A Pulled Together Look in Your Closet

The blog post, about "vote" fashion, inspired more thought about what we choose to wear or in some cases, what we are forced to wear. 

I was in a "box store" the other day and asked a badge-wearing employee where I could find the bundles of copy paper. As she turned toward me, her t-shirt said, "Tell someone who cares." She grunted and pointed me in the right direction. Before I left the store, I stopped at customer service and described the t-shirt. I couldn't help myself. I finished by saying, "It may just be me and I know it's just a t-shirt, but for someone who is representing the company, it sent me the wrong message." Of course, customer service thanked me but I don't know if the employee will "get it". If a command is given from above, with no explanation of why then this young person will not have learned anything. Rightly or wrongly so — what we wear tells the world who we are and what we think. "It's just a t-shirt," is the defense one uses when rationalizing for wearing something objectionable to parents, bosses, and teachers. 

There are many sayings or symbols on clothing that are meant to shock. Fine, do it on your own time. If I had seen the same t-shirt on the street, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Worn on an employee in the service industry, it sent the wrong message.

Being forced to wear something for your job that you find objectionable is quite another story. The classic is what some refer to as the "monkey suit". It originates with the monkey on old-time movies who was dressed in a vest, bow tie, and hat and performed tricks to make money for the man playing the tune on a crank-turned organ grinder machine. The monkey was obliged to wear the suit to collect money in a tin cup and so any "uniform" required for work became a "monkey suit". 

"Monkey suits" vary from the classic suit requirement to standardized uniforms to skimpy outfits for waiters and waitresses. I suppose one doesn't have to apply at that place of business. But in some desperate situations that won't be an option.

Most of us are left to make our own choices. For the past 40 years, clothing for work has been evolving to easy understated sportswear-styles. Even though you can dress casually, you should still look pulled together.

The following guidelines can help you create that "pulled together" look:

1) 3 Base Colours - Have at least one base colour - we'll use navy for an example. Navy is a good summer and winter colour. For winter add grey and beige. In the summer add white and another bright colour. Build your accessories around at least one of the base neutral colours. In summer I follow the colour scheme of sea, sand and sky — blue, beige and white. My winter colours are black, beige and grey. I add colour with fashion jewellery, scarves and shoes.

2) Update your wardrobe each season with accessories or one or two new pieces that fits or ties your base colours together. This year it was a plaid blue, white and black Smythe blazer for me. (Mind you, I'd never wear the dress the model is wearing with it.)

Spend more on classic pieces so that you don't feel obligated to keep wearing an outdated article. When your favorite pair of shoes starts to look shabby, look for a similar or identifcal pair. Don't settle. If you know what you like and were pleased with it, search until you find it. You will feel most satisfied if you are able to add to and build a solid base. As well, you will spend half as much as you did when you bought every new fashion fad or settled on less.

3) Stay away from colours that drain you or that make you feel uncomfortable. I have never been happy in orange. Some reds, definitely not those that are orangey, I enjoy wearing. I will always temper red with accessories. Brown, olives or anything muddy will never be base colours for me. I just don't feel comfortable in them. Yet I love camel, but again with an accessory combining the neutrals with other colours.

4) Perfect Fit. A tight fit will always accentuate therefore a tight t-shirt with tight pants will accentuate all of the body parts you don't want to accentuate. My rule is to never buy pants in clingy fabrics. The pants I buy have to be narrow through the thighs and knees without any pleats or gathers at the waistline. Set up your criteria for the best fit and follow it. Buy the best you can because quality clothes keep their shape and will look better longer. When you find the perfect fitting t-shirt, buy them in multiples.

5) Choose a signature accessory whether jewellery, scarves or ballet flats. For me it's stacked bangles and bracelets. 

What you feel you look best in will also be what you will be most comfortable in. For most of us, that means separates. I'm short and I like my legs, so in the summer skirts are easier to buy than pants, which have to be hemmed, adding yet more cost to the item. Separates may take more time to organize, but once you have your colour combinations in sync, you don't have to think about what to wear. There will always be a comfortable pulled together look available in your closet.

😃Spring 2021 Update: Does dis-order in your life overwhelm you? Changing Spaces by Design has recently published a guided journal with inspiring affirmations, suggested daily strategies to create clutter-free spaces, time management recommendations, and charts to record your project. Shirley B says, "I embarked on the process and am pleased to say that it really does work. I put my stuff in order, found stuff I had forgotten I owned, and got rid of stuff I no longer need (that is somebody else’s stuff now). The result – I know what I have, and where to find it. Amazing!"

You can check out their launch page at 30 Day Journal to Triumph Over Clutter.