This Year....let your mantra be "TRY something new...different!"
TRY a new color....a new side to part your hair.....and new venue for happy hour! WHY NOT? Not ready to get out of your comfort zone? TRY one step at a time. No need in getting yourself in a fluff of a quandry. Take it little by little.
Here are some ways to TRY.
Step 1: Simply TRY to pull shirts to wear, from the OTHER side of the closet...not the middle or the left like normal. You'd be surprise there is a mind shift. Either one of two things good can happen:
A. You say...all the shirts on that side don't fit. In which case, you can immediately take at LEAST one of those shirts and put them in your bag to take out to the car (for a stop by the nearest goodwill after work:).
or
B. You actually WEAR it. Fantasy that.
Step 2: Hang your clothes to dry (anything that is a JEAN or fabric that has LYRCA in it). 2011 should be about fabric care - not everything has to go to the dry cleaners. Save some years...or frankly months on those cotton jersey tops or knit polos. You will save money in the long run.
If you don't have an extra 200 ft of empty space to lay clothes out to dry, just go to tar-ZHEY and get one of those plastic or wooden clothing racks for laundry. Trust me....you'll thank me by how blue those jeans still look after 4 years of wear:).
Step 3: TRY green. No....I KNOW you recycle and carpool and ride bikes and all that. I mean .....the next time when you go to the store...be it Marshalls or Neimens, instead of your usual color polo or bra or t-shirt you buy, TRY choosing the color g-r-e-e-n! Green comes in a variety of hues but most people look good in green and its just a SMALL (but SAFE) deviation from your usual route through the grey, black or beige aisles.
Remember, whatever you TRY, TRY something just a little different.
So this week I did a variety of jean fittings for both men and women - all who had vastly different body types. And all who wanted to emphasize (deemphasize) different parts of their body. This is normal right? When you have a little pooch, maybe you want to have a higher rise; If you have a larger bottom, maybe you want to balance out your proportions. All this can be done with illusions of wash, a great tailor and of course, me to help pick out the right kind of jeans:-). In the fitting room, my clients always hear me saying the 80-20 rule: I can get you 80% of the way, but tailoring will get you the other 20%. Its a process and fortunately I can make it easier for you to get through it:).
Let's talk about a common problem women have in fitting jeans - "the gape". Typically you fit the largest part of your body first and then have alterations take care of the rest. Sometimes, its a frustrating process. There are also some amazing jeans you can buy that fit real women at the waist - PZI, Cookie Johnson, Citizen's Amber and Eva Jean are super!
More slender women has problems with the legs - too wide still? And you are a 0 or 2 or even a double zero? Try J Brand Jeans or Rich and Skinny. Don't go up a size, don't worry - they seem tiny, but they will give you a great fit. And....you only have to hem the legs.
In your Jeans appointment, we talk about rectangle, pears, hourglass and inverted/apple body types and how based on your type, we can find you a great pair of jeans. The pictures below show what we will DEFINITELY stay away from!
The picture above is provided by a cool local company in Berkeley called Zafu. They've created a little test to out the perfect pair of jeans - I'm going to take the test - stay tuned to the results in my next blog posting!
Guys- you also shouldn't settle for just "ok" fit on jeans - go one size up if you have a larger mid-section or bottom - then have them tailored. Trust me - everyone will notice something "different" about you. You don't need to wear larger shirts over the jeans all the time if that's not your style.
Another issue with a lot of mens jeans, is that their inseam is tooooo short and legs too wideeee! In other words, they flood. LOL. Maybe you didnt feel like taking back the jeans you had after getting them home from the store - maybe you like them short....who knows?! But you only have too choices here - give them to Goodwill or shrink a couple inches:). The tailor can take off fabric, but its hard to put it back on. So if you are not sure, go for the longer inseam initially.
If you find your jeans are a little WIDE in the leg, try sliming down a different way. Guys get the 'relaxed fit' because they whine, "I just wanna be comfortable.....". Well you can be comfortable AND stylish without FLOODING. Trends nowadays are slim fit. Many have super soft combed cotton for that lux feel. So...go for one size up in a slim fit jean like Scotch Whiskey or G-Star. Slimmer legs means you are going for that leaner line - taller, if you will:-).
But watchout - don't go crazy on me and get those super TIGHT pair of men "skinnies" in the picture below - that's gotta hurt - ouch!
Miss Sixty High Binky Skinny
Do Pockets Matter with Jeans? Yep - ok. Let's talk about what they do and don't do.
Pockets for guys are functional - they should be deep to put SMALL items in like iphones and dollar bills. They should NOT be used as an alternative backpack. Don't put keys and phones and broken watches and notes and business cards and ....well - you get my point right? Pockets get worn out quickly and full pockets cause the eye to look to the wrong place on jeans! Please...just don't.
Pockets for women are definitely not functional. It's all about the butt. Yep- making sure the butt looks good. Let's talk about that.
If you have a small butt and want to make it look fuller, try getting jeans with pockets that are angled upwards or slightly below the butt line of the jean. James Jeans and Rich and Skinny Jeans are good for that. They also have pockets that have lots of emblems and such. Trouser jeans or those with no pocket somehow instantly make the butt look rounder. Fancy that.
So you know what that means for the girls who have junk in the trunk.....don't wear jeans with NO pocket LOL. Of course unless you'd like to emphasize it:).
If you have too much in the back and want to de-emphasize it, try buying jeans that have a simple, elegant square with clean top stitching. Your basic levis, lees, Not Your Daughters Jeans and Cookie Johnsons are great. The latter two jeans also have 2% elastic on every style to hug the curves better than the average jean. NOTE: Be careful how much spandex in the jean - any more than 2% has a tendancy to wear out and eventually look like kinda saggy....yick.
Next week, I'll talk about that infamous gap women always have on jeans - you know the one.....where the thighs are snug and hips just fit but that waist always has at least 3 inches of open air.
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