Style Prompt
A straight guy's perspective on women's fashion
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Silhouettes
Posted by on March 30, 2011
While I was giving more thought to the trench coat yesterday I was trying to come up with why I felt it was one of the better options for outerwear. When I was picturing the coat in my head, the image I kept coming back to was the one from The Limited advertisement I mentioned earlier. Upon examining the picture closer the thing I feel the trench coat has done so well is creating a silhouette, something most coats fail to do.
To keep this simple, we’ll ignore the subtleties that come with the cut of the trench and focus on the thing that is essentially creating the hourglass; the belt. The problem in dealing with a belt is that they tend to be a complicated topic as the uses for one can vary. A wide belt tends to be better for the ‘thicker’ girls by creating the hourglass silhouette, while a thin belt is better for thinner girls because it breaks up the midsection and defines the curves that would otherwise be lost.
I would continue to break this down further, however I found a wonderful article at youlookfab that can explain this in greater detail.
For examples of both belt styles, take a look at the thin belt on the YSL piece in this post to this one below from thisnext.com:
Giovanna Battaglia vs Valentino Runway
Posted by on March 29, 2011
Accessorizing a look can make a huge difference. This brought itself to my attention again when I saw Giovanna Battaglia wearing a Valentino scalloped dress this past November. I stumbled upon the runway photograph and was disheartened to see how boring it was compared to how Giovanna wore it.
VS
Looking at the runway photograph the dress just looks like a blank canvas. To me, nothing really stands out aside from the scalloping around on the hem. Now comparing that to how Giovanna accessorizes the look it goes from ‘just another dress’ to ‘wow’ in no time flat. The biggest thing that she’s doing here is making the accessories draw equal amounts of attention which allows your eyes to view the entire piece rather than each individually. Keep in mind, the shoes are identical to the runway picture save for the black toe and heel. Meanwhile, the scarf adds the definitive touch by not only working with the overall look, but also with the contrast of her features. For this I believe she gets recognition as being a style icon. Work the colors that you’ve been given and accessorize accordingly. Good things are bound to happen if you do.
Yves Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2011
Posted by on March 28, 2011
It seems like all too often that women get concerned with showing “the goods” to be sexy. For myself and certainly a lot of other men, simple glimpses can be enough to garner interest. Personally, I find backless dresses one of the most attractive things a woman can wear so it’s no surprise that this jumpsuit from the YSL Spring/Summer collection gets props from me.
I first noticed this piece in white in the YSL S/S 2011 campaign video below. Personally I like it more in white but to each their own I suppose.
Smythe Jackets for Spring/Summer 2011
Posted by on March 28, 2011
While it seems that the blazer and jeans pairing has ran it’s course for the time being in men’s fashion, Smythe has done a very good job with examples of this look for spring and summer this year. Take this One Button Blazer in White for example:
I don’t know if it’s from watching Mad Men recently or simply appreciating a nice piece, but this Pouf Sleeve Equestrian Jacket also gets a thumbs up.
Another piece that I really liked from Smythe is this relaxed, loose fitting Blouson Blazer in Carbon. The reason it stands out to me is that the model is wearing something somewhat revealing underneath but only giving you a glimpse of what you’d get otherwise with the jacket.
Orange Lipstick
Posted by on March 27, 2011
While orange lipstick seems to be the upcoming hot trend I would recommend against it for the majority of the population. For this item, like other things in the past, I’m defaulting back to the “if it’s in your color palette, go for it,” opinion. However, if bright orange isn’t in your color palette, reconsider your options. I was happy to see the model in Diane von Furstenburg’s spring/summer ad campaign pull it off exquisitely paired with the DVF Cynara Jumper in Ribbon Wave Ombre. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a proper product image because at this time the link on the DVF site dead ends to a white page from various link locations. I’ll get the proper link later when the page is up but for now the image off of the DVF Shop Look will have to suffice.
H&M Spring/Summer 2011
Posted by on March 23, 2011
Here’s a video of H&M’s Conscious Collection for Spring/Summer 2011. Personally I think it’s pretty cool that they’re using recycled plastic bottles but it’s not something that is a selling point for me. I’m sure there are a lot of people that would buy items from this line simply because it’s more ‘green’ than a similar item, I’m just not one of them. I do, however, look forward to see how they use this method in the future.
Simple, yet effective
Posted by on March 21, 2011
Have I said that I like trench coats on females yet? Saw the perfect example of taking a simple look and making it very attractive in one of The Limited’s spring advertisements.
In fact, when I was in Burberry the other day there was a young woman trying on this military green trench coat who looked spectacular in it. Funniest thing was the store clerks explaining to her how she could roll up the sleeves and how that was developed specifically into the design. Thank you ‘Mr. Burberry’ for giving us the idea of rolling up your sleeves! Where would we be without you?
The nude dress
Posted by on March 20, 2011
For one of the first times since it’s come into popularity this season I’ve found a nude colored dress that I really like. I think the reason it works in the below example is not anything particular about the dress itself, but more the person that is wearing it (image from fashiontoast.com).
The thing that I like about this look is that the dress quietly falls out while all of the attention is directed to this woman’s face. Her already high contrast features appear to be even more so making this such a stunning picture. Moral of the story here is to follow your color palette and good things will happen.
Upcoming Spring 2011 Lanvin Plissé Top & Skirt
Posted by on March 15, 2011
Spotted the Lanvin/Nordstrom ad which I enjoyed for both the simplicity yet intriguing nature of the outfit. Unfortunately, I can’t find an image that does this outfit justice as the Nordstrom product image completely washed out the subtleties of the model’s form. At any rate, here’s another something I look forward to seeing soon.
Men’s fashion on Women
Posted by on March 11, 2011
One of the sexiest things that women can do is wear a piece of men’s clothing and make it their own. Take this Minkpink Sequin Blazer over at Asos for example:
On closer examination of the look I was somewhat disappointed she wasn’t wearing a trouser. I suppose this is supposed to be for summer so a short would be more practical, but on first glance had assumed the opposite. It seems that sequins are all the rave this year and this blazer does sequins perfectly. It’s one thing to add depth and flash to an outfit but when it isn’t done correctly looks like someone went crazy with a bedazzler. I’ve seen girls out in the past wearing flashy pieces of clothing and nothing really piqued my interest. For what it’s worth, it seems that things have been refined over the last couple years and set itself apart from the hilarious bedazzler look.
On a side note, I noticed a Balenciaga sequin dress that stood out when I was reading the latest Vogue that I really liked. Ironically I found it on the Elle site here.
Granted it may not look spectacular here but when paired with a jacket it looked very good.
