styling class: week 11, post 2

So I've been thinking about my post from yesterday, and while I still feel bleh about life and personal style right now, I do feel challenged and ready to take on each assignment we're given each week.  Big apology that I'm not going to be able to complete part 2 of this assignment this week - I've honest to God thought about what to wear, what kind of ensembles to wear for each of the 6 different types of mixing styles, but I wasn't satisfied.

For example, on Saturday morning, for "Function", I put on a pashmina scarf as a "sari bra" (using a bunch of safety pins), and wore it with my black harem pants and my black wedge boots.  Within 10 minutes, I changed into a t-shirt and shorts.  Why?  I wasn't satisfied.  I felt like I was copying a mix of Karla and random editorials.

source: karla's closet

It felt really awful, because it only reminded me that everything I do now I've learned from religiously reading blogs and magazines.  That's why I can transform myself into any kind of style so easily - and have a closet full of pieces from all different styles - because I have no idea what is "me".  I feel like I'm all over the place - and to prove all of this briefly - Function is "edgy bohemian", "Occasion" was "bohemian glam", "Gender" was "nerdy prep", "Seasonal" was "mori girl", "Cultural" was "classic bohemian", and "Style" was "edgy soft".  Nothing was consistent and everything felt like "poser".  I know it takes time to refine personal style, but it's become so frustrating lately as I become more aware, and I feel like Square One is where I need to start again.

But for the sake of the assignment this week, I for sure did my fair share of browsing for inspiration to come up with these ideas.

Style: a mix of girly and grunge, or romantic and edgier elements (side note: i want to puke everytime someone says, and add a leather jacket or some leather boots to a floral dress to take away from the girliness and make it edgier.  seriously, how many more times do we have to hear this?  isn't there ANYTHING else that can be done?)

source: fashion infusion

Cultural: a mix of eastern cultural prints, but with western silhouettes and carried with western attitude (by this, i mean more relaxed and less conservative rather than cute, bubbly, and traditional qi-pao cuts, etc.)

source: pattern people

Seasonal: heavy knits paired with romantic, flowy, silk-chiffon fabrics - as seen in class earlier.  exactly the example i would have thought of first as well.

Gender: a pantsuit, but as to not veer too far into masculinity, color/patterns, silhouette/structure, shoes/accessories can be used to play up femininity (both the examples below are actually much more feminine that my "Gender" mixing ideal)

source: karla's closet, yeojin bae s/s2011

Occasion: making a casual item more formal, or making a formal item more casual by incorporating what is traditionally viewed as formal/casual wear (side note: the marc jacobs dress below is my all-time favorite dress)

source: racked

Function: wearing something in a non-traditional, non-purposeful way

source: cool things