Concept of Fashion:
The concept of fashion itself can be traced back to the Old French vernacular in the context of the aristocratic people. The idea that beauty, elegance, and refinement can elevate your appearance came from this french social group.
Your Unique Body:
But first, let’s chat about you and your body.
Your body is unique and is designed by your genetic makeup, your lifestyle, and it is absolutely impacted by your attitude.
Mass Produced Clothing:
With your body being unique to itself, it is certainly left to chance that mass produced clothing will fit you properly. I say this because every brand I have explored clothing with, the proportion and length vary significantly for the same size. It is inconsistent within the same brand and it becomes a larger mess when shopping from different brands. XS here, M there, 0 here, 6 there.
My body remains the same, but many clothing brands have an enormous scale of proportions, fabrics, lines, shapes, and silhouettes that shopping turns into a scavenger hunt game.
From my experience as a shopper and wearer of clothes, it is always a challenge to find quality, aesthetic clothing that is compatible with my body shape, line, and silhouette.
Shopping Advice:
My advice when searching for a fashion outfit: Be patient when you try on new clothing. Majority of the clothing you find are either poor quality or not designed for your measurements.
Don’t rush the shopping process or you may find yourself purchasing a piece that rejects your natural proportions. I have had my fair share of desperate and reckless shopping because I was distracted by lovely colors, procrastination, or an appealing discount sale.
Designing Elegant Outfits:
After making all of these shopping mistakes, I realized that I was neglecting my relationship to my body. The measurement of my height, my hips, and my shoulders are part of the ingredients to the perfect fashion outfit. The material, color, texture, and lines of the clothing are the other part of the recipe for an elegantly designed fashion outfit.
Basic Elements of a Fashion Outfit:
Top and bottoms or a one-piece (dress/romper)
Shoes
Earrings
Jewelry
Undergarments
Optional: Belt, Jacket, Coat, Gloves, Scarf, Watch, Hat, Socks, Tights
Your top and bottoms should be balanced either in color, material, or silhouette.
Balance will look different depending on your body type.
I generally enjoy sticking to monochrome outfits, with one or two accessories as the outstanding statement pieces.
For example, I have this deep purple colored blazer jacket made from a smooth comfortable material with a body hugging fit that I wear when my top and bottom are both black, both white, or both indigo blue.
In this case, the purple jacket is the statement piece. Earrings and necklace enhance the outfit even further by providing subtle appearances of golden or silver glimmers.
A note about undergarments: The color or lines of your underwear are generally not meant to be visible or noticed. Seeing any lump or line from your underwear is a messy distraction from the fresh clean and organized aesthetic of your outfit.
I hope this inspire you to rediscover a more thoughtful relationship to your body and fashion.
MerLunaLobo 