Dress in style

Press, 7 May 1980, Page 10

Dress in style

Individual style is vital to every woman as the expression of her personality. It need not be difficult or expensive to achieve once you have learned the basic rules of colour and shape and the essential art of mixing the ingredients. Guidance is something many women find lacking these days in fashion. It is often difficult to make a decision when the selection includes a variety of baffling styles -'including the frilly, the ethnic, the tailored, a one piece, two piece or three piece. Once you have discovered your type and recognised your good points as well as your bad, you will be able to make the most of what you have. And that is what fashion is all about. As you begin to seek out your own style, do not automatically expect the shops to provide it.. Real individuality is not the fashion industry using

you, telling you what to wear, but you using it as a storehouse of ideas, only some of which will suit you, but suit you very well. Once you know what you want you will be able to start sewing, knitting, collecting and buying garments to suit the real you, and you will probably be surprised at your success. Having to budget on a shoestring will not stop you from looking good. In fact it helps if you can try to look at poverty as an asset. For one thing it concentrates the -mind — or should. If you can afford to buy 20 dresses, you probably will not give them the real thought you give one dress when ?t is the only one for a long time. For most of us, taking a bit of time can really save money. Mixing is really not the easiest thing to learn but remember it is your own mix you are after and whatever you come up with in your experimenting is free. Some of the prevailing themes of style are here as follows: Modem Classics Classic clothes get their name because they do not date and they can be worn ■with confidence from year to year. These understated clothes and accessories are for women of all ages and they usually go with everything. They combine comfort and elegance, practicality and dash. Skirts, trousers, and boots allow for movement; bags are of real leather and last for years; coats, shirts, pullovers and jackets are soft, loose and often belted. One of the most eyecatching features of the classic look is its hats. The epitome of good sense and good style, they range from berets through panamas and boaters to trilbys and soft floppy widebrimmed affairs for summer. ■ Classic materials are natural fibres and leather and because they last for years they are worth spending as much money on as you can afford. Look for silk, cashmere, woollen knits and pure wool tweeds, linen, grey flannel and fine

cotton. However, some of today’s man-made fibres look almost as good as the real thing and cost half the price. Quality of cut is just as important as the material in classic clothes and you should aim for simple uncluttered lines and fine workmanship. Cream, grey, black, white, fawn and navy are the basic classic colours, and these will go well with clear reds, blues, greens and yellows. Classic clothes are simple — the basics of any warcrobe, and are neutral enough to be dressed up differently for every occasion. But there are pitfalls. If you do not use your imagination you can look dull and if you stick to the look too rigidly it can dim your eyes to new ideas. The romantic look is always with us, but never more ■ so than now. For some tvomen it means looking pretty and fragile and for others it means a nostalgia for the past or for the gypsy life. Practicality is not the first thing women of the romantic style look for in their dress, nor is simplicity — you can be as clustered as you like, although it does take a bit of putting together. The bits and pieces that enhance this style include pretty shoes; girlish shoes, ballet slippers, pretty sandals, high-style boots. Handbags are straw baskets, cane boxes, beaded evening bags from the attic. Hats are flowertrimmed boaters with floppy straw brims. Lace is everywhere — on blouses, collars and cuffs, scarves and handkerchiefs and petticoats is embroidery, ribbons, bows and flowers. Shawls go with all the lacey, romantic looks — the lacy knits, gypsy black with roses and casha meres. Now that the old rules are gone, anything goes — at least for a trial run. You can wear . every fad that comes along. It depends on how conspicuous or how much a leader of “fashion” you want to be. Make mistakes, make them, cheaply if you can, and learn- from them.