Archive — February 20, 2007
Originally published on The Luxe Mix, February 2007. Recovered from the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine).
Snoopy this is for you. A process for picking out your outfit. Try this out and let me know how it goes. Outfit Composition Step 1: Lay the foundation. You’ll need a good area to lay things out — like your bed or floor around your closet. This is your work area. Step 2: Pick a centerpiece for your outfit. This could be anything out of your closet that attracts your interest at that moment. It could be a new pair of shoes you just bought, a warm cardigan that makes you feel cozy, or a bright tee or tank that catches your eye that morning. Whatever it is just pick it out of your closet and commit to it for the timebeing. Lay the item you have selected on the work area. Step 3: Survey your centerpiece carefully and start visioning what would look good with it. As colors or textures come to mind start pulling out items from your closet that match. Lay each of these new items next to the centerpiece. Once you have articles of clothing laying next to eachother it should start to become more clear what items work with eachother and which don’t. Be daring and pick out things that you normally don’t wear with the centerpiece item. You’ll be surprised that oftentimes things that don’t seem to coodinate actually can make a really stylish look when all pulled together. Your outfit is what grows organically from your starting piece. Step 4: Continue mixing and matching. It may take some time to get to the point where you have a complete outfit. For myself this can take as long as 30-40 minutes if I’m really picky that day. The important thing here is to experiment. Don’t just grab the same old things you put together normally. Step out of your comfort zone. It is also important you have a solid wardrobe foundation with all the basic items required for layering such as a wide range of neutral colored tops (long and short, various necklines, etc), various black articles (such as black leggings, black pants, black cardigans, etc). We will work on this. Step 5: Try things on. You may need to try various things on with your centerpiece as you are working through steps 3 and 4. This is where silhouette analysis skills come in. You need to get accustomed to judging whether your look is balanced or not. Your body shape and even face composition is important to pay close attention to. Step 6: Accessorize. Accessories complete the look. Don’t forget to add earrings, a necklace, a belt, a hat, a bag, and shoes to the outfit. I also count hair as an accessory. Don’t overdo it though. Sometimes you may just need a simple pair of hoops to complete an outfit, and if your outfit is on the busier side you may not need any jewelery at all and you may want to stick to a more streamlined bag. Step 6: Document. Once you have everything all picked out and you are satisfied with the final outfit take a picture. You can either take a picture of the items laid out on the workspace or one of you wearing them, either way just a way of noting what you put together. You can keep these photos somewhere to refer to if you don’t have time to run through all the steps another day. Step 7: Put some back into it. Wear your new outfit with confidence. There’s nothing that looks better on you than the right attitude.