Mature Fashion: Continuous Refining of Closets (Curating)

A nude face palette was not suitble for  this outfit-I did realize it before I left the house;

Although I do a formal curating of my closet twice a year, I am actually working on it a little bit all year long. Two of the qualities I am always scrutinizing are the place the garment hold in my "roles" (exactly how MANY functions do I attend in a year and do I have dresses do I need?)  I find that I usually have too many.  My own personal needs require appropriate seasonal dress for the occasional wedding or other formal or semi-formal occasion.  I do NOT need each of the ones in my closet each season. Contrary to the advice of many stylists, I examine the garment for its suitability for storage and use at a later date.   If I absolutely love each of the excess dresses, they fit properly, and are suitable in every way, etc., I store it properly (NOT in my closet) and "buy" the "new" dress, etc. in a later season.(All too often I have purged my closet of a garment I loved and really wish that I had it a season or two later.) I keep a completely closed storage bin in an outside shed in which I store clean garments that I may want to keep for later, stored with appropriate bug resistors, etc., and rotate some of my 

Having said that, I like to have enough garments  to easily adapt my wardrobe as the styles and trends change. For example, I like to have a flattering A-line and a flattering pencil type skirt in my core colors, as well as two lengths of pants, etc.  As always, classic cuts and clean lines are the most practical in all areas.Overall, I have my own personal challenge of keeping just the right amount of garments for all the catagories I have.  I have been cutting back on the number of core  garments,  (who,-with my lifestyle,- needs five white cotton shirts? six black wool skirts? four charcoal..three navy, etc., etc.)  I am trying to cut back the number off the items but increase quality and versatility.

The area I am concentrating on now is eliminating (or reducing) colors from the closet that do not work as well for me with my "silver" hair.  As I have aged, I also am more "picky" about having shoes in the closet that are comfortable but also stylish rather than a closet of shoes that I can only wear for an hour or two before having to change.  This is one of my most difficult challenges, but I am working on it.

Mature Fashion: NoFearOfFashion

I am making a new cyber friend on-line with our discussion of fashion and exchanges of styling information.  I have just published a post to  "RockMyAges.blogspot.com" regarding "NoFearOfFashion.com".  That site is owned and published by Greetje Kamminga, a fashion conscious Dutch lady who I believe also rocks her age. I am adding a post to this blogsite because I am dealing with the styling principles involved.

The comments she has made on my blogs already let me know she understands the principles of design fully and the know how to best apply them; As you may know, I use this blog as a reference manual and general styling guide; in other words, a "how to" publication.  I will demonstrate how she has applied that advice in both the use of those principles on her own body type and mine.  Her own sense of style and generosity  have led her to share welcome suggestions that  have contributed to my own personal styling improvement.

case in point:

In my post "the Stylish You"  published July 9th on this blog, I showed the outfit to the left and the raspberry Kors handbag I chose for the day. Although Greetje was very complimentary to my choice of monochromatic dressing, etc and exhibited her styling knowledge (see comments on that post), she kindly suggested that the use of either the yellow or the green might have been a better choice.  When I viewed the photos (remember, pictures are worth a thousand words!) I instantly noted that she was perfectly correct. Either handbag would have provided better balance and proportion to the ensemble.  (I will be wearing this outfit again in the spring, and fully intend to accessorize with the Brighton mustard handbag. )

Needless to say, I am delighted that I have found an accomplished stylist who was willing to share her knowledge and know-how to my personal styling.  This sharing of knowledge is also the main reason I began this blog and to share my knowledge of styling with persons who want to learn how to make the most of their own closets, body types, and love of fashion.

Another case in point is several pictures I pinned to my board NoFearFashion that demonstrates her sophisticated use of color and line to create enormously flattering and fashionable ensembles; a talent that I believe to be a really strong point with her. It is obvious that she really loves color and knows how to use it effectively.

On my board I recommend your viewing of Red Velvet Jacket, Vintage Leather Shorts, Multi-Color Ralph Lauren Shirt, Red Leather Jacket Scarf and Jeans, the Diane Von Furstenberg Wrap Dress, and Golden Boots for superb examples of these design and styling techniques.  I am sure she has more pictures to offer, but those are ones I chose for my own personal inspiration.

I believe that Greetje is several inches taller than I am and has longer legs although I believe she and I share some similarities in body type (It is hard to tell, because her styling techniques are used to present her body in the best possible way..as is our goal)  Anyway, her height allows her to use large areas of color (color blocking) in ways that would overwhelm my smaller frame.  I posted the above references to my Pinterest board as inspiration for some of my own uses of color in the more subtle ways that would flatter my own body type.  I also have to pay more attention than she does to leg length.  (Once again, this is just a supposition). 

I love monochromatic dressing which overall is one of my most flattering looks. because of my lack of height, leg length, and larger middle.  However, too much of one color, like classic lines, if not used wisely are simply boring, even though it may make a woman look taller, thinner, etc.  I have noted that many of my "uniform" pictures when worn just around the house (the look I all too frequently photograph) is sometimes just too much.  Greetje's influence on me has already begun to take effect. I am trying to break up the monotony without losing the line of color; something she does very well.

I heartily recommend NoFearOfFashion.com to all my readers, but especially those who are somewhat tall, somewhat rectangular or inverted triangles; an excellent source for inspiration. 

Mature Fashion : Keeping Current

Keeping currant does NOT mean just wearing the latest fad or going out and buying whatever the latest garments delivered to your local department store. It means choosing elements of fashion and applying them strategically to suit your body, lifestyle,  and personality.

Dressing "appropriately" for one's lifestyle can be a bit of a challenge for the oldest members of the +40 crowd; in fact so much more a concern that I am thinking about moving the age criteria on the blog (not that it really matters, fashion styling basics are pretty much the same no matter what a woman's age-it just how often the styling challenge occurs that makes the difference).

I have noticed that so many people in my age group are people who are retired and feel no pressure to keep up with the dress codes of a work place or the business world in general and have

limited social contact with society at large.  In fact, all too many of them fall into the trap of comfortable (baggy) sweats, thongs or slippers for wearing everywhere and all the time, little or no attention paid to cosmetic or hair styling.  Without fail all to many of them also have little conversation unless it is about their ills or family problems.

Of course, not all people who are over sixty fall into this rut, but I must say at least 50% of the ones I observe daily, do.  I have to believe this is a more general condition because I almost always get some compliment when I do general errands such as shopping the grocery or craft stores.  

All of this would just feed the vanity  train EXCEPT it is a known medical and psychological fact that people have better all around health when they pay attention to how they look; it is not vanity, just good sense for maintaining health. In addition, since 90 to 95 % (depends on the source) of all communication is non-verbal;...what you see, is what you get.

Red heels are Isaac Mizrahi; wool felt hat, Dooney Bourke navy handbag.