Recently a friend asked me where I shopped and how I put outfits together. I found this seemingly simple question almost impossible to answer and I’ve been pondering the answer ever since.
A fuller answer will have to wait for another but I did say one thing, and although it seemed absurd to me, even as I said it, I’ve since come to fully believing it:
If you want to dress better, then go into a shop and pick up ugly things to try on
Now, this comes up with more than one caveat – firstly, this advice is more sound if you feel that your current style is in need of modification. As everybody’s definition of ‘ugly’ constantly changes, it’ll force you to try on items you may never have touched before. And you could be pleasantly surprised. This approach has certainly worked for me and I’m constantly amazed at other people’s ingenuity when teaming one item with another.
I saw another example of this today and feel that it illustrates my point well. You may have noticed the recent trend for crop tops? Why, I hear you cry?Well, that was also my initial thought but then I saw how blogger Diamondcanopy had incorporated this white lace Topshop crop top into her daily outfit and it made a lot of sense.
Blogger Diamondcanopy (photo courtesy of Diamondcanopy)
I recently moved jobs and got a great £75 Topshop voucher as a leaving gift. I intend to raid the sales racks and go for all the ‘ugly’ things. It’s going to be great.
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It’s true – things that look ugly are usually those that you haven’t acclimatised yourself to aestehtically and are therefore new and edgy, or at least not yet revived by the mainstream. I used to love ugly stuff but now I think that look in itself has been ruined. I think it’s meant to look like the way Susie Bubble does it – unpretentious and experimental. Not just wearing any old tat. It’s just as pointless and lazy as buying the whole outfit off the mannequin at River Island.
Clearly this has struck a nerve. I might do a “how I get dressed” post.