https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:51:02 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1358266 Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:39:27 +0000 Emily 1358266@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think it can be innate or learned, like art. &nbsp;</p> <p>An art teacher I had once explained that of course some people are very creative and naturally gifted artists,&nbsp;but&nbsp;with practice anyone&nbsp;can&nbsp;learn to accurately put&nbsp;proportion and perspective to paper&nbsp;and produce something visually pleasing; then, in time, students tended to develop a more creative and abstract approach.</p> <p>(I fall in the latter camp, both for drawing and fashion)</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1358263 Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:35:05 +0000 JAileen 1358263@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I liked Physics in high school! It was one of my favorite subjects, after Math and Art. What were my worst subjects? Anything involving memorization.</p> <p>Anyway, I'm really drawn to color and how different colors work together. But as to fit, style, etc., I'm kind of lost. When I first started posting WIWs, I think Angie started tearing her hair out. She really did not like any of my jeans. At all. I hope I'm improving in that respect. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1358155 Thu, 18 Sep 2014 13:23:29 +0000 Chris29 1358155@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>For myself fashion is definitely a learning process. I have so many books on how to build a wardrobe that I could open my own bookstore. I'm very impressed with the fashion sense of pregnant young women today. I think showing off the belly bump looks great, whereas in the 80's one wore a big mumu and didn't have to think much about fashion choices. I live in Ottawa, Canada and although it is a bit of a cliche I do think my French Canadian fashion sisters do have an innate sense of fashion or a chic gene that we Anglo gals are missing. At least I know I missed it so I have to study chic ness in others! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1357707 Wed, 17 Sep 2014 20:41:17 +0000 TraceyLiz65 1357707@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Great topic and wonderful answers! &nbsp;I think for me it is part intuitive especially for colors, which is why I express it as being an artistic expression in my life. &nbsp;<br />There is a majority that is learned and I think a life long educational experience as our bodies change, our roles in life, change, and as we see ourselves differently or have different goals stylistically. &nbsp;It's also an education with the fabulous use of a camera (mirrors are liars!) which things work proportionally. &nbsp;I see it as a form as science myself, with a variety of experiments that seem never ending... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1357660 Wed, 17 Sep 2014 19:16:29 +0000 abc 1357660@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Interesting topic. I'm learning here like everyone else but I do think I learned what silhouettes worked for me prior to ylf (open necklines for example) and I've always chosen my colors intuitively. </p> <p>Fwiw I liked physics. Hated chemistry. But my eye opener was when in college I had a higher grade in Statistics than in the supposed blowoff class of pottery - the required art component. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1357386 Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:30:18 +0000 E 1357386@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I like what Firecracker says about absorbing info. I put my outfits together intuitively, but that intuition is informed by years of casually reading about clothes/style/etc in both books and the online world. I'm a researcher at heart, so I get great pleasure out of gathering and processing info on anything I'm interested in. And of course that will inform how I approach my hobby, even if it's at a subconscious vs conscious level. But I still suspect I have some kind of innate feel for clothes/dressing as well, because why else would I find it enjoyable enough to be a hobby? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1357379 Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:08:59 +0000 Anonymous 1357379@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I&nbsp;<i>hated</i> physics. Never managed to get beyond just memorizing formulas without having an&nbsp;underlying understanding either.</p> <p>I kind of like the cooking metaphor for myself. For me, both are areas where the day-to-day stuff is guided by intuition combined with&nbsp;the familiarity/knowledge that comes from&nbsp;practice, but I rely more on directly applying&nbsp;"formulas" when trying something complex or unfamiliar. So I'm pretty good at pulling together new outfits that look decent, but&nbsp;a lot like my other outfits, just like I'm pretty good at whipping up a weekday pasta with whatever vegetables look fresh and tasty. But, the farther I get from what I know, the less confident I am that it will work if I don't follow a "recipe" pretty closely. Which sometimes means that it's easier to throw together another pasta, or another cardigan/dress ensemble, even though I know trying something new instead would get me closer to expanding the universe of things I know how to do without relying on formulas.</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1357295 Wed, 17 Sep 2014 08:46:39 +0000 Anonymous 1357295@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I was good at Chemistry and dropped Physics as soon as I could! But I'm also artistic. I spent a year at art college, I've always sewn for myself&nbsp;and I have a good eye for interiors and colour, so in fashion I do feel fairly intuitive, but I'm also still learning about trends and juxtaposition. Each fashion season I learn a few more skills and try to put them into practice, though the result don't always work. Fun process though. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1357248 Wed, 17 Sep 2014 05:14:49 +0000 Marley 1357248@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Fashion and style are instinctive for me - but then, I'm right-brained to a fault and so pretty much everything is instinctive to me (unfortunately!)<br />I definitely believe that people can learn how to dress in ways that are flattering - just as I believe that people can learn how to play the piano reasonably well. &nbsp;But, to go beyond reading the music and striking the correct keys, I think there needs to be an innate sense of artistry - you have to&nbsp;<i>feel&nbsp;</i>the music and have the ability to interpret it in a way that speaks to the listeners (and yourself!)&nbsp;&nbsp; However, I think that there are many people out there who probably cannot&nbsp;actually tell the difference - the same with fashion.&nbsp;</p> <p>It's like me and physics (for example!) &nbsp;I have no idea how I got through my college physics class. &nbsp;I memorized (and spent hours and hours studying)&nbsp;what I needed to memorize in order to get through each exam - but, I had absolutely no innate ability to go any further with it than to just get through the class. However, I got an A - and for all practical purposes, on paper I looked as good as the student who came by physics naturally!</p> <p>&nbsp;Compare that to my college music classes: &nbsp;I had to learn how to play every instrument and then be tested by actually playing the instruments. &nbsp;I would skip the classes - then, the day before the exams I would go into a practice room with the instrument, teach myself how to play it - and then the next day go in and ace the exam. &nbsp;There were other students who also aced the exams - but they attended all of the classes and practiced all semester long - and sweated out the exams. &nbsp;I didn't - because I was born with that ability. <br />&nbsp;<br />We all have different skills and abilities. &nbsp;Thistle - if this was an accounting blog, rather than a fashion blog - I'd be dying! &nbsp;And - I know that I would never ever feel comfortable dealing with numbers and all of that other stuff that just sends me into a panic! &nbsp;Thank goodness we all have each other!</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1357244 Wed, 17 Sep 2014 05:02:40 +0000 Firecracker (Sharan) 1357244@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Whatever I get about fashion, I think I arrive at mostly by absorbing it rather than actively trying to learn it. I like to think I'm learning by following You Look Fab, but I'm not literally taking notes, studying, applying the concepts, as I would in a school subject. I'm absorbing what I can and hoping that this abstract learning will manifest itself in my own outfit creation. </p> <p>Lately I have taken to using Angie's ensembles as guides for some of my outfits. This kind of application is more like following a recipe, loosely. She says to put together A, B, and C, and I say, Oh, I have something kind of like those pieces; let's try them together. I don't always get what makes A, B, and C work together, so I may miss a crucial link, and my outfit may not even capture the gist of the ensemble idea. But it gives me a new outfit to wear--score!</p> <p>Often I can see that my outfits don't look the way I'd like for them to look, but I don't exactly know why. And other times, I recognize that I just don't have the right pieces--I'm lacking the most current shapes to create the silhouettes I'm seeing here, especially on the blog, where Angie is posting the latest trends. So I'm not going to look like I stepped off the pages of a fashion mag, and that's okay, because none of my friends would recognize me if I did! But if I can get a similar feel in some way, then I think I'm going to stay more current-looking than I might otherwise, which is also a good thing in my book. </p> <p>And fashion is a hobby for me, rather than a subject I feel compelled to study. I do put considerable thought into what to wear, for just about any occasion. But it's kind of fun, and when it's not, there are the FFBOs.</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1357213 Wed, 17 Sep 2014 03:44:25 +0000 Dee 1357213@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I identify most with Suz's response. I always found my sense of color, in terms of what works for me, to be pretty intuitive. And I'm generally pretty good at recognizing If something is off in terms of fit or proportion. Or at least, I was before 2014 and it's anything goes approach to fashion...</p> <p>But I think it's the details that I was and am still learning. Not just, "Does this work?" but why? Or how can I mix things up to get more interesting outfits of out pieces I already own. But, unlike physics, I'm excited for further study. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1357202 Wed, 17 Sep 2014 03:25:04 +0000 Gigi 1357202@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Well, if rachylou is an idiot savant at fashion, I am just an idiot. :)</p> <p>I am another one who has to learn fashion like I learned physics! It is not instinctive to me at all. I am getting better, as we get better at pretty much everything we practice at, but it is not intuitive and probably never will be. But that's OK! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1356866 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 20:51:13 +0000 rachylou 1356866@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hmm. Can I be a fashion idiot savant?</p> <p>I have definitive opinions. I have analytical skills and talents. I have learning. </p> <p>I don't have fashion world vision. I can't fix anybody up in a eye-flick any ol' time, not the way I can sort out 5 paragraphs of confused text at a glance. I will never ever <i>ever</i> come with anything as brilliant as Angie's formulas. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me/page/2#post-1356798 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 19:19:58 +0000 Isabel 1356798@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hmmmm...I am not sure that I "get fashion" &nbsp;but I think I get how to dress myself and what works. &nbsp;For now. &nbsp;Any time our bodies change, it is tough. Plus, there are emotions and hormones and I think it complicates things a bit. &nbsp;We also have so much choice and images and messages...I am depressing myself....LOL &nbsp; I think that I have always known how to dress. &nbsp;The truth is that the majority of the world doesn't revolve on "fashion". &nbsp;</p> <p>In the end, I don't think that people judge us as much as &nbsp;in every day lives &nbsp;( except for things like job interviews, client meetings, court ). I know that I don't judge other people...I may like or dislike and outfit...but I don't judge the person. &nbsp;Maybe that is a bit pollyanna..I don't know. &nbsp;: &nbsp; )&nbsp;</p> <p></p> <p>And remember, there is a whole lot about the universe that we don't understand. &nbsp;No one has yet to link quantum forces to&nbsp;gravity...so you see, no one gets the "and then, you see" &nbsp;! &nbsp;</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356764 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 18:52:56 +0000 Echo 1356764@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Taste is instinctive for me (and everyone else, of course), but I find it helpful to see what others do and what "current" proportions look like. Sometimes I still end up doing my own thing, but like a former English professor used to tell me, "You need to know the rules before you are allowed to break them."</p> <p>And I agree that some things are instinctive to people, whether that's fashion, computers, calculus or physics. I took an econ class where a friend told me that if I understood the principles behind things, I'd never need to memorize a formula. Well, I never understood econ quite deeply enough to give up knowing the formulas, and I feel similarly about fashion.&nbsp;</p> <p>I may go my own way and sometimes end up a little into the brush, but as long as I keep my eyes on the road, I can follow along in my own space, take some detours, but still never get completely lost.</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356643 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:47:55 +0000 kkards 1356643@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>hmmm--- interesting. i do think fashion and style can be learnt, but like physics, nope. i my experience, the sciences had one answer, maybe you got partial credit for some of your work, but there was only 1 "right" answer. IMO fashion is more like an&nbsp;literature or social science class -- you read and study to learn the rules, see patterns, compare and contrast, but in the end its really how you express your ideas that matters. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356635 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:33:12 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 1356635@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I don't know if it comes off as bragging to say that for me fashion has always been instinctive. Or it started as instinctive and now has layers of practice and study on top. </p> <p>I find that stuff like fashion or home decorating, where the aesthetic principles are applied, is much less intimidating than something like visual art that is more unfettered. I had the worst time in art history class and and an even worse time in the one art class I had to take in high school. Give me constraints to work within, like the human body or a room of a certain size, and I'll get started: give me a blank canvas of infinite scope and I will not know where to start. This has always been true but I hadn't really articulated it about myself until just now. </p> <p>On physics: I had the coolest experience when I took my first physics class in college and suddenly understood calculus, which I had taken several classes of already. These arbitrary rules and ways of describing relationships suddenly made sense: they were designed to describe Newtonian mechanics! They're a way of describing one layer of how the world interacts with itself! I never really got there with physics itself, although I've been told that when you study quantum stuff the physics sort of reforms itself in the same way. I did see it in chemistry (my major) though, which is all about layers of complexity, up and down the scale - the cell, the atom, the atomic particles, the levels of electrons, the crystal structure of inorganic matrices, the long chains of amino acids that make up proteins and DNA... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356622 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:23:37 +0000 Quietgirl 1356622@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>oh, I SO agree! I am not visual but rather kinaesthetic (learning by touch). I need other people to help me see. Sometimes I get it and sometimes I don't. You can read my post from yesterday as I struggle to learn! </p> <p>I do think I can learn, otherwise, I wouldn't be here!!</p> <p><a href="http://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/wiw-2-outfits-high-satisfaction-and-lowwhy" rel="nofollow">http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....and-lowwhy</a></p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356616 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:20:37 +0000 amiable 1356616@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm with you - I don't have a good eye to put a room together either. &nbsp;I need a room cook book. &nbsp;I do think this skill can be developed. &nbsp;Over the past 10 years, I've learned to cook without much of a guide - at least some of the time &nbsp;And I think I'm much improved in style over the past few years too....</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356609 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:19:17 +0000 jackiec 1356609@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>This is a great post, Thistle! Part of it is the 3rd trimester blues for sure. I think there are learned aspects of fashion and a lot of intuition and learning to trust your gut. I think you need to learn the "rules" so you can go ahead and break them with verve. I loved Physics in high school, but I know that exact feeling from university Statistics, or higher level Economics. I'm an accountant by trade and love numbers, but those courses kicked my butt. My husband likes to quote things from old Stat courses (I know we're nerds) and I can't even stomach it.... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356607 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:17:53 +0000 catgirl 1356607@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I feel like I SHOULD treat fashion more like physics, instead of like a buffet when I'm starving and grabbing a little bit of everything.&nbsp; Some applied methodology keeps me in check.&nbsp; . </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356593 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 16:08:10 +0000 Thistle 1356593@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So, art may have been a worse class for me than physics&nbsp; ;)&nbsp; I actually took an art history class to satisfy my art requirements . I knew the only way I would pass a true art class was with a low grade and a generous professor. </p> <p>Nope, can't pull a room together. Always said when I could afford an interior decorator, I would. Then I had a baby, and, well, the house never looks all that great anyway.</p> <p>So interesting the style&nbsp;journey so many of us have had. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356581 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:52:38 +0000 rabbit 1356581@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I like what <b>unfrumped</b> said about the eye, and how it can be trained, &nbsp;and also&nbsp;about the moving target of trends over time (how 'others' see you). &nbsp; &nbsp;For me color and pattern and sometimes a general sense of proportion are partly&nbsp;intuitive. &nbsp;They are something I've also studied since I was a kid, so I can't separate nature and nurture, &nbsp;and I still continue to learn by trying to absorb and test new color combinations and proportions.&nbsp;</p> <p>In terms of trends or what is 'in fashion' until YLF I'd basically get creative with what was available to me in my price range&nbsp;and study my own immediate environment or sub-culture for what to wear -- I'd people watch in the grocery store or the campus green or&nbsp;the office, but I actually almost never looked at fashion magazines, so really wasn't aware of larger trends outside of&nbsp;what my fishbowl was wearing. &nbsp; &nbsp;So for example right now I don't know what was trendy or in fashion&nbsp;four years ago and folks are a bit tired of now, because I wasn't paying attention in that way at the time.</p> <p>I wonder if there is&nbsp;also a tie in with general underlying values in how the eye sees things. &nbsp;I you value a certain amount of conformity or modesty or conservatism, that will effect how you see clothes on yourself and others. &nbsp; If you value diversity and difference and individual expression and are comfortable with public expressions of sexuality, you will see clothes differently as well, &nbsp;regardless of trends at the time. &nbsp; But fashion is an art, and I think that&nbsp;all forms of art can get you to consider and appreciate perspectives you maybe hadn't before.</p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356554 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:18:32 +0000 unfrumped 1356554@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am so not brilliant at it.</p> <p>One thing that confuses me is how to use my own "eye"--one school of thought is trust it, be true to liking what you see. But, the "eye" can be educated&nbsp;--perhaps educated in a <u>generic</u> way&nbsp;and not just for that season--&nbsp;and then you can "see" differently. But on some level you are still going by what <u>you</u> see.</p> <p>Then there is Fashion. Fashion might mean, things have changed and what you think looks good to you, doesn't look so to certain outside observers. Now, I think there's a whole spectrum of that, so it's not all or none. But are you really re-newing your eye for your own self, or to match some other expectation? Ideally they coincide.</p> <p>Somehow this all ties in with JFE ( just flattering enough). I know I've had the reaction sometimes to posted photos in which I'll think, well, that looks modern, but I don't think it looks that <u>good</u>. The best example of that is probably some of the pant lengths or widths, because of my sort of fixed notion of proportions.</p> <p>I think it would be easier when we see different outfits side by side--on others or ourselves. A, or B? B, or C? Then we might be able to say, A is very flattering but possibly dated, B is very modern but not as good for body type as A, but C has the right mix</p> <p>Not sure where I went with this, but there you have it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356535 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 14:58:55 +0000 anne 1356535@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I had to reply once I saw the word "physics'.&nbsp; My worst academic subject at high school!&nbsp;&nbsp; And one my husband, who studied engineering just "gets".</p> <p>I also very much relate to having to learn and apply the rules of fashion and not getting them instinctively.&nbsp; I do think I am making some slow progress.</p> <p>One difference is that since I was a little girl I have been interested in clothing (particularly from a historical point of view). I am still interested in it of course! And I still don't find it easy.</p> <p>Unlike some other posters, I am not particularly visual, except where words are concerned, and have no natural talent for say "pulling a room together" as E puts it. In fact it is the sort of thing I don't even think about until I go to someone else's house and can admire their handiwork.</p> <p>Third trimester is hard though. Don't let that colour your feelings too much - I second Celia's wisdom on that.</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356534 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 14:58:13 +0000 Jaime 1356534@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think it is lots of study and attention&nbsp;that informs my&nbsp;gut reaction&nbsp;when it comes to whether I like something on others or myself.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356520 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 14:47:12 +0000 Anonymous 1356520@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Fashion is learned for me. &nbsp;It never came intuitively. &nbsp;As a consequence, I actually do treat it very much like a problem that needs to be solved. &nbsp;I start with a given event and the image I need to project at that event. &nbsp;</p> <p>Something that helped me immensely was identifying what silhouettes work for me. &nbsp;Admittedly, I only have two primary silhouettes, but they work for me and my body type. &nbsp;They help me stay focused and avoid the "fluidity" of fashion because somethings I am never going to wear well or comfortably. &nbsp;</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356519 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 14:47:00 +0000 shedev 1356519@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>For me fashion is more like art. Highly subjective, part intuitive, part practiced. Tastes change and some just won't get it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356499 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 14:33:31 +0000 annagybe 1356499@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think you can learn how to dress well. For me fashion is intuitive, emotional &amp; visceral. It's always been like that. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/fashion-is-like-physics-for-me#post-1356484 Tue, 16 Sep 2014 14:26:51 +0000 Elly 1356484@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I've been interested in fashion since I was in my early years, probably because I'm very visual. That said, I have a hardcore practical side to my personality and it took years for me to find adult women discussing different ways they both enjoy fashion as art and keep things practical. Plus, like E, I never had a budget to spend on clothing until adulthood beyond replacing basics and picking up whatever was available discount when my occasional clothing collection was decimated. </p> <p>I think my biggest struggle with it today is getting fits and proportions to look right on my body--- which is both tall and long muscled limbs and very curvy depending on who you compare it to and how you dress it. Personality-wise I love boyfriend jeans and button downs--- but my body would rather I wear slim jeans with fluid but not oversized knits. </p>