THE STYLIST SUIT #04
My favourite styling techniques to make a coat shine
Have you noticed how much we have recently started to look like each other? Is this a trend or is it actually the consequence of living in a world where we have ditched the things that inspired us in the past but also meant making an effort? Things like noticing the costume design in a film, being moved by the colour palette in an artwork, imagining the way a character in a novel might look, music videos, traveling, and all those other things beyond fashion that conform the individual and global experience of dressing, which have somehow disappeared from our regular set of references when it comes to putting together a look. To make matters worse, many of those sources of references suffer from the same Stockholm Syndrome that we do, so there we are.
The other day I came across this post on Rachel Solomon’s Substack where she delves into what does personal style mean today, since we live in a post social media world where everyone looks the same. You should definitely read it because it’s very interesting, the point she makes rings very true from my side of the fence. The past few years I have been noticing this shift towards uniformity. At the beginning of the 2010’s I was starting my career, one of my regular jobs was shooting editorials in different locations across Europe for an inflight magazine, when I first saw this uniformity in regards not only to clothes, but also in the habits of people. Our assignment was to look for the coolest neighbourhoods in each destination and shoot fashion editorials there that represented the unique style of those cities and areas. At the beginning it was easy, after a while, we realized the same cafes, restaurants and shops where sprouting everywhere, but not only that, people’s styles were becoming increasingly aligned. As if an all-powerful fashion editor had sent a memo that everyone had received on the “acceptable styles of the day”. And they weren’t that many.
A few weeks ago I was talking about individuality, how (quite rightly) the New York Times wondered if individuality was going out of fashion. Maybe it’s not that it is going out of fashion, it’s just that the pressure to conform to a very strict set of aesthetics has camped out in everyone’s subconscious thanks to our daily social media overdose and we just don’t know anymore how to tell our own story through the clothes we wear. Some forgot, some others don’t dare, because it feels like muddy ground. And although there are a thousand articles and newsletters on what to wear and how to do it, I’m going to try and explain my 4 unbeatable techniques to tell your story through clothes.
I am aware that many of you are not dealing with the rigours of winter we are experiencing in the northern hemisphere, nevertheless I am going to use the excuse of coats to give some examples of storytelling through clothes, because the layering effect helps build a narrative and adds plain old structure. Also, the idea of talking about coats, second hand ones, came after reading Gillian Orr’s post from a few weeks ago about how difficult it is to find a good coat that serves the purpose of keeping you warm while working seamlessly within the different obligations in you life (work, going out, walking the dog, groceries...) without going bankrupt, to which I commented, suggesting that she looked into second hand options, they’re usually cheaper pieces and when vintage, better quality. After polling with more stylist friends, the consensus was general: Having a single coat for everything doesn’t usually work. So I’ve chosen five pieces, a classic coat, a puffer coat, a trench, a shearling and a quilted coat. Not that we need all five, but I’m going to rely on them for variety’s sake.
These techniques are not the only ones there are, but they are common practice for stylists. All the coats are vintage and the rest of the clothes are aw23 for the most part, therefore on sale now, please don’t take them literally, the idea is to talk about shapes, colours and types of clothing. Nevertheless, if you fall in love with anything, drop me a comment and I’ll let you know where it’s from. One last thing to keep in mind is that dressing is like creating characters, so anything is possible.
Ready? Off we go!
Tonal Styling
The key here lies in the colour palette. You can do it three ways, one, you choose all your look’s pieces from varying shades of the same colour and build the outfit as randomly as it happens, because it always works and looks fantastic.
Note. You can use textures here, but I don’t recommend using prints, it will look messy and heavy. Stick to plain colours.
The other way is a bit more complicated but enormously satisfying, which consists in building colour families, that is, complementary colours that live in the same colour temperature. That sounds cryptic, but look at the gallery underneath the mood-board and you’ll see what I mean, each group of colours will create looks that feel playful and creative, even if your clothes had a fairly serious cut. Avoid using more than three, keep the rest in neutrals.
In the third way, the trick would be choosing clothes that have a similar hue and create effect using a piece in a contrasting colour. This works when you are really loving that one piece and want your whole styling to work as a frame for it. Oldie but goldie, this one.
Challenging preconceived ideas
One of the most succesful styling tips is to work with the unexpected. A shearling is a regular casual piece that we would normally use for everyday activities or the countryside. The trick here is to bring another layer of personality to your look, so, in fact, we’d be doing the styling the other way around, so first the look, later the coat: let's say you are going for a party, and have a whimsical or fairly dreamy outfit put together, adding the shearling and a pair of chunky boots to destroy every notion of this-goes-with-that. When you bring the unexpected in, your are effectively telling the world that labelling you won’t be easy. Another reason why this pairing works, is the shape, bulky at the top and flowing and ethereal at the bottom, so the silhouette feels taller and more balanced that we’d initially imagine.
The Star of the Show
This is great for story telling. You could maybe use any of your favourite books or films as reference, and make it more or less literal, your choice. The idea is to build a character, so that you can add layers of personality with which you identify, like in this case: A girly trench in bright orange could be paired with a pair of denim trousers and shirt that give boyish-50s style, while adding more feminine elements that bring to mind the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, which the trench could originally inspire. The contrasting characters add depth to this look. Think about a particular character and how it relates to you, which different aspects of your personality are contained in it?
Another example: The star of the show in this case are the loafers, they sustain the whole storytelling of the look. I’m using technique no. 1 too, where I keep a colour palette, so that the loafers can take centre stage. I included references from subcultures and cinema to create a character, maybe someone from The Fight Club or a Tarantino film?
Playing with proportions
This is a fairly basic one, but I like it because it contains a bit of all the others. The proportions are key, so this would be an idea for a cropped puffer jacket. The theory behind it is like in no. 2, bulky on top, long and lean on the bottom. The twist comes from contrasting a day piece with transparencies, shiny details and high waisted trousers. The reference works through mood: how do you want to feel today? And the edginess lies in the fact that you can be quite naked underneath because the puffer will keep you warm. Also, playing with contrasting colours can help isolate the part of your outfit that you want to showcase, in my option the focus is on the puffer, but in yours it could be a beaded top, sparkly trousers… your choice.
That’s is all from me this week, dears! Wishing you a great weekend and lots of fun! Let me know in the comments if you try any of the techniques, if you already knew them and how you use them or if you like another one that I didn’t list, let’s talk about it!!!
Ps. On Thursday I posted a thread that has some really interesting thoughts from some of you already about Gucci’s new campaign, have you seen it? What did you think?
Love,
Patty