I read somewhere last week that on average we make 35,000 decisions A DAY. How mad is that!? And I wonder why I barely have the ability to do much more than watch RHONY repeats and brush my teeth post 7 pm!? It’s a lot. The absolute least we can do is make getting dressed easier for ourselves, right? Knock out at least a handful of those decisions. So for today’s post, I’m sharing the 10 styling concepts that sit in the back of my mind at all times. My styling toolkit, if you will. There are no rules, just ideas and resources that I reach for daily and refer back to whenever my juice for getting ready in the morning is running low, or an outfit just isn’t feeling ‘right’.
This post is a doozy. It’s fully unlocked for paid subscribers, but there’s plenty above the paywall for everyone to feast on. Feel free to save or bookmark it to refer back to, share, comment, share the love - I truly appreciate it all. Right, let’s get dressed.
BIG, SLIM, SKIN
A Tibi-concept, defined by them as:
Stylistically speaking, striking that just-right balance between proportions is the secret sauce. It’s really that simple: mix something big with something slim, and show a bit of skin for breathing room, whether it’s a rolled-up sleeve or a flash of ankle. It’s not that all-big or all-slim is bad style, but it’s not your style; anything singular in point feels too superficial to you.
It’s an easy one to remember - something big, with something slim and a bit of skin - and a good concept to refer back to whenever you’re standing in front of the mirror and your outfit feels out of whack. Is there a small tweak you could make to bring back that balance? Could you open more buttons or roll a sleeve or hem to show some skin? Would a tighter or looser pair of trousers help to restore that proportion play?
HOW TO WEAR COLOUR
I mean, this could be a whole beast of a post on its own, but let’s try to boil it down into the ideas that I actually use daily, as a minimal colour palette lover who was deeply, deeply influenced by Posh Spice’s fully black wardrobe as a six-year-old. Actually wearing colour is a newer thing for me, but here are two concepts I keep in mind when getting dressed:
Avoid wearing a brighter colour with black alone. Before I tuned in to the teachings of Stylist Sensei Allison Bornstein, reaching for a black pair of trousers when testing out a new brightly coloured jumper would have been my natural inclination. And it’s not that it’s wrong, it’s just that it’s a high contrast option where the colour is front and centre. And on me, it always read a bit school uniform-like. These days, I tend to reach for warmer neutrals when working with colour - think creams, tans, camel, and browns - softer options that provide a lower-contrast look. And instead, I opt for splashes of black with accessories - think bags, shoes, sunglasses - pieces that don’t take up so much visual weight.
Lean in to Tibi ‘Ring 3’. This was the topic of last week’s post, so if you need a refresher on the topic, then have a read of it here. But the long and short of it is that Tibi ‘Ring 3’ is shorthand for those soft, earthy, muted tones that are muddied with brown or grey, which to me translates as colours that are easier to slot into my mostly ‘Ring 1 + 2’ wardrobe. They are the ‘no colour’ colours - green-ish, purple-ish, red-ish. And for someone previously pretty colour-averse, I’ve found them to be the bolt-ons that my wardrobe was desperately lacking and crying out for. Now, if my outfit ever feels flat, I know that there’s probably just some ‘Ring 3’ elements that need to be added. I find playing more within the confines of ‘Ring 2 + 3’ is my outfit happy place.
CHANGE ONE THING
I’ve spoken about this before, but do you ever feel like you’re doing too much? You’re overthinking, trying to fit a square into a circle, and the resulting outfit just isn’t hitting. Let’s pull it back and take it back to basics. Take the same thing you wore yesterday - perhaps with a top change if it’s needed (it is for me!) - and just change one thing. That’s it. Just one thing!! Be it a bag, a coat, or a pair of jeans. A small shift where if you liked your outfit yesterday, then there’s a high chance you feel great in today’s reiteration. Still not right? Change two things. But having that base to edit and tweak at least gives you a starting point.
JUST ADD TEXTURE
Adding texture to my wardrobe has been a game-changer. Differing finishes of clothing and accessories add contrast and tension, something I had zero concept of a few years ago, and I wondered why my outfits were consistently falling flat. It turns out that everything was so smooooooth. Smooth wool coat, smooth leather bags, smooth silky shirts - visually, everything looked the same. I needed texture in my wardrobe. I’ve learnt over the years that for me, the most comfortable way to do this is through bags - think my Alienina Rope Bags, my vintage pony-hair leopard print YSL tote, THAT St Agni Bag*. Now, I’m doing texture maths in my head when I’m getting ready to avoid too much of the same. Here are some of my favourite pairings.
Fluffy knitwear, or a cable knit jumper + a silk pair of trousers = soft and luxe.
Oversized leather jacket + a rope-textured bag = edgy and playful.
Long wool coat + jeans and tee + woven leather bag = classic and undone.
Silk maxi dress + a rope-textured clutch = elegant and fun.
Mac uses the example of bags again below, but it is such a good way to demo this idea…
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MIX OLD WITH NEW
I keep thinking about Reva’s recent quote in Anika’s post ‘The Effortless Style 101’:
A small tip I give clients as a sort of ‘check’ is to make sure you are not wearing an outfit of all new clothes. I always feel the most effortless if I am wearing at least one old, lived-in piece.
She’s right! How often do you put on an outfit that is skewing more towards newer items in your wardrobe, and it feels too much like dress up? That mix of old and new is the secret sauce to ease in your latest items and find your flow with them - how do they work best with the pieces that have already been worn 50 times? More old, less new.