How to dress for spring? Think Kimmy Schmidt

With spring finally coming, what styles should I wear to mark the new season?

Colours! Bright, bright colours! As you rightly note, Carolyn, it looks as if the tedium of winter has finally passed. (Winter is rarely bitter in Britain – there is none of the bone-shattering cold and mountains of snow that I associated with winter when I lived in the US. Instead, winter in south-east England is not “bitter”, or “bleak” or “cruel” or any of the words the poets traditionally use for winter – it’s just tedious. Try to create beauty out of that, Christina Rossetti.)

But this weekend, we were able to emerge, blinking and dazed, from our duffel coats and central heating, like beleaguered woodland creatures awakening from a long hibernation. But how to celebrate this momentous (if, admittedly, annual) occasion? Look, I could spin you a line about how you absolutely have to wear a knit skirt from Céline or buy a pair of Prada clogs in order to ring in the arrival of spring 2015. But – dammit! – I’m not going feed you that guff. No, I’m going to rebel. Think of me as your friendly renegade, the Axel Foley of fashion writers, one who just won’t toe the line pushed by the dyspeptic police captain because I am too busy determinedly pursuing the truth. And going to pole-dancing clubs. Wait, sorry, that’s just Axel Foley, not me.
Red-carpet revolt? Get real, the Oscars will always be about the dress
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Anyway, as I was saying, I’m pursuing the truth and the truth is colour. I know we should all wear colour in winter to cheer us up but when it is grey outside my wardrobe somehow takes on a grey pallor of its own, like a sartorial chameleon. So when the sun finally breaks through I go from being a grey-and-black beast to someone bearing a remarkable resemblance to Kimmy Schmidt.

Who is this Kimmy Schmidt, you ask? She is only the protagonist of Tina Fey’s new sitcom, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, starring the delightful ray-of-sunshine-as-human Ellie Kemper. Kemper plays the eternally optimistic Schmidt, who keeps smiling despite a slew of hurdles that would drag any other person down (the theft of her life savings in a nightclub, working for the Manhattan teenager from hell, the loss of 15 years of her life to an apocalyptic cult). I’ve only watched two episodes so far but I already like it a lot – not as much as 30 Rock, obviously, but then that’s a vertiginously high bar to scale. I like the use of tacky New York settings (not enough TV shows foreground the awfulness of Times Square), I really like the weirdness of the premise (who among us isn’t fascinated by what happens to people when they escape from a cult?) and I especially like Kimmy’s delightful cheerfulness. Part of the joke of the show is, of course, that Kimmy maintains her happy mien while all around her grumble, even though she has the most to complain about. But I think watching the show from Britain gives it a slightly different spin: Kimmy’s good cheer isn’t so much as notable as downright exotic.

There are many confusing things about moving from America to Britain. There’s the different definition of “rubber”, which can lead to all sorts of confusions. There’s the lurking panic that you’re driving on the wrong side of the road. And most painful of all, THEY DON’T SELL TWIZZLERS IN BRITAIN! But for me, the most bemusing is the very British attitude that the cup is not only half-empty, but because it’s always like that no one ever expected any more, and it’s bloody typical, really. Optimism is dismally uncool, let alone any sign that one might be trying to improve things, because things are never really improved anyway, are they, oh well, let’s have a cup of tea. This is not the British attitude Mary Poppins led me to expect of this country. When an American goes on holiday and finds the hotel lacking, they will complain vociferously to the manager and take to the TripAdvisor comments board because they truly believe that matters can get better; if a Briton goes to this same disappointing hotel, they will simply spend the whole week grumbling away to their spouse and any fellow British guests. I understand why hoteliers dread American guests, but I think they are underestimating the toxicity of the British ones.

All of which is to say, watching Kimmy Schmidt be lauded for her cheeriness, as opposed to being mocked and knocked, is a balm for my soul. Also, with the seasons now turning, I am especially admiring of Kimmy’s characteristically cheery wardrobe. As far as I can tell from the first two episodes, Kimmy has only one outfit but I enjoy it immensely. She looks like a model for Kate Spade – a brilliant label that should be far more appreciated in this country – with her pink trousers, patterned blouse and yellow embellished cardigan. How can anyone be glum in such an outfit? And how can anyone be glum looking at it? I’m not a massive fan of her flashing trainers (the show emphasises that they are just an expression of her stunted childhood so I expect they’ll be jettisoned soon). But the colours? Never. Look at Kimmy, Britain, and learn from her. This season is all about Kimmy, and beyond, too.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com

How can I be fashionable without any money?

One of the biggest misconceptions that exists about fashion – and there are many – is that it requires money. No question, the fault for this lies with fashion writers because we tend to write mainly about big (read: expensive) brands. There are several reasons for this, none of which, incidentally, are the ones most people assume, namely, that fashion writers are idiots and think everyone out there spends their Saturday mornings at Louis Vuitton, or, alternatively, that fashion writers are basically a load of Mean Girls, here to make everyone else feel miserable about their un-bling lifestyle.

Rather, the answer is far more prosaic, which is French for "boring": fashion writers are quite lazy. Expensive brands have more money to send out press releases, hold shows, pay for advertising. Therefore, fashion writers are basically spoon-fed the information without having to go out and look for it. (Some fashion writers, of course, are obliged to write nice things about expensive brands because the brands advertise in their publication. Happily, that is not a problem here at the Guardian, where the only fashion I ever see regularly advertised is men's slacks from the Guardian store. And jolly stylish they are too, I'd wager my Guardian store-bought hat on it.)

And that, Gen Y, is the rub when it comes to fashionable cheap clothes: they require effort to find. Which is not to say that all expensive things are nice (to be honest, a lot of expensive stuff looks to me like it comes from Imelda Marcos's garage sale), but it is at least more visible. Good cheap stuff requires some nosing out on your part.

First, go to charity shops – but not just any charity shops, go to ones in posh areas. This was one of the best fashion tips I got as a teenager and it has honestly never let me down. I once found the niftiest little Dior bag in Oxfam on London's Kensington High Street and a dream of a dress from Oxfam on Westbourne Grove near Portobello, also in London. (Incidentally, this has nothing to do with fashion but you can always find an excellent selection of books in charity shops in north London, Cambridge and Oxford because so many book reviewers live there, so there are often books in charity shops that aren't even in book shops yet.)


Next, go shopping in your closet. There are – I promise – many things in your cupboard at home that you've forgotten about: that skirt you bought on holiday three years ago, that T-shirt that's wedged between two drawers, those sandals stuck under the dresser. Spend one Sunday taking everything out, going through it all and reacquainting yourself with your wardrobe. Then take all the stuff you really don't like to the charity shop so another Gen Y-er can help themselves to it. And even if you don't find anything, at least you've cleaned out your closet, which is nice.

Find out when sales and sample sales happen. For sample sales, look in your local papers, keep an eye out for notices on lamp-posts in your area and ask in shops (the worst they can say is: "We don't have one.") As for sales, look on the websites of stores you like or simply ask in the stores. Then be quick on the draw on the sale day, either by queueing outside in the cold (don't do this) or being on the internet by 9am (do this).

Learn how to sew. This is the one tip on the list that I've never followed, so I feel pretty hypocritical throwing it back at you, Gen Y. But my friends who can sew invariably have the loveliest wardrobes, and they spend about a 50th of what I spend on clothes. If you can sew, you can copy designs out of magazines (and tweak them to your liking). Even if you can't make a whole dress, little jazzy touches will make the blandest of clothing a billion times better: sewing on snazzy buttons, for example, or putting on some piping, or not going around in dresses covered in moth holes and decked with trailing hems, as some of us do because we never learned to bloody sew. Also, it means you won't have to stoop to buying cheap clothes from companies who manufacture their goods unethically, which is probably the best reason of all to get that sewing needle out.

But most of all, have a good attitude. The reason people like buying new, fashionable things is because they make them feel good about themselves. So much about fashion just comes down to attitude – look at Kate Moss, who these days looks as if she's just stepped out of an All Saints advertorial, but nonetheless has an intractable air of fashionability because of her attitude. So walk tall, Gen Y-ers, walk tall! No, you might not be carrying the Chanel swag about your person (although you might – honestly, that Oxfam in Kensington is a goldmine), but you're still looking good, so enjoy it. Yes, I know being twentysomething sucks (believe me – I know), and I know it feels especially tough now. But trust me, all this will pass. You're all young and hungry and ambitious – all will work out. Now walk tall and wear that wonky dress with pride. You're Gen-Y, and you'll be fine.

How to Select the Right Shoes for your Clothing

The first step in selecting the best shoes is choosing shoes that complement your clothing, rather than ones that compete with your outfit.

For that reason, I always recommend pairing busier shoes with simple outfits, and wearing simple shoes with clothing that features a lot of prints, embellishments or dynamic accessories. It can be tricky to find shoes that complement your clothing, without dominating or being overpowered by it, but the reality is, it's a simple balancing act.

    When you look in the mirror, does one element of your outfit stand out more than the others?
    Is your outfit too chaotic? i.e. Are the sequins on your shoes competing with the crystals on your dress?
    Do your shoes and clothing blend together too much? i.e. Do your black pants, black turtleneck, and black booties all look like one long body suit?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then the quickest way to pull together a cohesive look is to simply try on another pair of shoes, and ask yourself the questions again.
It doesn't matter how pretty they are, how comfortable they feel, or how discounted they were when you bought them -- if they don't fit the event, the environment and the occasion, then they are -- at least temporarily -- the wrong shoes.

Glitzy evening shoes have no place in the office, and flip-flops aren't generally considered acceptable for a formal event. So how do you know which shoes you should wear?

Well, the simplest approach would be to wear simple loafers or ballet flats for casual events, and classic pumps for anything dressy -- but that can get a little boring. If you want to play it safe without giving into tedium, go ahead and wear those widely-accepted styles but choose a unique color, or a pair that is embellished with a chic buckle or other accent.

If you want to make a more dramatic statement, then by all means, pair stilettos with your jeans, and sandals with your suits -- but to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention, you should still stick with shoes that are well-suited to your environment.

How to Wear Pink This V-Day Without Looking Like Barbie

Festive but still chic

As someone who loves pink, I of course want to rock a rosey-hued outfit on Valentine’s Day. However, pink is one of those colors that can make you look like a life-size Barbie wannabe instead of a put-together, self-sufficient, independent woman (throw your hands up at me, ladies…). That's especially the case when you already have the blonde hair thing going on. And that's, well, not ideal.

Good thing, then, that you can totally wear pink without looking like you’re waiting for your little sister Skipper to meet you for cocktails. I'm here to show you how.


1. Pick One Pop of Pink
The easiest way to avoid the whole toy doll comparison is to limit the amount of pink in your outfit. Choose a pink skirt or jacket instead of a floor-length, ruffle-laden ensemble, and your pink will look tasteful instead of tacky. If you do find an all-pink dress that you just can’t live without, tone it down a bit with an edgier piece on top—a cute cropped moto jacket will do the trick.

2. Give Your Pink a Pattern
Another way to avoid a sickeningly sweet overdose of pink is to choose an item that has a pattern on top of the pink. That'll help to break up the color and gives the item a bit more of a modern feel.

3. Choose a Bright Lip
Okay, I did say to keep it to one pop of pink per outfit, but lips aren't a clothing item. If there’s anytime that calls for a bright pink lip, this is it, ladies! I love wearing all hues of pink lipsticks throughout the year, so this is an easy rule for me to follow. But if you haven’t tried a bright lip yet and have a hard time picking colors, talk to the makeup consultants at your local department or beauty store and they will get you set up (this color is my go-to for a bright lip). Oh, and if you don’t already have one, I totally suggest a clear wax lip liner pencil to keep your color from bleeding. Works like a charm!

4. Use Neutrals to Complete the Outfit
This is probably the most important part of not looking like Barbie’s twin sister: For the rest of your outfit, stick to neutral colors—like black, grey, white, or brown—and your pop of pink won't look too teenybopper. The neutrals do double duty by both toning down the overall look and drawing attention to your one fun pop of pink. They let the color be the star!

How to Make Boring Button Downs Look Crazy Stylish

You style maven, you

Okay, Okay, we’ve all done it before. You go to your closet, grab a button down shirt to wear, finish getting ready, and when you look in the mirror you think, “Wow—this looks so boring.” A button down shirt can be such a mark of cool sophistication (think Audrey Hepburn on a day off) or carry an easy-breezy “I just threw this together, but it still looks great” vibe (think Lauren Conrad). But if you don’t style it right, these shirts can also look pretty dull. To avoid an uninspired result, I have three ways that I like to style mine:

The basic button down: The basic solid button down is the style most in danger of becoming boring or frumpy. First, make sure that your shirt is a good cut for your body—tailoring goes a long way with wardrobe basics. Roll up the sleeves a few times for a more relaxed look since a plain button down can sometimes appear a little stiff-looking. The other key to a basic shirt like this is in the accessories. A cropped skinny jean with heels and a casual clutch take this look from basic to polished in a few seconds flat.

The loose flannel button down: This shirt is something of a staple for the younger half of Hollywood on their days off. While this look can sometimes swing a bit too casual and look a little truck stop, a few key details can bring the look to a more stylish place. Go for an oversized loose fit on the shirt, but don’t go so big that the shirt is wearing you (this is a great choice). Add some classic details like a streamlined heeled boot, classic sunnies, and a modern clutch or purse. For an extra nod to the ’90s grunge era, opt for a skinny jean with a bit of wear and tear to complete the look. Your shirt and jeans say “cool and casual,” but your other pieces say, “I totally have a real job and contribute to my 401k.” A balance of both worlds is key.

The printed button down: To add a little more fun to a structured button down, go for a fun print to bring a little personality to the piece (like this one!). Buttoning the neck to the top and keeping the sleeves down bring a clean sophistication to the look, but the print still keeps the overall feel light and happy. I like to unbutton the last few buttons on a fitted button down, tie the two ends together, and wear a high-waisted jean or skirt with the top. It’s just another detail that keeps the button down from wandering into Snoozeville territory.

How to Dress up for a Party

Three Methods:Choosing an Outfit and Accessories Playing Around With Hair and Makeup Taking Care of Personal Hygiene

Do you love parties, but you're not really sure how to dress up for one? What if you are shy and just want to make a good first impression? Not to worry - this article will tell you everything you need to know about dressing and generally getting ready for a party. Just see Step 1 below to get started.
started.

Method 1 of 3: Choosing an Outfit and Accessories

    1
    Think about the time and location of the party. As all girls know, choosing the right outfit for a party is a very important task. The first thing you need to consider is the time and location of the party, as this will affect everything -- from your clothes and your shoes to your jewelry and makeup!
        If the party is during the day, at a bowling alley or theme park, you probably want to go with something comfortable yet cool, like jeans and a statement tee.
        If the party is at night, in a fancy restaurant or club, you will probably need to go a little dressier and wear something like a cute dress, a playsuit or a skirt and top combo.

    2
    Consider your own personal style. When you're attending a cool party, you want to stand out -- but in a good way.
        So if you want to be unique, you should come up with a cool alternative to the norm that suits your personality but still fits with the vibe of the party.
        For example, if you're not the type of girl who would normally wear high heels, but you still want to look glam, you could try wearing a pair of bejewelled sneakers instead!
       3
    Think about your budget. Can you afford to buy a new outfit, or do you need to work with what's already in your wardrobe?
        If it's the latter, consider combining your existing clothes in new and unusual ways, try layering a couple of tops on top of each other, clashing non-matching patterns or combining unusual fabric -- like a black biker jacket with a pretty silk dress.

How to Be Stylish

Three parts: Picking Clothes Dressing Presentation

Everybody wants to know how to dress cute and look appropriate for whatever life brings, so if that's you then keep reading.

Part 1 of 3: Picking Clothes


    1
    Wear clothes that flatter your shape. The first thing to do to look effortlessly stylish is to make sure that you’re wearing clothes that are good for your body type. Since effortless style is supposed to be subtle, you’ll need your clothes fitting well in order to get the elegant, expensive look from your clothing. You want clothes that make you look thinner and the perfect height, with everything in proportion.


    2
    Stick to classic cuts. Effortless style is mainly based around classic looks. Dressing for the trends just shows that you put way too much thought into that outfit and that you’ve been following fashion news like a broker watching stocks. Choose classic styles in classic cuts for a more effortless look that looks good for years.
        This means women should beware of floor length casual dresses in favor of knee-length, for example, while men should shy away from skinny-legged suit trousers in favor of something more loose-fitting.

    3
    Choose muted, neutral colors and bold accents. What colors are popular and what colors are considered absolutely hideous is very dependent on time and place. Just look at your mom’s clothes from the 1970s, for example. In order to look effortlessly stylish, you’re going to want a more timeless look, which means sticking to more muted and neutral colors. This can, however, be broken up with bold accent colors, especially on accessories.
        Muted colors include tan, black, white, denim/navy blue, and gray.
        Good accent colors include most shades of red, many shades of blue, plum/eggplant purple, golden yellow (like rubber ducks or tulips), and emerald green.
        Be careful of certain colors. Be wary of other greens and yellows, and generally avoid oranges, as these colors are very prone to going in and out of fashion.

How to Dress Fashionably

Three Methods:Lay the Ground work Find Your Fashion Make It Happen

Sometimes it seems like beauty isn't in the eye of the beholder, doesn't it? Fashion can seem very elusive and only for the privileged. But it's easier to start taking strides in the right direction than you think, towards confidence and a fashionable wardrobe.
Method 1 of 3: Lay the Groundwork

     1
    Organize your wardrobe. Get out all your clothes and decide which ones you want and don't want. Donate, sell, and a top tip you could host your own boot sale, with anything that you haven't worn in a year, doesn't fit or isn't your style.
        If you haven't worn it in a year, you won't miss it. Thinking, "I could need this one day!" will leave you thinking you have nothing to wear for most. Clean it out. Someone else could second-love your things.
        If you have loads of items that don't fit anymore, don't keep them all to be hopeful. Keep a few of your favorites, but pitch the rest. A closet full of clothes that don't fit can be very de-motivating.
      2
    Know your body type. And dress for it. The most fashionable items in the world right now won't look good on you if you don't have the right body type for it. It does not mean you're too fat, too thin, too tall, or too short. You just don't have the optimal shape for that cut.
        Dispose of everything that doesn't fit you right. And you'll know. If your silhouette isn't quite what it could be, odds are you don't wear it.
        When you go shopping, keep your body type in mind. For most women, it's ideal to draw in at the waist and elongate the leg. If you get stuck, you can always ask a sales professional; it's their job to help you look good.
      3
    Take a good look in the mirror. Try to look at yourself as objectively as possible. Pick things about your physical appearance that you like and dislike. What do you want to disguise? What do you want to emphasize? What's your coloring?
        It's important to figure out the answers to these questions before you go shopping so you know what to buy! If you haven't a clue, shopping for a new wardrobe can be very intimidating.