I’m not talking about the comfy shoes that are a must for traipsing in and out of stores. Or the refreshments that you bring along to keep fueled and hydrated. Or the great underwear that allows you to achieve your best silhouette when you fit on clothes. 

Of course, these things are important, but here I’m going to focus at a different level. I’ve found that taking a mental box containing four tools is absolutely essential when I shop for myself or with my clients. Whether it’s shopping online for five minutes or shopping in the city for an entire day these tools are important and I try to keep them as sharp as possible. 

1. Your Style Goals: You need a pretty clear idea of the style you aspire to achieve, and the style you do NOT aspire to achieve. This is why we set style goals in the first place, so that they can keep us focused. In my line of work, where I am constantly tempted by items while shopping with others, they keep me on the straight and narrow. 
2. A Shopping List: You need a seasonal list of the items you’re looking for, where each item on the list fits into one of four categories.
3. A Realistic Budget: You need some idea of the amount of money you can spend in a month or season so that you don’t break the bank, or skimp unnecessarily.  
4. A Good Attitude: You need to be in the right state of mind when you shop. This means shopping for the body you’re in today, being open to new colours, silhouettes and fabrications, and being patient, picky and practical. 

These tools, which are intuitive for some and more regimented for others, help to create that all important balance between wardrobe discipline and having fun with fashion. Shopping without them is how you end up unhappy with your choices, with a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear.

I bat for Team Low Rise jeans, which means that I prefer a front rise that measures between six and seven inches on a tailored pair of skinny, straight or bootcut jeans. The back rise measurement is significantly higher to prevent bottom cleavage. 

I prefer low rises on tailored jeans for three reasons:

1. I find them extremely comfortable. It all stays put. Front rises that measure eight inches or more tend to dig into my skin, ride up when I sit down and generally feel like too much fabric. 
2. I like to tuck tops and belt jeans, and find that visually lowering the horizontal cutting line is more flattering for my body type. Belt and tuck with a higher rise and I feel ever so slightly frumpy, although it does visually lengthen my leg line. 
3. Although I am not short waisted nor short in the rise, I like to create an even longer torso by wearing lower rises with belts and a tucked top. I really like the look of a long torso. 

I don’t mind up to an eight and half inch front rise on boyfriend jeans because I wear them slouchy and therefore with a dropped crotch point. But I still wear the waistband on my hips so that they look low rise, which makes the crotch point drop even further. 

As I replenish my denim capsule this year, I’ve been sharing my thoughts about the hunt for the perfect pair of jeans on our forum. It’s been an interesting process, especially when I compare my own denim fit and fabric needs to those of my clients and our forum members. 80% of my clients prefer a front rise of between eight and nine and a half inches for skinny, straight or bootcut jeans. Some prefer an even higher rise and a couple prefer low rise. I definitely swim against the tide preferring low rise jeans, and because they aren’t on trend or desirable, they are hard to find. 

Over to you. What’s your preferred front rise measurement on tailored or body con jeans? We’ll leave slouchy and baggy styles out of the equation for this poll. Remember that there is no right or wrong answer because it’s a personal preference that is suited to your figure flattery needs and comfort levels.

This might seem like an obvious outfit combination, but frequently my clients are stumped by blue toppers. First, some of them think that they can’t wear blue toppers with blue jeans. And second, they wonder which colour works best layered underneath blue. Well, of course you can wear blue toppers with blue denim! But if that feels like too much blue, black bottoms are the next easy solution. As for the under layer, you have countless options but a shade of white is a good way to go. 

Which brings me to the timeless combination of a blue topper, white layer and black bottoms. The pictures below illustrate the forumla, but let’s break it down by component.

Blue Topper

By topper I mean blazers, leather jackets, coats, denim jackets or sweater coats in any shade of blue. From ink blue and cobalt, to shades of French blue and light blue, and everything in between. The topper needn’t be completely solid. False plain tweeds, seersucker stripes, pinstripes and marbled patterns function much like a solid. On trend, mixed media two-toned toppers in black and blue work well here too.

White Layer

Any shade of white is fab, from optical white to bone and cream. Just choose the white that works for you. Think layering tees, shirts, blouses, knitted tops, or knitwear. Furthermore, no need to keep the layer a solid white. Some of the photos show white tees with grey and black panel prints. Or blouses with black collars. Or a stripe in a soft grey and white could make a good layering piece. 

Black Bottoms

Classic slacks, jeans, Ponte knit stretch pants, cigarette pants, culottes, slouchy pants, leather pants, harem pants, cropped pants, pencil skirts, flared skirts, long shorts, shorts shorts — you name it. Choose any style of black bottom.

You can swap the colours of the bottom and the layering piece around — white bottoms and a black layer — if that’s more your cup of tea. Blue toppers generally look stellar against a black layer, although you lose the lightness and crispness of the white. 

It’s easy to finish off the outfit with black footwear because it picks up the colour of the bottoms, and extends the length of the leg line if you’re wearing black jeans or pants. But white, cream, taupe, chestnut, metallic, or neutrally patterned footwear are more fab options. Accessorize to your taste and you’re done.

A few weeks ago Debbie was kind enough to point out on the forum that nominations were open for the 13th annual Weblog Awards, or Bloggies. The Bloggies are the longest running blog awards on the Internet and every year they recognize blogs in many different categories.

Nominations close on Sunday, so if you think YLF deserves to be in contention, then please consider nominating us.