A friend of mine who has a blog, Resurrected Threads (and an Etsy Shop!) has been running a really cool series, The Slow Wardrobe. I haven't ever considered myself anyone with much fashion sense. I used to wear a uniform of baggy Ts and almost equally baggy jeans, paired (neverfailingly) with sneakers and in the cold weather, a sweatshirt. So, more or less, similiar to your typical American teenage male.
Fast-forward 10 years and I still wear jeans (though less frequently), still wear tee-shirts (but almost never shapeless) and never wear sneakers except for running and hospital shifts. My style is still not well-defined, however. I have been the lucky recipient of a well-dressed friend's handmedowns, which has helped me a lot, but a lot of what I wear is just happenstance.
I have recognized a few things about myself that I think are my fashion sense beginning to come through. I feel that some of my decisions concerning clothes are actually quite snooty. I even hesitate to post, lest I offend some of my friends. But these are my standards for myself, not for you. Also, as you will probably notice, they concepts that are more prohibitive than prescriptive -- that is, they are mostly don'ts rather that do's.
1. No fakes. Jewelry is an exception, and some types of cloth (I wear polyester sometimes, for instance). I don't wear fake leather or fake fur. I do wear glass gems, because I like glittery things but I would never trust myself to run around with jewelry worth thousands of dollars. But I don't wear plastic gems, and rarely wear rhinestones or glittery fabric. Same goes for vinyl. This pretty much also includes my face. I wear cover up most of the time when I work because my acne is distracting, but I don't wear eye makeup.
2. Nothing ugly. Now this is in the eye of the beholder, for sure, but I don't wear things that I feel are jarring or ugly. Yes, I do wear colors that make my husband cringe but it's not because it's a modern juxtaposition that I feel is a statement, it's just because it's pleasing to my eye.
3. Nothing slutty. I have only really recently discovered this one. I grew up in a very conservative household where I couldn't have an armhole that was bigger than my arm, literally (I cried about a chunky sleeveless sweater I wasn't allowed to wear for this reason!). After I left, I had a period of disorientation. What should I wear? I wore literally anything, including nothing! (Short story, but I'm not telling it now :) Now I've come around in a fairly wide circle and returned to a more-or-less conservative approach. I try to stay away from things that make me cringe when I see them on other people. For instance, I've developed an aversion to spaghetti strap shirts this summer. They may look OK on some people but on me I think it just screams of uncouth, poor, and negligent dress. Especially if it's so thin and tight that bra lines are showing. A big no-no. Maybe on the beach, but I'd rather wear something more attractive. I've also discovered I like v-neck shirts that aren't too exposing. Elegant cut, but not rude exposure. I've also realized I just don't like my skirts to be very short. If I have to double-check that butt-cheeks are not coming out, it's too short. If I can't sit down on the floor, it's generally too short (although there are certainly exceptions). If the skin or body parts exposed are really distracting, and/or there's more than one exposed, it's too much.
I think the biggest fashion revelation I've had is simply for clothing to be appropriate to the task, be well-made, fit well, and be clean. This is a very tall order for me, and I think I'm still working on this. I have realized this about my nails, too. So about a year ago I stopped biting at my skin and starting shaping my nails in an attractive shape. It makes so much more of a difference than nailpolish ever could.
Oh, by the way, a book I found very engaging and informative and would like to recommend if anyone is interested in dressing well is called A Guide to Elegance. I found it at the library here in Eugene a few years ago, and then I found my own copy at a thrift store. A lot of the advice is "vintage" but not outdated. For instance, I'm not going to start dressing in suits of the 1940s all of the time because I would stand out as a vintage fashionista, not an elegantly dressed woman (though the suits certainly are elegant in their own time). Likewise, I will probably never wear gloves because it would make me stand out, not make me stick in your mind as elegant.
Well, while I'm on a roll, I will also mention that I have been wearing high heels lately. Not very high, mind you. But they're really heels! A few years ago I never would have thought I'd be able to walk in them, let alone feel comfortable in them. I would only ever wear platforms as a teenager and usually wore flats (and sneakers!). I have a blue pair and need to collect, at some point, a pair in black and a pair in nude. I found a perfectly fitting pair of black nordstrom pumps at the thrift store that were comfortable as could be. The first time I wore them out of the house they distintegrated. Literally. Pieces of the shoes were left in the driveway (before I realized they were falling apart), in the car and out and about. The whole sole came off in pieces and then the heel fell off. I don't know what happened to them! Too old, proably. Anyway. Boring you all to bits now. No one read to the end! :)
