My Personal Style Resolutions #9: What Will I Wear Today

Jennie here from What Will I Wear Today. WWIWT is a collection of sisters and friends who have created an outpouring of rantings, musings and observations in the form of a fashion blog. There is much wry humour, some personal styling, a fair bit of cheeky filming and some pretty cool illustrations – all the ladies like to throw their hat in the ring by utilising their own skillsets.

Come one, come all; tis a place of sartorial safety, fashion community and stylish distraction.


As I sit here and write this, I'm already doubtful as to how realistic my resolution is. I should give it up. I could give it up. But I don't actually want to give up my dirty ‘ol habit. It's hugged me in a warm embrace over the years; shielded me from the cold, buffered me from judgement, swaddled me in love.

What is this grubby little fashion faux pas? Why it's the Tracksuit my dear friends - that heinous, arch-nemesis of fashion. That slovenly ying to the well-groomed yang of fashion.

I love every kind of tracksuit; I’m not fussy. Zip ups, hoodies, feiffer pants (fat heiffer - for those ‘dirty chicken baguette and a packet of Monster Munch’ days), oversized tee's etcetc. And I'm not talking gym gear - oh no - I have pristine, aero-dynamic, streamlined gym gear that has a very distinct identity and a separate shelf in the wardrobe. Nope, my dressed-down look is messy, mis-matched and maddening to my fashionable alter-ego. Sometimes I like to perceive it as 'street' and 'hip', but deep down I know I'm closer to the Cat Lady from the Simpsons or Vicky Pollard (my nickname in the office during these periods is 'Spare Change?')

Why do I embrace this seemingly slovenly look? Because I am a woman of two halves, of diverging principal, of competing agendas. Basically I'm an either/ or kinda gal. I'm either in powerhouse, full-frontal fashion mode: replete with my dangerously architectural Finsk wedges, my Marcus Lupfer printed t-shirts, my leather hotpants, my Moshino belt – (no place for practicality in this fashion offensive,) - or I'm lounging around in my striped trackies, flouro t-shirts and men's baseball caps. My heels lift me up (hnar hnar) my hoodies keep me grounded. Sometimes I just need a break from it all. To step away from the maddening crown and the hustle and bustle of the fashion industry… the only way for me to check out is by wearing my joggers. And at the end of the day, if Alexander Wang, Ashish and Stella McCartney all got on board, the trackie look can’t be too much of a bad thing?

Ashish

Alexander Wang

So you know what? I'm going to completely retract my style resolution - or dissolution if you will. I'm quite happy with this Jekyll and Hyde power struggle. What I would like to remedy however, is an increasing budget to fund these two projects and perhaps therein lies my resolution: commit to my mild scratch-card persuasion full-time.

Hurrah for Winter (Ssh...)

Our second blog post comes from Jennie of What Will I wear Today.  Her post totally echoes how I feel about Winter, so much so that I read it and immediately kicked myself for not writing about it before.  It was sore, but without discipline, I'll never learn.  'Hem. 
You can also contact WWIWT via their twitter or facebook page.

Wintry looks from D&G, Christian Dior and Anna Sui

Ok, controversial statement, I know. Hear me out though. Some people wait all year round for summer to arrive. I don’t. I find summer oppressive. It is a relentless tyranny of waxing, exfoliating and tanning. We are poked and prodded all summer long under an inscrutable mandate from the magazines to be ‘bikini ready in 2 weeks’. We pander to the media expectation of a fawn-like cherub emerging from the ashes of our wintry old self.

Well here’s a newsflash – I don’t possess a cherubic version of myself. I emerge from the bowels of winter pretty much the same as when I entered: pale, pasty and probably still suffering from a cold. I don’t ‘do’ summer – I get hayfever, I get sunburn, I get frizzy, wispy stress-curls. Winter is like a warm, loving embrace after the tyranny of summer preparation.

Hide those pasty shoulders in a delicious Alpine knit. Celebrate your anaemic legs in a selection of tights and ankle socks. Embrace your gnarled toes and hard-soled feet in any of the splendid boots that are going to be stomping around all Winter. The 2010 Autumn/ Winter wardrobe is a feast of knits, layers, textures and ladylike restraint. Who needs a tan when you’ve got a camel coat? Who needs a toned midriff when you can ooze sexiness in a corseted bustier and a preppy cardigan? Who needs surf-chick hair when your shearing collar will do all the talking? Fierce, heeled military boots absolve your from any pedicure duties and a pair of tailored, peg-leg trousers will keep the lumpy bumpy at bay.

Jennie's A/W picks from Topshop

 So yes, Goodbye Summer (it was alright while it lasted) and Hello Winter (my knight in Alpine armour).