Tips for Putting Together Outfits

As you may have heard on my new Youtube channel, last weekend I had an amazing time at the Southern Comfort Conference in Atlanta, GA. The weather was gorgeous, there were tons of educational seminars on all things Trans, and I met amazing women from all over the world. I had a blast!

We spend a lot of time talking about fundamental ideas on how to dress in ways that flatter our bodies, as well as basic "theories" behind style. While I feel these lessons are a great place to start getting our minds thinking the right way about clothing and style choices, it is sometimes difficult to take that next leap into apply those lessons to our everyday look. To help you start to think along the right lines I'd like to show you an outfits I wore during the conference and just describe what was going through my mind when I picked it out. As I start in full-time (soooo soon now!), I'll try to do this kind of thing (an "outfit of the day") more often to not only showcase my fabulous style (hey! at least I think so, and thats all that matters :-P) , but also give insights in how and why I make certain style choices. Always keeping in mind, there is no right or wrong way to do this! This is just MY way of approaching things. I also highly recommend going back and re-reading the post on "6 Keys to Creating a "Put-Together Look" or at least keeping it open alongside as you read, because I will refer to it throughout this post. Here they are for a quick overview, again, if you want more description, please check out that post:

1. Create a Wardrobe that Fits and is Flattering
2. Ask Yourself the Important Questions About Dressing Appropriately
3. Chose What to Feature in an Outfit
4. Use Color Intentionally
5. Coordinate elements of an outfit
6. Respect the Intangibles of Quality Style and Design

As I'm sure you've noticed from the blog, my style is feminine, but contemporary. I lean towards more edgy looks for nighttime... thats when I let my inner "rock star" come out a bit more. We'll just look at a daytime look today.

When putting together an outfit, I typically start with a piece that I really want to wear and build from there. This speaks right to #3, the piece I want to feature. For this outfit, that piece is the periwinkle blue maxi skirt... It has a great color and texture (#6) and maxi's are "in" at the moment, plenty of reasons to feature it. It is tough to see,but the outer layer of skirt is sheer, with a shorter (mid thigh) opaque skirt underneath. This gives a touch of sex appeal while still maintaining a healthy dose of modesty appropriate for daytime outfits (#2). Save your crazy sexy looks for nighttime!

So what works about this skirt? Most importantly, it has a high waist. See how it comes all the way up to my natural waist? That makes my legs look longer and my torso shorter, both typically flattering things for trans body-types (#1). With a great piece to work off of picked out I then just set out to complete the rest of the outfit.

I paired the skirt with a basic, true white cami.... I apologize that my chest looks like the surface of the sun in the picture. I wanted to keep the outfit light and summery (#4), so I didn't pick a darker top. My poor little point and shoot camera couldn't quite keep up with the brilliant southern midday sun! I would say that this top is not the "perfect" choice for the outfit because it doesn't necessarily add any flattering effects. Bright colors highlight areas and make them look bigger (sorry, but my bust looks huge here!), so this is technically making my torso/bust bigger. So how am I getting away with it? For one, the skirt is doing the opposite super well, and secondly, despite how it looks in the picture, it doesn't cover over my shoulders, so they stay appearing exactly as big as they are, I'm OK with that. While outside was gorgeously sunny and warm, inside the hotel at the seminars in the AC was freeeeeezing, which is why I added a flowy (coordinating with the lines of the skirt), grey cardigan over this for most of the day (again #2).

As you can see, in addition to keeping me warm, the sweater also lessens the "enlarging" effects of the light color on top despite being fairly light colored itself. Especially in transitional seasons like Fall and Spring, it helps to have a layer like a sweater you can add or remove depending on the temperature as you change location. Look at your outfit with this outer layer both on and off, make sure its cute both ways. It stink to be "trapped" in a sweater when you're too hot because you can't take it off without looking silly (though I say be comfortable and look silly anyways, however if you can avoid that problem, do it!). 

Now that my outfit is complete with its basics (top, bottom, ready for whatever weather)... I then move into accessorizing to give the look the details that really bring everything together aesthetically. Can you pick out the theme to my coordination from my sweater, accessories, and shoes? If you said silver, you're correct... if you said something else, you're probably right too... after all, you're pretty smart ;-) Hey, coordination? isn't that one of the 6 keys? why yes... yes it is! Number 5 :-)

I've accessorized with a geometric pendant necklace, a silver belt (its reversible, white on the other side, wonderfully versatile), and one of my favorite bracelets, a navy/pink rope bracelet. Aside from being pretty and shiny, each accessory has a purpose. Granted, when I put outfits together I don't always plan a purpose for everything (I'm always happy to take unnecessary credit for it though haha), but analyzing things later its nice to see why they work. The belt serves to define my waist (#1) and helps offer a transition for the eye from the skirt to my top. More functionally, it also helps hide if things aren't tucked in just perfect, or bunching around there (keeps those love-handles squished in too haha). The necklace adds a bit of visual interest (#6), the geometric/angular shapes contrast the flowy, light lines of the rest of the outfit. This slight visual "tension" gives more of a contemporary feel (that is my own personal style). My bracelet breaks a bit from the silver trend, adds a new color or two, but offers a bit of my personality to things (#6)... I'm from Cape Cod, MA, the Cape is very nautically themed if you don't know, so for me, it helps express my region too. The fact I didn't chose a straight up silver bracelet was a conscious choice... too much coordination gets to be what people say as: "too matchy matchy" which creates more of a contrived look rather than fresh and stylish. Its ok to have some things not coordinate perfectly with the "theme" of an outfit.

Finally, I usually choose shoes last... not sure why, thats just how I roll, I spend most of my time barefoot at home, so it is sometimes an after thought to put shoes on for me. For this outfit I chose silver (again with the coordination), gladiator sandals.

They are flat and comfy, good for walking around all day at a conference (#2), while the straps do a fabulous job at breaking up the line of my foot, making my feet look smaller. The lovely wine red nail polish goes fabulously with the color of the skirt (and basically every other color too) and adds a nice attention to detail (#6) touch. If you are going to wear open to shoes, do your nails, make sure they look cute, it will help add to that "put-together" look we're after.

Hopefully this very detailed analysis proves helpful in thinking about putting together outfits. Don't feel like you have to go into deep thought every time you get dressed. There are enough things to worry about in life. Trust your eye... most of this thought happens instinctively. Things that follow these six guidelines will simply "look right" to you, things that don't simply will look a little off... you don't necessarily have to know why :-)

Have fun! 

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Staying Ahead of the Curve: Get Hip to Your Curves, Don’t Skirt the Issue! - Part 4 of 4

Welcome back for the final installment of “Staying Ahead of the Curve”, the quest for creating that coveted hourglass figure. If you missed posts 1, 2 or 3 in the series, please check those out too, lots of great information there as well. Also, some exciting news! We've joined the world of Facebook, so be sure to show your support with a "like" on the "A Stylish Transition" page. 

Today, in part 4, we’ll be discussing how to encourage flattering curves around your hips to wonderfully round out the bottom of that hourglass. As I’ve mentioned many times previously, enhancement (lengthening) of any of the body’s lines can be achieved either by adding volume, or by highlighting/drawing attention to that area. The hip line is no different, and by design, the fashion world offers a myriad of style options to come to our rescue. Let’s jump right in with an example:

Here we have coral, black and white, pleated full/A-line skirt from H&M with a tailored, white button up blouse suspiciously similar to the one in the previous post (ok, you got me, it’s the same one… I told you it was a staple!). This is more of a quintessentially classic, feminine look than I typical wear, however it always fun to stretch one’s limits. Of course, I had to add the pearls for good measure. So what is the lesson to be learned from this ensemble? Lets take a closer look at the skirt and how it creates that sought after volume. Pleats are great for creating volume, really great in fact. For example, this particular skirt has some pretty serious pleat action going on, which takes my hip measurement from its actual 38” to appearing to be around 42” where the outer edge of the skirt appears around my hips. That’s a tremendous increase! Additionally, the skirt is lighter around the hips, further highlighting that section for an added bonus. This is considered a full or an “A” Line skirt , because, quite literally, it is shaped like the letter A (see… some things about style are really straightforward!). The top of the skirt sits up at my natural waist and floats freely outward from there, the result: an effortless hourglass shape around the hips. Be sure you are wearing skirts at the proper height around your waist line to get the most advantage from their shape. This full skirt shape is also commonly found in dress designs and has the same voluminous effect. Dresses with the empire waist cut that we discussed during defining your waist have a similar, but generally more subdued effect of an A-Line, flowing outward from the waist. There are many other shapes you can choose from as well:

                                   Bubble Skirt                                                Tulip Skirt

Experiment with Full, Tulip, Bubble or recently trending peplum style (for the braver fashionistas) skirt types. All do a fabulous job creating that volume around the hips that we are after. Remember, the more rectangular your body shape, the more you want to go for a fully flaring, exaggerated, skirt shape. Styles with only subtle flares do well with the encouragement of slightly curvier bodies but could potentially sit lifelessly and appear shapeless on you. As always, trust your intuition... if it looks fabulous, go for it.

While adding volume to your hips does the trick nicely, there is a surprising other alternative for those of us with straight, more rectangular body shapes. Though it may seem a bit counter intuitive, you can actually do the opposite of what we’ve just discussed and wear something form fitting, like skinny jeans, on the bottom and let your natural curves do all the work for you. This trick is surprisingly effective even with only the most modest of curves if you are of slim build. With a slim build, it doesn’t take much of a difference in hip and waist measurements to see a subtle curve. Let’s take a look at this trick in action:

This outfit features a lush Plum Red, cowl neck, cashmere sweater (brand new and oh so comfy!) and a pair of dark wash, mid-rise skinny jeans from H&M.  This works best with mid to higher waisted jeans and a top that fits a bit more loosely (I find the combination of contrasting looser tops with more form fitting bottoms to be quite effective, rather than form fitting both on the top and bottom). The higher waisted top of the jeans layered under the top helps add a touch more volume as well... every little bit helps. This same concept could work just as well with form fitting pencil skirt if you want a change from skinny jeans.

In review:

1. Try A-line, full, tulip, bubble or peplum style dresses/skirts to add volume to your hips.
2. Be sure to wear skirts at the proper height around your waist line to get the most advantage from their shape.
3. The more rectangular your body shape, the more full/exaggerated you want your skirt shape to be.
4. If you are slim, trying something form fitting on the bottom and let your natural curves shine... you may be pleasantly surprised.