Fashion Advice Thread!

As for Navy and Black, those were like the only two colors I ever wore for a couple of years at least. So, not so bad I think... Very deep, dark, and mysterious.

How is one supposed to wear those rediculous and gloriously pointless mesh tops if one is female? With a camisole underneath? A vest? Pasties?

I dunno about the mesh tops. Confused by them myself. Lace is very pretty. But see-through makes it sexy I guess. Don't get how they're often paired up with suits in the work section of clothing stores. Against most dress code policies, naturally?

i was wearing a navy shirt with black jeans yesterday. so my vote on black and navy is that it's fine, as i tend to gravitate toward dark/neutral colors and combinations thereof. but that's another biased opinion...

i thought black shoes went with almost everything...maybe i'm a bit simplistic in my fashion sense.

Can anyone tell me to find brightly colored or patterned stockings that aren't around $20 a pair?

The best place to get cheap patterned tights is the same place to get cheap anything! At the market! I think the stripey ones are about £3 in Hoxton Market (which I still like better than Leather Lane Market.)

Jock straps and waders!

Bloomers and harnesses!

I'm sorry to give you this answer, Sarah, and I don't support it at all, but it's generally believed that "long crazy hair" is inherently unprofessional and that people should cut it to a smart manageable length. (I'm so sorry.)

("Bum" would be a disasterously funny typo in the previous sentence.)

where/who was it? i laughed many times at this.

(This is strictly to make up for missing the "we aeroplanes" typo on that other thread.)

it's generally believed that "long crazy hair" is inherently unprofessional and that people should cut it to a smart manageable length. (I'm so sorry.)

You're mean.

I don't know why, but that was a really cute sentence.

That's pretty much how I dress to go get milk and bread, you know. I've earned the title of Soccer Stripper for what I decide is acceptable "Oh, I'm just slacking about" clothing.

Black and blue go together fine, though I don't usually wear navy blue so much.

And I wear banana clips in my hair but I also am not necessarily going for a super polished look anyway, especially since I started spending half the work week sporting huge Shania Twain curls. Honestly, I'm basically Office Stripper too.

I am rapidly running out of clothing options. Soon, I'll have to start going naked. They just don't make clothes for women my shape/size. I have this huge stomach but I am virtually assless and hipless and thighless. Shirts are easy enough to find at a plus-size store, so I'm covered there... But jeans/pants are impossible. At Lane Bryant (best plus-size store ever), if I can get the jeans/slacks to fit around my waist, I literally look like I'm wearing a large tent. I guess that they assume if you shop at Lane Bryant that you must be bootylicious. I am bootyless. So that's just not an option. All the other plus-size stores are the same. And non plus-size stores don't sell them in my size. Which is a shame, because generally places like Old Navy and Express have jeans much more suited to my shape.

Someone suggested maternity jeans, but that would be more humiliating than I could bear.
And I don't want to be doomed to a life of sweatpants.

gaiters = fashion item of 2003. you mark my words.

Agreed. Gaiters are legitimate. They were all over the Winter 2002 runway shows and in the editorials. Dev Aoki has been running around in the quilted Chanel ones. It's a good look.

/fashion police, arrest this woman

What's wrong with "sweater vest"?? Besides the fact that the UK doesn't recognize the word "sweater" at all, and vests are something else entirely, I guess.

Dr C, I'm pro-sweater vest, no problem. Trim fit, though, and pref solid color -- the decorative ones are a fine, fine line, I fear.

See, in American, a men's tank top generally refers to a sleeveless undershirt. See also: wifebeater.

x-post Solid colour - oh hell yes!

i like sweater vests. go for it.

my question: where can i find black pants that are nice enough to wear to work in an office without being wide/baggy? all of the slim-fitting ones seem to have too much elastic in them that makes the fabric looks shiny and cheap.

yes, i like sweater vests as well. dr. c, laurel and i were thinking of a vest top (at least i think that's the uk terminology for it).

xxp Also good under many of the more rugged varieties of sportcoat, ie a corduroy one, a nice tweedy one, field coats, etc.

bell, someone else leggy will have to answer that, I despise trousers for never being thigh-y enough without being horrible everywhere else.

bell, i got a great pair at the gap last year. they probably stil have something similar, if not the same exact style.

i always like club monaco for nice fitting trousers. they run about $129-$159 but they also have pretty good sales. i just got a grey pinstriped pair with cuffs. tempted to buy black high-waisted ones as well but then asked myself, do i really need yet another pair of black trousers? probably not.

i like jeenz because i can bite the foot part and go RRRRRR

for me my favuorite designer is puppia jackets and americna aparrel dog shirts

yes, i like sweater vests as well. dr. c, laurel and i were thinking of a vest top (at least i think that's the uk terminology for it

Yes, probably. Only thugs wear them publicly though!

Also good under many of the more rugged varieties of sportcoat, ie a corduroy one, a nice tweedy one, field coats, etc

Hmm. don't have any of these. What's a field coat? In the UK, that implies a waxed coat like a Barbour or similar. I don't have one of those. I have a jacket which my other half refers to as a 'geography teacher's jacket'.

You know, anything reminiscent of genteel safari expeditions or casual shooting parties or whatever.

ZOMG Alba I have both those same coats! Well, really similar anyway. We should go play twinners and paint the town red one night.

I have no idea what clothes I want to wear anymore. I think I had a midlife crisis after getting sick. Stopped caring about clothes, still don't care about them, stopped bothering to style hair or wear matching clothes.

I feel better mentally now but the desire to choose clothes or any sense of what to wear or what I would like to wear is lost. I don't even know what subculture I'm supposed to be part of, that would help for sheeplike imitation of what others wear.

You know, anything reminiscent of genteel safari expeditions or casual shooting parties or whatever

Sadly my casual wardrobe is mainly reminiscent of expeditions to the pub :)

like this, Laurel?
http://www.heatfactory.com/hooded-jacket-adv127350.jpg

Yeah, rock the sweater vest under THAT genteel motherfucker.

Millo, does the jacket come with blue radiation? AWESOME. :-)

xxxpost Is it because you're entering a new "stage" of your life? I know it was somewhat difficult for me when I was entering my thirties and realized I couldn't wear the same thing (as five years ago) anymore. I remember stubbornly trying all these silly t-shirts and having toi come to terms with this fact. Well, they weren't silly, just "club" clothes that were of no use to me as I don't go out much anymore and don't look "the part".

I just wore a pair of pinstriped girls dickies to a job interview.

i used to be way into the sweater vest.

tried on an APC sweater this weekend. is it really necessary to spend $168 for a decent piece of wool to cover your back?

Nope. But it's not necessary to shop at APC, either.

so recommend a good wool sweater already

i bought a 25$ wool vneck @ h&m yesterday. doesnt seem like the nicest thing ever by any means but it looks good

Dunno, Vahid, to be honest I ush shop at sales or discount places: Syms, Cent 21, whatever you have out there. It's been so long since I bought clothes, I don't remember. :(

Sample sales, too.

how can you charge $25 for a wool sweater? unless it's made in china from stray dogs + cats?

they have tons of sample sales down the street from me but it's ALWAYS women's stuff only.

OMG TJ Maxx, how could I forget?

Today I'm wearing a suit jacket from a JCrew sample sale I went to in 1998, a Lily Pulitzer dress shirt from TJ Maxx in Michigan, a skirt from Syms in 1998, and shoes from DSW. Srsly I work in publishing and have no money.

i bought a sweater at h&m once, but it was really coarse and scratchy and annoying :(

how can you charge $25 for a wool sweater? unless it's made in china from stray dogs + cats?

it's super-thin and out of season, i.e. BR sale

they fall apart pretty quickly

i have lots of clothes from 1998 still in my wardrobe, though lately i've been getting a little too...well, they are too small now.

This is why I sew.

my sweaters from banana republic and j crew tend to stretch out of shape and develop holes really quickly. i have some sweaters from random boutique skate brands but they're all cut in really blocky and square shapes. i have some really fancy paul smith sweaters but they're so fragile that i'm afraid to wear them on a daily basis.

so i want something that i can wear once a week for like five years without worrying about it. what am i looking for?

Lands' End or LL Bean or Woolrich or some other quality workhorse brand? You'll still have to dry-clean it and store it away from moths an' shit but at least it won't come unraveled when the wind blows.

i agree, ll bean one would last for ages, plus, not expensive. I trawl ebay for vintage pringle of scotland/braemar/ballantyne cashmere sometimes, or scottish wool. or go to massive thrift stores in new england because there is tons of cool stuff and a lot of very warm workhorse sweaters.. do yours stretch out because of how you wash or dry them? i hand wash mine in woolite, roll up in a towel to get out excess water, and lay them out to dry.

how can you charge $25 for a wool sweater? unless it's made in china from stray dogs + cats?

it's super-thin and out of season, i.e. BR sale

-- gabbneb, Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:26 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

they fall apart pretty quickly

-- gabbneb, Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:27 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

otm at all these things

1. I still find APC kind of an awkward buy -- they're making standard casual clothes at a level of awesomeness that is maybe worth the ridiculous prices, but yeah right, like I'm sophisticated enough to need that perfect $200 sweater (though I do wish I'd bought the Best Jacket in the World for $600 there last year)

2. Wool and cashmere are super-cheap now because of (really!) China -- and now, when you buy your cheap wool, you can keep in mind that parts of northern China are being polluted and eroded and turned into post-nuclear wastelands by intensive raising of animals for this stuff, and turning into a dust bowl that kicks up clouds of horrible crap so huge that they can actually float across the Pacific and fuck up air quality on the west coast (I listen to NPR sometimes)

^^^if i buy expensive wool is this not the case?

not a defense of my shitty new sweater, just wondering

If you buy expensive wool it makes the post-nuclear wastelands fancy.

if only everything was made of hemp :(

I trawl ebay for vintage pringle of scotland/braemar/ballantyne cashmere sometimes, or scottish wool.
-- daria-g, Tuesday, October 16, 2007

i used to trawl ebay for vintage pendleton shirts. then one time i opened my closet and about half a dozen moths flew out. i put my two recent ebay "deals" in a plastic trash bag, tied it up and threw it out. no more moths.

also they smelled like dead sheep.

i'm still trawling vintage shops for a nice gloverall, though a duffle coat is really overkill for 2/3 of the year in california

I have a couple vintage plaid workshirts & some pendleton plaid scarves.. one thing you can do is put it in a plastic trash bag, and then put it in the freezer for couple days, take it out for a day, and put it back for 2 more. that will kill all the moths. I should go through all my stuff though, I've seen a moth or two in my apartment and am worried they got to something.. although I had some disgustingly strong moth repellent in my closet and so far all my vintage coats seem to be in good shape

I just wear acrylic sweaters for the most part. My cashmere ones I have got at these three boutiques in El Paso that are way too 'spensive for the general pop. there and around March the clearance gets down to 75-90% off...I payed $25 for this absolutely fantastic black cowl-neck cashmere.

That was orig. $225.

high fashion advice: is rodarte utterly HIDEOUS or am i crazy?

Based on the photos on their website, I suspect it's less obnoxious if you think of it as textile art instead of clothing?

A lot of the Fall 06 line looks like a human being might someday wear it, but the Spring 07...no.

how is it even possible to wear an acrylic sweater?
even just trying them on makes me hot and itchy

i do have an acrylic toque though which i love so i don't know
xpost

i think my shopping mechanizm has brokenend