You walk into a store. You see something nice and decide to buy it. If someone asked you about it, what would you say?
Some people are fully subjective. They like that particular style, colour, lenght, cut or fabric. They feel good and do not wonder why. Ignorance can be bliss.
On the other hand, there are people that carefully think about every detail and how it affects the perception. They know (or at least try to know) what is flattering for their body shapes or natural colours.
Almost everyone is somewhere in between. Many women move towards the "knowledge end" as they become more self-conscious. And there are some who stopped thinking about every item and found it liberating.
"I know my body shape, my proportions and my fussy bits. I know how to flatter the pretty body parts and how to disguise the less pretty ones". Or maybe, "I don't know my body shape and I'm perfectly fine with it. I don't want to feel restricted by fashion guides". Where do you stand?
I must say that I'm on the conscious side. For example, I can love a dark orange, mandarin neck, boxy jacket. However, it wouldn't look good on me. My face looks sallow when I'm wearing something warm and muted. My big bust and short upper body look disastrous in higher necklines. And finally, boxy jackets and my defined waist are not compatible with each other. Sure, I could probably use some tricks to make our hypothetical jacket look "not so bad", but why bother?
This is the way I am. I tend to look for science in every aspect of life. I don't believe that you can separate science from art. They're not opposites. Fashion and style don't exist in vacuum. It doesn't make them less fun; for me, science IS fun. Of course, we all make clothing mistakes and sometimes we buy things that are against some specific rules (and therefore, establish some new ones). World would be boring if we didn't.
What about you? Are your style choices conscious or subconscious?
Great first post!
ReplyDeleteI think for me intuition and knowledge have become so intertwined that it's hard to tell which force shapes my buying decisions. By this I mean that I've spent so much time learning about what works for my body (mostly through listening to other people but also through trial and error) that items that don't fit those guidelines have stopped feeling right. There are a few exceptions, and in those instances I'll go by what feels right on my body. The prevailing factor is knowledge for me, but I think it's possible to strike a balance between the two.