Monday, August 31, 2009

Iconic Style: European Chic

“The thing that is different about European chic is that it is effortless and sophisticated,” says designer Diane von Furstenberg. “The important part is the eclectic part – not what you wear, what you punctuate things with.”
I was so excited about this iconic style. I've always secretly believed I could fit in with the upper class society of Britain complete with debutant balls, polo events and tea with the queen. I'm a child of the 90's, which makes me a Disney Princess so the royal family of England is as close as I can dream of coming. Instead of dressing as if I was going to meet the royal family themselves, I decided to dress in the style of any of their friends would have. If I knew a guy who worked for the royal family and got me into all of the formal functions, how would I dress on a normal day of work?


After doing a little bit of google research I found a tip that said, to dress European Chic, " wear unexpected accessories". At first I pondered over this idea and went through all of my little worn necklaces. Unsatisfied with my finds, I sat back for a minute. I decided that this pink cashmere scarf was perfect! It would add a surprise element since we are still in August, and paired with my fake pearl bracelets the look would be elevated to the highest social class. I wore an ivory, a pink, and a white fake pearl bracelet. All of the colors combined the various tones in my outfit and helped to make it all cohesive.

For my footwear, I decided to play with the next tip I found online, " Know your faux". I must be honest, I don't own any faux fur of any kind but I do have a few items in a great animal print. These zebra print shoes are in a light tan and cream and worked just perfectly with this outfit. Despite their tiny heel they were comfortable for a day at work, and the little peak of animal print added a hint of a wild side. I think as a member of the royal family, one wouldn't be able to help but to let their less refined side show in some of their style choices, and shoes like this let the world know you aren't always so refined.

When I think of princess wear I am drawn to light pink's and ivories. I think it those are the colors of dainty women, and I wanted to not only utilize them but to play with them a bit. My blue cardigan helped to add a bit of a contast and worked well with my light blue searsucker skirt. You almost can't even see the vertical lines of the skirt because they are so subtle, but I find that pairing the skirt with blue helps to brin gout the extra pattern.
Final Evaluation: I really loved this look. I thought that it wasn't too far off of my normal style, very refined and classic. To help step out of my comfort zone I had to take the quote from Diane Von Furstenburg to heart, and think outside of the basic pieces. Without the accessories this would have been a t-shirt, cardigan, and skirt which would have been my normal everyday outfit. I enjoyed thinking outside of the box and will utilize these ideas to add something special to an otherwise boring look. Lesson Learned. Even the simpilest of outfits can be made princess-ready with a few well placed accessories.