Good Day Everyone,
A couple of weeks ago I did a post on clearing out my wardrobe (Closet Clear-Out) and today I've
decided to revisit the theme of clothes and will be sharing my three rules
for buying clothes. Different people will have different tips / rules
for buying clothes but over the years I’ve found that these three work really
well for me :o)
1. The Right Colour & Shade:
When it comes to clothes shopping, the first thing I do when
I walk into a store is to seek out my colours. There are some colours (and
shades) that just instantly make me look more alive, they lift my complexion making
me look healthier and brighter. I’m not talking about
bright, loud colours here, I’m talking about colours that suit my skin tone,
hair and eye colour and my overall complexion. On the flip side there are
colours (or shades) that just do not suit me. They
make me look washed out, ill, and just don’t do anything for me. My main thing
with colour is that I want to be wearing the colour, rather than the colour
wearing me… there’s an important difference, I feel. When I’m wearing the
colour, I will look good, and both myself and others will notice that I look good. When the colour is wearing me, I don’t look good. The clothing item / colour
may look good and people may comment that that is a nice top / dress but that’s
just it, people notice the clothing item, not me.
The way I tell whether a colour (or shade) looks good on me is
by holding it up close to my face when I’m wearing no makeup. Makeup can alter
and interfere with the way a colour looks on you which is why when I go clothes
shopping I tend to wear no / minimal makeup with not much colour. Colours that
suit you will look good on you in your natural state i.e. with no makeup.
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| Some of my shades of green: khaki green, sage green, lime green |
Over the years, I’ve learnt that there are some colours
where most of the shades within those colours will look good on me. For me,
these include most shades of green, red, pink and purple. I can wear most shades of green ranging from olive, khaki green to bright avocado green through to even lime green. However, there are
some colours where only a very specific shade will look good on me. For years,
I thought that blue was not my colour. It didn’t matter what blue clothes I
tried on they just never looked right on me. Recently I discovered that it
wasn’t a case of blue not looking good on me but rather I just hadn’t found the
right shade of blue for me. It was only when I came across this blue blazer that I
realised that I could actually where blue but it needs to be in this particular
shade. Likewise, yellow isn’t my colour unless it is a mustardy shade with a
warm undertone to it. Also, I can only wear very specific shades of orange,
beige, white (yes white does have more than one shade ;o). Most, if not all, colours look good on everyone, it’s just a
case of finding the right shade of that colour for you.
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| Finally, a shade of blue I can wear |
The other thing about colours and shades is that I try to wear what suits me as opposed to what I like. Often there is a difference. I don't particularly like the colour purple, but over the years I've learnt that it's actually a colour that really suits me. People at work used to compliment me whenever I wore purple and now its quite a dominant colour in my wardrobe, so much so that I even have a purple coat! Very Willy Wonka-ish!
When it comes to
wearing the colours (and shades) that suit me, I wear these on the top half of my
body i.e. close to my face as they greatly enhance my complexion. Now I’m just
going to put this out there… but black is not my colour! I know some people think
that black is a wardrobe staple and people often refer to it as a safe
colour but black does absolutely nothing for me. As a result I tend to wear black on the bottom half of my body, away from
my face, and pair it with one of my colours on the top half of my body. I do
have a black blazer but as this gets paired with a coloured top and / or
coloured scarf that suits me, the black not suiting me doesn’t become the focal
point. I have a few black dresses that I’ve worn to black tie and formal events
but here I will use colour in my makeup and accessories to make it look better
on me.
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| Some of my shades of red, pink and purple |
There are professionals out there such as personal shoppers
and image consultants that can help people determine what colours / shades suit them the
most using colour analysis techniques and principles. Whilst some might find
these very helpful, I feel that most people can usually tell what colours / shades suit them
because they will instantly look and feel beautiful, confident, positive and
happy in their colours.
2. The Right Fit & Cut:
Once I’ve found clothes in one of my colours, the next thing
that I look at is the fit and cut of the clothes and this includes the shape /
style of the clothes. I guess you could say that whilst colour and shade is
about enhancing your natural complexion, fit and cut is about enhancing your
body shape.
How clothes fit me is just as important to me as the colour
and shades of the clothes. Being particularly short (4’11”) and unable to wear
high heels (due to arthritic feet) I have to be very careful about the fit and
shape of my clothes. To make things even more tricky, despite being slim (I’m a
UK size 8-10) I have curves which can be challenging to dress when I’m sooo
short! The top and bottom half of my body is quite evenly balanced in that I’m
not long waisted and neither do I have particularly long or short legs relative
to my overall height.
However, I do have hips and so I tend to avoid clothes
that cinch me in at the waist because whilst I do have a defined waist, being
short, I feel that clothes that emphasise my waist by default also emphasise my
hips, as they’re so much wider than my waist. Plus as I have a bit of a tummy I
feel this gets highlighted with clothes that go in at my waist because right
after my waist goes in, my hips and tummy go out and this contrast is too much
for my body height to pull off. Therefore, I prefer clothes that go in above my waist,
like an empire cut although not always as high as right under my bust. This way
immediately below the narrowest part being emphasised, there is a bit of length
space for the clothes to gradually and subtly move outwards and skim over my
wide hips – does that make sense?
I look better in structured clothes that define my shape
rather than long floaty maxi dresses that just drown me and emphasise my wide
hips along the way. Just as you want to wear the colour, rather than the other way round, you
also want to wear the clothes rather than the clothes wearing you. Maxi dresses
definitely wear me! This doesn’t mean that I can only wear trousers / blazers
and not dresses, it just means that I have to be more selective in the types of
dresses that I wear.
Generally speaking long dresses do not look good on me, even
if they are fitted and not maxi dresses, because wearing that one colour /
pattern for the whole length of my body makes me look shorter, I feel. I tend to look
better when I can break the colour or pattern up to create two parts to my
length. So if I am wearing a long dress, I will look for one that is fitted at
the top and with a different colour or pattern on top versus the bottom.
Alternatively, with a long dress that is the same colour / pattern throughout
its length, I will throw on a crocheted top or shirt that I can tie in the
middle or a cardigan to break up the colour / pattern. I will often wear long (usually
dark coloured) skirts with a fitted coloured top. This gives me structure and
definition on the top half of my body in a colour that suits me and the long
skirt doesn’t dwarf me the way a long dress would due to the difference in
colour and fabric on the top half of my body versus the bottom half. With
shorter dresses, the break in colour / pattern becomes a bit less important to
me as my legs will break the look up. I will opt for short dresses that cinch
in somewhere between under my bust but above my natural waist and therefore
skim my hips.
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| The short length and pleat detailing at the waist makes this a great blazer for me |
I definitely wear trousers more than dresses because they
give my short body more structure and definition. I often wear jeans / trousers
with a top and a blazer as my day to day look but I do have to be careful with
the length and cut of my blazers. A longer blazer can make me look like I’m being
drowned by it and shorten my legs, and so I never wear blazers that completely cover my bum as they’re
too long for my height. I tend to go for short, cropped blazers that sit above
my bottom as they make my legs look longer and ideally blazers that have some
kind of detailing at the waist to draw the eye in. The cardigan blazer below is shorter at the back and sits above my bottom and becomes slightly longer at the front and so works perfectly on my short frame.
Typically on the top half of my body, if I’m wearing
something that’s a floaty fabric then I make sure it’s cut in a shapely manner
and fits well, doesn’t drown the top half of my body and I will pair it with
fitted jeans / trousers. If I’m wearing a fitted top I always make sure that it
fits my shoulders and chest well without being too clingy on my tummy area.
Whilst for me personally, the cut and the fit of the clothes
is more important than the fabric itself, often the fabric type determines the
cut and style of the clothing item and therefore the fit. So it is important to
pay attention to the fabric. I like structured clothes on me but
certain fabrics that are a bit stiff and often used for structured tops can
look a bit boxy. Floaty chiffon type fabrics that are very elegant and good for
skimming over, the not so favourite parts of my body, my tummy and
hips, could add unnecessary bulk if the fabric is gathered or pleated, for
example. Likewise, whilst a chunky knit sweater is a great winter staple, the
bulkiness adds unnecessary bulk onto my short stature and so I prefer
a thinner sweater like ones made of cashmere that I could layer with a blazer. I only ever wear chunky knits if I'm wearing them more as a coatigan like the lime green one below (a cardigan that's worn as a coat) as that way the clothes underneath it will define my shape. I wear this particular one with black skinny jeans and a cream or white fitted T-shirt or sweater.
3. Frequency & Longevity:
Once I have found clothes in the right colour and fit /
style for me the third and final thing that I look for is frequency and longevity.
What I mean by this is how much wear am I realistically going to get out of a
particular clothing item and therefore is it good value for money? I don’t tend
to pay much attention to current fashion and trends and instead prefer to focus
on what works for me and my body.
By frequency I’m referring to clothes that I will wear often
and on a regular basis. For me these include items such as blazers, day to day
tops and jeans / trousers. Clothes that I wear on a daily basis and will often
go with other clothes to create different looks and outfits.
By longevity I’m referring to clothes that will be timeless
pieces for me. So whilst I may not wear them day in day out, they stand the
test of time by lasting me for many years. These are things like a well fitted
shirt, a good pair of jeans, a lovely going out dress, a black dress for
formal events / dinners, a nice sparkly top etc.
Sometimes clothes will tick both the frequency and longevity
criteria. These typically tend to be pieces that may be a bit more expensive as
they are very well made and last a long time despite frequent wear because they
wash well.
Obviously there are other things that I will consider when
buying clothes such as price, the detailing or pattern, quality of stitching, whether it’s something that
is a trend and therefore may be in fashion now but not in a few months, whether I have something similar to the item in
question already, whether the item in question goes with other clothes in my
wardrobe to make a complete outfit versus having to buy more clothes to create
a look around the piece in question etc etc. However the three points
highlighted in this post are my top three considerations for buying clothes.
What rules or tips do you bear in mind when shopping for
clothes? How do you decide whether something is a good buy?
Love Sheen xxx
