Photo by Anna Shvets on Unsplash
I know and love my style. It’s comfortable, familiar, I trust it, and it suits me well, as every good relationship should. But that doesn’t mean that periodically I’m not wooed by a new trend that isn’t my style. Such was my temptation recently. So I decided to cheat on my style a bit.
Here’s how I did it, guilt free, and here’s how you can too.
Start With Your Limitations
Andrea’s (much loved and used) palette
The one area I won’t stray from is my color palette. I may not wear all of the colors in it (there are about 100 swatches in my John Kitchener palette.) But consistently I find that when I try a garment in a color that is off from that palette I just look and feel…inauthentic. (That’s a nice way of putting it. Either my skin looks really dull or the garment shows itself off while I recede in the background. Or both.)
So that’s my hill to die on.
Know Your Style
If you have a good sense of the specific garments shapes and silhouettes, lengths, details, and the textiles that work for you it’s hard to make a truly bad shopping mistake. But if you find something that is perfect for you in fit and style and fabric, even if the color is slightly off, you can likely get away with it by just adjusting your makeup a bit. That might work just fine for a lot of women.
Textile
Forever Chic on Amazon by Tish Jett
But here is where I find you can play around with style a bit more. And here’s how I did. If you follow this blog you know that I am semi-obsessed with the French style aesthetic. I love the simplicity and intrinsic femininity of how French women dress, and how they make their shopping choices.
One of the French vloggers I follow (and whom I hope to interview for my extended “31-Days of Self-Care” series – stay tuned!) recently talked about how French women love wearing satin. Satin is a HUGE trend these days.
Amazon slip dress $54
You’ll see it in skirts, blouses, and slip dresses that look either like a 1930’s vamp or actual boudoir lingerie.
I am not wearing a satin slip dress. Not even in the boudoir, thank you very much. I have a lovely short satin robe given to me at my wedding shower 30 years ago. But in public? No thank you. I am 35% Natural, only 5% Romantic, zero Dramatic.
Designer Ines de la Fressange
Still, I became obsessed with the French “idea” of this fabric. So when I found a blouse at Uniqlo from their collaboration with French model-turned designer Ines de la Fressange, I grabbed it. Why? Because it fit certain criteria for the “cheat.”
1: It was EXACTLY in one of my color swatches. (A subdued darker neutral that doesn’t shout, “Hey, I’m sexy and this is my bedroom look.”)
2: It was EXACTLY in a style facet that works for me (Classic.)
3: Surprisingly, it fit perfectly without needing any tailoring.
How I feel About Wearing This Garment
Silk Satin Blouse at Uniqlo $80
Because the color is understated and the style is Classic this textile simply ups the ante on my total look. It becomes really elegant and suitable for a lot of holiday occasions. I simply feel very sophisticated and elevated when I wear it. And yeah, it does say, “Why yes…I am a little French…at least in my style!”
Suzanne Blons The Beauty Shaman
ICYMI, here’s the latest video chat I just had with Suzanne Blons about fall fashion in which I wear this blouse and explain what the textile conveys in terms of style, and how I chose it.
Happy autumn for you in the Northern Hemisphere, and for you in the Southern Hemisphere, happy spring! (And yeah, satin will work for you in the spring too!)
[If you purchase from any Amazon links, as an Amazon affiliate I may earn a small commission. It helps me keep this blog going. I try to only recommend things that look good in quality.]
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