Saturday 16 July 2011

If they do it better then I'll follow

There comes a time when a woman has to admit that others do it better and by this simple act to benefit a great deal . I will save you from my mysterious musings by saying I talk about styling clothes .
I've tried it myself with dubious results post after post because I thought I can do it . I've had some good moments but in general I felt like I don't do justice to my clothes and I don't work them as hard as I knew I should .
For reasons unknown to me ,  I love to remix my clothes and I get absolutely no thrill by wearing something once and then hop to the next new thing. I like my clothes to get used and brew slowly in my closet until they become mature enough to produce the next set of combinations that doesn't  even cross my mind right now.
Don't get me wrong I like occassionaly or more often than I care to admit to bring home little somethings but I always try to anchor them to the ones I have and use both old and new stuff.
Somehow, the longer I have  an item of clothing and the more uses I find for it the more proud I become for my skills and the more I love the item.
I'm saying all this , to point how much more use of my clothes do I make now that I finally let the professionals do the job and me just follow and learn . There is so much inspiration out there that I shouldn't be stubborn and try to invent the wheel from scratch by myself .
I found that using this format of showing the original outfit and next to it my own outfit illustrates how blant immitation actually produces good results. After all that's how we learn the first few years of our lives .
To be utterly honest I'm actually imitating J who does her imitating thing much better than I do . But I somehow feel like I discovered a whole new playground to play and there seems to be no end to my imitating whole outfits by using my own clothes.
That's where my creativity and personal act comes in because I still need to pick the right clothes to give the vibe of the outfit and change things up to stay true to  what fits me and my life style.
It's like a self taught way to learn how to better use what I have as well as learn about colors , shapes , use of accessories , shoes etc.
It's also the kick to create similar to the very expensive outfits by using my own rather  inexpensive  , often thrifted or made /altered by me clothes. My truth is that I don't really need more clothes only more ways to wear them.
inspiration net a porter
shirt &pants : my husbands
orange cardigan and oxfords zara

7 comments:

  1. Angie, I love following your "inspired by" series of posts. I think you've done a fantastic job of making these looks your own.

    It sounds like you *love* to play in your closet. Me too!

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  2. If you had posted this outfit, without the look you were looking to imitate, I would have raved about it anyway. I love the bright sweater, with the men's neutrals! Well done.

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  3. I love your copycat posts. I like your version better than the original in this one. I taught my daughter how to put outfits together by noticing what she likes in magazines and store windows and copying them. She gets compliments from her friends all the time. I'll keep checking back.

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  4. I have literally grown up copying looks. I remember in my 20s I would study mannequins and then copy them with my twist...it was how I learned and somehow found courage to step out of my comfort zone. I like your look here...ALOT! I am more into menswear-inspired looks right now than I have been in awhile...you nailed it! And I hope you will keep doing the inspiration posts...I like them alot.

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  5. I too prefer your version, the colours are so clear and vibrant, a perfect outfit for summer.

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  6. I agree with the others that this series is working well! Maybe I should try copying, too, because I feel EXACTLY the same way you do. I want my clothes to mix and re-mix and be worn forever, but I'm often just not confident that I style them in ways that get the most out of them. I'll be watching what you imitate, and how, for more inspiration!

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  7. I actually like your version better - I think it's the orange cardigan that does it for me. I also like how you imitate but don't try to copy exactly; this is a difficult thing for me to master, but I like watching you do it. All that to say that I like this look very much.

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