Analyzing Your Style

This week I’d like to discuss with you the matter of actual style. There’s not just one, of course—there are many and their differences reflect the differences between us as women and the regions we live in. 

Here are some of those differences.

East Coast Chic - Hyper Fashion Conscious with a reputation for hard-edged chic and one-ups-manship that’s really only partially deserved. It divides, as all style types do, into Dressy and Casual.

In the East Coast Dressy Category, the Little Black Dress still reigns supreme, followed by other dark neutrals like navy, gray and less often, brown. In the spring, you’ll see white, light navy (French Navy), some brights like red and orange, less often, greens, pastels, some florals and other prints.

In the East Coast Casual Category you’ll, of course, see jeans and T-shirts, but rarely on their own in the cities. They’ll usually include a jacket, cardigan or other outfit-maker, like a vest. You’ll see more tailored pants here than in most places.

Southern Style always has its emphasis on looking beautiful. They follow fashion, of course, but you’ll rarely see a southern woman wearing anything that’s objectively ugly or that looks awful on her just because it’s trending.

In the Southern Dressy Category, southern women love to dress up and wear more gowns than anyone outside of Hollywood. You’ll see a lot of dresses, pastels, florals and high heels.

In the Southern Casual Category, it goes without saying that jeans prevail, but once again, you’re less likely to see a pair of jeans that don’t flatter the wearer—they pay attention to fit. They also wear more casual skirts, usually minis or maxis, and you’ll often see a pretty little shirt acting as an open jacket over a camisole.

The Western Woman I hardly need to explain because, largely thanks to the movies, this look has become iconic.

In the Western Dressy Category you’ll see dresses in all colors, but they may not be in the latest fashion. Western women see themselves as pragmatic and although they don’t wear dresses as often as in other regions, if they like the dress and feel good in it, they’ll wear it forever. Dressing up is usually a matter of adding something extra to an everyday outfit, like a blazer, duster or a shawl. They’ll also wear a maxi-skirt with an everyday shirt and boots.

In the Western Casual Category, you’ll see Jeans, Jeans, Jeans and T-shirts, often tucked in and worn with a shirt - also tucked in. Boots reign in the Western look and many Western women wear nothing else, even in summer.

Beach And Sunshine. This style includes California and Florida. There are subtle differences. Florida tends to dress in more tropical colors and prints. California, to more whites and pastels.

Beach And Sunshine Dressy Category - In these costal areas dressing up isn’t much of a thing. With the exception of the Hollywood/Film Crowd, the height of dress-up is likely to be a sexy cocktail dress meant to show off a toned and tan body.

Beach And Sunshine Casual is the thing here and it includes jeans and T-shirts, but they don’t dominate as they often do in other areas. Maxi-skirts, mini-skirts, and shorts are common, worn with tanks, bare-midriff and bikini tops. The Hippies may be gone, but their style still prevails in California and has morphed into the final style -

Bohemian or Boho, which is worn in all regions. Every couple of years, it is declared dead by the fashionistas. But, it never actually dies, it just gets renamed. It’s been called Hippy, Soft Dressing, Gypsy Chic and others. Now, we’re back to Bohemian (Boho) , which it was called in the 1920’s & 30’s.

There’s not much difference between Boho Dress-Up and Boho Casual. It includes soft fabrics like Silk, Charmeuse, Velvet, Georgette, Chiffon and Voile in jewel tones, paisleys and florals. It is the easiest of all styles to wear because it is loose and flowing and looks beautiful on all body types. And, it works in all but the most formal settings.

Of course, all of these are generalizations. Styles overlap and drift into one another and social circles follow their own interpretations.

So now, it’s your job to analyze your particular body type. I don’t have to innumerate them, every one of you has seen a hundred body-type charts and knows her type.

You just need to realistically analyze your assets and (let’s call them) not-so-much assets, factor them into the style you’re most attracted to and decide how you want to assemble the components.

As always, your friends’ attitudes and expectations will enter into it. You don’t want to be the Monarch Butterfly among the Swallow-tail Butterflies, but this is your time to choose what you love and what you think looks good on you. That is the essence of Style.

Next week we’ll have fun with prints and patterns and what they can do for you.

- Gabrielle