Does anyone know about hoc style types?

[applesandchairs]

I've just had a lightbulb moment and realised that short sleeved tshirts always look dreadful on me, especially with jeans. I can do skinny jeans with jumpers, or smarter tops, I look good in shorter or pencil skirts, cigarette trousers and jumpers or smarter tops. Definitely better with arms covered up, my style is very similar to that of Laura from the wit blog and all her winter clothes combinations. I just can't do a casual look, jeans, t shirt and boots looks awful, even if they are nice items and not cheap. I am 5'7" and a size 12. I've never realised the tshirt and casual clothes thing before, does this mean I'm a specific kind of style?

Right, done some quizzes. I don't think I am romantic, natural, ingenue or gamine which means I'm probably classic and dramatic. This seems probably right, I like the fashion elements of the dramatic but also have the more formal look of a classic I think. Don't fit entirely into either, but definitely some of both. Maybe I don't need the style day after all... Surely it's not that easy to categorise oneself, or is it?

WIT is almost certainly some sort of ingenue, I think.

Yes I think you're right amber. Does this mean I look a fright if I'm wearing similar to her??!!

OP I'm usually classic dramatic or dramatic classic in those tests but I find them of limited utility - dressing my shape in various different ways that emphasize my good bits and suit my day-to-day life works better.

Anyway, it sounds like your shape and style preferences lean toward more structured and tailored outfits. My way out of it has been to wear what feels right and suits my lifestyle. Personality is not a one-dimensional construct, why would style be?

Genuine question there about wit being ingenue and I promise I won't take offence! I think you're right, she has that delicate dainty cute look which I am definitely too big for at 5'7 and a size 12. But I reckon my shape is similar just bigger. Do the styles work in such a way that this would mean I can carry the clothes that she wears, or really very much not carry them? I'm very confused!!

apples I'm 5'5 and size 8 but I wouldn't describe myself as dainty or cute. The ingenue but for me came more from my personality rather than my shape/size. I'm more yin than yang and therefore I look best in clothes that reflect that. My shape is softly curved rather than sharp lines hence why I look better in clothes with softer lines rather than sharp masculine tailoring. What I found interesting was understanding why certain things on me don't work. And like liberty said it gave me permission to just choose what I like rather than feeling frumpy or not on trend enough.

Laura's outfits are what any reasonably fashionable woman would wear. She is just adapting them to her frame (heels, belts, scale of accessories). She could easily look like a child but by proportioning her outfits well we forget that she is tiny.

I've found that shape rules explain quite well why I can and cannot wear certain things. Because people are often mixtures of two shapes, you may have to mix them up a bit. See for example this one. A refinement on basic shape rules are Vitruvian proportions. They help with figuring out hemlines and necklines. The basic unit in them is the measurement from the top of your head to your chin. Many people follow these proportions intuitively.

If you look at style questionnaires, they tend to give taller women just one or two possible options, often veering in the dramatic direction. That cannot be true as fashion models are tall slim women who can do just about any style out there.

How about booking a day with a stylist or a personal shopper - if you want to save money, just one at a department store or a big chain store, with the specific agenda of finding you casual outfits? Laura now offers a personal styling service, consult her directly? I would strongly recommend an independent stylist. Before going for the HOC style day, take a good look at the consultants on their website.

Great comments and advice there, thanks both

Laura's styling service costs anywhere from £1.5 -3k, so perhaps slightly out of reach for a lot of people!

When I saw she is an ingenue, it doesn't necessarily mean she always dresses like one. But I do think she looks best in the delicate lacy/broderie dresses etc - very few people can pull that look off with the aplomb she does. A lot of the time she wears very 'gamine' clothing. I met her once and she really is tiny - she made me feel like a monster at 5'4 and a size 8 - but she dresses very well for her size and shape.

I had my style analysed by HoC and came out a dramatic gamine. This was really just an official confirmation of what I suspected but has made me feel happier with some of my more offbeat choices! For me it was well worth the money!

For figuring out your proportions, see this site. It can make a dramatic difference. I learned about them after I moved to Italy and started observing well-dressed locals. Laura is Italian and here women precision-tailor their hemlines to perfection - I walked into a small neighborhood boutique last week and five women there were making sure that their friend's light down jacket fit just right...

I haven't used any of the advertised paid services, calculating the measures is really easy and I just use them as a quick heuristic. Fashion is all about intentionally breaking rules.

But getting proportions right is easier than losing weight I bet one of your problems with casual outfits is that they hide your waist.

And you can always fanmail Laura on Twitter or Instagram and ask her to share a few of her casual outfits - she has quite a following on MN so I think she would do us all a favor

Omg Frugal, those pictures really show the benefit of proportions! Yy casual clothes don't often accentuate a waist. Probably why I feel better in them as I don't have a very defined waist!

I wish shops here helped with fit so well, a little tweak can make all the difference.