https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sun, 05 Apr 2026 17:51:14 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but/page/2#post-460274 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:41:07 +0000 Amy 460274@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I thought I had responded to this thread, but I must have been dreaming that, because I sure don't see anything from me up there, lol. </p> <p>Suz, you have a fabulous style and your basics are so amazing they would look like statement pieces if they visited my closet. When I think of "basics" I do think of something similar to what Queen Mum posted: plainly cut, neutral colors, solids not prints, etc. You're teaching me that I can find much more interesting pieces that would still fill that important supporting role.</p> <p>You're an inspiration! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but/page/2#post-460228 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 03:45:19 +0000 Debora 460228@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Anything but boring! These are all great outfits, Suz! I just love your style and your creativity. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but/page/2#post-460222 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 03:37:06 +0000 Anonymous 460222@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hmmm, I thought I'd commented but don't see it. Anyway, your outfits are light years from boring. They are creative and classy and fun.<br /> I had wanted to comment on the thread about basics that the right ones can make my heart beat faster. Take layering tank tops...I often buy cotton ones at Target that serve me well but if I find an Eileen Fisher tank in my size on the sale rack, especially if it's a fab silk fabric, I've got a prize that makes me feel like the queen wearing it. It's still a basic tank, but oh what a difference!<br /> The black basic shirt from the Gap and the black basic shirt from Brooks Brothers? No comparison. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but/page/2#post-460213 Sun, 06 Nov 2011 03:26:49 +0000 Anonymous 460213@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Suz, you have amassed some GREAT basics. What you tried to make do with before could hardly qualify as building blocks of a wardrobe. Thank you for linking to Steph's blog....I've been waiting for her Rx for you with bated breath!</p> <p>These past few months, I've realized the vast difference between a great basic and something you or I might have purchased in a thrift store just to tick it off our list. I've had a sort of mental list of things I thought a well dressed woman was supposed to have, like a white button front shirt or a little black dress. I would pick these items up cheaply and they would be ill-fitting and poorly fabricated. I would wonder why I never reached for them. Then I saw Angie wearing a crisp white shirt and thought, "OH! That's what it's supposed to look like!"</p> <p>You are doing a great job of providing these lightbulb moments for me, too. Like the great funky shoes I see you wearing. I know they're comfortable, so you're showing us all how fab and modern we can look while still being comfortable in our shoes (and in our own skin). Rock on, sister! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but/page/2#post-458319 Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:48:34 +0000 san 458319@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Suz I know that it's been said many times but I have to tell you that you do not look basic at all. You look like you have a very real personal style. You look great. You look interesting. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but/page/2#post-458311 Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:36:40 +0000 Suz 458311@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>QueenMum, I laughed out loud at those links you posted! I DO see the difference, and you are absolutely right. Maybe that's what many people think of when they hear the word "basic" and admittedly, that would be pretty hard to work with!</p> <p>Krishnidoux, what a beautiful and apt analogy; you are so right. The basics are the structure; the statement pieces (or the blend of basics and others) are the "voice" of the story. What makes it unique. </p> <p>Imogen, thank you! I am flattered. And Angie, thank YOU, too. Actually, it is both your blogs that have been so helpful to me; yours were the ones I started reading first after I lost weight and began to realize I would have to begin to do SOMETHING about my wardrobe, and yours are the ones that I continue to read months later! So I am enormously grateful to you both and to all the members of the forum. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but/page/2#post-458256 Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:13:07 +0000 Angie 458256@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Suz, you know I think outfits #1 and #3 are KILLER. Strong and Simple - a look close to my heart (as you know).</p> <p>Sorry that I forgot to zone in on your outfits in my first comment here. I got carried away yakking about how much I love my own good quality basics. I was rude :(</p> <p>Love what Rita, said - basics make a complex item shine. It's the truth. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but/page/2#post-458251 Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:56:10 +0000 Ornella 458251@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Krishni, this is so beautifully said: </p> <p>Like what style and fashion is a language and a story. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but/page/2#post-458239 Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:16:36 +0000 ImogenL 458239@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It's interesting that you call your basics boring - I don't see them that way - they have interest and detail, even in subtle way - which suits you. Not everybody wants or desires to wear the diva pieces, one person's basic is someone else's hero! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-458197 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:07:22 +0000 krishnidoux 458197@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Suz, getting it is getting that it starts with GREAT basics, and learning which ones work for you, which ones are worth splurging for, or not. Not necessarily an easy task! Anyway such has been my experience so far, (still I need to learn more). So thumbs up for you to have figured out so much! Your outfits are truly fabulous. You really are showing a sense of knowing yourself with them. I am learning from you. </p> <p>If, in a weird and fantasy writer's world way, you were to transpose clothes styling to the act of writing, basics would be... like syntax: your motor, your powerhouse, what gets you rolling, what doesn't show but supports the rest beautifully while providing a direction. Think of it: some basics point to certain styles just like Hemingway yields a different reading direction then, say, Tom Robbins. Lululemon's as basics point to a different dressing occasion than, say, Guess basics. Just an example. </p> <p>Statement pieces would be... like words. The beautiful, strange ones, the ones one author prefer using, the ones I sometimes need to look up. The beautiful words are sprinkled, the syntax is a constant train carrying you through. </p> <p>Like what style and fashion is a language and a story. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-458161 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:35:48 +0000 biscuitsmom 458161@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Boring is so NOT how to describe your style! I think it's amazing </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-458137 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:18:10 +0000 Queen Mum 458137@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>there's nothing boring about any of these outfits. They might be made up of basics, but your basics are quality and interesting looking. That makes a big difference from trying to outfit basics like these:<br /> <a href="http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/clearance/women/tops_shirts/PRD~843279/SONOMA+life+++style+ButtonTab+Polo.jsp" rel="nofollow">http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStor.....b+Polo.jsp</a><br /> <a href="http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/clearance/women/capris_shorts/PRD~862355/SONOMA+life+++style+Modern+Fit+Cuffed+Capris.jsp" rel="nofollow">http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStor.....Capris.jsp</a> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-458132 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:14:07 +0000 catgirl 458132@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hi five, Janet! That's me exactly, right down to the shopping on a tangent! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-458121 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:10:02 +0000 Ornella 458121@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yeah, but porridge is healthy, no? Look where wardrobe porridge led you </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457959 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:17:22 +0000 Suz 457959@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, Shannon, the "funk" is almost entirely due to my six months' here on YLF and learning from people like you! </p> <p>I did own one or two "statement" pieces before YLF, the leaf skirt being a primary example. But otherwise it was all badly fitting t shirts, badly fitting jeans, badly fitting bras, badly fitting sweaters, and all of it as boring as porridge. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457958 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:11:59 +0000 Transcona Shannon 457958@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Suz - I don't know how you can possibly think of your style as boring. I think you have a classic style with hits of "funk" - exactly the mix I'm looking for. I find your outfits and posts inspiring. To me, if your basics are all in order - well fitting and well made - then every outfit you put together using those basics will work. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457916 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:10:59 +0000 Ornella 457916@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have to chime in before reading all other responses, I'm already looking forward to checking them.</p> <p>Don't I just love posts like these which articulate the most obvious things, before I even had a chance to recognise the same dilemma was mine too. Thanks for making it so clear and untangling yet another style riddle for me!</p> <p>I am 100% on Team Basics. Actually, I think someone one commented in my one of my WIWs that I wear my basics well. </p> <p>I am one of those who believe in building strong foundation before proceeding further. There's been a time when basics were all I could afford, then times when I wouldn't even know where to start with anything that's not basic, and now when I am enough in tune with my basics to recognise how to make the most of them(e ) or what statement piece would be a nice addition.</p> <p>I also love what you said about shopping buddies who have an eye and preferences for complete opposites. In order for that shopping experience to be succesful, though, I think both sides need enough awareness of the watrdobe strengths and holes, so they can make the most of the other person's suggestions. You and Una would definitely be great shopping buddies. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457908 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:07:07 +0000 Janet 457908@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>No Suz, not boring... smart! </p> <p>I'm more like Una. I'm drawn to the unusual and then have to backtrack to find tamer pieces to make it work. </p> <p>I am getting annoyed and bored with my search for something as simple as a pair of slim, non-cropped casual black trousers, so I get completely sidetracked and find metallic leather cropped moto jackets instead! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457907 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:06:25 +0000 Suz 457907@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you for all the compliments. My goodness! I am learning here from all of YOU! </p> <p>Carole, that was a fantastic link; thank you! Imogen makes excellent points, and I really like the visual at the end. She brought up the interesting possibility that in addition to heroes (statement items), villains (the draggy wardrobe items you should get rid of because they look awful!) and supporting players (good basics) you can also sometimes go for an ensemble outfit, where every item plays a key part and stands out to some degree. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457896 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:00:18 +0000 nancylee 457896@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Suz, I completely identify with your love of basics and think it's a healthy instinct. Having reliable basic pieces in your wardrobe is key to getting dressed, IMHO. And a good basic can be super flexible, too...witness my many incarnations of the black pencil skirt this week!</p> <p>I really love watching your evolving style, and I think you have more of an eye for and willingness to try stand-out pieces than you're giving yourself credit for. That hitch skirt, for example.</p> <p>I actually think you've got the perfect approach: heavy on the basics with a keen eye for statement pieces. I am learning from you! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457895 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:00:02 +0000 modgrl 457895@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think it's really important to have strong basics, they are the foundation of any wardrobe. How else can you make your statements shine? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457890 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:54:56 +0000 Carole 457890@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I loved Imogen's illustration of The Movie of Your Wardrobe, here.</p> <p><a href="http://www.insideoutstyleblog.com/2009/08/the-movie-of-your-wardrobe.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.insideoutstyleblog......drobe.html</a></p> <p>This was a real eyeopener for me. I had all supporting acts (basics and staples) in my closet and no real "stars".</p> <p>I love your style, Suz. Outfit 2 is movie star worthy IMO. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457880 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:47:55 +0000 Lori 457880@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am LOVING (cannot stress that enough!) #2 &amp; 3 -- love them!!!!! Not one boring thing about either of these. #1 one is beautiful too, but 2 &amp; 3 are simply fab! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457870 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:41:23 +0000 Isis 457870@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Sorry, I cannot call your outfits boring! How about polished, interesting yet comfortable, stylish, or just plain fab! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457863 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:35:55 +0000 Anonymous 457863@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I also lean towards and love my basics! When they're just right they can really expand and extend your wardrobe...often more than a single statement piece. </p> <p>However a good wardrobe needs both My weakness is committing to a statement piece. They always feel like a splurge since I think I may not get as much wear out of them. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457861 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:31:52 +0000 Suz 457861@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Sveta, that's an excellent point and it ties in with what Steph suggested to me in another thread about my own developing style. Her idea was that, given my descriptions of the outfits that had made me feel best in the past, I should build and maintain a wardrobe of good basic staples, and supplement this with toppers and accessories that would add the punch. She actually wrote it up on her blog! <a href="http://dashingeccentric.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://dashingeccentric.blogspot.com/</a></p> <p>It turns out that to some degree I've already messed with this formula, in some cases making the skirt the statement piece, for example, and letting the jacket be a basic. But overall, I think (for me) choosing ONE statement clothing item and/or interesting colourful footwear/bag/jewelry and typically, making the top layer the "statement" piece (whether that top layer is an indoor wear jacket, sweater, a scarf, jewelry, or a patterned dress or blouse) or an outdoor wear coat is a really smart way to go. </p> <p>On another thread recently, Krishnidoux was lamenting the whole coat issue (how to be stylish in Canadian winters) and thanks to your vivid example I came to the conclusion that a wardrobe of coats is in fact a highly sensible thing in our climate, and why shouldn't they be "statement" pieces? I am really looking forward to building this coat wardrobe. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457845 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:08:54 +0000 Sveta 457845@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Suz, I think you can get your wish granted when we meet in Toronto - I am sure there would be somebody of different shopping tendencies in such a large group.<br /> For myself the year on YLF was an eye opening. Before I was drawn to statement pieces and had a serious lack of basics because it was too boring to shop for them. As a result my wardrobe was not very functional. Now I got my basics (mostly) in line. My favorite dresses are simple sheath dresses because I can creat countless combinations with them so they feel fresh. the same goes for skinnies, pencil skirts, t-necks,...list goes on. I prefer to make a statement not with one piece but with styling of the whole thing - it makes it more interesting.<br /> However I also have a completely opposite YLF transformation in relation to outerwear. Before it was basic - it does not matter what you wear outside, it should be practical and not ugly and this is enough. Now I have a small collection of coats and jackets and this is where I look for a statement pieces: either in style or color. They go on top of everything else and I like them to stand alone and convey my style. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457844 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:05:22 +0000 catgirl 457844@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, and yes, we must make a date to go shopping! Pencil me in! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457843 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:04:15 +0000 catgirl 457843@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>SUZ! I don't think you're boring - I think you're inspirational! I'm trying to find how this works for me. You are a much quicker study than me, that's for sure. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/call-me-boring-but#post-457841 Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:52:55 +0000 tarzy 457841@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>If that's the definition of "boring," count me in! I love all of your "boring" outfits.<br /> I think I'm in this camp too - or at least aiming for it! </p>