A new outfit from Veronica Popoiacu of Bittersweet Colours, whom we introduced to YLF in August 2013.

This eye-catching equestrian outfit looks like it could have come straight out of a Ralph Lauren lookbook. Veronica is sporting oversized tweed trousers with a camel turtleneck which creates a column of colour under the jacket. Tucking the trousers into the tall flat boots tempers their volume and creates a jodhpurs effect that plays straight into the equestrian vibe. As a topper, our blogger picked a Modern Classic felted blazer in striking mustard that pops against the head-to-toe brown tones. Adding a tailored tweed overcoat that matches the trousers creates outfit cohesion and draws the eye up and down. The wide-brim felt fedora in a fourth shade of brown adds gaucho-esque drama.

There’s a new resident at the Cox Castle. Meet Yorkshire Terrier Jo, which is short for Josephine. We named her after my late Indonesian grandmother, who used to breed toy poodles and was absolutely besotted with dogs. Oma, Mama, Rosie, and Jasmine are looking down from their big fluffy clouds with delight. 

We brought Jo home yesterday at nine weeks old. She weighs two pounds, and we expect her to grow up to be a similar size to 6.5 pound, big brother Sam. We bought the smallest collar we could find (in the kitty section) and it’s too big, but Jo will grow into it soon.

Don’t let Jo’s young age and delicate stature fool you. She is independent, clever, strong, adventurous, loud, playful, affectionate, and very social. She got through a barricade and baby gate in two seconds last night. She drags toys and bones around that are bigger than her slight self, and runs after her new big brother with confidence. She learned to use the balcony “porch potty” on her second try.

Although we had to wait for her, little Jo was officially my 50th birthday present. I am elated and smitten, and so is hubs Greg. Our little guy Sam is trying his best to be a patient, sweet and supportive big brother. He moves between curious, tolerant, and a little annoyed. We’re making sure he understands that he’s still top dog and CEO. Little Jo takes it in her stride. All things considered, Sam is doing a better job of welcoming his little sister into our family than we expected.

It took ten years, but we are once again “tous les quatre.” YLF has a feisty new employee, and the YLF community has a stylish new member. I suspect that Jo will like to sport sour brights, some pastels, and lots of pretty blue.

Here’s an easy breezy Summer pants look to wear in high heat. It’s for those who don’t like to wear skirts and dresses, and feel too exposed in shorts. The most important component of the formula is a pair of soft, roomy, wide and floppy palazzo pants, which can be patterned or solid, and in any colour palette. Keep them in natural fibres or natural fibre blends for maximum breeziness and breathability. Lengths can vary from cropped to full length. Waists can be fully structured, half-elastic, or full-elastic.

Here are four different types of breezy tops to pair with the soft wide Summer pants. They range from casual to smart casual.

1. Tee or Tank

Combine soft wide pants with an easy knitted T-shirt or tank top. Semi-tuck the front if you’d like a little structure. If you can find or have a knitted top with a banded or welted bottom, you’ll create a little waist definition without the need to tuck the top. Finish off the look with sandals, slides or espadrilles, and a lovely straw hat. If you’re wearing the pants full length, wear them at a length that is safe so that you don’t trip over them. These look a little long, especially when wearing sandals. You don’t want the hems to get caught in the sandals either.

2. Breezy Button-Through

A classic linen, silk and cotton blouse or shirt in a button-through style can look great semi-tucked into soft wide pants. Classic and polished for Team Shirt. The tucked top elongates the leg line from the hips upwards. Scrunch the sleeves, add Summery footwear and a bag to match, and you’re done. These are at a safe length, so you won’t trip over them.

3. 2-Piece Jumpsuit

This is my favourite combination because it’s a jumpsuit made of two practical pieces — the soft wide pants, and a roomy blouse in the same fabric and pattern. Tie the fronts of the blouse into a square knot to create a little outfit structure. The square knot will create a neat, flat and professional looking knot. Don’t tie it too high or tight if you prefer a fluid silhouette. Scrunch the sleeves to showcase some skin. Add Summery footwear and you’re done.

4. Tie-Front Top

A knitted or woven top with a build-in tie front is super easy and breezy. It allows you to create a little outfit structure without tucking the top. It will also lengthen the waist of a short waist. Roomy diagonal sleeves are flattering and cooler than a longer sleeve. Here, a solid tie-front top is paired with patterned soft wide pants and finished off with slides in the same colour palette. Add jewellery, watch, headgear and eyewear as desired.

This is an update on an important post I wrote six years ago. It gets to the heart of why style is so personal. Our needs are different, so our styles are different. The closer we are to satisfying our needs, the more authentic, manageable, and enjoyable our personal style will be. 

The goal is to build a functional wardrobe that fulfills our needs, which calls for the amount of analysis and planning that works for you. Too much planning can lead to analysis paralysis, which can take the fun out of dressing and evolving your style, and some inaccurate assessments. Too little planning and you’ll shop based purely on emotion and ease, and not what you need or want to wear.

It can be useful to think about the factors that affect your style in two groups. The internal factors are about YOU. The external factors are about your CONTEXT. Here’s the way I like to break it down.

Internal Factors

Sartorial Preferences

Aesthetic taste for silhouettes, colours, fabrics, patterns, texture, vibe and design details is subjective, and can be wildly different from one person to another. Your style preferences attract you to items before you’ve even tried them on. Sartorial preferences can be varied and wide, or focussed and narrow, and evolve over time. Identify them, and milk your signature style.

Beliefs, Values and Personality

Style-related beliefs, values and personality are unique to each of us and will come through visually in our styles. They will also be reflected in wardrobe decisions like how you shop, where you shop, when you shop, which items you purchase, how you edit and care for wardrobe items, how you pass on wardrobe items, and how often you refresh your style. Sometimes style is very intuitive and reasons for choices are hard to articulate. That’s OK too. If you trust your gut at this point in your style journey, go for it.

Figure Flattering Priorities

Body type dressing guidelines that encourage the creation of traditionally flattering proportions have relaxed over time, which is a very good thing. Instead, creating outfit proportions that are “just flattering enough” is the more modern approach and awfully liberating. By having the freedom to dress in ways that make you feel great instead of being inhibited by what you are not supposed to wear, you establish a set of figure flattering priorities that is completely personal, and created by YOU, not someone else. Decide what figure flattery means to you, and run with it.

Outfit Variety

Over the years, I’ve found that a person’s need for outfit variety — or lack thereof — has a noticeable impact on their style. Those who enjoy outfit variety have a greater assortment of silhouettes, fabrications, textures, patterns and colours in their wardrobe. Sometimes, they react faster to trends because they want to add “newness” to their look right away. Generally, the opposite holds true for “uniform dressers” and those who are less interested in trends. Also, those who live in a four-season climate tend to have the need for a larger variety of items. They need everything from shorts, breezy dresses and sandals, to puffers, snow boots, and woolly accessories.

External Factors

Lifestyle

Your lifestyle is the most important factor to affect your style. Someone who works in a business formal or business casual environment has a different set of wardrobe needs to a stay-at-home person or somebody who works from home. How and where you socialize will also have an impact on your style, as will the extent to which you travel, attend formal events, camp, do outdoorsy stuff, and play sports. A common problem I see is a wardrobe that was created for an imaginary lifestyle.

Climate

Your climate is the second most important factor to consider because for the most part, it’s best to be practical about your wardrobe choices. That way you’re prepared for the elements and comfortable throughout the day. For example, no matter how much you like to wear floor-sweeping flared trousers with pointy-toe heels, they’re unsuited to wet and snowy weather. By the same token, creating an extensive capsule of outerwear for a humid and hot tropical climate is a waste of time and money.

Environment

Sometimes the expectations of people around you – or “your audience” – can have a big effect on your style. I refer to this as your environmental norm. It includes cultural norms, workplace norms, and even the expectations of your social circle. Everyone has to decide the extent to which they want to conform to their environmental norm, or challenge it. Are you comfortable standing out, or do you prefer to blend in with the crowd? Maybe it’s a delicate balance of conforming and challenging. There is no right or wrong here, but it’s useful to acknowledge your environmental norm and factor it into your style decisions.

Budget

Although style is not a price tag, your budget will impact your style choices. Within your budget you can decide the size of your wardrobe, the rate at which you can refresh your style, and the amount you choose to spend per item and over time. Although your income level can definitely put a cap on your budget, I find that income and budget aren’t always directly related. Each of my clients is pretty unique in the way that they approach setting a budget for wardrobe purchases.

Storage Space

The size of your storage space affects the size of your wardrobe, which in turn can affect what you wear in a season, and what you can add to your wardrobe. Small storage spaces might find uniform dressing a practical solution, whereas larger storage spaces can add variety and quantity simply because they can store it.

It’s never too late to start thinking about how these factors impact your style. My clients differ greatly in their appetite for this sort of analysis. For some, it’s informal, more intuitive, and something we touch on briefly while we shop and create outfits. Others love the analysis of thinking about these factors in great detail and then mapping them to their current wardrobe and their shopping strategy.

Over the decades, my biggest challenge has been shopping for the right climate. I love Spring and Summer clothes, and have had the tendency to over-purchase that component of my wardrobe. This was very true when we first moved to Seattle, where the Summers are not overly hot. Even when I lived in hot and humid tropical countries, I would forget about arctic air conditioning and that I couldn’t layer over items with flouncy sleeves to keep warm. It also gets cold at night when you live by the coast, so you absolutely need warm toppers and boots too.

It’s taken me decades to get the climate factor right for my wardrobe. I have also become very aware of the other factors, and pay close attention to them. I’m finally in a good habit of fine-tuning them each season, which keeps my wardrobe and style focussed and fully functional. Practice makes perfect. Acknowledging and learning from my mistakes has been very helpful too.