"Style alchemy": have you experienced this? - YouLookFab Forum

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"Style alchemy": have you experienced this?

catgirl

Veteran

Thought this post by Sal was highly relevant to some of our recent threads! Have you felt this way and when?

http://www.alreadypretty.com/2.....chemy.html

Dressing

25 replies

Latest reply was from fieldmouse

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Okay, I admit I don't have the patience to read all that. But if you mean when you feel yourself and 'at one' with your outfit - yes! When I'm wearing jeans and my blush MuuBaa.
Most recently was to fly out here to FL in September. I wore my Vigoss distressed jeans tucked into my knee high Frye Julia lace ups, with a white tee and my MuuBaa over it, topped with my black and white fedora. I wore these because packing them would be too big/heavy and the hat would get crushed. I did not feel conspicuous at all, I felt great! (there were Burning Man freaks all around in their crazy stuff so that may have been a factor tee hee).
the other times I have pics of are these: #1 was wearing my 'good stuff' just because (I think we went out for lunch in Tahoe), #2 was going to Frenchman street in New Orleans to hear live music, #3 was going to Harrah's in Tahoe to hear a New Orleans funk band. Heh heh, I'm seeing a correlation here.

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catgirl

Veteran

Haha, Mo! Janet just posted some identical thoughts on IK's model post which is why I shared here.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Anonymous

You look great in those pics, Mo.

catgirl

Veteran

So I think this is what clothing models are made to appear to have - a magic alchemy, where the clothes somehow transform you. In reality, it's much more complex than that. Once you have your personal formula down, though, it does become effortless - like Mo's example!

Amy

(website)

Veteran

I think there must be some alchemy afoot involved in figuring out one's personal formula. I'm still struggling with that. Finances and a dress code for work and weather and health issues (i.e. poor circulation=cold all the time) factor in here too.

Thistle

Veteran

I would love to find me some alchemey!! A little magic and a dash of miracle would be fine too

Irene

Veteran

I could have written that article myself. I was the awkward teenager buying stuff similar to what my cooler peers were wearing. But because I didn't really like it, because I was just trying to imitate someone else's style, it never worked.
Nowadays, however, I try not to pay so much attention to what my peers are wearing, or more so, I pay attention but do not try to recreate looks that are not me.

Emily

Veteran

I feel this way in my favourite skinny jeans and pointy flats.
Thistle, you look like magic to me in Fit-and-Flare looks!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Yeah, this is what Steph (Mrs. Eccentric) was trying to get at with her advice to pick your one or two favourite outfits ever and go from them in building your style -- analyze what made them work for you and so on.

Mo -- you are at one with the Muuba and jeans. It is partly because they complement your colouring so well. It's low contrast, not a lot of drama, but a huge WOW all the same.

And Emily, I agree with you about Thistle. Put that woman in a fit and flare and that is magic!

shedev

Veteran

Haven't experienced this since junior high when my friends would un pop my collar. Preppy never did suit me. So they went their way and I went mine. I don't really think many of them could have pulled off my look. I have the opposite problem. I see so little that really inspires me. I see plenty of good proportion and things that are conventionally nice but not a lot I'd want to copy.

Day Vies

Veteran

YES, I had the biggest and best style alchemy moment when I came up with my style moniker (after many weeks of contemplation and soul searching). It was like the sky opened up and I had a Matrix moment. From that moment I could see the elements of my style in any outfit that captured my attention regardless of how different that outfit's style appeared from my own. As a result I have been able to take inspiration outfits from different sources and people and remake them in a way that is completely me. I lose this alchemy when I try to duplicate the inspiration exactly.

I think the magic of style alchemy happens when the wearer fully accepts her assets, her "flaws" and takes what she knows to be true about herself and unapologetically funnels her style perspective into an outfit so that all that we see is her. It's hard to be invisible when alchemy happens.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I've felt this way twice about my whole wardrobe.

When I was younger & travelling - I didn't have many clothes but I loved them all. I had worked for a fashion house & the clothes had been made for me. I also thrifted amazing items - 1930s bias cut gowns & fabulous Harris tweed hacking jackets.

I had this experience again in the late 1980s when I found Helmut Lang, Yamamoto et al. I still love this aesthetic.

Over winter I've been trying to recapture this feeling with ALL my clothes.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Aside: Mo, you look so killer in that Muubaa. I always kick myself for not getting that one when you and Una did. *kick kick kick!*

I totally believe in style alchemy... and in the opposite... style combustion? Sometimes I put something on and it never feels right no matter how great it looks. And sometimes I like the *idea* of a type of piece, yet I can never find one that is 100% jiving with my chemistry. I am looking at you, leather jackets!

Fruitful

Veteran

I guess I believe in everything alchemy, including, but not limited to, style

I have had moments of style alchemy peppered throughout my life. I think it starts with the capacity for optimism. I wished I could be "pretty" (which in my mind encompassed style when I was young) but didn't see how; yet, there was the hope. Then you get the moment where one thing works. What? My face actually glows with that colour on, when I thought I just looked sallow before! Those shoes I fell in love with actually make that dress look good on me and no longer stumpifying! Then the optimism kicks in and I believe the magic, and am able to see so much as good. Even more miraculous is the epiphany that something looks more right on me than someone else, even someone more conventionally attractive. That's about uniqueness and individuality. That's real alchemy - very particular ingredients in finely measured doses - part person, part outfit, even part moment - mixing in a way that's unrepeatable elsewhere.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Jaw dropping at Caro's amazing good fortune...and Day Vies' wisdom...

MsLuna

Veteran

Mo: You, the Muubaa, the jeans... There's some lovely alchemy going right there. I can tell by your body language and your expression that you are totally at home.

That aside... Interesting how Sal finally defines it as "style alchemy". I've been trying to explain this to a few friends and perhaps have tried to express my ideas on this on YLF a few times. I would say that this is what I mean by emotional/mental "comfort" (I believe I mentioned this in a post or two)... There's just that oneness you feel when you wear certain outfits. You look great, feel great, and feel completely you. You can walk around without feeling self-conscious or looking out for anything "off" about yourself or your style. You can walk tall, walk proud... That's what I feel style alchemy is.

I will follow Mo's example and post style alchemy at work in one of my outfits. I call my style "Pretty Comfy" - the uncompromising combination of comfort, edge, drama and femininity. My signature is often the slim jeans, tall boots, surrendered waist (top and toppers) and some sort of statement bling (or 3).

Now if only I can wear this outfit in a job interview... HAH!

@Day Vies: Very very wise words

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Adelfa

Veteran

Caro, I'm glad you said that. I've felt that way once about my whole wardrobe. It was when I was pregnant with my second child, 27 years ago! I spent $500 on a small capsule wardrobe at a nice maternity boutique. I remember I had two pairs of tapered pants, in white and black. I had a cobalt top and a top in a white-ground print with squares of cobalt, red, and yellow scattered on it. I forget what else. I always felt like a million bucks. Then near the end of the pregnancy, a woman said to me, "I've so enjoyed watching how you've put yourself together while you've been pregnant!" It was one of my favorite compliments ever because it matched how I felt inside.

I wonder if I could learn from this!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Jody, that is funny -- one of my alchemical moments was in 6th grade. I must have had a huge growth spurt. My mother bought me an entire capsule wardrobe in one fell swoop. This never happened before and it never happened again. I think there was also a big sale going on and we happened to be in the U.S. travelling at the time.

Pink/ burgundy/ blues and white with touches of grey -- that was the colour scheme. There were pants, a skirt, maybe a jumper and a waistcoat. I LOVED this capsule and felt fantastic for as long as those clothes fit. I loved the freshness and mix/matchability. Plus they were nice clothes. What a lucky kid I was that year.

Anyway...is the moral of the story -- throw financial caution to the winds and buy a complete wardrobe at one time? Sometimes I think so!

Or maybe it's just a message about colours/ making capsules....

Isabel

Veteran

Suze, maybe it was a time when simplicity still made us happy. And we still understood "enough".

Adelfa

Veteran

Suz, I've often wondered idly if I could repeat that experience. But I never have. I wonder if the enforced limitation is the key?

Caro in Oz

Veteran

Adelfa I love that your alchemical experience was when you were pregnant That is real enchantment imo.

Archer

Veteran

The pregnancy one resonates with me strongly and Im wondering if its about a freedom/confidence that you feel when pregnant which I am struggling to put description to.

unfrumped

Veteran

Probably. I'm thinking more now about outfit alchemy plus total wardrobe happiness as caro mentioned. When feeling schtumped, I think it's good to go back to individual outfits and re-assess, as Suz mentioned. There may be a need to simplify and re-focus, if I got too scattered and impulsive on trying things without seeing how they work for me and with other items. And a goal is to have a more cohesive & functional wardrobe overall . But, still need to be realistic and not thinking everything will somehow be perfect.

fieldmouse

MsKatieKat said:

"I would say that this is what I mean by emotional/mental "comfort" (I
believe I mentioned this in a post or two)... There's just that oneness
you feel when you wear certain outfits. You look great, feel great, and
feel completely you. You can walk around without feeling self-conscious
or looking out for anything "off" about yourself or your style. You can
walk tall, walk proud... That's what I feel style alchemy is."

That's exactly how I'd define it too, and it's such a great feeling when you achieve it. For me, I feel that way when wearing my All Saints skirts (the various hitched/drapey ones) with basic, fitted toppers. I feel like they are a natural extension of me. I don't usually like to draw attention to myself, but when I'm wearing those skirts I don't care at all if people stare at me (and they do, as it's somewhat unusual to dress like that where I live).