More Personal Style Thoughts- Making Good Choices

It has been a while since I have ventured into thoughts on personal style.  Mostly because I am still struggling with mine.  It has been nice with the change of weather to be able to bring out some of the other things hiding in my closet.  Which brought me to a thought on personal style, it is well worth the time it takes to pick good pieces to have in your wardrobe.  While going through my winter wardrobe, I realized that there are just some pieces that were good purchases, while others were quite foolish to be honest.

The pieces that I felt were good purchases have attractive styling, a flattering fit (no matter if I have gained a few pounds), quality fabric and are in a flattering color.  The things that I couldn't believe were hanging there were mostly things that once they had been washed, they had lost their shape,  their coloring had faded making them less than attractive or the color was not all that great to begin with.

Since I began working at Burns Saddlery I have become a lot more aware of my choices when it comes to purchasing clothing.  It takes a little more than a "that is cute" for me to buy an item.  I look at how it hangs on the hanger, I feel the fabric, and I try it on.  More often than not, the things hanging in the closet that don't get worn are those things that I didn't take the time to try on.   Not only does trying clothing on give you a sense of the fit, but how the coloring of the item either flatters you or detracts from you. 

It is difficult to tell if something will hold up in the wash, but it pays to do a little research.  Get a feel for quality fabric.  The best way to do this is take the time to search out quality items, even if they are not in your budget, you can get a feel for quality with a little examination. Hold the fabric up to the light and tug the threads in opposite directions (gently of course) Are there a lot of threads per inch, does the fabric "give" and how much light can you see? A thin, cheap cotton will give and let a lot of light through. Run your hand over the fabric and feel for quality and smoothness.  Scratch it with your fingernail to see if it pills or comes up.

Also take a little time to read the tag, natural fibers, such as cotton, wool and cashmere tend to be better quality and hold up better than synthetic fibers, such as nylon, polyester and acrylic.  A good majority of clothing is made in a blend of natural and synthetic, and it is always better to have a higher content of natural fibers in any blend. 

Taking the time to not only develop your style, but to educate yourself on quality will help you fill your closet with pieces that you will find yourself wearing for years to come.

Personal Style

Last week, I began my journey into personal style. I have a little story to share. I often check out our vendors facebook pages to first see what they are doing and what is new and second to get ideas. I happened to be on the Cruel Girl facebook page and they had just posted their August photo album. (The August line is darling by the way, I have a shirt we got in that I can't wait to post.) Anyway, back to the point, there was a comment left about the model wearing high heels and Cruel Girl being a western brand along with a comment about the big bracelet that the model is wearing.

This gave me a little insight when it comes to personal style. Who is to say that girls that wear western branded clothing don't wear heels or chunky jewelry? Or girls that wear heels and chunky jewelry don't wear Cruel Girl? There are a lot of girls that lead a "double life" as quoted by our Miller International Rep., Shane. He was referring to those girls that work in an office during the day and are cowgirls in the evenings and on the weekend. And it makes perfect sense to me that the two can overlap.

It is no secret that I am not a cowgirl, but I love my boots and jeans that are made by "western" brands. I like combining different "styles and brands" for instance I am wearing a baby doll top from Buckle, my skinny jeans by Rock & Roll Cowgirl and flats by Roxy today. I think the overall look is great. All I need to do is change one component of the outfit, such as swap my flats for boots and I have an entirely new and just as great look.

So the point of my post being, don't limit yourself in thinking that because an item comes from a certain brand of clothing that it must be worn in conjunction with only articles of clothing from the same "style or brand". Combine components of an outfit in a way that you like, and change them up for an entirely different look.