MEAGHAN SMITH PERSONAL STYLIST

My favourite way to dress is to combine pieces that are designer (expensive) with low (inexpensive), from near and far and old and new. .

For me it feels more creative than wearing head-to-toe current season (which I do do occasionally – but it doesn’t seem as interesting).

For this reason I think about building a wardrobe, rather than just having clothes in my wardrobe for a season. .

Here I’m wearing a vintage embroidered blouse, which I found in a local opshop (about 8 yrs ago) for $5. With it I’m wearing, my favourite Levi’s, (bought in Melbourne), a pair of Scanlan Theodore shoes, a Maje necklace I bought in Paris and a Clare Vivier bag my sisters gave me for my birthday (which they had shipped from the States).

SIDE NOTE
While this top only cost me $5, I liked it so much I thought it was worth spending the money to have it altered. When I bought it the sleeves were too long. I wanted them to sit above my wrist bone – so I took it to my tailor and he removed the embroidered strip, shortened them, and then replaced the embroidery. Much better!

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Think about where you should be spending your money and where you should be saving (Or at least not so heavily investing) when it comes to your wardrobe…

It seems silly that you would have a $79 H&M black blazer that you bought knowing you wanted to wear it to work at least twice (maybe 3 times) a week, that looks tired and scruffy after one dry clean, but then you spend $550 on a dress you wear to Oaks Day – once.

The blazer I’m wearing here is about 5 years old. It cost me about $350. I wear it at least twice a week – to work, to dinners, to the races, to meetings, to funerals, etc… (You can see here I’m wearing it as a suit) It still looks as good as it did 5 years ago…

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Matchy-Matchy is an adjective used to describe something or someone that is very or excessively colour coordinated. It is a term that is commonly used in fashion blogs to describe an outfit that is too coordinated and consists of too many of the same types of colors, patterns, fabrics, accessories, etc. “Matchy-matchy” was added to the Oxford Dictionary of English in 2010 along with 200 new words that were previously considered as slang. – Wikipedia

In the case below, wearing two pieces of the same bright color in one outfit works because the skirt and the shoes are so close to each other that it almost seems like they belong together.

The matching is not too obvious.

Whereas in the outfit below, the matching is too much.

In this case if the shoes, belt and bag were not a bright color (ie perhaps navy or tan) it could work – but in this case, it’s too matchy/matchy.   You notice the accessories more than the overall outfit.

Back in the 50’s or 60’s an outfit similar to what Queen Elizabeth is wearing (above), where you matched your bag with your shoes and gloves, may have been very stylish, but just remember, we’re now in 2019 and you don’t need to match everything in your outfit to be well dressed.

In fact, being too coordinated and matchy, can age (and perhaps out-date) your look.

That said…who knows….. just like all fashion trends, matching your shoes with you bag just might come back in to fashion one day.

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I’m still surprised when a new client tells me they don’t have a full-length mirror and need to race out and buy one before our wardrobe session. 

I’ve met those who have had a mirror they never use in their downstairs bathroom, those who have a mirror that, on my arrival, came out of storage from the garage, and those who only have a mirror that shows the face and shoulders.

For those of you who belong in the above category, imagine if you had a full-length mirror, you could see whether…

•  the shoes work with the pants, dresses, or skirt
• your bra and underpants are not the wrong color or too tight for the outfit and causing bulges
• your top or jacket is too long and cutting off the length of your legs
• the bottom half of the outfit works with the top half
• your skirt or pants are a flattering length
• the hosiery goes with the clothes and shoes
• your jeans are still flattering…from the back as well as the front

We’ve all thrown something on in the morning, thought – that’ll do – then raced off to work or lunch. Along the way, we caught a glimpse of ourselves in a shop window and thought, I shouldn’t have worn this – I feel daggy, self-conscious, and uncomfortable.

A quick inspection head to toe before you leave the house will help prevent this from happening. Think about putting a mirror behind your bedroom door or inside your wardrobe. You can get them from hardware stores, Kmart, and Ikea and I’ve seen them for as little as $20.

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