MIXING AND MATCHING - THE NAME OF THE GAME

It’s amazing how often you’ll hear a woman say, “I’ve got nothing to wear”, and yet her wardrobe is crambed full of clothing that so often is never taken out either to be chosen to wear for a certain occasion or for that matter even bothered about once she has purchased that piece of clothing.  (How often do you find a woman say that the swing ticket is still attached to something she bought a year or more ago!)

On the other hand a wise woman will choose garments that she can wear in a variety of ways, especially if she is able to buy well designed garments in various colours.  Then it is possible to build up a wardrobe of outfits that always look different and can be worn for both dressed-up as well as dressed-down occasions.

As we enter the colder months of the year, it seems the “fashion doldrums” hit most of us and we tend to think to ourselves that there’s nothing really new we can do to make our chocen clothing more interesting.   Yet it doesn’t take much imagination to choose half a dozen basic garments, duplicated in say two different colours, and voila, we can have outfits for at least twenty different occasions.

Take this range from Taking Shape for instance.   We have three quarter leggings in black and chocolate; cardigans in black and camel; tops in red and black and flares (not for everyone but certainly many of us).   Now just take a moment and then choose a different mix-n-match make up of these same garments.   For instance - red top with camel sleeveless cardigan and flares;  black top with black three quarter leggings and camel sleeveless cardigan;  black tp with camel sleeveless cardigan and chocolate leggings;  camel lares with black top and black longline cardigan and so on.  Try and get as many different outfits that you can from the same garments.  Get the picture?   

It really comes down to how far your imagination will allow you to go, and then looking outside that square!   Try it.

CAN YOU HAVE FASHION WORKING FOR YOU?

There’s an art to wearing clothing.  Some people merely throw something on and expect to feel and look good. Others go all out to buy the latest trend or fad and then become disappointed that it doesn’t suit them. Ask any woman, and particularly a plus size woman, and she’ll tell you she has things in her wardrobe that she bought thinking they would look as good as they did in the store, only to find that they sit unworn and unloved from that time forward. All because - they’re the wrong colour; the wrong style/design; the wrong size.

Walking down the street, or even leafing through a magazine, you’ll come across fantastic fashion. In my humble opinion this garment is just STUNNING.  

What makes it work even moreso are the boots, and because most of us aren’t able to find boots that fit, we’d probably find that this garment on us wouldn’t look near as nice as it does on the model.

Yet even though this garment is in a neutral colour, and the model has the same coloured boots as well as colour co-ordinated jewellery, it doesn’t look boring. It’s just right. For her.

Too often we overlook the obvious. Just because we’re growing older, or find we’ve too many responsibilities and haven’t got time for ourselves; that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t spoil ourselves with flattering clothing.  Now, I’m going out on a limb here because many (and I mean many) of my friends find they can no longer afford to dress the way they used to.  It’s a combination of money becoming tight;  jobs being lost;  mortgages rising;  and kids needing a lot more financial assistance into their twenties, thirties and even forties!  Then there are life-changing circumstances.  This means that our “wardrobe budget” suffers!

A change of attitude needs to come into the picture. Accessories always top the list as pieces of clothing that can make a difference to any look.  Add an interesting scarf* or a large piece of custom jewellery to a shirt or even some of the better designed tee shirts, and you have “lifted” the look immediately. Op Shops have “grown up” in recent decades - no longer are they the “second-hand” (worn out) clothing stores, now they are patronised by women from Toorak and South Yarra as well as women like you and me.   Bargains galore if only you have the eyes to see them.   I visited one only this past week looking for a small milk jug.  What I found was even more startling.  A pink satin dressing gown which is reversible with a black satin side heavily embroidered in the most luxurious satin threads.  Parting with $5 was never quite so pleasant an experience!

But let’s get back to the younger plus size woman now.   

I had never heard of Beth Ditto until a friend Liz in the UK mentioned that Beth had joined with Evans (one of the leading plus-size fashion stores in Britain) and had brought out her collection of clothes for the younger woman.

From what I can gather Beth is also a singing star so how better to promote her garments than “on stage”.

These pics will give you an idea of how a young plus-size woman sees the world of fashion. She’s not afraid to show off her knees either!

• Talking about Accessorising with scarves I heartily recommend visiting myscarfworld, a blog written by my very special friend Jane in New Zealand.  Pop over and visit her at www.myscarfworld.wordpress.com   Follow her posts.

MODERN/TRENDY CLOTHING

I love some of the modern clothing that drapes around the body. While the majority of garments are designed and aimed at the younger woman, I believe that older women (and plus size women) can adapt these garments to their own style. This outfit of two colours - grey tones contrasted with mulberry/claret coloured long scarf and leggings would suit me. While I would combine the tunic tops with mulberry/claret coloured pants (rather than leggings) and grey flats instead of boots, with a long flowing scarf around the neck, I would feel as feminine/feisty as the next person!

It’s all in making fashion work FOR you; rather than trying to change or adapt yourself to wearing fashion that you may not feel completely comfortable with.

© 2013 Rosemary Parry-Brock, Victoria, Australia

LAYERING

Layering is great at any time of the year - summer, winter, spring or autumn.   Unfortunately many women don't understand how easy it is, or how it can extend the look of even a limited wardrobe.

In the cooler weather, which we are experiencing at the moment here in Australia, layering offers many possibilities, and especially being able to wear lighter fabric garments, but knowing that you are still warm because you can still wear your thermal underwear underneath and no one is the wiser.

Experiment, whether in the same colors, or contrast colors as far as pants and tops are concerned.  Have fun with fashion, whatever the season!