OFF THE CUFF : Dressed Up With All the Trimmings
I t’s the holiday season, and, if you’re lucky, those party invitations have been coming since Thanksgiving. Dressing up is easy if you’re Santa--you just drag out that old red suit and make your entrance. But what about women who don’t want to wear the same tired stuff to every get-together?
Sam Smith, owner of Rebel Smith Collection in Villa del Sol in Fullerton and Triangle Square in Costa Mesa, says you can stretch your festive wardrobe allowance by accessorizing an outfit to make it look different for each occasion.
As a fashion consultant, she advises her clients to mix up complementary accessories to create the attention-getting devices they’re looking for.
This is another in a series of first-person columns that allows people connected to the fashion industry to talk about their encounters.
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The hardest thing about the holidays is figuring out what to wear to last-minute parties. None of us has time to shop on the spur of the moment, but if you shop wisely beforehand, you can create new looks for new occasions.
I would suggest purchasing a simple pantsuit or dress in a solid color with a great line that looks different by adding different necklaces or earrings, putting on a vest or a velvet blazer, or wearing it with a pump or a granny boot.
The wine or rich brown colors that are popular this season can be accented with gold jewelry, a lace vest or velvet bolero.
I had a lady come in the other night saying, “I need something for a party.” She was looking for a “party dress” with beads. Instead, I suggested a stretchy dress in Lycra velvet with a turtleneck and a nice line. We paired it with an antique necklace with brushed gold and brushed gold earrings, and that’s all she needed.
Some women think everything has to match: the necklace, purse, shoes. That’s boring. What makes an outfit interesting is what is used to put it all together. It’s like walking into a room with interesting artifacts. You want to look at each one, and you don’t want everything to look the same.
Accessories are so hard for so many people, but they are what make an outfit. A black dress can be enhanced with a beautiful pearl necklace with a pewter heart, wonderful antique pewter earrings with semiprecious stones and a vintage velvet handbag.
You should never throw away your accessories, but use them year after year with an updated silhouette.
Over-accessorizing is tacky. You have to look at an outfit and ask, “Do I need this belt, or will it conflict with the necklace?” Simple looks the best. I try never to overdress; I try to be elegantly underdressed rather than gussied up.
No matter how much confidence you have, you always ask yourself, “Do I look right?” Especially if your job is to dress other people. I go to my closet and ask, “What am I going to wear?” I wish I had someone who would dress me.
