The style strategy
This year’s financial crisis took its toll on the recent fashion weeks showcasing designs for spring and summer 2010. From New York to Paris, designs were devoid of the usual frivolities we usually see for this season, save for an interesting mix of footwear, from 10-inch monster heels at Alexander McQueen to curiously rustic clogs at Chanel. Most designers pared down their pieces to familiar silhouettes and classic favorites, and just played around with patterns and colors.
Indeed, when times are hard, fashion grudgingly takes a back seat. But style — ah, that’s a different story. Style belongs nowhere else but the driver’s seat because it’s who you are. It is never just about the clothes on your back — style is all about personality and attitude. Style is the way you carry yourself, throw things together and apart, and wear your clothes. Whether your closet contains designer pieces or Divisoria finds, your style should always shine through.
Marie Claire fashion director Nina Garcia is no stranger to style. In fact, she is best known for her role as judge on TV’s Project Runway, where she uses her vast experience in the fashion industry to help hone the talents of budding designers. Her best-selling books The Little Black Book of Style and The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own offer the same expert advice to women everywhere, summing up everything women must know and own to be stylish.
Her new book The Style Strategy focuses on defining and refining your style. A lot of fashionable women look like they just carelessly threw on their perfect outfits without a thought (damn you, Kate Moss), but getting to that point isn’t that simple. “It requires a strategy,” reveals Nina. “Taking command of your style and staying chic is but one step in this process — an important one, mind you, but not the only one. Shopping smart and saving our hard-earned money is another very important step.”
Her simple strategy to style can be summed up in three simple questions: What do I have? What do I need? What do I want?
As style is all about the person, she starts with what you already have. The first question — “What do I have?” — is about looking into your closet and surveying the current contents. Pick out the classics you can keep and get rid of all the clothes you really don’t need. “What do I need?” is about building a “fashion foundation,” the right selection of pieces in your closet you should always have. Here she shares tons of great tips about picking out clothes and knowing whether they’re worth an investment. For example, in selecting shoes, I used to just ask myself “How cute are these going to look on my feet?” Nina tells you to look closer at the toe, the heel, the materials and construction to see if the shoes are of good quality.
“What do I want?” is all about shopping smart and having fun. Here Nina gives you cheap tricks and thrills you can use to spice up your wardrobe, from colored tights to global pieces (like bindis and harem pants). She even tells you the best places to get affordable pieces, from outlets to vintage shops, from swap parties to on-trend European stores like H&M. Nina also offers advice on the maintenance, repair and storage of your clothes, as well as lists of stores and websites you can check out. She also differentiates cheap, inexpensive and bargain, and throws out things to remember while shopping, like never to buy anything if it doesn’t go with at least three items in your closet.
Quick and easy to read, the book is chockfull of style suggestions that you’ve probably heard before. However, Nina’s process still sounds fun, and by the time you close the book you already want to get started on your own closet recon. Nina dispenses her advice and weaves in both celebrity references and her personal experiences, never letting you forget that her experience and exposure in the industry makes her an authority. Knowing her tips makes you feel like an authentic fashion expert.
Peppered with interviews from fellow Runway personalities like Michael Kors and Season 4 winner Christian Siriano (I love him!), fun quotes from a myriad of fashionable personalities, song suggestions to help you in the three-step process, and fabulous illustrations by Ruben Toledo, The Style Strategy is a light and entertaining read for anyone looking to learn how to be stylish at any price. Whether the book inspires you to buy those expensive flats that you’ll probably use forever, give away that unflattering top you’ve held on to for too long, or stock up on cheap-but-good tank tops, do it in the spirit of celebrating your style. Hard times should never dampen your ingenuity and resourcefulness, even in style. “And being you costs nothing,” Nina declares.
The Style Strategy by Nina Garcia is available at National Bookstore.
