BLOG: À La Mode
It's all in good taste
By Melanie Barnes, Entertainment Writer
December 29, 2007 | 1:12 p.m.
And maybe the occasional flavor recommendation.
So who am I, telling you what to wear? I’m just a college junior stuck in Athens, Ohio, with nowhere fashionable to go. Prada isn’t hiding in my closet. I never bought into The North Face and have (thankfully) never touched a pair of UGGs. I do, however, study magazines more attentively than my textbooks, and I care more about Paris Fashion Week than finals.
Plus, I’m eating ice cream as I type.
The biggest component to fashion is personal style and how you can spin the trends to work for you. How many girls have we seen trotting to class in over-sized sunglasses, Victoria's Secret PINK sweatpants and UGGs? I'm not saying they look bad, but I know I speak for quite a few when I say (shout? yell until I'm blue in the face?) that it's time to take trendy back.
Along with originality, dressing for the appropriate body type is an absolute key. Skinny jeans may work for the Olsen twins, but the average American, size-14 woman may wish to pass on this thigh-highlighting trend. This just in: Muffin tops aren't cute!
Instead, wide-leg jeans seen on the likes of Rachel Bilson and Jessica Simpson have taken over Hollywood, paired with tucked-in tops and open-toe platform wedges or flats. With a much more flattering fit, wide-leg jeans can enhance the bum while elongating the legs and pulling attention away from the stomach area.
So how do you find your personal style? Obviously, find what it is you like about fashion, whether it’s aspiring to become a fashion icon, dressing like your favorite celebs and models, or finding what works best for you. Then, pick your best assets, and get ready to flaunt.
Next, throw on your favorite outfit. You know, that outfit that turns heads, gains compliments and makes you feel 100 percent sexy. More importantly, it has to reflect you and the (positive!) image you want to portray to the world. No doubt that pleather halter tops garner attention Saturday nights at Pawpurrs, but unless the plan is to take the bondage world by storm, please stick to the "I would wear this to class" rule.
Take all of that information, and say hello to your personal style. Look at what you chose to put on, and focus on wearing these pieces more often. Are you a future style icon with legs that rival those of Cindy Crawford? Super-short minis are calling your name. Do you have a great face for makeup but just want to test the fashion waters? Gold-tone eye shadow is waiting for you this fall. It's about risks, hits and misses, even experimenting just to see what people will say. You might be surprised by how well wide-leg jeans look on your body!
Personal style is all about picking and choosing from the hottest trends and tailoring them to work for you, or even opting to completely forget about whom Hollywood is wearing. Above all, the ability to rock whatever you’ve got on, be it Prada, a paper bag or pleather, with confidence is absolutely the key to owning a style to call your own.
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