on personal style

garance dore

White, denim, and scarf? Checks! This is the pin-up model of what I would like to achieve or have been trying to achieve in my personal style. Jennifer Aniston follows a similar philosophy. I also admire the Paris Vougettes, Kate Moss, Rachel Bilson, Diane Keaton, Stella McCartney, Isabel Marant, and Lulu Chang. In my everyday life, it would translate to something like this:

This is brought about by my new-found love, Dead Fleurette. I got to thinking about my personal style. Truth be told I share the same aesthetic as her. But it wasn't long ago that I was also crazy about colors, think boho style circa 2005. I still like the whole flower and print explosion every so often but I find myself more attracted to keeping it simple. It feels clean and you'll look clean. The photo above pretty much sums up what I have in my closet sans the black Repetto ballerinas. To some, it might look boring or lifeless but this is what I find myself wearing all the time. As I was reading this particular post, a featured quote by Isabel Marant struck a chord in me:

"If a French girl has to go out, she is going to start by dressing up, then at the last minute, she's going to grab the old jeans that she was wearing all day and say, "F*** it! I feel more me like this."

Let's forget about the francophile bit for a second and focus on the last sentence. I always do this everytime I dress up. I've planned some elaborate outfit in my head but at the last second I would always end up wearing the same things over and over again. During my office days, I had a uniform that consist primarily of black pants, white/grey shirt, scarves, leather jacket, and black heels. That's it! Yes, sometimes I feel that it is a bit safe but at the end of the day, I feel good wearing this same ensemble every single day. Sometimes I spice it up with dresses or colored, long-sleeved shirts. But there's no denying I own way more white tops than I would like to admit. Not long ago, I discovered that I can actually buy two or more pairs of my favorite pieces. Why didn't I think of that? I raided Bench for the basics, and got myself about four white V-necks and one crew-neck shirts. Up to this day, these white tops have been my default outfits.

The thing about these basic pieces is that they are actually hard to find. I'm mostly annoyed how a perfectly-made white or black shirt suddenly comes with some silly print. If they could only leave them as is, they're already perfect, cut-wise and fabric-wise. Nowadays, I find myself wearing my denim shorts almost everytime. I thought I never really knew what looked good on me, but this time I think it's the denim shorts. My petite frame can use some leg-bearing action down there so it does make me look taller.The ballet flats have these amazing power to instantly make me feel chic while also creating a slimmer silhouette for my legs. Blame it on my Kate Moss obsession. Scarves, on the other hand, are my alternative for jewelry. Thing is, if I had the money, I would like to invest in some really fancy, gold nameplate necklace, something like Carrie's staple jewelry. For now, however, scarves in various colors can do the trick in bringing some life into my outfit. But honestly, sometimes I just like how plain things are. White, gray, black, and all sorts of neutrals are elegant and delicate, somehow they project a sense of effortless-ness that does it for me. In some cases though, I'd be lying not to admit that I still have a soft spot for color given they are either gingham/plaid or gypsy prints.

In my dreamworld, I would love to achieve a well-edited closet filled with these things:

So there you have it. My dream closet would comprise something like this. Aside from the neutrals, red is also a great basic for any wardrobe. Red comes in handy for sprucing up any outfit while also screaming a teeny bit of "look at me", which I love. To sum it up, I do follow a less is more approach nowadays. I would love to start investing in key pieces, something expensive but of high quality. I realized this is actually more economical as I mostly overuse my basics. Lulu Chang is such an inspiration to me in editing one's wardrobe. She said something along the lines of, "save up for things that you truly like". And that makes a whole lot of sense to me now. In Garance Dore's words: "Sometimes it takes me 10 years to own something. It's like love. You want things to grow on you."