Comments on: Elements of Style #2

By: Margo

Margo — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:22:59 +0000

Reading glossaries and dictionaries and specialist works for fun is perverse, and I am that kind of pervert. Ohh yeah, define that noun, baby. Define it goooood.

By: Mona Peluda

Mona Peluda — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:20:34 +0000

This series is fantastic. I’ve been working on my own style ‘education’ for the past year or so, but this post is incredibly interesting, especially the section on linking current runway trends to a collective mood in society in general.

Love it! More, please!

By: Style Spy

Style Spy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:07:47 +0000

The complaint I mostly get from my… shall we say, less successfully dressed friends is time. Oh, I don’t have time, oh, when you have kids you just don’t have time for this sort of thing, Oh, I can’t spend all my time just looking at fashion magazines. Teleri is right, it’s a skill set and developing it does take time, and practice, and you have to prioritize how important it is for you. But like many other skills — riding a bike comes to mind — once you’ve learned it, you can pull that arrow out of the quiver at a moment’s notice and use it. The other complaint, of course, is money — oh, I just don’t have the money to spend on that sort of thing. Right, fine. Then don’t complain when instead of buying that amazing cocktail dress that I pointed out to you that was on sale for a steal and you said, “Oh, I don’t have any use for that,” you’re running around like a headless chicken the night before your boss’s daughter’s wedding trying to find a dress that fits and you wind up spending three times more than that dress you had no use for because you’re in a panic. Or when you find a pair of pants that fits you like they were made for you and I say, “Buy three of them,” and you say, oh no, I can’t spend that kind of money and then next year when you’ve worn them to rags you have to go out and buy ANOTHER pair of pants that don’t fit as well and also cost 10% more due to inflation. I just don’t get it. People put money in savings accounts — why is not your wardrobe a similar thing?

By: lucylang

lucylang — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:00:33 +0000

Plumcake, you are kinda the best. Thanks so much for these tutorials! I’ve spent a really long time basing my outfits off of fashion mags wondering why all the looks I created weren’t really relevant to me.

By: TeleriB

TeleriB — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:38:03 +0000

having to do homework for something as simple as getting dressed in the morning

THIS.

I’m an amateur musician. I don’t expect to be able to play well without practicing. And yet, it seemed colossally unfair to me that developing style took work. But it’s not really unfair – it’s a skill and like any skill, it takes work and practice. If you have a natural talent for it, maybe you can skate by with less, but for the rest of us…

It also lets me place it, without a lot of baggage or freight, onto the list of skills I’d like to learn. I don’t have time for all of them, so it’s up to me to prioritize that list. If “learning style” falls off the bottom of this season’s “to do” list… well, it’s hardly alone and I haven’t failed as a (female) human being. It’s just like not learning the violin or Spanish cooking – yet. There is a time for every purpose under heaven, and all that.

By: Rose

Rose — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:10:26 +0000

Well, I’m hooked. What a great idea for a series.

By: Constance

Constance — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:22:43 +0000

An interesting post! I am drawn to these quasi-military jackets, and now I understand why. I really am hungry for power!