Planning your look intelligently

On a stroll around my cities main shopping district recently, I amused myself by paying careful attention to what people were wearing. As someone who think about fashion and is involved in this industry, I was able to rapidly put together a mental list of do’s and don’ts. A lot of these are common sense – sadly something which seems to be lacking these days for some of the people I saw strutting around!

The thing that stood out the most was this golden rule: Don’t try to be something you’re not. I saw many people slavishly copying the latest style, who would have looked far better in something different, even if it wasn’t being worn on the red carpets or seen on TV this month. This made me wonder whether people really think critically about what they are trying to achieve when planning an outfit. I suspect not!

The process of planning an outfit is simple. Start by looking in a full length mirror. Keep looking, and scrutinize every detail. The trap is that you will be familiar with what you see – try to look ‘through’ this to identify what your strengths and weaknesses are. If you have a friend good enough to be totally honest, this will help!

Next consider how you can use different items in your outfit to show off your good features and downplay the ones you don’t like. For example, if you are a little wider in places than you’d ideally like, try wearing dark colors or simple prints. If you have a slight figure and want to stand out more, accessorise with a chunky belt or necklace.

Be careful that you don’t overdo this though. Sometimes the traditional wisdom can be wrong – for example, many advise vertical pinstripes to make you look slimmer. However often the boldness of this type of pattern will make you stand out even more! Look carefully at how your outfit works to create the impression you want – don’t just assume that because you read it in a magazine, it must be so!