One of the pleasures of reading fashion blogs is seeing my own inchoate thoughts crystallized. (Yes, that’s solipsistic. Indulge me!)
I love this blouse (from LuckyBrand Jeans — their site isn’t working right now).
But I’m not going to buy it. This post, from Putting Me Together, via Already Pretty (as always) helped me figure out why.
Many fashion blogs tell you not to buy something unless you can think of three things you already have that will go with it. But most things will go with a black skirt, black pants, and jeans/jean skirt, and most women have those. And a dress isn’t really supposed to “go” with anything — that’s the beauty of dresses, they are self-contained.
Audrey at Putting Me Together starts with the question “Can I wear this with three different things?” but the way she works it out shows that that’s not really the question. The question is: can I wear this item in three different ways? Wearing something with black pants and a black skirt doesn’t really count as wearing it differently — at least not for me.
I can’t imagine wearing this top, lovely though it is, in different ways. The top would always be the focal point of the outfit, and the look would be pretty much the same whether I wore it with something casual or something work-like on the bottom. I think this is why I don’t have many print tops, and why I don’t wear the button-front blouses I do have — I lack the imagination to see them as versatile. Strangely enough, I don’t have that problem with patterned skirts. If this were a skirt, I’d be pulling out my credit card now, which would be unwise, so it all works out for the best.
If I were to buy a skirt I’d buy this one. Printed denim jeans don’t move me. I had a pair of printed jeans in high school –dots AND flowers! Beat that! But I am weak in the knees for that skirt. I also quite like this one. But I think that the latter skirt, despite its simplicity, would be much less versatile and harder to wear. Is that incorrect?
Another Door 
I cannot imagine what would work with the topshop skirt! But it would be figure flattering… the Lucky shirt wouldn’t be a focal point under a blazer–it would be an accessory.
I have four work dinners in the next two weeks–we’re hiring–and I spent a couple hours trying on non-work clothes that would be good for an evening dinner at a sophisticated place. Came up short. The pass between “mutton dressed as lamb” and “woman of a certain age” feels so narrow.
I never thought of the Lucky shirt going under a blazer. That just shows how that bright print completely shuts down all rational thought. I thought the topshop skirt with a variety of bright tops, then with black — but that’s really only two looks, and the bright tops would have to be really crisp to stand up to the fabric and structure of the skirt, so, yeah, it’s hard to wear. As for you, lovely, can you tolerate Ann Taylor? They sometimes carry pieces that are standouts. Talbot’s too — although chain stores in your environment might be as rare as their opposite is where I live.
This is totally a really great way to think of clothes. You are right – you can easily put a really interesting top with a very similar bottom, but it takes more to actually really create 3 unique looks with an item. I have been cleaning out things I really never wear lately and thinking about new purchases. Items that will really add something to my wardrobe, not just be an extra piece of clothing I now own. Love reading your fashion posts. They always get me thinking about own constant clothing dilemmas.