Fashion Challenge – Get the look for less

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accessories, Budget, casual wear, celebrity style, celebrity trends 2012, clothing, Colours, Dresses, Fashion, Fashion General, get the look for less, how to dress like kate bosworth, how to dress like reece witherspoon, how to dress like zoe saldana, outfit ideas, polyvore, shopping, style, wardrobe basics, What to Wear

I have set a challenge for today’s post: recreate a whole celebrity look for less than the cost of one of their designer items.

If you are prepared to shop around it is possible to use your favourite celebrity as inspiration and pull together a similar look on a budget. It’s like Zoe, Kate or Reece are acting as your own personal stylist. For this post I have focused on relaxed or casual looks.

The key tip is to look for things that echo the over all aim of the look rather than focusing on getting something that almost perfectly matches their look, slight variation in colours, cuts and necklines are to be expected and of course might work out better for you in the long run, especially if you prefer a specific cut (ie V neck).

Let me know if you have any favourite celebrity styles you would like recreated on a budget and I will see if I can come up with some wallet friendly alternatives.

Lest we forget.

Bec xox

Everything is an illusion

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accessories, Bec, Budget, Colours, Dresses, Fashion, Fashion General, flats, maxi dress, midi length, outfit ideas, pants, scarf, shopping, skirts, style, wardrobe basics, wedges, What to Wear, Work

For those of you who are worried this blog is about to get philosophical don’t worry I have no axe to grind today or issue to expose to the harsh light of day. Not to imply that I never think deeply of course, a love of fashion does not indicate a lack of intelligence, but I simply want to talk about the impact that clothing shapes, styles and cuts have on how we look.

I’ll use me as an example. I have a long torso and relatively short legs despite being a little above average height. I have small boobs for my weight and a largish waist. I have nice ankles though and slimmer legs than other people my size, I am also lucky that I am pretty much in proportion so my top and bottom halves look like they match. I am aware of the areas that I need to cover and those that I should emphasize.

The idea behind today’s post is to talk about some ideas for overcoming the things you don’t like about your body shape. It’s about creating the most flattering illusion.

General tips:

• Wear the right underwear
• Only wear things that fit
• The outfit is about more than just clothes so accessorize and think about shoe and bag choices
• Avoid too much draping, overly baggy clothes or lots of bulky layers

Some tips that are a bit more specific and I like to think work for me:

Short, chunky legs – wear dresses or skirts that end on or just below your knee, this is a good place to “cut” your leg without sacrificing too much height. If you have great legs you can get away with a shorter hemline of course but be careful you still look balanced or otherwise the outfit is going to make you look bulky on top. Tunics worn over leggings are another good idea, they can make your legs look longer and tend to draw the eye away from your waist and hips. Nude shoes help elongate the leg as well so invest in a pair with a bit of a heel to help even you out.

A large waist – wear things that draw attention to an area above or below your waist. I usually prefer wrap or empire line dresses for this reason, they help draw the eye to the area just above my waist and continue in a print or solid colour to my knees, skimming over my tummy and hips. If I am wearing a shirt or jacket I try to make sure it either ends below my waist or is a little structured and makes the most of my cleavage. I prefer a v shaped neck for this purpose.The other trick here is to make sure the shirt doesn’t end up too baggy because poorly fitted clothes are not going to help you look your best.

Long torso – ok this one is a pain, I hate shopping for shirts because almost without fail they have these really pretty tops that are supposed to end below my boobs and they never ever will. It doesn’t matter how much I yank my boobs up there is just too much length between my neck and my underboob area (#technicalterm) and I will spend half my day adjusting them. I prefer to stick to wrap tops to try to counter this because you can usually adjust these a little to allow for your body shape. Alternatively some button down tops with a little shaping at the back can work. Tunics and dresses don’t seem to be as plagued with this issue for some reason so again I usually choose them.

Boobs – unless you are in Steve Jobs (RIP) tribute band I recommend you avoid turtlenecks. For girls with big boobs these create the dreaded mono-boob effect and for girls with small boobs they can sometimes highlight a lack of size. Make the most of what you do have, preferably without having everything on display (because that ends up looking trashy). Again v necks are great for this but looser round, love heart and square necklines can work as well, try on a bunch of tops and see what works best for you.

Some ideas:

Other items that can help draw focus to good areas or away from problem areas are:

• belts – can be used to create a more defined waistline or nip you in just below the boobs
• scarves – can add interest to your top half to draw the eye
• bling – like a good scarf they can add interest to your top half to draw the eye
• light layers – can be used to break up or tone down a pattern, or create a slimmer look

I’d be interested in hearing about some fashion tips for overcoming your own problem areas.

Don’t forget that we are always keen to offer suggestions if you have a problem you don’t think you can find a fashion solution to.

Bec xox

Virtu

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accessories, Autumn/Winter, Bec, Budget, clothing, Colours, Dresses, Fashion, Fashion General, floral dress, outfit ideas, pants, polyvore, scarf, shopping, skirts, style, wardrobe basics, wedges, What to Wear, Work

So I found a few new blogs on the weekend that have inspired me to add some colour to my winter wardrobe (more on that later) and I have discovered Virtu*.

The clothes are relatively conservative but the prices are comparable to those in stores like City Chic or Forever New. Sizes go from size 12 to 24 with free shipping in Australia.

I am probably going to get a few of the items below to throw into the mix for my winter work wardrobe and my favourite thing about a lot of the shirts in the store is that they do not sit on the waist (the worst spot for clothes to sit for my body shape), they extend to a more flattering length and would be great over jeans in winter.

I also love some of their jackets and am sorely tempted by the Tuxedo one (styled below). They also sell sleep wear and some great accessories at reasonable prices and I recommend you check them out.

At the moment they have a promotion – if you spend over $200 you get $50 off the order, given some of the prices that could result in a “free” skirt, cardigan or pair of pants and who doesn’t love free stuff?

I’ll get back to you about their service and clothes in another blog, I just wanted to share my find with people who may be looking to beef up their wardrobe for the cooler months.

How to wear it – Virtu Edition

I like the idea of teaming the Tuxedo jacket with a bold print summer dress. You get more wear out of the dress and the jacket is great all round addition to your wardrobe because it will work with pants and jeans as well.

This so pretty and wearable, the skirt is a great length and could be worn without legging/ tights in summer. I love the caramel and black combination in the scarf as well, it’s a great way to add warmth and a little colour.

I’ve mentioned before how much I love a dress over tights and a comfy pair of boots to hang about in on the weekend. I have paired these two basic dresses with some fun accessories and scarves because it’s always a good time to look amazing.

Some other cute bits and pieces from the Virtu range.

*Initally I thought this was just another example of things being spelled wrong to either appeal to a younger demographic or to avoid being sued but then I found that Virtu is an actual word according to dictionary.com:

virtu (noun) – love of or taste for fine objects of art.

See now you’ve learnt something and possibly got some bargains, that is a win/win.

Let me know if you’ve had any experience with Virtu or if you have found any great new blogs lately.

xox Bec