Yummy

 I just loved this outfit and got a real kick out of wearing it! This is the first time i've worn this top tucked in. I was worried that it wouldn't come off, but it worked okay. And there wasn't so much extra fabric from the peplum that i had to pull off some weird clothing-judo in order to cope.

I love re-mixing, as you well know. Nothing thrills me more than busting up an outfit, though to be honest i don't buy clothing as outfits, don't make items with an eye to creating outfits, and have not repeated an outfit since sometime in 1983. Really!  I don't know how i got into this habit of NEVER repeating the same configuration of clothing. Maybe it was an attempt to make my tiny wardrobe seem more varied. Maybe it had something to do with reading this Ellen Wallace piece on French style secrets, published in Cosmopolitan in 1982. (Kudos to the brilliant Dead Fleurette for digging it up and making it available on the internet!)

But recently i've been feeling drawn towards repeating once more. I definitely had my favorite 'outfits' when i was a girl and in college - i can remember many of them to this day. I loved feeling that what i wore was flattering, stylish, comfortable, 'just right'. These 'just right' outfits often grew from 'just right' articles of clothing. As i've managed to get my hands on some 'just right' pieces once again, i suppose it's not surprising that i'm feeling the lure of repeating 'just right' outfits again as well.

This longing, of course, goes straight against the grain of the style blogging world. I have to admit, the more time i spend style blogging the less i'm attracted to some of the blogging world's main tenants. I want to repeat outfits that make me look great and that i love. I don't want to wear a belt as a necklace. I don't want to wear dresses as skirts and hold it all together with a belt. I want my clothing to fit as well as it can, with no fussing. I don't want to 'stretch my style boundaries' just to stretch them -  i want to look as great as i can as much of the time as i can. In my view, experimentation is only called for when i have no idea what i can wear that will look great.

One incident brings this home to me. A little over a year ago, a certain style blogger decided that she wanted to wear a particular item of clothing. This piece represented many things to her - edginess, rocker-style, out-there-ness, extravagance, boldness. It was also very trendy at that time. Let's say it was a purple ostrich skin moto jacket. It took time to find just 'the one', to develop an outfit that she felt was 'her' around the jacket, money was spent in abundance, etc. This blogger wore the item proudly on her blog, talking about how edgy she felt in it and how much it was completely outside of her 'style boundaries'.  The blogger looked fine in the piece - not great, or outlandish. Just fine. The blogger may have felt edgy and outrageous, but it didn't seem to come across in the photos. And i've never seen that item again.

I am aware that an argument can be made that this was a learning experience, well worth the time and effort, that has affected this person's style in many ways. And it can be considered rude to make these types of observations about what another person chooses to wear.

But i wonder. What if the same energy had been put towards finding a great, edgy, rocker look for that particular person? If the focus had been in finding what items, colors, shapes, details, proportions worked to give this person an edgy, outrageous look instead of focusing on a certain trendy item of clothing? If the focus was on this person instead of on a certain piece of clothing? The ironic thing, to me, is that this style blogger had previously shown herself in some outfits that looked very edgy and very her.

But they weren't trendy or outrageous, and relied very heavily on certain elements that she had decided she wanted to avoid. I am in no way knocking this person. Like many style bloggers, this person has fairly recently become interested in clothes and fashion - making up for lost time is completely understandable! And wearing a wide variety of colors, shapes, styles, can give you a feeling of really participating in their own unique style, and is a tried and true way to hone in on what you really love. Yet, the more i blog the more i finding i'd rather wear the same clothes and look and feel great!

The fashion chameleon, with boxes of clothes in the attic whose contents she has memorized, is a true style type. But so is "The French Girl". It's interesting to me that through participating in style blogging, a world ruled by the chameleon, i've come back to my roots, in love with the small, gorgeous, flattering closet.

Do any of you find yourselves at odds with some of the main "Holy Commandments" of style blogging? Which are they? How much does it get in the way of your enjoyment of reading or writing a blog? Any great 'French Girl" blogs you can turn us on to?