It is a rarity when a day goes by and I don’t walk up to a total stranger to compliment them on their clothes, or their hair, or the way they walk their sweet walk. Sometimes you just see someone and feel compelled to give them a bounce in their already rockin’ step. So, how do they do it? What goes into their decisions every morning when they wake up? And, more importantly, how can you be one of those people? It is easy for someone with funds to walk into a store, and ask for the salesman on commission to dress them in “their latest.” I rarely compliment people whose clothes don’t take skill, only a credit card. So how really do you dress well?
The first thing to understand is that dressing well is an equation, not a simple fixed number (or even solution!). You might understand that sky blue looks great with your blond hair, but if you wear it head to toe—or in the form of a jumpsuit—I will laugh. And so should you. But using a sky blue cashmere scarf as your staple with your fitted black pea coat for a winter will make you well dressed walking into anything as long as the threat of snow looms in the clouds—doesn’t matter what you have on underneath. Notice I said cashmere. Yes, cashmere is expensive, but cashmere never goes out of style--nor does it pill, or run, or itch (also goes on major sale after the holidays!). You buy one sky blue cashmere scarf and your blond hair will be thanking you for the next five winters. Which takes me to my next point. Quality. Just because your bank account lacks 0’s (or is in fact a big fat 0)—doesn’t mean you have to shirk on quality. In a previous blog I outlined how to shop at thrift stores. Read it. Embrace it. Do it.
The next act of dressing well comes from the understanding of what you do spend the money on when your bank account has some extra 0’s. Every woman will tell you the first thing they notice about another woman is their handbag. This probably sounds ludicrous, but growing up I literally greeted bags not faces. I can tell a knock-off Coach from a mile away (and which China-Town vendor they got it from). No joke. So can other people. One of the best investments I ever made was a Jackie-O style Gucci bag. I have had it for about 8 years, have reconditioned the leather at least 3 times, and consequently it has paid for itself over and over. BUT—I also got it on sale. Like $150 sale (and for those who don’t speak “Gucci” they retail for about $1200). So here’s the point. When you come across a great handbag that you love, that is made with quality materials, that fits your personality, and whatever budget you’re on at the time (or whatever your credit card can max out at depending on amazing purse-to-deal ratio), don’t think. Just buy. Same goes for classic black dresses that will turn heads at funerals, trench coats where no one cares what’s underneath, and classic pieces of jewelry that will impress any man’s grandmother. BUT—this equation does NOT work with items that you might find in editorial sections of any fashion mag. Even if they are a great deal. You will absolutely not get a return on your investment. And, in the end…you might be “well dressed” for an occasion, but these pieces go out of style and collect not compliments but mothballs when next month’s issue rolls around.
So we have covered everything from understanding use of color, to quality, to what you spend your money on. The last factor to the dressing well equation is the most simple, and by far, the most important. Dressing well is a state of mind. It is the place you go to when, for whatever reason, you make a conscious effort to look and feel your best. Whether it be a job interview, or a big date, or even going to the movies solo—if you pull on jeans that make your thighs sigh, you slip into heels that turn up your lips, and you belt a trench that defines your amazing (whatever size!) waist—you’re putting your best foot forward. You were already well dressed when you woke up in the morning—because you decided to be. There will always be someone who will walk into a store and get outfitted with “the latest”—but their walk pales in comparison to the strut of someone who has not only identified what works for them, what to spend their money on, and—most importantly the confidence that comes with a strategically draped scarf over a fitted pea coat to last the winter’s chill.
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