to wear, to be.

The long awaited part II release of my style discovery compendium is now complete (for those who missed part i, click to rewind) the rest may browse on below.

step four.  illuminate aspirational luminaries
No one can fill a frock like you can.  Your distinct combination of bone structure, coloring, lifestyle, and charisma defies duplication.  Yet you share fancies with others, and your unique aesthetic may benefit by borrowing a word or two from someone else’s visual essay.  Select between three to five individuals that inspire you stylistically and cite specific looks you feel incapsulate your aspiration.  With your collection in a single frame of view, structure your fashion thesis identifying commonalities between individual cases (a process similar to your earlier personal closet analysis).

my style celebrities: michelle williams, emma stone, emma pillsbury, blair eadie of atlantic pacific

I recommend printing, clipping, and pinning a board of your style inspirations within your dressing area.  This canvas can assist you in cross pollinating your existing inventory while simultaneously providing structure for a strategic shopping list.

fashion your own closet pinboard

step five. categorize

Stereotypes can actually help us move beyond generalized understandings.  They provide a template upon which we can elaborate differentiating details.  Rather than having to sketch every line of demarcation, you can pour talent and labor into fleshing out unique features rather than the underlying outline.  Stereotyped categories save time which can then be dedicated to drilling into depths that may never have been imagined in a definition designed from scratch.  So are you romantic, bohemian, traditional, modern, or dramatic?  (Click this previously published summary for a review).  

step six. add your own stamp
It might be the cuff of your trouser legs or the angle at which you tie your scarf.  Whatever your method, consistently sign your look.  Accessories are a dextrous tool with which to pen the necessary strokes.  Whether you always wear the same delicate posts or rotate within your extensive collection of brooches, apply a touch of something distinctly you.

my closet all-stars

Having scripted and debugged my style twenty-twelve program, moral obligations compel me to release the vogue code for open source consumption. Feel free to copy, paste, and reformat the template for your personal wardrobing needs.

step one.  identify your closet all stars
Following long, a dear friend is no more lost, a reunion looms in the next quarter-hour, which closet talent would you be most likely to summon?  In other frames, imagine yourself European, where wearing the same smart frock days in succession did not an express a lack of options but rather brilliant wardrobing success.  Which items would you queue for repeat?  Identify five to ten items that quite unequivocally robe your external self with your internal essence.

Careful now, avoid flagging the purely nostalgic or aspirational.  Those stone washed coveralls may have been your closet’s Michael Jordan, but 1992 has long since set.  Go with items you’ve worn and relished in the last month.

step two. trend similarities
Are there categorical common threads running through the grouping?  Carefully analyze colors, silhouettes, patterns, and fabric.  Weave a usable language between the items.  Wardrobes needs a shared culture and diction within which it may socialize.  Yet be sure you’ve included complimentary as opposed to duplicative items.  To construct a stylistic statement, you need metaphorical nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, not a colony of nearly identical blackish blouses.

a helpful list of terms to help you speak in clothing-ese

step three. weed and scrutinize stumbles
What we are NOT also defines us.  Which garments of clothing never leave the hanger?  Repeat the same process with dresser duds.  Abhorrence may not characterize your relationship, but something in their cloth or zippers inspires aversion.  Catalog your culls to reveal your indubitable inclinations.