What I Am Wearing

As a young person working in the neighborhood library I spent all my breaks in the back room stacks looking at fashion magazines, then sewing my own clothes, often inspired by something from the glossy pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, or Elle.

Many of us are interested in fashion and in styling our own clothes to suit our interests or lifestyle. We develop a personal style, gravitating toward clothes that make us feel good. Sometimes we learn the hard way what works for us and what doesn’t. Think of your story. I have more than a few. One of mine is buying an 1800’s linen night dress with the initials “BP” embroidered on the front at an antique store on Magazine Street in New Orleans and planning to wear it as a day dress. When my husband saw me wearing it for the first time he said, “Don’t go out anywhere in that outfit.” Later, I cut it off to tunic length and wore it with a black pencil skirt and ballet flats – loved it!

An article from Harper’s Bazaar UK, “How to be more stylish: A guide to buying less, shopping better and transforming your look in the process” focuses on 15 wardrobe resolutions, including one of my favorites; “create a uniform…All of the most stylish women in the world have their own uniform  they keep it simple, they know what they look good in and they stick to this formula when choosing new pieces.” 

Christine Centenera is the editor-in-chief for Vogue Australia and a designer of her own line of clothes, Wardrobe NYC. One morning while reading online with coffee I read about her new appointment with Vogue Australia. Connected to the post was her own blogspot titled “Today I Am Wearing” with 99 images to date. Many of the images, including the one above, have a brief note about what she is wearing. Here, it is a Prada coat, Josh Goot T-shirt, Givenchy skirt, and Dior Homme watch.  I enjoyed seeing what she was wearing and how she styled her clothes.

Since moving to the Texas Hill Country I have met and talked with many women based upon their interest in what I am wearing. It may be the monochromatic nature of my clothing choices, or perhaps the uniform-like feel of the clothes. For whatever reason, these conversations have been gratifying. As you too might want to reflect on what you are wearing and your personal style, I decided to add a series of short posts to fromdeepintheheart.com titled “What I Am Wearing”. Each entry will have an anchor photo of the outfit or a piece of the outfit, followed by a brief discussion of the elements of the clothing and, if applicable, the inspiration for the styling.

Here is our first…

What I am wearing is a 7-year old strappy, off the shoulder quarter length sleeve top purchased on sale at Zara for $5.00. I remember thinking I would one day find a mate for it. The Banana Republic belt is at least 15 years old (almost vintage) and is my favorite and one of my only belts. You can’t see it in the photo, but I am wearing black tights and short, flat heeled boots.

The skirt is one of my own design and is made of heavy black chenille purchased at Joann Fabric & Crafts from the remnants table. Remnants tables are great places to purchase large amounts of fabric you can experiment with at a reasonable price; in this case – $7.00 a yard.

In this particular case, the styling was influenced by a photo from my clippings file of a woman wearing an afternoon dress from the Christian Dior haute couture collection of 1948.

Here I am wearing the same skirt with a v-neck sweater purchased online from Amazon.com and some Born Shoes lace up high heeled oxfords.

Inside a Paris Vogue magazine photo spread titled “Always and Forever,” this image of a Prada skirt and sweater was my inspiration for purchasing the v-neck sweater and pairing the two.

Hoping this post was useful to you; watch for more of “What I Am Wearing” in future posts.