2.26.2014

More Elements of Style




If you weren’t born with a talent for great style, you can have the next best thing: common sense.

Strunk and White’s Elements of Style is my common sense bible. Elegant and slim, it is my style rules for life.  E.B. White’s little prescriptive essay, “The Elements of Style” that has been my guide not only for writing, but for fashion, entertaining, decorating, for just about everything.  

E.B. White’s essay has the answers to all questions. Lets go over just a couple more of the rules.


 Work from a suitable design.
“Design informs even the simplest structure, whether of brick and steel or of prose.” Or an outfit. “Sometimes, of course, impulse and emotion are more compelling than design.”
I like clothes that skim my body with long simple lines and reflect an unstudied insouciance . I seldom skew, for example, the silk shirt as dressy, rather I roll and push the sleeves above my elbow and leave the bottom untucked or tucked haphazardly or into skinny jeans.  Add pearls and a men’s watch and a leather jacket and leave for the day.  

 I have, in addition, a collection of vintage suits, cocktail dresses that are mostly for holiday or special dressing.

Despite its simplicity, it has taken me years to refine my look. The choices are easy; the restraint is hard. Knowing when to stop is an art. It is an economic and ethical decision to live a less material life. I use what I save on travel or experiences with friends and family. So I’m having more fun and look better, my choices undistracted by the clutter that use to be my closet. I feel happier.  



Dress Muse's Elements of Style for this Winter: 

1.     Silk shirt with a round collar
2.     Black pants – one pair that is generous and higher-waisted or one velvety corduroy skinny.
3.     A pair of skinny jeans
4.     Black lightweight wool sheath or a black knit wrap dress, both of which can be dressed up or down. I like pairing both with leggings and flats for a more casual look.
5.     Cotton/cashmere sweaters: one is a cashmere v-neck, but the others are lightweight blends for our unpredictable weather. We can experience 75 degrees one day and 40 the next.
Classic style is timeless 

Add:
Leather fitted motorcycle jacket
A “shrunken” wool school boy blazer- I found a Pendleton in a thrift store and it is my proudest gathering moment
Trench: Mine is black, soft and lightweight, yet warm and could almost be worn as a dress. 

A bright raspberry wool rebozo that belonged to my grandmother wraps around my neck or around my shoulders if the weather suddenly turns.
Shopping:
I buy most of my sweaters, tees, and silk shirts at Everlane.com. The prices are nice, the clothes well-made and beautiful. I also buy tees at a very cool San Antonio company:  Richter Co.



2.19.2014

Elements of Style





If you weren’t born with a talent for great style, you can have the next best thing: common sense.

First Expanded edition in 1959


Strunk and White’s Elements of Style is my common sense bible. Elegant and slim, it is my style rules for life.  E.B. White’s little prescriptive essay, “The Elements of Style” that has been my guide not only for writing, but for fashion, entertaining, decorating, for just about everything.  It is my Magic Eight Ball of answers.  If I face a problem, say, what should I wear to a party where I am nervous about making a good impression? (Don’t try too hard. Wear something you feel beautiful and confident in instead of that designer dress) How should I decorate a table for a few friends over for cocktails?  (Make an ordinary gathering memorable by doing something simple: Put a table outside on the veranda in early summer, serve paletas dipped in rum and light some sparklers for twilight fun.) 

E.B. White’s essay has the answers to all questions. Lets go over just a couple of the rules.

Place yourself in the background.
“…the first piece of advice is this: to achieve style, begin by affecting none — that is, place yourself in the background. A careful and honest writer does not need to worry about style. As you become proficient in the use of language, your
style will emerge, because you yourself will emerge…”

This is the Zen of style: the less you try, the more successful you’ll be.  It seems that style must begin with kindness, a quick laugh, a large and engaged life, passion, curiosity and intelligence, otherwise you are merely a mannequin .  

The “emerging” is what intrigues me. How do emerge? Do we burst out suddenly like butterflies? Sometimes I wish that were the case; it would be so much simpler but not nearly as fun.  It is a process that changes and refines. Developing your style takes patience.  Cultivate taste through reading, museums and art, travel, and friends we admire.  Let your style develop in context of your experiences in the world. And then there is fashion.

Photos by Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast

 [Dress] in a way that comes naturally.
Never imitate consciously, but do not worry about being an imitator; take pains instead to admire what is good…”

When I travel, I like to watch other women. Go to the art museums in great cities.  Women at museums are the best. Sit in outdoor cafés, eat your lunch, sip your espresso and watch.

Top: Kinfolk
Bottom: Margaret Howell's uncluttered style

Develop a point of view, a philosophy. I like uncluttered beautiful clothes that move. Elegant and comfortable clothes that I can spend a day in a morning volunteering, lunch with friends, a quick trip to the gym or yoga, an hour or two in my favorite coffee house answering email and writing or reading, a simple dinner at home, an early evening community meeting, and drinks with friends in a trendy local bar or a film fest (Manhattan Shorts is one of my favorites).  I don’t want to change several times a day.  I want to wear clothes that help me feel beautiful, confident, and luxuriously comfortable. This is my point of view, my philosophy.