https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 11 Apr 2026 18:16:42 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-456890 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:37:13 +0000 Ornella 456890@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thank you Carole, I plan to continue with the themed weeks as I don't believe in fixing what's not broken I have too much fun this way. But if I think of some interesting twist to the idea, I'm surely open to that.</p> <p>Suz &amp;, Carole, about joining me in the themes, it's flattering you find it a possibility I already post the weekly summary and photos on Friday, if anyone's interested in the general idea and how specific 5 outfits came out of it. If there's any interest or value to say ahead what I'm doing in certain week, I'm happy to do that so we can compare notes at the end of the week, but playing that game would of course mean a lot of tailoring for specific needs. </p> <p>Speaking of, this week coincides beautifully with the discussion that we had about matchy-matchy looks, as I'm doing exactly that - bold, matched looks and my additional take is that they are based on dresses </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-456663 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:09:18 +0000 Suz 456663@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ornella, thank you so much for adding to your explanation. I am going to think this through and try to figure out what themes I might pick to help myself along in my own fashion journey. I SO enjoy Bella's challenge weeks, but they are also quite difficult to do at times; a self-generated theme might lead me to some interesting places. It might help me identify wardrobe holes and remind me of what works and what does not. </p> <p>And I agree with Carole; I'd be game for joining you in some of your own themes! So if you feel like posting what you will be doing, that would be fun. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-456659 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:03:47 +0000 Carole 456659@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Wow, I loved reading your thoughts and the process through your themed weeks. I was glad you explained further about the themes specifically and could see how they would help fuel inspiration and narrow down your choices to a manageable level.</p> <p>Are you going to continue with themes or are you going to try another avenue for inspiring your fabulous style?</p> <p>Perhaps you could start an occasional themed week here on YLF and we can join in the fun. I'd love that! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-456590 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:42:57 +0000 Ornella 456590@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>@Denise, your insights throughout my journey have been priceless and I hope you know how much I appreciate them. I sometimes worry I ramble too much in my posts, but you are always so appreciattive! As for no.1 (I believe you meant no.1 Focus ) I sometimes feel too excited about the possible new things - the discovery of the skill to style it is just too fun and exciting. But, I really want to enjoy what I already have and I do - finding new ways to wear the same things is a great feeling for me.</p> <p>@Lynne, I am blown away you remember the IWD week and what I wrote back then!! Thank you for being one of the godmothers on my style journey and continuously encouraging. I do hope to see you in the front row for many more weeks to come </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-456582 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:33:25 +0000 Ornella 456582@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>@Laura, Angie, nancylee, thank you for taking time to read everything and seeing my points.</p> <p>@Suz,you are super kind and I am deeply flattered by your opinion!<br /> My themes were all sorts: colors (red, purple), patterns (stripes, polkadots), clothes (dresses, black pants, skirts), accessories (new shoes bought on holiday, or red shoes only), occasions (St.Patricks day inspired "Irish week", mum's birthday made me search through the wardrobe for what looked like her clothes), accessories (necklaces, bracelets). I even once put my 4 year old in front of the wardrobe and asked him to pick whatever and I was going to wear that for a week. In most cases there isn't any logic in how I pick a theme, I just think of something random, e.g. "I could do dress and scarf week", or "black, white and red week" (this one has been in the pipeline for a while ). Or belts week, that one I need to do soon to figure out which belts really work for me and how.<br />  <br /> I came up with this 'method' to help me narrow things down and look at the subsets of my wardrobe, which seemed easier to manage and make work, and also to stop me asking myself "what shall I wear today?" every single day in front of too many things to chose from. Because I had self-imposed limited selection to start with, it was a lot more straightforward. I personally hate too mnay things and too much choice.<br />  <br /> Because I do it for a period of 5 days, which is not too long nor too short, there is some continuity which I found pays off in the form of inspiration not dwindling and me ending up with what I know works. It had really helped me see I can make anything work and I can build the otfit around anything. The pinnacle for of this approach for me personally was the outfit for the country fair back in September which was built around the windows on the estate home where the fair took place as the starting inspiration.<br />  <br /> I do not rigidly stick to the theme though, although I do try at most times as I had discovered added benefit - self-discipline I sometimes lack. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-456293 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:48:22 +0000 Lynne 456293@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>What a fabulous and thoughtful post, Ornella, and having followed your themed weeks I feel we've been privy to the journey you elucidate so well. I love your themes and the thought that goes into them, I am sure I am not the only one that sits down on Friday afternoon to look for What Ornella Wore :).</p> <p>One of my favourites was your International Womens Day week where you were inspired by different forum members, and left Womens Day itself to our own dear Angie. It was fabulous that you referred to the choice that women have to be mothers or not; so often celebrations of women revolve around their roles as mothers rather than as, well, women! </p> <p>Looking forward to the next 25 installments of your journey. Buckle up, everyone! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-456106 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:13:16 +0000 CocoLion 456106@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I enjoyed reading this Ornela! I love the way you pick a theme each week for inspiration, it is a lot of fun to review. I can relate to a lot of your "lessons learned" -- thanks for writing them down so succinctly. </p> <p>I have to constantly remind myself of #1. I am one who loves participating in every trend that comes around. It's not that I don't have a taste filter, because I do. It's just that I love everything new -- new looks are so exciting to me! But I am slowly learning that not every trend works on me, and that it is better to look great but not necessarily cutting edge, than to look on-trend but foolish. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-455975 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:36:58 +0000 nancylee 455975@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks for posting this, Ornelia. I'm learning a lot from your style journey, and I'm going to incorporate some of your focusing suggestions as I move forward on mine. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-455966 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:20:52 +0000 Angie 455966@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>A fabulous thought process Ornella, and I enjoyed reading it </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-455911 Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:33:30 +0000 Suz 455911@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ornella, I want to print this out and bring it along with me when I go shopping! What a thoughtful post. I am SO grateful to you for sharing this. In fact, I think Angie should make it a guest post on her blog. It is such a beautiful illustration of the incredible educative power of the YLF forum in the hands of one as intelligent as you! </p> <p>This post could be inspirational for many at the beginning of their own style journeys. I know it has inspired me. I was already very interested in your "theme" approach, and I think it is something that I might try myself as a way of stretching and flexing my newly developing fashion muscles! </p> <p>Can you tell me how you chose the themes themselves? </p> <p>Thank you, again, Ornella. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-455862 Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:25:00 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 455862@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>This is a great post, Ornella; thanks for sharing it with us all. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-455802 Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:24:51 +0000 Ornella 455802@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>:)<br /> MaryK, I've often been told I think things through too much. Looks like it finally pays off - in the most unlikely arena: personal style. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-455492 Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:54:41 +0000 MsMary 455492@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yay! What a fantastic post!! I am in awe of your ability to think it all through like this -- just amazing! Each and every one of your lessons really resonates with me, too! Well done!!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/ot-silver-jubilee-of-weekly-themes-what-ive-learnt-so-far-long#post-455489 Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:40:23 +0000 Ornella 455489@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Week by week and 25 weeks of creating the outfits around specific themes are behind me. Time certainly flies when you're having fun. </p> <p>When I joined the forum I came across two concepts that sounded very interesting: 30 for 30, creating 30 outfits over a period of 30 days from 30 different wardrobe items, and SYC, Shop Your Closet. I found both restrictive for the stage I was at, so I'd decided to tweak them and reuse some concepts with the approach I was already taking before I even started posting my own outfits. The idea was to select themes that I would build weekly outfits around, trying to rotate as many items as possible if they suited my evolving style preferences. Having theme simply meant I'll incorporate specific things in each of my weekly outfits. Anything could be used as a theme, from the obvious starting points like colours, accessories or items of clothing, to random things we see around us, patterns in the nature, human creations or accidental finds.<br /> On top of that, I have tried not repeating the outfits, even if the change was very subtle. I've limited my shopping to what I really needed or could easily see working, or obvious gems that could not have been missed, but the strong emphasis was on using my existing wardrobe.</p> <p>Such concept had helped me in getting the most out of my wardrobe without falling on the safe or predictable options. It gave me styling confidence I wanted, lifted the pressure of getting dressed for any occasion, set me on a clear path in defining my style, helped me tune in with what it is I really prefer and want, and also made me more adventurous. It gave me the freedom to steer away from trends or stick with non-trends based on how I personally feel about them, but above all it gave me back the genuine sense of continuous fun, which somehow got lost as distinctive aspect of my life due to "more important and serious" things. </p> <p>As a small thank you for being so supportive, constructive and positive in your comments, and ultimately helping me in figuring many things out, here are my lessons learnt hoping they will make some sense to you too.</p> <p><strong>1. It's not the body that's wrong, but the clothes</strong><br /> Our bodies are just as they should be. But, when we wear the wrong clothes, we tend to put the blame on our bodies alone. </p> <p><strong>2. Style can be learnt</strong><br /> While some people can intuitively pick the right pieces, once I was cool about the fact I was not one of them it was only onwards and upwards for me. I had to take pen and paper approach, learn the rules of the game and start applying them before seeing some results. In a hindsight, I probably did have some instincts and am developing them now, but I definitely didn't trust them to start with. </p> <p><strong>3. It takes time and patience to rebuild wardrobe</strong><br /> There's no way about it. But, I find that such organic transition has long lasting benefits, as the gradual learnings are becoming part of me. By relying on myself and YLF blog and forum, while being an ordinary person with budget constrains, relatively simple lifestyle that translates into needs for work, casual and occasional dressy clothes, it took me around a year to be at a place where there are no unpleasant surprises or last-minute-panic that are wardrobe related. Style is a journey in more ways than one. </p> <p><strong>4. Defined criteria</strong><br /> New things enter my wardrobe or the old ones remain in it if they satisfy the criteria in this order: colours, fit, lifestyle needs and climate. These criteria work for me. They have gradually evolved over time and became almost subconscious, elevating shopping and wardrobe editing from tiring, frustrating and overwhelming to very satisfying experience, only because I'm now more efficient and strategic in my approach. Additional filter to these is a question "does this lead me to my final goal - small, functional wardrobe that will be low maintenance, based on quality pieces?" </p> <p><strong>5. Focus, focus and some more focus</strong></p> <ul> <li> The first <em>Focus</em> is on what I have *now*, learning why it works or not, so its successor can do the job even better. Everything I now own gets worn a lot. By sticking to themes and reinventing the ways in which I can wear something time after time, I am always seeing things in new light and am also reducing cost per wear. </li> <li> The second <em>Focus</em> is for focused shopping. Apart from what I've already said about how I shop using defined criteria, I now regularly update my wish list and thus continuously review what it is I really need and if I really need it. It helps me quickly scan through what's on offer and also spot items that are not on the list, but are worthy of my time and money. </li> <li> The final <em>Focus</em> is about the theme itself - by focusing on one theme in particular I have managed to really immerse myself into certain aspects and get more in tune with my own instincts about particular clothing. E.g. by wearing different styles of dresses, tops or skirts I have come to the conclusion which styles, lengths or even fabrics I prefer and why. By focusing on necklaces or bracelets I have filtered out which ones I prefer and for which types of occasions. By focusing on colours I have confirmed which ones are firm favourites and which of the previous non-favourites I can start letting in my wardrobe. The more I do themed weeks, the easier it to weed out anything that is even remotely hard to style. </li> </ul> <p><strong>6. Knowing myself better</strong><br /> While continuing to learn about my style, I've learnt a few valuable lessons about myself too. I am now much more patient with myself, I give myself time, I plan more efficiently, I make very informed compromises. Style wise, I've made full circle from loving certain things (deep colours, black&amp;white, clean lines, stripes, scarves) but not knowing exactly how they worked on me; to trying to make things that never *felt like me* but I thought they somehow had to work on me (pastels, floaty and boho clothing, florals); to finally defining my own niche and going back to my fist style love(s), this time having much needed understanding how they work for me.</p> <p><strong>7. Having fun with fashion</strong><br /> This is one rule I truly enjoy following! We need to put our clothes on every day, why not make it fun? Fun is essential ingredient of our lives and counterbalance to many stresses that everyday things naturally bring with them. It is fun to have fun. George Bernard Shaw said "We do not stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing."</p> <p>With that in mind, I intend to play with my wardrobe for many weeks to come.</p> <p>Thanks for reading </p>