Mature Fashion: Continuous Improvement

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I believe my readers will agree.  Let's see what you think?

Several years ago a friend and I visited Paris for our first time; of course, I did the tourist thing and had my picture taken in front of the Eiffel Tower (no way was I going up..afraid to death of heights) I love the city and have the framed picture on an occasional table where I see it almost every day.  The problem is I am always irritated when I see myself in this picture because it is really a "bad hair day all over", at least from a fashion flattery point of view. I am not happy with the way I look in the picture and I know what the problem was; it really ticks me off, because I know better, and it was an easy enough problem to fix!!.

When I travel, I always wear only black and white.  Obviously, it makes my packing much easier, and I can always mix and match for appropriate clothing for any occasion. with a minimum amount of clothing.  Unfortunately, I did not pack the right sweater  and you can see the results. (it is long gone, largely, based on my view of self in this picture!!) I have also been become more aware of the importance for me of great fit at the shoulders and hipline.

This picture is a wonderful example of, and clearly demonstrates the importance of wearing clothes that fit properly and have design lines that flatter a woman's body type.  In the Paris picture, I weighed 125 pounds. Today I weigh 130 when I duplicated the ensemble.

(I tried to duplicate exactly the ensemble I wore that day in Paris.  Fortunately, I had all the same clothes I wore that day (except the awful sweater!)).  

Today, I mentioned I weigh exactly 130 pounds (YES, I FINALLY started losing again!..partially, because of my commitment in writing to getting back to 125) Even though I have gained five pounds since the picture.  I think you would agree that I look taller, slimmer, and more in overall proportion than I did that day in Paris...all because I substituted a sweater today that is designed for my body type, and altered the legs of the capri length pants to fit a bit more closely (I have very narrow hips and most capris are a bit baggy). On my 5'21/2"  inch frame, I cannot carry excess volume in my clothing.

I don't like viewing myself in the picture and wanted to re-take the picture the last time we went to Paris but they were having a terrorist scare and it was closed down, so I have to wait.

One additional change to this ensemble will be made in the next Paris pose; I would substitute the diagonal stripe wide V-neck Camuto overblouse for the horizontal stripe in the original picture. The design lines are much more flattering to my figure type. (forgive the fuzzy picture taken with another ensemble, but I'm sure you get the idea.).

Mature Fashion: The Stylish "You"

We explored various inspirational option for updating our existing wardrobe and planning future wardrobe purchases in our last post; this post is intended to provide a step by step approach to the way I plan my own fashion updates.  I am going to use as my model  a series of pictures I viewed on Vogue.com from Chanel's 2016/16 Fall Couture Collection by Karl Lagerfield (a personal fashion designer Icon...I LOVE almost all his work).   I would love to show you the pictures, but I face copywrite infringement should I do so. You may view them for yourself on the Vogue.com link I have provided.In view #10, the model is wearing  layered sleeves similar to those I am displaying in my costume to your left.  This trend is shown throughout many of the collections for F/W 2016, both in RTW (ready-to-wear) and Couture. I duplicated the high collar trend shown by many of his models (I chose looks 1, 7, and 71 for my stylebook). I also chose the modified cropped flares that are shown throughout his collection. I modified the version of the hair styling used for his entire collection to match my own lifestyle. I am also wearing no jewelry except a gold band and stud earrings. (the wild colors of the blouse and the gold studded buttons are all the embellishment needed.  

I used my own preference for monochromatic dressing and matching my shoes to the hem of the pants. (YES, in this instance my shoes match my purse!!) I have obviously adjusted the materials and colors to suit the hot summer weather we are experiencing. I chose to wear the matching "hot pink" patent comfort heels to add polish, height, and a sense of "dress up" that is just perfect for both my mood and the errands of my day. (BTW, I heartily endorse Payless Comfort Plus by Predictions heels for the mature woman who still love heels but cannot wear the same shoes she used to!!).

As I am sure you are aware by now, I believe that one can be quite fashionable on a limited budget (as are most people in my age group).  To achieve the fashionable look above, I have spent absolutely no additional money; I had everything in my closet; I just had to wear them in a new and different way.  This particular outfit also ideally demonstrates my preference for "high-low" dressing.  The 14K gold jewelry, BCBG shirt and J. Crew pants prices are totally offset by the Wal-Mart long sleeved tee, the Payless Shoe Source Comfort Plus heels, and the thrift store Ellen Gold silk scarf. The Raspberry leather purse is by Tignallo and moderately priced in the $100.00 range.

I would like to make a little observation for the women who believe that Couture fashion is just too outrageous for the ordinary woman to wear.  Remembering that your choice of runway looks are to "inspire", not duplicate, check out Viktor & Rolf  #31 (I was challenged by a friend to "adapt" the look!!)  I plan on demonstrating my adaptation in my next post! I already know what I want to do, and I am pretty sure I can do it with items I already own.