Meet Trish: DFSS Woman of Style

Trish popped up in SIA's life as a fellow Dress for Success volunteer. 

She was a newbie volunteer who stood out because of her easy yet chic style. 

Trish in the DFSS office - gotta love the branding

What makes this even more fun was that the dress above is from Target's current summer range. It is $35. That's serious code for style has nothing to do with price. 

The dress is 100% linen and it also comes in a few bright solid colours. However it's this soft cool grey zebra type stripe which SIA has seen on two women in the real world, apart from Trish. Both looked great. 

So did Trish. 

What SIA loved about Trish's look was also the way she used accessories. 

She demonstrates some really sophisticated techniques: 

Colour:

First she combines some neutral colours (shoes, classic watch, beaded bracelet, wedding ring) with a pop of colour. 

The turquoise pop is fabulously done - one really striking piece (necklace) with two smaller items (ring & earrings).

Nothing competes with the necklace/earrings (which are worn close together & effectively act as one). The neutral accessories dont compete because they are neutral and the other turquoise accessories don't compete because they are small in size. Small but effective.   

Genre:

Second, all her pieces are so different in their feeling. From classic wedding pieces/ the timepiece to a boho crochet bracelet to a dramatic 80s bauble necklace. Yet they all work together. 

Beautifully.

Here is a store photo of the Target frock.
Like I said, I've seen this on two other women on the street & they too wore it well. 

$35 Target SS 2014/15

There's a postscript on this one. 
I saw Trish a few days later at the Dress for Success Garage Sale. So I could take another photo.

Garage Sale Gal

What I thought was fabulous was how she was demonstrating the same style but with different details. 
You see, that's what stylish women do - they understand & demonstrate their style - but always changing the bits within the outfit to keep it fresh, youthful & modern. 

Trish had the same fresh but chic look in a linen smock top (hello Target) & a latte short down to the knee. She picks up one of her best colours (cool blue) around the neckline with the top's embroidery.

Neutral shoes/hat & colour pops in the bracelet, ring & earrings.  Again, notice how one accessory is very strong (bracelet) and the rest, though colourful, are smaller in scale so they don't compete.

When we see someone like Trish work her clothes & accessories in this way, be comforted that she didnt just throw anything on. It all works because it's planned & it suits her. So it looks easy & it's stylish.  

SIA did a major drool over the earrings in this look...

Things to think about:

1. Do you know your style? So even if you can't put words to it, do you find your outfits have a consistency about them and are easy to put together? 

2. Can you recall an age when your look started to demonstrate that consistency? 

3. Are accessories an integral part of your look or an afterthought?  

Little Black Dress for Success

Two women

Different ages

Different body shapes

Different colourings

3 little words

1 big concept

Little Black Dress

From the date stamps on these photos, you will realise they are not quite yesterday's. They were taken at a Dress for Success dinner where a panel of high profile women talked about voluntary work that they had carried out and the benefits around that. 

Functions like that take alot of organising, most of which is done by volunteers. There is a dedicated fund raising committee which runs these types of events. Like clockwork. 

In addition, any other volunteers (who are not on that fund raising committee) can help out during the event. At this evening, the extra volunteers were selling raffle tickets, showing people to their seats, distributing programmes and anything else which needed doing. 

I was one such volunteer. Now there are some rumors that Style into Action is especially motivated by the free meal during such events, especially when held at the big hotels. These rumor have yet to be proven true. Yet. 

SIA also usually runs around with a camera at events. Because you never know what mischief you'll stumble into and recording it is especially fun. 

Here are her photographs from that event. 

https://www.facebook.com/StyleintoAction/photos/a.654731794592618.1073741933.145520518847084/675131739219290/?type=3&theater

But I digress. 

Back to the topic at hand.

Three little words. 

One big concept. 

Little Black Dress.

Here is Robyn, a fellow volunteer. 

I have met Robyn previously because she tends to also volunteer on Thursdays in the showroom, dressing clients. I am there on Thursdays too. 

Have a look at Robyn's little black dress. 

Stunning, yes?

Not just the dress, but Robyn in particular.
Because that's what a terrific garment does for you - it takes the attention from it, to you. As Yves Saint Laurent said: 

 Naturally busy body SIA asked Robyn where she bought it, after all we were old friends, going way back. About a few months after all. 

Robyn said she thought it was Cue but that she had had it for a long time.

Let's break down why this works so well on Robyn. 

1. Robyn's figure has a rectangle shape. This neckline brings the eye upward & across. Perfect to take the focus away from the middle of the torso & up to her face.

2. Robyn's colouring is fair. Black near her face would be quite harsh. But rather than using a black substitute (like navy or charcoal), she lowers the neckline to reveal decolletage, which throws lightness around her face. Perfection.  

3. Since the top is quite stunning, the red pumps round it off nicely by balancing the top. 

4. Classic & chic accessories - pearl accents to fill the neckline & simple jewellery on each wrist. A perfect foil to a little black dress. 

Now, lets move to Vanessa:

Another little black dress, but with so much difference, yet equal effectiveness as Robyn.

Vanessa is all about curves. The reason she looks so fabulous is because she knows how to highlight them. 

Voila!  

I have forgotten the name of the brand but I think she said it was a store in Newtown (??).

What is it about this dress which positively sings on her?  

It's cut to flatter curves. It highlights her small waist (the bow is a nice way to do that too) & it has a perfect fit on her bust & hips. 

In fact, she did Robyn's trick - bring the eye upwards & outwards. The attention goes to her face & any figure flaws magically disappear into the background. 

The full skirt them balances out the top, creating an hourglass silhouette. 

The stars aligned as did girl & frock.

Her choice of black was super classy & timeless. 

Notice also even though technically it has a high neckline, as a busty girl, the mesh effectively acts as a low neckline & breaks up a large expanse of boob-land. It's perfect.

She also knows not to mess with the mesh - necklace not necessary here. 

This dress is also versatile - Vanessa wore it with a slick blow out, but because the back is beautifully low cut, an up-do would work beautifully with this too.  

Just as an aside - Vanessa is part of the fund raising committee - she was the point person on everything for this dinner. The evening ran like clockwork due largely to her efforts. 

Just some more about the frock and its ancestors...

If you are interested - of course you are....this dress was inspired by a Gucci SS 2013 (that's southern hemisphere SS 2013/14).

The Gucci has been worn by Emma Stone & (in magazine editorial), by Miranda Kerr. Good company. 

But what was also exciting is that Vanessa's dress was worn by Rebel Wilson, in the red version. 

You may notice that Rebel has a similar body shape to Vanessa & either she or (most probably) her stylist knows how to flatter it. Vanessa did this on her own. 

In this next photo, I am not quite sure what is happening with Rebel's petticoats though. I prefer the simplicity of Vanessa's number. 

So that's where we wrap up. 

I hope these two girls have shown you how it's not about the particular item of clothing. It rarely is. 

Rather, it's about how you wear the garment. If it fits well, it flatters your complexion and your body shape, then you'll nail YSL's mantra: