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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Debunking the "Magic" of Stripes!

Stripes were always something that confused me. I’ve heard many times, as perhaps you have, that wearing horizontal stripes will make you look wider and vertical stripes are slimming. At first thought, that seems stands to reason… after all, in many cases adding lines parallel to the lines of your body tends to increase their apparent length (ergo… horizontal lines will make the hip/waist/bust lines wider). For a long while I avoided wearing the infamous horizontal stripe style, but couldn’t help being drawn to looks featuring them. Eventually, horizontal stripes found their way into the black hole that is my closet (as does pretty much everything) and much to my surprise, I loved the way I looked in them! How can this be? Is everything I know wrong? Are cats and dogs living in harmony? The truth is out there!

Like a skeptical red-headed FBI agent, I embarked upon a quest to find the truth about stripes and along the way have reinforced my belief in trusting my eye and intuition. While researching stripes, my search quickly took me out of the world of style and into the world of optical illusions! That’s right kids, horizontal stripes create an optical illusion which, when employed correctly, will make you look slimmer…. Prove it you say? Challenge Accepted!

The secret is based around the Helmhotlz Square Illusion. That sounds pretty awesome right?... Let’s take a look (yes, I’m going to geek out for a moment, bear with me). Which of the two squares below looks skinnier?

I say the one on the left appears skinnier. What do you say?

As you probably guessed, they are actually the same size, yet the horizontally lined square appears taller and skinnier. There is debate as to whether this effect is applicable beyond 2D, and if you’re interested there is a research paper discussing just this question published by the University of York. The verdict? Even when extrapolated out to real clothing on mannequins, the horizontal stripes appeared about 10% skinnier to the eye based on their findings.

Didn’t read the paper? Still Skeptical? Here is a great article with a bunch of side-by-side comparisons of real people styled in vertical and horizontal stripes (for those of you non-nerdy types, I’ve got your backs too).

This pretty conclusively debunks the fashion advice that horizontal stripes make you look fatter. Hooray! Stripes for everyone!... Not so fast. Remember that the width, spacing and placement of stripes on your body play important roles to how flattering a look you can create. Let’s jump into a couple outfits and apply what we’ve just learned.

For the first look as usual, we’ll keep things simple with a navy and white striped sweater.

Straightforward styling here simply uses stripes as a top. This v-neck sweater has thin stripes on  the arms and back paired with slightly large stripes on the front. Overall very flattering. The take home point here is that the stripes themselves are relatively thin. You’ll find that keeping the width of the stripes thinner will allow you to take advantage of stripe’s flattering effects. Wider stripes will end up starting to have that dreaded widening effect. As a good guideline to find your stripe sweet spot, you want to match the stripe size to your body size... smaller/thinner stripes for smaller thinner bodies, larger/more built bodies can tolerate wider stripes and still be flattering. Trust your eye.

Our next example is a bit more fun and pairs a navy pencil skirt with a striped tee for a more nautical/summery look. Nothing says nautical like the color navy and stripes!

The stripes here are wider than in the sweater in the first example. I seem to notice a definite decrease in that magical thinning effect as a result. I know from experience, I'm reluctant to get too much wider with the stripes as they start adding width rather than slimming my body.

Our final example, features stripes used in a layered look, keeping the actual stripes themselves still on the thinner side.

Using stripes as a layer, such as under the black blazer here, is a great way to add texture to your look and give it a little extra pizzazz. Metallic threading (like the silver thread subtly woven through the gray stripes on this top) can tie in well with accessories like the stretch bracelet shown here to bring an outfit together. Since the stripes are not fully exposed across the width of my body, I don’t really take full advantage of the effect. If you find a striped piece you like, but fear the stripes are a bit too wide to aide in slimming, a layer over the top might be just enough to even the whole look out. 

With a little sleuthing, horizontal stripes no longer have to be alien to our style choices... but ultimately in trying to debunk the magic of stripes, we simply find that they are indeed just that, magical. Do you use stripes in your wardrobe?  Have you worked creative stripe magic of your own? 

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Cheers, Kayci

Staying Ahead of the Curve: An Opportunity too Good to Waist! - Part 3 of 4

As we’ve discussed in parts 1 and 2 of our series on creating curves, enhancing your silhouette with those iconic feminine hourglass curves is a wonderful way to build a flattering foundation for any style. This time we will look at how best to shape our waists to create a graceful inflection point of our hourglass shape. With a rectangular body shape, it is sometimes difficult for the eye to tell where the curve of the waist should fall so its important we offer as much help with our style choices as possible when we’re trying to create those hourglass curves. Being a rectangular body shape, I find that defining my waist is the single most useful way to help achieve a curvier appearance. This is because my bust and hip measurements (if you recall, I’m 37-30-38)  are already about the same, so if I give the appearance of a smaller, more defined waist, my top and bottom (bust and hips) are balanced. Subsequently, bringing in my middle (waist) makes a curvier shape. I can make curves more pronounced by adding more on top and bottom if I like as well.  If creating curves is the goal, we should always focus on a balanced bust and waist, while adding definition to the waist. This can be accomplished by finding clothing that is tailored to flatter the waist or by defining your waist with a belt.

Like we’ve talked about, your natural waist should be a few inches above your navel, however there is some flexibility in where you can actually define this line. Depending on how clothing falls on your body you may want to define it slightly higher or lower depending on what looks best, you’ll know the sweet spot when you find it and it will vary depending on what you wear.

Clothing tailored to shape the waist - 

Luckily, many tops or dresses are already tailored in such a way as to shape the waist rather than simply hanging flat. Let’s take a look at a simple example:

This simple white button up blouse (which should be a staple of any woman’s wardrobe), is a great example of darts (seams used for shaping). Do you see the vertical seams that pull the fabric in below the bust? They create the gently curving silhouette along my side, very flattering. If possible, look for these types of fitted styles and be sure to try them on… they wont work too well if they aren’t following your body shape.

Another way to choose clothing which pulls in at the waist is to look for empire waist cuts. Sorry to all you Star Wars fans out there, but it is actually french and pronounced “om peer”, so you won’t see Darth Vader sporting one of these anytime soon (unless he’s trans and reads my blog). Like the v-neck is the flatter-any-body-type neckline, the empire waist cut is a go to flattering waist cut for most body types. An empire waist is any waistline that is defined just below the bust (above the natural waist). Below this defined waist, the lower portion of garments with empire cuts hang, flowing outward away from the waistline to varying degrees. This cut can be found in both tops and dresses.

 It just so happens that I have a top that is an example of this great v-neck, empire waist combo:

As you can see, the waistline is directly below my bust, while the sides slope gently outwards as they make their way down to my hips. This sloping line reinforces the lower half of that hourglass shape. Many of us may find that we’d like to shed a few pounds, especially around our stomach area (the dreaded beer gut!). By hanging loosely over your mid-section, empire waists can help conceal and de-emphasize those extra pounds. Sometimes fitted clothes like our first example can be not as effective due to a bulge here or there, an empire waist tends avoid this problem.

Defining the waist with belts - 

The idea of using belts outside of safety of the belt loops on your pants may seem a bit awkward at first, but it is a handy trick when it comes to defining the waist line and can become a useful accessory in your wardrobe. A few things to consider with belts are the color, width, and placement on your body.

You have likely seen plenty of clothing with built in belts, ties, or ribbons around the waist. These combinations are very helpful for a few reasons. Not only do you get a free belt, but they will likely give you a nicely coordinated belt/top combination so you won’t have to worry about pairing your own belt (though that can be a fun opportunity for accessorizing in your own style). Let’s take a look at an example of this type of combo:

The thin black belt on this coral top falls right on my natural waist, creating lines that sweep outward from it both above and below, a subtle hint to the eye of that hourglass shape. Notice how when you pull in, even slightly, at the waist, it forces the fabric to then flow outward from that point, instant curves! When shopping for these kinds of tops/dresses, be sure to look critically at where the designed waist of the garment falls in relationship to your natural waist. As a guideline, you typically want to aim to hit your natural waist or slightly above, however, it may still be flattering if the belt falls elsewhere too so use your best judgment, some looks work best slightly below the natural waist too.

Amongst the options to consider when choosing a belt is the width of the belt. Whether a belt is skinny or wide, its important to find one that adjusts either with a buckle or by stretching around your particular waist sizes and can fit both above, on, and below your natural waist. Feel free to play with widths on your own body to see what you like, some general tips to help: With less defined, rectangular waists (like mine) skinny belts which lay slightly lower than your natural waist in front usually look great. Girls with longer torsos/waists can wear wider belts quite successfully; conversely, shorter waisted girls should stick more to thinner belts. Wider, elasticized belts can be used to have a “girdling” effect over areas that may have a little extra.

Layers offer many opportunities for creativity and creating volume, however, curves will tend to get lost a bit in multiple layers. With so much potential for putting our own personal twist on our style, there is no need to sacrifice creating curves while playing with layers. It is simply too much fun to miss. Once again, belts to the rescue!

This outfit features a soft pink, button front cardigan over a chambray button up top with a neutral belt wrapped around all the layers. This could also work wonderfully with the outermost layer being a belted sweater. No matter what you wear, be mindful of how baggy or fitted your outfit is in order to avoid creating unflattering bunching when using a belt, this is especially true with multiple layers.

In review:

1. Look for tailoring that promotes curves. Empire waist cuts work especially well.

2. Try pieces with built-in belts to better define the waist.

3. Add your own belt over layers to help create shape.

4. Experiment with different widths and placements of belts to find the most flattering combination.