In Vogue

The Vogue Guide to Spring 2010 http://www.vogue.com/guide/S2010RTW/ highlights the trend of so-called 'personal dressing'.  Virginia Smith writes: "Put your own spin on Spring with stylishly mismatched layers of lace, sparkle and leggings".  I'm all for the mismatch, the layering, the lace, the sparkle and the leggings.  But all of them together?  Really?  Put the average woman in that eclectic mess and she'll look like she just went through a dumpster (or may even live) in the back alleys of Rodeo Drive, Madison Avenue, the Bal Harbour Shops.  Luckily, dumpster chic is not the only trend

Marc Jacobs 2010, from www.elle.com

for 2010.  But who cares, right?  Well, uh, lots of people.  Even if you're not an avid reader, watcher, breather, wearer, lover (but never eater!) of fashion, you're still heavily invested in the rag business.  You may be a season or two or five behind, but you've most likely given into a trend of sorts.  Yeah, you just can't help conforming one way or another.  But true personal style requires an understanding and appreciation for one's body, proportions and scale.  No one will refute that Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe were two of the greatest fashion icons of recent history.  They were born only a few years apart, yet they couldn't have been more different in their interpretation of style.  They both dressed with a critical awareness of their bodies.  They may not be your personal heroines but there is something to be said for their timeless relevance.  Women in vogue (but not necessarily in Vogue) possess a sense of themselves and express this through their own signature look.  You may scoff at the fashion of the moment, but never make the mistake of scorning style.  If you take the time to genuinely evaluate how you choose to clothe and adorn yourself, you will no longer waste so much precious time in front of your wardrobe and mirror.  Life, with all it's beauty is volatile and it's a wonderful thing to be assured that you can rely on your signature look.  Constant, invariable, steady, consistent, uniform.  There's something to be said for a uniform style, just like Marilyn with her constant curvy garments and Audrey with her gamine style.  They would have scoffed at the idea that personal dressing has anything at all to do with Spring 2010. Only once you have discovered your essential style can you then afford to adorn yourself with the modes of the moment, but just make sure don't pile them all on at once.

Bring on the Curves: a Musing

Naturally, I have to follow "Those Extra 5 lbs." with a little musing about our weight obsessed culture.  Even if you think you're counter-culture, from a different culture, above it, below it, you're still part of it.  Even if you ban t.v., magazines, internet, newspapers, walks on the beach, you're likely not going to completely avoid going to the grocery store or taking a stroll or a drive every now and then.  And so you'll see images of some beautiful, some not so beautiful models.  Beautiful or not, they're likely to be very thin, very airbrushed.  Blah blah blah.  BORING.  Yeah, I'm boring myself.  Look, most of us have seen the Dove videos  http://www.dove.us/#/features/videos/default.aspx[cp-documentid=7049579]/.  If you haven't check out 'Onslaught' during your next moment of procrastination.  (Note: reading this blog is not procrastination.)  We get it.  Or do we?  Well, let's speed this thing up a little.  Merle Ginsberg from fashionrules.com wrote: "V Magazine out of New York’s spread on large sized models in issue #63: “The Size Issue,” featuring five plus-size models. The spread is titled “Curves Ahead.” V63 does not hit newsstands until January 14, 2010 (http://fashionrules.com/tag/v-magazine/)".  Warning: link contains graphic images of less than thin models.  (And I'd like to bring attention to the phrasing "...spread on large...", love it!)  But V is really not that special.  Glamour, Vogue, Marie Claire, they've all done their 'special' spreads.   Just check out February's Glamour with model Crystal Renn of 'Hungry' fame. Oh, would you look at that!  I just contributed again to the 486 commercial messages you see everyday.  There's no getting away from it now. And if so, bring on the voluptuous, full, curved image.  Bring it on.  Go ahead, onslaught it.  It makes the fantasy created by planet fashion so much more tangible, that much more attainable.  But what's to attain? Won't those images make thin little girls everywhere feel bad about their bodies?  Eat gobs of peanut butter to attain unnatural levels of voluptuosity?  Force Dove to make another video? All facetiousness aside, I'm a big believer in encouraging women to embrace their bodies.  Curvy or not so curvy.  Thin or not so thin.  Embrace it, never disgrace it.

 (Image from models.com and V Magazine)

And so, at last, something practical.

Top 5 elements in dressing your voluptuous body!

1. Proportion - Wear garments and details that are proportioned in both scale and weight with your body. E.g. Narrower heels will emphasize a fuller calf, a narrow collar will make a plumper neck look even plumper, delicate jewelry will make a sturdier hand look hefty, etc. But a thicker heel will compliment an ample leg, a chunkier bracelet will look just right on a larger wrist. This also means - don't think that the excessively large sweatshirt is complimenting your body. Nope, it's not, not at all.

2. Line - let your curvy bits lead the line of your garments. Curved lines focus attention in a good way on a curved body part. Straight lines on a curved area will make it appear bigger and boxier. I.e. If you are busty, avoid overly starched looking shirts, wear ones with a little stretch. Tops that skim right over and around your bust will work best. If your hips are more generous, wear bottoms that glides over your hips (such as an a-line skirt) or softly drape around them.

3. Print - wear rounded, higher density patterns that are scaled to your body. If you are taller you can pull off a larger print and if you are petite, stick with smaller prints. Rounded patterns will compliment your curves, whereas angular prints will make those bits look wider. There goes those lines, and there goes your curves.

4. Fabric - wear silky, draping and soft fabrics on your softer areas. Avoid anything that has excessive bulk - it'll just make you look bulkier, but do wear fabric with some weight. That airy fairy chiffon? Just leave it for your airier sister.

5. Color - learn to manipulate color. Brighter, lighter hues will bring attention to your good bits and deeper hues will make those less than desirable areas appear to recede. And yeah, it's true, monochromatic hues do give you a leaner look (if that's your goal). But remember that monochromatic does NOT mean achromatic. I.e. enough with the excessive use of all black garments. This is life people, live a little!