If I want to become more fashionable how do I start?

[crochetmonkey74]

So I always look nice , but inspired by a fabulously fashionable woman I've just seen I really want to look more current.
If you have done this, how do you do it? Do you purchase by season so you have the most current shapes etc? Or do you have a basic wardrobe of all time classics and just add current accessories ? What are the main things ? I'm thinking maybe coats, bags and shoes? If you've done it, or are a fashion follower how do you do it?

I believe shoulders with holes in them were “fashionable” fairly recently. They looked horrible.

@baller20 I love grazia mainly because it mixes fashion, news, politics and I enjoy that. Vogue?

Just go into shops you wouldn't necessarily go into, try on things you might normally not chose & have fun!

I tend to look around and if I see someone wearing something I really like I go and track down a similar look.

I also know what suits me and what brands I like. So I kind of know what fabrics and styles I’m looking for when I’m sourcing clothes. I don’t follow fashion as such but am told by others that I am fashionable 😬

What Flo said. Also don't get comfortable with thinking you know what suits you. This often means you will end up looking dated. Experiment with silhouettes and colours, textures etc. Take real notice of the younger on-trend people around you, shop where they shop

If you are going to really commit, what is fashionable comes as the first consideration in any buying process. Then what suits you. Fashion trumps all.

If you are going people watching, then the best place to go is near universities (ideally art school) or by galleries and museums or by skate parks in town. And walk around clubland a bit if you can be bothered. Or google.

I love the Coggles blogs @baller20
Who What Wear is also good

This thread is so interesting. I agree that a lot of effort is required, except for maybe a lucky few who seem to just get it. I spend time browsing new in sections on websites, I follow a select few influencers on Instagram, and I read who what wear/wardrobe icons/refinery 29/vogue etc for the articles. What I don’t have much time for is trying stuff on to see what actually works. It’s not enough to know what is on trend and buy it. It has to work for your body and your lifestyle, and you have to know how to style it. Often i feel like I need to buy something else to make an outfit feel fashionable, but maybe that’s because I don’t dedicate enough time to shopping my wardrobe.

I wouldn’t buy chunky lace up boots or a teddy coat, because I couldn’t wear the boots to work and a teddy coat just isn’t me, but I have bought chunky Chelsea boots and leather (uncuffed) joggers, both of which I’ll wear to work in my professional job. Probably not together, I’ll wear the boots with dresses and skinny trousers, and the joggers with smart heeled boots and a blouse. But you definitely need to think about whether things work for your lifestyle as well as whether they are on trend.

On the “knowing how to style it” point I would say this includes:

• using a “third piece” to add interest
• dividing your body into thirds rather than halves (more aesthetically pleasing)
• thinking about accessories, rolling up sleeves, cuffs of trousers, etc.

You want it to look intentional, not like you just put something on because it is trendy.

Here is an example from Pinterest. (Pinterest is great for ideas but you have to use it a lot to see relevant suggestions, as there are loads of really old pins on there so you can’t just browse)

In the pic with the hat, the leather joggers sit too low on her body and make her look very short. The white trainers don’t help with this either.
In the other pic, she’s in monochrome which elongates her body, plus the heels, and the joggers cut off 1/3 down her body. (Her legs + boots = twice her jumper) She has also pushed up the sleeves so they finish at her narrowest point, which is also where the trousers hit.

Don’t be embarrassed about wanting to keep up with fashion trends.

You’d read the latest books and listen to the latest music, wouldn’t you? It’s just another way of staying current. Being an early adopter also has something of the Alpha female about it - knowing how to dress well is definitely an accomplishment.

Elle or Vogue used to do a catwalk show roundup mag twice a yr which was great for a heads up but I think it's discontinued.

What I don’t have much time for is trying stuff on to see what actually works

Not practical for everyone but I have a credit card specifically so I can buy a ton of clothes at once, try them all on at home & see if they work.

Sometimes it only takes a small change to really style an outfit up. I’m crap at summer wear as you can’t layer in the same way. Im really good at long boots and a statement coat with a variety of autumn and spring clothes. But summer I’m totally shit at. I think it’s because what I want to wear doesn’t work with my figure. Im not quite slim enough yet 😬

I think shoes make the biggest difference to the feel of an outfit, if you only want to change one thing.

What you need to cultivate is a sensibility that allows you to trend forecast, once you get it it's not that difficult, it's about recognising repeating patterns and tying them together and recognising the novelty in that. The main part of it is not to look at it as just clothes, designers or even trends, preferably ignore that (and SM especially, it's so instantaneous that it's already become irrelevant by the time you scroll past). Fashion is an applied art and probably the quickest moving one, but it doesn't stand on its own, it's fed by politics, economics, culture (the arts and literature especially), etc. and it's speed allows for a wider diversity of exploration of ideas. If you keep aware of all these different streams of information you can see quite easily where things are headed (bar a pandemic). As an example, thanks to the pandemic there's a lot of re-appreciation of craft again as it brings a legible human hand in design which responds to the touch starved experience of social distancing, alongside a resurgence of making things yourself as a form of creative therapy.

The fashion establishment loves this, Chanel is busy buying up small heritage craftsmanship businesses that are essential to their supply line and branding it as an almost philanthropic endeavour and the high street simply cannot replicate true craft. And whether people like to admit it or not, people do like their clothes to signify a point of differentiation, and looking richer than others always sells. A similar thing was seen during the banking crisis, that's when suddenly people made the mental switch of buying higher quality, less items.

All in all, I will warn it's not always fun, I tend to spend a long time before the trend is actually available to purchase searching for things that don't exist yet, and often by the time it finally is available the appeal of it is somewhat lost, or worse, horrifically expensive and unattainable (price or availability). But it's very much enjoyable in other ways and I refuse to apologise for it, it's not frivolous, it's social history in the making and it's never just clothes.

That makes sense. I love finding stuff that has extra detail. Is tailored. Has intricate elements or sumptuous cloth. I really like adding a quirky element to something quite staid. I don’t have a “style’. If I like it I wear it but I never look trashy. It’s important to me to keep it classy even if I’ve made it edgy.

I am old though.

But it's very much enjoyable in other ways and I refuse to apologise for it, it's not frivolous, it's social history in the making and it's never just clothes.

👏🏻

@baller20

What I don’t have much time for is trying stuff on to see what actually works

Not practical for everyone but I have a credit card specifically so I can buy a ton of clothes at once, try them all on at home & see if they work.

Thanks baller20 but it’s not a cash flow issue, it’s a time management issue! I work full time and have a 2 year old so “me time” to try new purchases with existing things in my wardrobe is rare. I did just go and have a little try on session with my new boots and joggers though

Quicker than traipsing round the shops though! 😁

and I'm very lucky to have a hermes drop off point around the corner.

Very true! And online shopping is almost too convenient 😬 when you can browse at literally any time.

I'm confused by all these people being able to try on clothes in shops! Is this still a thing? Even before the tiers you couldn't try clothes on around here. Can you if you live in T1?

I tend to spend a long time before the trend is actually available to purchase searching for things that don't exist yet

This is what I do! And then they are everywhere a couple of years later and I find I want something else unattainable instead.

@Love51 I haven't done it myself but I know some shops do allow you to do so. Seems to be smaller places. I buy every single thing online and have done for around 7 years!