It looks like an explosion in a garment factory when I’m creating outfits with a client. There are piles of clothes, shoes and accessories everywhere, along with snacks and many cups of tea. I often find myself searching for the camera to document outfits because it gets lost under piles of garments. Occasionally I’ll use a rolling rack in an attempt to keep the clothes organized, popping them back onto the rack when we’re not using them for a particular outfit. But as much as I try to keep things neat throughout these sessions, it’s to no avail.  

These days I don’t even try to keep things neat because the effort takes my attention away from the creative process. And that’s no good at all. So I boil down the temporary mess to a creative and productive work session. When I’m creating outfits at home with a new piece that might earn a place in my own wardrobe, our room is a shambles as I traipse a set of clothes and shoes to and from the walk-in closet to our full-length mirror, leaving a trail of belts and eyewear along the way. And that’s okay. 

The outfit creation process is a climactic and crucial point in your style journey. This is when it all comes together. It determines how you ultimately show the world your sense of style. If it means making a mess when you’re putting together an outfit first thing in the morning, in the evening, or during a dedicated outfit creation session — go for it. Bless the mess, and shoot for the best outfit combinations.

Many of my clients and friends don’t wear pretty underwear, like matching bra and panty sets with gorgeous lace and trims in beautiful colours and patterns. Here are some of their reasons they give. 

• There is no point in spending money on items that for the most part are hidden from the public. 
• Non-nude or black underwear is impractical.
• Bras and panties are much like serviceable gear. As long as they do the practical minimizing, contouring and camouflaging trick, and is extremely comfortable to wear, aesthetics are less important. 
• My body doesn’t deserve to wear pretty underwear. 
• I’m too old to wear cute underwear. 
• Beautiful underwear creates lumps, bumps and lines underneath your clothes.
• They don’t make pretty bras in my bra size.
• Lace is scratchy and uncomfortable.
• Spending my budget on beautiful underwear is at the bottom of my list of wardrobe priorities.
• It’s just too expensive. 
• I like to wear 100% cotton panties and that’s why they never match my bra.
• I don’t care if my panties don’t match my bra.
• It makes no difference to my partner whether I wear so called pretty underwear. 
• I don’t need to wear pretty underwear to make myself feel desirable.

Personally, I have gone through stages with my underwear and some of the stages were prettier than others. Since my late teens, it has been an absolute must to wear a bra and panty that matches. This is a style idiosyncrasy for which I have no logical explanation, other than that I feel unstylish when they don’t match. They needn’t be part of the same matching set but they MUST match in terms of colour, pattern and fabrication, and look like a set.

Furthermore, when I was growing up my Mum said many times that spending money on bras and panties was a good idea. These foundation garments make you feel attractive and supported, are wardrobe workhorses, and make your clothes hang better. The advice stuck. 

In my twenties I wore pretty lacy underwear in colours, along with nude, black and white. I loved to wear light blue, green, red and pink underwear, in solids and florals. In my thirties I only wore black, white and nude underwear sans lace or trim, going for the modern sporty look. Although my bras always matched my panties, I found my underwear style quite depressing after a while. So in my forties I added back in “the pretty” with lace, pattern, and a bit of colour. 

A month shy of 43 and I am in the mood to wear really pretty underwear more than ever before. There is something about the romantic, lacy, trimmed and patterned matching set that makes my style feel better from the inside out. Pretty underwear also makes me feel attractive and desirable. I do have a hard time finding colourful bras in a 28DD or 30D, but I can find extremely pretty bras in neutrals with panties to match them. I vote YAY, YAY, YAY for pretty underwear. 

Over to you. Do you like to wear pretty underwear with lace and trim, and in non-neutrals? Do you match your bra and panties? Do you feel more attractive when you wear pretty underwear? Or is underwear merely serviceable gear that does a practical and comfortable job, and where aesthetics are of little importance?

I’m thrilled to report that it was warm enough to wear this outfit to a baby shower this weekend and leave off the topper and hose. That’s huge news for us Seattleites. The sun is out and it’s beautiful weather. These photos were taken on the pier in Leschi, which is in walking distance from our home. 

Although my heart is with full skirts that swish and move, I’m re-kindling my affection with the odd pencil skirt in my wardrobe with the help of a fresh support act. This is my favourite pencil skirt because of the colour and fit. It’s 100% wool, fully lined, and sans stretch. The lack of stretch results in a tailored fit that isn’t overly tight. You also don’t get those pulling folds across the hip that you do with skirts that have stretch in the fabrication. 

You’ve seen this tomato red skirt matched with citron, and with black lace which is how I enjoyed wearing it most. Until now. The skirt is an orange-red, which means that matching it with a shade of blue is a slam-dunk. So why not wear it with light blue, my favourite shade of pastel? 

Wearing light blue with tomato red is a new-to-me combination that I would like to wear more often. It feels fresher than matching the red with another bright or neutral. A secret stitch keeps those sleeves scrunched, and wearing the shirt tucked is the classic way to go. 

This particular shirt is a new one that I bought to replace last year’s light blue and white shirt, which tore on the sleeves and was irreparable.

I finished off the outfit with new gold pumps, which are the metallic version of my white pumps. For my lilly white legs, a soft gold works like a nude shoe, and I prefer the metallic to nude leather. I love these pumps so much, both the white and the gold, and feel fortunate to have found two pairs of comfy, low heeled dressy Summer shoes that will go the distance for my walking lifestyle. 

I haven’t used the gold satchel since 2011, but what the heck, I went all the way, classically matching shoes with bag. It felt odd to be carrying a satchel again after almost exclusively wearing daytime clutches for a while. But again, it was a good change. And along with eyewear, darker lipstick, gold watch and wedding ring, I wore my late Mum’s huge gold ring. It’s extremely heartwarming to wear her wardrobe workhorse jewellery that I recognize from when she was close to my age and I was a little girl. 

I hadn’t realized how much I missed wearing a simple classic outfit until I put this look together — and it felt really good. I’ve been so preoccupied with slouchy trousers and jeans, roomy pullovers, bomber jackets, oversized blouses, motos and full skirts that this classic combination fell by the wayside. It certainly won’t be an everyday thing, but with our warmer weather, I do want to wear the combination more often. 

I feel like I’m cleansing my style when I wear this look. Making a statement with a few timeless style ingredients feels healthy amidst all the delicious junkfood trends. My style detox has begun.

I believe that evolving our style can have a positive impact on our appearance and on our life in general. Here are five things that a healthy style evolution helps us to do. 

Adapt to Changing Needs

This is the most important and practical reason to evolve your style. The internal and external factors that impact your style are never static. Our bodies, lifestyle, work setting, environmental norms, climate and style preferences change as we move through life. Our styles need to adapt to these changing factors if we are to feel appropriately dressed and fabulous in our own skin.  

Stay Out of the Style Rut

After wearing the same combinations and colours repeatedly you can get bored with your outfits and feel boring in them. This is the dreaded style rut. The best remedy is to refresh your look by wearing new-to-you items and outfit combinations. I’ve found that a refreshed style does wonders for my own psyche, making me feel energized in many other aspects of my life. 

Avoid Being Dated

A stylish look always incorporates a bit of “now”. But “now” does not necessarily mean hot off the press, trendy catwalk stuff. Current trends can be three to five years old. And you can’t look current unless you evolve your style over time.  

Discover Successful New Looks 

I’m often encouraging friends and clients to push the boundaries of their comfort zone and experiment with something new. It’s the only way to discover a look that might become your next “uniform”, or an item that becomes your next wardrobe workhorse. If you don’t evolve, you might miss out on things that end up making you feel even better about your style. 

Enjoy Fashion 

For some of us fashion becomes a delightful hobby and creative outlet. We have a lot of fun by frequently changing our look in subtle or dramatic ways. And we can share our style experiences with others who enjoy the process and epiphanies as much as we do. This all adds to our happiness and has a positive ripple effect on our general state of well-being. 

Of course, there is no need to evolve your style right now if you feel like you’re in a great place. After all, if it’s fabulous, don’t fix it. Remember also that evolving your style in subtle ways absolutely counts, and that there is no need to make huge visible changes to your look every season if that doesn’t float your boat.