Let’s start with the fact that I have to be at a pretty good weight – and I’m there for the most part – I’ll admit the holidays set me back a tad.
As I moved through the process of wardrobe selection Stacy and Clinton popped into mind. “Have a bunch of separates that can be mixed and matched to stretch your wardrobe,” they always say – and they’re right. But it can still be a challenge.
I started out with a pair of black stretch jeans (I wear mostly black – too much for Stacy and Clinton but it works for me). Very comfortable and very in vogue. They fit and hug but they’re not too tight. I can look pretty hot in these jeans (yes I said it – and why not?) but never sleazy (god forbid). And I don’t look like a 20-year-old – no jeans have that power!
Off to a good start. Now for the top. I wanted to try something different so I grabbed a Chico button down top in black but with a lot of texture. No, something was off. I looked in the mirror and didn’t get that satisfied feeling that tells me I’ve got a winner. I do know what looks good on me – and this just didn’t. Sometimes that happens. Not every one of your tops will look good with every bottom. You have to try until you get it right.
This morning that took four tries. And once I’d selected the top I had to find the right black jacket to complete the ensemble. After a few tries I found one that wasn’t bad – but it wasn’t great. And I really wanted great but time would not permit further wardrobe exploration.
So how did that happen? I followed “the rules.” I had mix and match clothing all of which looked good on my body and went well together. It wasn’t that I was self conscious about my weight. But somehow I spent all that valuable time working on my wardrobe and I still didn’t get it right. Well that’s reality. And unless I’m going to computerize my wardrobe and label every top and every jacket that can be worn with every pair of slacks or skirt (and trust me I am not that anal), I’ve still got the morning fashion traffic jam and I can still come up wanting.
Go ahead and say I should have done all the coordinating the night before (and believe me I do that when I’ve got an important meeting or presentation the next day). I find that when I’m prepping for an average day my choices the night before rarely fit my mood when I’m actually ready to dress the next day. C’est la vie!
And now as long as I’m on the subject, there are a few more fashionREALista tips I’d like to impart (sorry Stacy and Clinton):
1. You can get good quality, well-made clothing at low prices – low cost does not always mean poor quality – you have to know where to look.
I bought some jeans at Marshall’s for about $15.00. I tried on a pair of jeans at Chico’s and they were virtually identical. They cost $60.00. I liked how the jeans at Chico’s looked but I couldn’t justify paying that when I had an identical pair at home already. (And by the way Chico’s has some great stuff at very good prices – but some of their clothes make me look like an old lady).
2. Even a decent tailor cannot alter every garment to perfection.
And then you’re stuck with something you’ve paid for twice (you bought it and then you paid to alter it) that you probably can’t use. It’s happened to me more than once so I never buy garments that need anything more than a hem. It’s just too risky.
3. Natural fabrics are wonderful but they often need dry cleaning.
If I were to dry clean one top and one bottom a day (forget jackets) my dry cleaning bill would be about $4,000 a year – and I have a lot more important things to do with that $4,000.
Long live hand washables!
And I flatly refuse to iron!
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Great blog…thank you. I love Stacy and Clinton, and I loved Tim Gunn’s show too. I try to follow their rules because I’m not one that fashion looks good on at all. I’m plain, big, Irish red face, you get the point. But still, following the rules, I’ve learned to pull myself together most of the time with lots of jackets, lots of tops and lots of bottoms. And like you, I cannot put out clothes the night before either. It just doesn’t work for me. Nightime is about letting go of the day’s stress, not starting the stress of the next day early. :-)
You are so right!
I read a book called “How to not look 10 years older.” It is a great book where I got one of the most important tidbits about dressing I have learned in probably over 30 years, Spanx. Well not exactly Spanx but bodysuits in general. I love jeans (more on that later) but the mommy jeans that come up to the waist are long gone. I am am excellent weight but whenever I put on a pair of jeans I had a muffin top and don’t get me started on the plumber butt thing when you bend down. Bodysuits “fix” both issues. I LOVE them.
Now about jeans. This book said to get a really good fitting jean you need to spend well over a $100 on them. You only have a few pair but the ones you have are good jeans. So I went looking for the ultimate jean that fit me and to my utter surprise and glee, they were from the Gap. And, oh by the way, only $60.00.
Believe it or not the scar tissue sensitivity from my hysterectomy prevents me from wearing Spanx. They just kill me. And the killing part is they look great on – I just can’t keep them on for more than 10 minutes without major discomfort. It’s a real challenge.
$60. is very reasonable for jeans. I’ve even found some amazing ones for $15. – but you never know if you can find them again – they’re a hit or miss kind of thing. I’d be very happy with $60.!
I hate Spanx to tell you the truth, that brand is way too tight but I use Flexees. They are lightweight and silky so my jeans just “slide” over my hips. I love them.
Thanks JB – I’ll have to look for those!
“Some jeans at Marshall’s” — which brand did you buy? Maybe some of us can weigh in, so to speak, about our body type and which brands of jeans look great on us and where to shop for them.
I haven’t found any jeans that fit – if they fit my bottom, they’re huge in the waist (lowered waist or not), and I have to cut off 4-6 inches when I shorten them.
Bandolinoblu – and the stretchier they are the easier you get around some of those waist/but discrepancies. Some of them are like regular jeans and some are like jammies. But they look good on!
That shortening thing is a big pain. When I get the Levi 550′s they come in three lengths. I’ve gotten them at department stores and they can be on sale for under $30.
I have to shorten every pair of jeans or pants I buy and it is costing me a fortune. I am going to buy a sewing machine so I can shorten my own, should be easy heh?
OK let’s go with that!
LOL – I’ve been doing that since high school. I’d be lost without my Singer. Now I need a serger to go with it, since they are making t-shirts longer these days. (PS – It IS easy).