Fashion Monday: How not to wear a belt
Jan 4, 2010 Fashion
There are days when I leave the house thinking that I look fabulous, only to see myself later in a mirror or a picture and wonder “What the hell was I thinking?”
I have a blue dress that for a while I thought looked fantastic. I got it at Target for $25, wore it to a party at BlogHer in Chicago, and saw some fabulous pictures of me in the dress. Like these (that’s Jennie with me in the pics):
I thought I looked great. In each picture I’m leaning forward a bit, the lighting is flattering, and it basically only shows my top half.
I wore the dress to a wedding a couple months later. Again, looked great, I thought. That’s the bride, Amybeth, with me.
So, when I got an invite to Colin Cowie’s apartment, I threw on the blue dress that I look great in. I paired it with my most expensive shoes and left the house feeling fabulous.
A couple days later, this picture showed up on Facebook (thanks, Katja – next to me in the pic – for letting me use it here):
Holy hell.
I’m not going to claim that I would look fabulous in the dress with a different belt, but it would be a good start. When I met Alison Deyette a few months ago, she said something that I should have paid more attention to: if you buy something that comes with a matching fabric belt, throw it out immediately. Good advice, which I promise to follow from now on.
Up until recently, I thought that the only reason to wear a belt was to hold your pants up. But after Meg Gallagher came to my house and threw out most of my clothes, she told me to buy some big belts, so I did. I spend about $40 each on a brown one and a black one at Loehmann’s. If you’re looking for a way to spruce up your wardrobe without spending too much, especially if you’re trying to lose weight, a decent belt is a great thing to spend money on. It can grow smaller with you, and help define your shape instead of hiding it, like in this picture from last month:
Just don’t wear it like a woman at a party I went to not long ago. She was wearing a big sweater, and a beautiful big black belt. But she was wearing it under her big belly. The belt was getting crushed, and it made her belly look even bigger (and for some reason made her look a little bit like a pirate). Oops.
And most importantly, look in a full-length mirror before you leave the house.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 5. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Alison Deyette, belts, Loehmann's, Meg Gallagher
Fashion Monday. That’s right, I said fashion.
Dec 1, 2009 Fashion
The Bloodbath
If you had told me a few months ago that I would want to write a post about fashion – fashion and me, that is – I would have said you were crazy and would have shown you my closet. Because it was filled with cheap, ill-fitting crap that made me look ten pounds heavier or like a time traveler from the early 90s. Or both.
But now my closet looks a bit better. It still needs tons of work, but now there’s hope. It all started with what I call The Bloodbath. I had won a three hour wardrobe consultation at a school auction, and then the person giving the consultation – a fashionista mom from my ‘hood named Meg Gallagher – moved to California. Which worked out great for me, because I figured that by the next time she saw me I’d be a size 8 and we could do some serious work.
She came back for a week a few months later and I was, of course, roughly the same weight as when she left. But I wasn’t sure when she’d be in NYC next so I let her came over, and the consultation began easily enough. She asked me a bunch of questions about my lifestyle (lazy), my buying habits (terrible) and my personal sense of style (non-existent). Then I tried on my clothes. All of them. In 2.5 hours I tried on everything in my closet, with the exception of a few items that were so hideous she didn’t even need to see them on me. 80% of it went into a heap to be given away/thrown out/burned. I grabbed a few of the comfiest items back, swearing to her that I would only wear them around the house. But the rest went. I looked at the huge pile and thought about all of the money I had wasted on those clothes. Some had never been worn. How the hell did I end up with so many clothes and so little to wear?
What kills me is that I knew what she was going to hate and why, most of the time. But I had to bring someone else into my closet and make me throw the junk out. I never would have done it without her standing there telling me it had to be done.
How it happened
I’m cheap. You’d never know it from my spending habits but I’m cheap. It’s not what I pay for things that matter to me, it’s how good a deal I’m getting on the item. It doesn’t matter if it looks terrible on me and I’ll never wear it: if it’s 90% off and I can button or zip it, it leaves the store with me. I’ve been doing that for decades, in every size from 6 to 18. And spending money on a fashion consultant? Why in the world would I waste money on that? That’s for rich people. If you need me I’ll be elbow deep in the clearance rack at Old Navy.
But if, 15 or so years ago, I had gone shopping with a personal shopper or hired a consultant, I would have ended up spending far less in the long run and looking much better. I don’t know when exactly I was supposed to learn how to put together an outfit, but it never happened. So, while Meg was with me, I paid attention to what she was making me throw out. The things she let me keep weren’t exactly great items, but she couldn’t leave me naked so she had to let me keep something. Before she left she impressed upon me the importance of layering, of belts, and of colors, three things I had never paid attention to before at all.
Shopping smarter
In the couple months that have passed I’ve been slowly building my wardrobe back up. Apparently, I’m a fall. I’ve been buying sweaters and shirts in earth tones. And I invested in a couple of good belts, big ones that I can use with big sweaters so that I don’t look like I’m being tented for termites. And most importantly, every time I’ve gone shopping I’ve only purchased things that I want to wear, right then. No more leaving a store with a bunch of “great deals” that will hang in my closet with the (severely reduced) tags on. I’ve purchased some jewelry, something I never used to do. And I haven’t spent a lot of money, either. I’m still looking for deals, but only after I determine if the look is right for me.
You still won’t find me at Bryant Park, but at least now I can look halfway decent. Meg recently sent me a shopping list, so that’s my next project.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Don’t be stupid when I’m tired
Oct 7, 2009 Amy in the Morning
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Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: ELF cosmetics, Meg Gallagher, metrocard, Microsoft, sleep
