goldenpig

Lori's post on whether you like dressing in all solids (http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....all-solids) got me wondering--do your clothes or your accessories do the talking? Which are your statement pieces? Do you wear mostly solid, neutral clothes and use cool accessories like scarves, hats or jewelry to add visual interest, or do you like your clothes to be the statement pieces, with prints, bright colors, dramatic silhouettes, ruffles or embellishments?

I am mostly into statement clothes--I have some scarves but I can't seem to integrate them into my outfits very often because I already have a lot going on with my outfits with lots of pattern and color. I love bright colors and especially lots of prints! I usually only wear one piece of jewelry at a time, if I remember to at all. I don't change out my watch. I almost never wear a hat. I do have some handbags but not an extensive collection. On the other hand, I do like statement shoes/boots, and my satchels have prints on them too, so I guess that makes it hard to put outfits together when everyone is talking all at once! I have a closet full of divas!

Angie,
We are having an interesting discussion on age and how we are perceived by others.
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....o-for-once
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....of-styling
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....r-thoughts

Usually most people want to look young, but some of us look too young and want to look more mature. I saw your fabulous post on how to dress your age:
http://youlookfab.com/2007/01/.....-your-age/
I would love to hear any additional thoughts you might have on how to dress to look younger or older, while still being stylish and maintaining age appropriateness (ie without resorting to juniors clothes and miniskirts, or dressing like a frump). Thanks!

I've worn this polka dot top and yellow raisin skirt together before, but this red leather obi belt is new. I bought it from an Etsy seller a couple months ago:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/eliza.....eller_info
I feel like it may be a tad too long. And it doesn't quite match my red shoes and bag. Also I'm not sure how to tie it to get it to look like #4 and #5. What do you think about the belt? I really like the idea of a red obi, but when I looked through my closet for some reason it wasn't quite as versatile as my black and cognac obi belts so I don't think I'll be able to use it as often. Any suggestions for what to wear with it?

Casual Couture black and white polka dot top
Etsy red obi belt
Halogen yellow raisin pencil skirt
Clarks red T strap pumps
Fossil red tote

I hope you don't mind my reposting this here so I can save it on my blog, because I think it's a fascinating topic.

Rita asked an interesting question about how not to look so young.
http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....o-for-once

I can definitely relate because I get this comment all the time about how I look like I'm 12 and "Are you sure you're old enough to be a doctor?" It's great to look young, but not always a blessing when you want to be taken seriously or look experienced.

Here is my response to Rita and some pictures I posted to demonstrate how styling can make a difference in how young or old you look. What do you think? And do you tend to dress younger or older than your age?

I hear you Rita! I get that comment from patients ALL.THE.TIME and I am so sick of looking young! Ha, they even peg me at the same age (12). I do think your petite height, curly hair and cherubic cheeks do tend to make you look young and sweet and cute which is great, but I know what you mean about being tired of it sometimes. I don't think you need to dress frumpy or conservative necessarily, but I do try to be "dressier" and more sophisticated to counteract the young appearance. It's hard. On the other hand, I worry that one day I'll wake up suddenly looking my age or older, and wish for the days when I looked young!

I don't have a great comeback either. When people say "Are you sure you're old enough to be a doctor? You look so young!" I just say "Thanks for the compliment."

It is an interesting question though. How to dress older intentionally? I think I tend to go for muted colors, richer textures, a little bit of sparkle or sophisticated glam, and a touch of luxe. Wear things that look like only grownups like or can afford. When I don't mind looking young I'll let myself wear the bright colors, young shoes like the Converse, girly silhouettes and whimsical patterns or details. Here are some of my young vs. old looks in similar outfits, so you can see what a difference styling makes. I admit that I do look rather young in some of these, but I like all of these looks. Sometimes it's fun to mix things up!

1-2. Cardigan + T/tank + skinny jeans. The young look I'm wearing a cat tee and bright red cardi and Converse, which makes me look like a teenager. The second look I'm wearing sparkly tank and gold shimmery cardigan and leopard flats (I think leopard can be a bit aging sometimes!) so it reads older. Ha, #2 could be the mom of #1!
3-4. Navy floral dress. Jason Wu is shorter and silhouette is more girly and ditsier print vs. more sophisticated cut and bolder floral of the Ralph Lauren. And I have my cutesy orange slice bag in my young outfit too.
5-6. Tile pattern skirt. I'd say both skirts are "luxe" with rich colors and textures, but the moto jacket and sandals with tights gives the first one a younger look than the rich brown leather jacket and white button down blouse and pumps in the second.
7-8. Coat over dress. I freely admit the first look is girlish and cute with the heart print dress and red bow belt and candy red coat. The second purple coat is my "old lady coat" with the muted purple tweed and huge faux fur collar. The velvet bag is also more grown up than the cute red purse. And the eggplant dress is sophisticated and subtly textured.

This is one of my favorite pre-YLF skirts--it's mint green with daisies. DH calls it my fried egg skirt. It's from Express and is so old I don't even remember buying it! It's just always been in my closet. I used to wear it all the time with this mint green H&M V-neck sweater that is very thin & fitted. This silhouette was my go-to formula for the past twenty years--fitted sweater and bias cut floral printed skirt. In fact the whole outfit in #1 is old, except for the yellow skinny belt from my Jason Wu dress, because I didn't start belting until I came here. The sweater is old and pilling badly and I thought about donating it, but I still like the color and shape and how it matches the skirt. On the other hand, now that I'm aware of color analysis more, I realized that I don't look as good in pastels and this color doesn't really fit into the deep autumn palette that looks best on me. Not sure if the color is coming out right with the camera and lighting so I did multiple pics (#3 without and #4 with flash), but what do you think? Can I wear mint green? Do you guys not like the tighter fitted sweaters on me? I also tried this outfit with my white (slightly cream) short sleeve Anne Fontaine blouse, does that look better? I left the house in the Anne Fontaine, but want to know if the mint green sweater is still a keeper.

"Yay"=you look great in mint green, wear outfit 1-5
"Nay"=mint green is not your color, stick with the cream blouse in outfit 6-10.

My daughter's self-selected advanced pattern mixing outfit today (http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....tern-mixer) inspired me to try an ALGO look as well! Here's a non-pastel spring outfit (because I don't look that great in pastels). Not sure if it totally works, but it's fun to try something new!

Tulle raspberry blazer
Missoni for Target floral button down shirt
AG ivory skinny jeans
All Black Fish Bow spectator pumps
Kate Spade butterfly necklace
Kate Spade High Line Leica turquoise clutch/bag (it reminds me of subway/bathroom tiles)

This was so cute I just had to share! DD is even more adventurous with her pattern mixing than I am! She picked this outfit out all by herself. Deux par deux raspberry and cream sweater coat, Tea collection yellow and pink floral dress, brown Hanna Andersson leggings, aqua and orange striped Baby Legs legwarmers and purple/pink/yellow Missoni for Target mittens. It's crazy ALGO but it works! And she and her brother are best buddies!

And as a bonus, I've unhidden the kid pics on my previous blog posts so you can see them again (I figured I already shared them, so why not). Enjoy!

I posted a WIW recently comprised of a lot of my "5-star items" from my closet.
http://goldenpig.lookfab.com/p.....s-together

Then I started to wonder, what does that mean exactly? What makes a piece a 5-star? Are they style statements, wardrobe workhorses, or perhaps both? To me, statement pieces are memorable with interesting/unique details and really elevate your outfit and make it stylish no matter how plain the rest of your items are. Whereas wardrobe workhorses are versatile, often simple and/or neutral, and you wear them often. But both types should fit well, flatter and make you feel fab.

So I thought this would be a fun exercise. I made a list of my favorite 5-star items in each category, and tried to think about which of them are statement pieces vs. workhorses. Here is what I came up with! Pic heavy because I thought it would be fun to show you visually what I am talking about! (Plus it's kind of like a bonus "best of GP WIW" album!)

But I have to admit, the distinction is getting a bit blurred, because a lot of my statement pieces are becoming workhorses since I love and wear them so often! And my workhorse pieces are not exactly plain basics--I love color, pattern and unique details, so they are often statement pieces too!

What do you think? Do you see the difference in these pieces I listed, or am I splitting hairs? What are the 5-star items in your closet, and are they statements or workhorses or both? (Would love to see your pics too!)

Style statements vs. wardrobe workhorses:
Coat: 1-2) Anthro red corset trench vs. 3&11) Kate Spade black ruffle trench
Jacket: 4) WHBM ink blue jacket and 5) Tahari black leather jacket vs. 6/9/15) Halogen black plaid zip peacoat and 7-8)Lafayette 148 cognac leather jacket
Skirt: 8/12) Anthro tile skirt in orange/yellow and 9)Tory Burch honeycomb skirt in cobalt/rust vs. 10) Anthro Liquid Acres pencil skirt and 7/11) Lafayette 148 tweed skirt with leather band
Blouse: 11)Hinge mustard paisley pussy bow blouse vs. 12) Anne Fontaine white button down shirt with double collar
Dress: 13) Classiques Entier ombre panel dress vs. 14) Banana Republic wrap dress
Jeans: 15) Anthro AG garnet snakeskin skinny jeans vs. 2/16/27) Gap Always Skinny jeans
Suit: 17-18) WHBM polka dot suit vs. 19-20) Classiques Entier lace suit
Belt: 21) Linea Pelle braided medallion belt vs. 22-23) Nordstrom obi belts in cognac and black
Shoes: 24) B Makowsky Heist leopard pumps and 25) Chie Mihara rust suede sandals and 26) All Black Fish Bow Pumps vs. 20) Clark red T-strap pumps and 27-28) Converse All Stars in yellow and red
Boots: 29) Aquatalia Vavoom rain boots vs. 3/5/6/15/19/23/30) Frye Melissa black lace-up boots (whew, those Fryes are getting quite a workout!)
Purses: 31) Kate Spade orange slice straw bag and 13/17) Fossil chevron stripe bag vs. 3/5/6/19) Kate Spade grey croc tote and 20) Fossil red executive tote and 10/16/32) Fossil velvet floral satchel

I have worn this sweater + obi + skirt combo several times before. I was in a big rush to get to work this morning so I threw this repeat combo on so I wouldn't have to think too hard. But with all the talk about whether to post repeat outfits, I decided I'd repost anyways. Actually I haven't worn it with these boots before, so it's not a total repeat.

It's been so sunny and warm lately that I've been feeling like spring is here already. Well, today the weather decided to remind me that it's still winter for a little while longer. It was rainy and cold (well, cold for here!) today. Temp in the mid 40's this morning. So it was the perfect time to bring the puffer coat back out! I know you guys think I'm silly for having a puffer (actually I have two--a cream one too!) when it doesn't even snow here, but I love being warm. I am not into wearing a bunch of layers so I love being able to throw a huge puffy jacket over my outfit and then taking it off when I go inside. This coat is from Land's End and is popular on my mommy board (waving at my blog followers from BBB!). I got it on sale for $59, down from $200!

The Only Mine plum cashmere sweater is my shade of purple. The brown/plum/cream floral skirt is Ann Taylor from the '90's (would that be considered vintage? LOL!) The cognac leather obi belt is key--I feel so much better with a defined waist. I'm not big on a lot of jewelry, but the brown snakeskin bangle from H&M seemed to go well. And the Aquatalia Vavoom rainboots in chianti patent are statement boots that are now becoming workhorses as well, because I wear them every time it rains. And of course, my trusty Fossil velvet floral satchel.

And here are the last two times I wore this outfit--#7 on Christmas (with bronze ballet flats) and #8 after Thanksgiving (with cognac boots).