Elegance

Today's subject came to me today while chatting with a client in the shop: my mission is to spread some some elegance around the world. We live in an era of "dressing down". The comment I must hear the most frequently is "oh I just don't have the occasion to wear that". Why do we have to have an "occasion" to wear something lovely and elegant, to make us stand out and look beautiful? We've all known that feeling of taking time and care over how we dress, make up, perfume ourselves, for some special event like a party or wedding. Why would we not want to feel like that everyday? My best friend recently lamented the fact that when she turned up at her local wine bar in a simple black dress and heels, the comments were "ooh, you're all dressed up", making her feel overdressed and slightly ridiculous. I told her she had to translate this into "Wow, you look beautiful". And as I said it, I realised how true that is. People have a hard time saying "you look beautiful/lovely". Too personal and intimate. So instead they make a general comment on the fact that you look different to them, in their dressed-down-I-don't-care-about-how-I-look clothes, when in fact you've really brought some glamour into the room, enough to bring out a disguised compliment. How fab is that? How wonderful to brighten up someone's life by looking good. It's not just the role of celebrities or beautiful people, we can all do it. And it's like anything, the more often you do it, the easier it gets. It's also contagious, which is the best bit; watch how your friends take your lead and smarten up. Let's think elegant (and I'm not just talking clothes either). I'm not suggesting we should all be another Audrey, that's a pretty tough call, but just spending a couple of extra minutes a day to think about what to wear can make all the difference. Bring some beauty into the world on a daily basis. And when you see someone who looks lovely, say it, say "wow, you look wonderful". Watch their face light up.

Bra Straps

I've always thought a blog was so 'nombrilist' as the French say so well (nombril = bellybutton, ie inwardly focused) but having been enchanted by The Sartorialist, being a bit of ranter(ess) and often a witness of the most interesting scenarios in my shop I thought I'd put some of it down here, if for nothing more than my own bit of personal therapy. "Get it out and let it go".

So, today, I am going to start with my Summer 2009 rant: bra straps. What is it with the wrestler back t shirts (made for athletic, well formed, even, dare I say it, small boobed women) worn by big boobed, less well formed women with the obligatory bra underneath? All the beauty and sexiness of the wrestler back cut is completely lost in a mish-mash of bra straps, varying from matching colour of t-shirt to contrast to the worst of all, 'transparent' straps. It looks awful, and making the excuse that it's the 'fashion' or 'everyone else is wearing it' is just not acceptable. Fashion should be selective, and doing what everyone else does is a bad excuse for laziness. For goodness sake, there's enough choice around to be able to find a t-shirt that suits your body shape; make an effort.