Negative visceral reactions do affect me, but don't sway me. I can easily think of examples when such reactions haven't deterred me from wearing an item. Uggs. Maxi dresses. My horribly outdated square-toed tall boots. Non-PPL pants.
I can remember a time years back when Angie gave me a "nay" for a pair of orange Docksiders that I fell in love with. They tickled my fancy because I have a secret love of all things preppy. I thought the orange version was playful and sophisticated. That was a long time ago, I don't remember what you said, Angie, I am sure it was tactfully and gently worded. I just remember my own visceral response, the doubt and the questioning of my own taste.
I didn't return those shoes. I didn't wear them either. But I still have them and in fact, every year when I cull through my shoes, they make the cut and stay. Unworn. Why? Because One Of These Days(!) those shoes are going to be totally on trend. Ha! So I am waiting for that moment! And it may be 2014 -- there is something loafer-ish about them.
Okay I'm being silly now. In all seriousness, what I came around to realizing is that there is nothing wrong with any particular item of clothing, it's all in the way you wear and style it. It's not so much about flattery as it is about looking modern & fresh, rather than dated.
As for the puff sleeves, despite being an IT, I still have an irrational passion for shoulder pads --- the huge 80s ones. I keep waiting for that style to come back. Huge shoulders weren't flattering on me back then, they wouldn't be now either, but there's just something about that deliberate linebacker look. I don't know, can't explain it.
Puff sleeves fall into this category for me as well -- I adore them on pretty pears with dainty and sloped shoulders. But I also adore them on ITs because, bizarrely enough, to my eye, the puffiness seems to make naturally broad linebacker shoulders look more girly.
That is the "in theory" part but YLF has taught me that the devil really in those niggling details. I need the help and extra pairs of eyes/opinions to evaluate whether THIS particular version of a fashion re-tread is
1) A modern interpretation, worn in a modern, not dated way.
2) Optimized for flattery. I don't need every outfit to be 100% flattering, but if I am going to try to wear an item, like puff sleeves, which may not be ideal for my figure, it is really awesome to have detailed advice about what to look for - like your set-in sleeve example.
But, I take that as guidance not religion. I am thinking about a certain shiny purple exaggerated puff sleeve blouse I wore to death, with a vest, a few years back. It flew in the face of flattery rules but I still loved it for some crazy reason (maybe the color) and wore it anyway.
Likewise, I adopted maxi dresses two seasons ago -- at total surprise to my very own self -- and I am hoping to wear them again-- and often-- this summer too.
Visceral reactions -- including my own -- be damned! I mean, did you notice I am wearing PINK this season?? I have finally made friends with pastel pink. Just the right shade - blush - and worn in a certain, sophisticated way. Sometimes I wonder if that makes me a fashion lemming, but I prefer to be in awe of how I can still surprise myself, and turn an adamant "no, never" into a "what was I ever thinking?"
