I love feminine touches (but not too much!) — pearls, earrings, ribbon detailing… But thinking about it…I almost always like my “romantic” touches to be contemporary. Like…While I have the typical string of pearls, I prefer to wear (what I think is called) a tin cup pearl necklace. Or am I confusing more styles in there? :::happy sigh::: Clothes are fun! 🙂
That is a great observation that you like your romantic touches to be contemporary. I think you have your style blend nailed. And you inspire me to really try to be aware of sporty/functional looks as they come in to style and jump on them.
It must be because I am not an accessory person and so I have few necklaces, I don’t have a tin cup necklace (although Wendy has mentioned them here before). I do have a couple of strands of real pearls and have always kind of liked wearing them together for a chunkier look. A single strand of pearls can seem boring; of course, depending on what its worn with.
I NEVER wear studs, never will. But my daughter with the freckles and the romantic style accent likes them – the smaller, the better.
I’m still trying to figure out my style–I think I’m still trying to break myself (or at least my wardrobe) out of the style shadow of my older sister (mostly Romantic, I would say–Orvis and Coldwater Creek). I think I’m mostly Contemporary with a little touch of Alternative or just random weirdness. 🙂
I am a blend myself. I love good basics and will always steer towards those in the store, but I love contemporary accents in my jewelry, hair accessories, belts, & shoes. I like to go a little wild with the shoe category, but stick with muted colors for everything else. I love the contemporary romantci look, as I have gotten some super cute blouses this year that have that flare, so I see a lot of that in me too. I just like to take one or two styles and run with it for the season. I figure they probably won’t be back next year (thus the gold shoes this year!)
Your Majesty ~ I so understand! I think the biggest challenge in personal style is to be able to admire someone else’s style without absorbing it. In which case, it can be beneficial to focus on your personal “never” statements. As in, “I never wear backless shoes”, “I never wear fleece”, “I never wear big floral prints” (those are my statements, obviously, not yours). 🙂
Amy ~ I bet you are that style type that always looks so perfect, and alot of personal shoppers are, the timeless classic with glamorous accent. And I think you should keep your gold shoes – they’ll be back around!
Funny thought about the earrings…I rarely wear studs, for whatever reason I like something a little bigger.
Oh, and I should go back and look at your “style train” posts, but what you said about admiring someone’s style w/o absorbing it…yeah…For whatever reason I always think that someday I’m going to “break out of the mold” and be glamorous (but not over the top). But really, it’s just not me. (I’m curious where my style and glamorous line up on the train). I’m much happier when I sit back and admire the glamorous women around me, and just be who I am.
Normally liking something a little bigger (in earrings) is associated with contemporary style. Also, what you say about glamorous is typical for contemporary (glamorous being just ahead of contemporary on the train).
It’s great that you are comfortable being yourself. It’s such a blessing to others, too!
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