Thursday, March 14, 2013

Too Much Ain’t Enough


This week I am reading Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style, and as much as I love my kind, wise, and charming neighbor, he left out a couple of sections.  Allow me to fill in those gaps.

Boots…
For the non-sandal months, there are really only two choices in shoes: boots and ballet flats.  Boots really deserve an entire entry (or blog).  For now let’s just say you need an extremely wide variety of heights, textures, styles, formalities, and heels.  When it comes to color, nearly any shade of brown or black is acceptable.  Take a lesson from me that purple boots, while totally adorable, will be relegated to walking the dog. Oh, the lovely outfits, completed by my purple suede peter pan boots, that only the doormen on my block have been lucky enough to witness. 

… and Ballet Flats
Ballet flats, what can I say? You can pretty much buy them in whatever color and texture you want.  Because you will always choose to wear boots instead.

Cardigans
Do you have a closetful of sleeveless dresses but a calendar of sleeveful events? Purchase a brightly colored cardigan to extend the usefulness of the dresses you already own.  Thrifty, huh? Only marginally less so when you buy six of them, all in varying red and purple tones. 

Novelty Items
Buy them! Buy them all! You will never get tired of a skirt with a Monet style landscape painted on it.  It’s like a classic men’s suit; You can wear it every day and no one will even notice! Ditto for the eyelet ombre skirt in shades varying from extremely loud yellow to very angry orange. 

Bags
A nice, classic, well-made bag is a must-have, that finishing touch that completes any outfit.  Invest in one.  Or 17.  Change your bag pretty much every day to match that day’s ensemble.  In theory this approach ensures that you carry only true necessities with you, as you are constantly reassessing the contents of each bag as you transfer them from one bag to the next.  In reality you are more likely than not leaving a lipstick behind in each bag.  But as lipsticks are made only to be purchased and not applied (a personal philosophy of mine), leaving one behind in an orange suede bag, because today’s outfit calls for a brown fringed one, will have little impact.

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