Top tips for a flattering cohesive look

Sal

In looking through photos for the Six Pattern Challenges, I looked through many old WIW on my phone.

It was enlightening.

There were good and bad looks, and some of this was down to grooming, camera angle and lighting. And of course my resting BF. But putting these factors aside I realised there were three mistakes that make me dislike an outfit on me.

This is personal of course - and my observations are about how I feel about me in a look, not others.

Wrong footwear choice for the look. If I do not feel the shoes work - it ruins the look for me. On me there are some looks that need a small heel; if I am not prepared to wear the heel or able to, I need to choose a look that works with flats. Midi skirts fall into this category on me - I love them and will wear them, with a heel. If I want to wear flats, I need to choose shorts, or a shorter dress.
Balance - I like the top and bottom half to be balanced. On me a light bottom half and dark top half does not work (or vice versa). If I wear a light top and dark pants, I need light shoes. If I wear a dark top and light pants, I need dark or bright shoes.
Top, pant and sleeve length is critical. Any tops that hit me in the wrong spot are so unflattering. A jacket the same length as a top makes me look 5kg heavier. And a short sleeve that hits me at the bust is awful - but I can do shorter or longer. Pants that are too cropped look awkward as are shorts just above the knee - but I can wear short shorts, I can wear knee length pants, I can wear cropped pants/ankle pants and I can wear full length.

Conclusions:

I am not going to be a shoe minimalist. Having a few options in light and dark colours, flats and heels is important. I can compromise on other factors to ensure this.
Evaluate length of tops, sleeves and pants- small alterations could make some improvements.

What tips have the rest of you discovered from Angie or from your own observations from your WIW photos?

6 years ago

Dressing

23 replies

Latest reply was from Sal

Anonymous

Oh WOW. What a great post.

I take 90 percent of my pictures barefoot so I may need to start thinking about that.

CAMERA ANGLE. There are times when my BF will take a photo of me and I think "that can't be me," yet it is. When I take pictures, I must hold the camera higher and get a much more flattering picture.

6 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Sal, are your midi skirts straight, like pencil skirts? For me, midi length skirts are great with flats--as long as there is a bit of a flair, or even an A-line, to the skirt. You might be more able to wear flats & midis than you think, if you go for fullness

I'm with you on mid-calf pants chopping up legs. I don't know anyone who's flattered by that look.

Otherwise, I'm just starting the process of paying attention to these kinds of things.

6 years ago

Thistle

Veteran

Terrific insights!

One thing I really learned was "column of color". That keeping top and bottom the same color with a fab topper is a very flattering look on me.

6 years ago

Sal

Veteran

Thanks Sterling...Camera Angle and height make a big difference. And I think shoes can make such a big difference to a look - that it can be hard to judge the merits of a look without them.

Fashiontern - I don't have a lot of midi skirts - and I guess I mean mid calf to clarify (not just below the knee). I have two A line skirts and one princess line dress. I think (and this is for me) it is the combination of chunky calves being cut at the middle and being short waisted.

I do have some knee length dresses I wear with flats and also shorts (and maxi dresses too).

Thistle - I agree, I pretty much always like a column of colour on me too. It is such a winner for work isn't it - very simple outfits with great toppers!!

6 years ago

Anonymous

I know it's not rocket science, but sometimes it feels like it (personal style, that is).

I'm interested in why you think the top and bottom need to be balanced if they are very different colours. I don't seem to have this issue.

I've been working on my shoe collection for several years and mostly I just accumulate. Still, I feel like I don't have enough for every occasion.

6 years ago

Sal

Veteran

Smittie, I think this is just my bias, not a rule. If I wear black pants and a white top for example, I would not wear black shoes as well. I feel chopped in half which is never good on a short waisted hourglass. If I swapped the white to the bottom half I would feel the same. I do this almost subconsiously but there were one or two pics where I realised how I liked to balance my lightness/darkness.

6 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

*applause*

LOVED reading this Sal.

6 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I think we have very similar builds and flattery concerns because I have a nearly identical list of preferences! Photos are really enlightening, aren't they?

6 years ago

Brooklyn

Veteran

I feel the same way about the balance issue. I don't like all dark on bottom and all light on top (or vice versa). I like a connection between the 2 halves. You can also use pattern or jewellery to make the connection. So, if I was wearing all black on bottom (black skirt/pants and black shoes), I would repeat the black somewhere up top (for instance, in the pattern of my top, in my jacket, or in my jewellery). People with black hair may not have this issue!

6 years ago

Emily K

(website)

Veteran

I've come back several times to re-read this post. And then I went back through my 30X30 photos to try and find some specific lessons learned. Thank you for giving me the inspiration/push to do that. Like you, I feel the need to "cross pollinate" color between the top and bottom parts of an outfit (but it is not a deal-breaker for me). And I agree that shoes can make or break an outfit--I didn't yet exert the discipline needed to bang out a specific rule about that, but I should! You set a really good example of looking carefully enough to find the rule and to move forward.

6 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

... I'm looking at what photos are on my phone and apparently I have lost a pair of shoes... I really don't recognise them at all... they look like leopard toe loafers...

6 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Fantastic insights. There are some things that you just can't see in the mirror and this post shows why photos are so valuable. I think your conclusions regarding proportions and lengths are just that sort of thing.

6 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Ok ok. Optical illusion. Not leopard toe loafers... that was a bit of chain creating 'spots.' I'm giving those shoes away. Leopard loafers would be better.

More thoughts... I like the outfits that show at least a hint of waist and that have an elongated line. I.e., I hate my straight coat, which I loved because it was mixed media. No waist and not cocoon either. Just straight. Also, my hair. I like to pull it back out of the way, but it lacks finesse.

6 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I think an answer (or partial answer) to Smittie's question lies in hair colour. Smittie has dark hair and light skin. If she wears a high contrast outfit, it's automatically "balanced" by her own colouring. If Sal or Brooklyn (or I) wear a high contrast outfit, we need something in the outfit itself to provide that balance.

I don't have quite the exact same guideline as you, Sal, but I do something similar -- i.e. I don't necessarily want light shoes if I am wearing a dark bottom...but I might want them, and if I don't have them, I will want something dark up top to help balance all that dark on the bottom. And probably something a bit shiny as well, to reflect more light.

Anyway...my top tips for outfit cohesion are:

Some form of "bookending" (with footwear/ hair or something up top/ something on bottom) or tonal/ colour value echoes throughout the outfit.

Focal points -- pay attention to how many and where.

Choosing a colour/ neutral palette that echoes my hair and eyes. My eyes are dark blue -- so, I wear a lot of royal to navy to ink blues. Slam dunk. My hair is silver with white hightlights and charcoal lowlights. Light grey and charcoal look excellent on me and always tie a look together. Adding white to any pattern automatically makes it more flattering to me now. I refuse to wear any pattern that does not include white or grey -- this gives me instant cohesion.

Sorry I missed the pattern series, Sal -- you are a trouper for starting these useful posts! I've been mostly off the forum for the last few weeks and will continue sporadic for the next while, but I am sure this has been a great learning opportunity for all! Hope you are well!

6 years ago

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

Really good to read your insights Sal and I can relate to the balance. I think Suz hit the nail on the head for me - balancing the color of ourselves and our outfits is a great lesson to learn. I'm still working on it but like Suz, I find that if I choose colors that are within my hair, eyes and lips, the outfit always works better. I'm not high contrast in my coloring so high contrast feels trickier to me though I still enjoy wearing white, I just don't like wearing white with something too dark. White with denim works for my coloring and contrast, but white with black does not. Darker ink blues can also be just a bit dark for me so I have to choose them with some consideration.

6 years ago

karen13

Veteran

Super post-very thought provoking. Camera angle is so key. I have to figure out a higher point to put mine, so it is more like when someone else is looking at me -I'm pretty short. I've noticed that dressing room mirror photos always make me want to return the item because of the low angle and too close th the mirror distortion.

Suz's comments about high and low contrast coloring ring true. I have not yet begun to bookend much with my hair or pick up shoe color with a bag or scarf, but those are a good direction for me to experiment.

6 years ago

Lisa

Veteran

Great insights here. For myself, I've learned a lot about fit for my body type from my WIW photos. And colors. I've started lightening up my wardrobe after seeing how harsh dark colors are for my coloring.

6 years ago

Laura G

Veteran

Great post, Sal! It's a perfect illustration of the recent thread on the value of taking (and looking at) photos v. just looking in the mirror.

As a slim petite, it's very easy for me to look like my outfit swallowed me whole. My rules are all about preventing this.

My #1 rule is Don't Cut Yourself in Half. Skirts have to end above the knee and tops have to end at the hipbone--if they're longer I blouse them with a skinny belt. I used to wear tops at crotch length with pants because I felt that was a lotta booty to be showing the world. But it was the worst possible proportion on me--modest at the cost of dumpy. Now I wear short tops with pants and mid-thigh tops with leggings. So far the Modesty Police haven't caught up with me.

I take the Half part literally. If I'm wearing pants the proportion is more like 1/3 top, 2/3 bottom, so I'll match shoes to pants to keep that going. Same with a short skirt--I want the legs to be visually more than half, so I'll match shoes to skin. But I have noticed many times how well your skin-color shoes work with your dark outfits. Maybe it's because it's also your hair color? Reading further, I see Suz nailed it: your coloring is low contrast and mine is high contrast.

Column of Color: I love dramatic combinations like dark purple and light blue. But Thistle reminded me that on this body, what works is Column of Color. So my drama has to be in the combination of top/necklace or top/scarf, not top/bottom.

The Waist: I just don't look good without waist definition. Partly an hourglass thing--a dress hanging straight down from the bustline isn't flattering. And partly a petite thing--something on the outfit has to be narrow to avoid the dressed-up-in-Mommy's-clothes look.

Everything Suz said, only for my coloring/contrast level instead of hers.

Shevia, you're so right about what you see in a photo v. a mirror. I've looked in the mirror and thought, "nice outfit!" and then seen the photo later and thought, "That woman looks awful!" In the mirror I look at the clothes. In a photo I look at me.

6 years ago

The Cat

Veteran

Interesting observations and tips.

I have finally realized, after seeing photos of myself, that short jackets do me no favour. Generally, longer lines (in practically all kind of clothes) look best on me, and I also feel more happy in them.

When I had dark hair, I used to feel that if I wore white shoes or white bottoms (pants/skirts), I would need to wear a white top or some other white item near my face, to create balance in the outfit. Now, however, my hair is partly white, and I think it creates a natural bookending to white shoes or bottoms.

On the other hand, I have stopped wearing a lot of black near my face, because I have noted that black high-neck sweaters, for instance, can look a little harsh or jus böring. I still wear SOME black tops, but "lighten them up" by showing a little more skin and/or wearing pearls, shiny jewellery or scarves in beautiful colours and prints.

And I recently discovered that I actually look better in blush than I thought. I was planning to donate some blush clothes, but after seeing photos of myself wearing blush with some black, I have decided to keep the blush clothes and just style them with black or another deep colour.

6 years ago

Traci

Veteran

Deep v and scoop necks make a world of difference on me. I knew they were theoretically my best necklines, but when I pulled together all my tops and photographed them I realized crew necks are very much not my friends.

I also learned I'm better off with a slightly shorter hemline than I am naturally drawn to in skirts and dresses.

6 years ago

Sal

Veteran

Thanks all for your thoughts. I agree with most of you, although colouring and body shape and preferences do play a large part.

Traci - I agree with your observations re the deeper neckline too. I also like a boat neck. I do wear crews but need to be careful with sleeve length then. Re skirt length - I seem to have two or three sweet spots that work for me and the shortest of these - that I do wear in a full skirt - feels too short but looks fine.

The Cat - interesting observations. I also like the long lines and I have seen you wear these well on your photos. And hair colour does play a large role.

Lisa - yes indeed. I think you have lightened up your palette and it is working for you.

Laura - yes I think as a smaller boned petite there are very different tactics that work. The theory of 1/3 does come into play and it sounds like you are doing this beautifully.

Karen - I know with camera placement. I have two ledges that seem to work, too low or too high are hard.

TexStyle - I think you are drawn to natural colours (olives, tans, creams, denim blues and white) - and this suits your colouring so well. And location too. I do like black and white together a lot but proportions and balance are the key. I have a couple of WIW failures with this combination!!

Suz - thank you. The pattern challenge was a bit of fun although I think four or five would have been sufficient. The beauty of YLF is that we can ease in and out depending on what is happening in our world. I have seen your colour palette change as your hair has greyed and you demonstrate how to make the look cohesive with your photos.

Rachy - that is the sort of mistake I make - fall in love with the fabric and forget the shape of the garment. And hair up/down does affect things too. With short hair there is the odd piece I think does not work as well for me now.

Shevia - yes photos are worthwhile whether you share them or not. You just see different things, some good and some bad:)

Emily - thanks. What we see and like can be very different too - some of this is my preference and some of it is my colouring and shape (and age). I am not wanting to always look "slim" as such, but I think if I get the balance right, people see me rather than the outfit.

Brooklyn - yes pattern does this brilliantly, allows the balance to make the outfit work. I agree with your conclusions.

Janet - thanks! And you were the one that demonstrated to me how angled short sleeves work but ones at the bust definitely do not. I hadn't "twigged" to that before but now I cannot un-see it on myself:)

Thanks Angie - your comments on others posts and blogs have certainly helped with these conclusions so clapping right back at you!

6 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Sal, this is what I mean by midi, not right in the middle of your leg or above the knee.
https://goo.gl/images/xtpL2r

https://goo.gl/images/2MYpdh

6 years ago

Sal

Veteran

Fashiontern - yes I think these are midi. I adore that first pic- gorgeous!!

6 years ago

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