Question of the week: What are your rules for combining clothes?

"Wrong Combos" collage by Vera van het Hof

This year, fashion seems to be clashing everywhere: statement stripes are one of the biggest trends on the display windows and it doesn't look like bright colours on sneakers, jeans or hair are going anywhere either. However, combining clothes creatively and coming up with exciting yet chic outfits is not always as easy as it may sound, especially for the shyer dressers, who want to have a bit of fashion fun but prefer mild seasoning in their looks without too many quirks. Last month, Vera from Fashion Reset wrote about her thoughts on combining dresses, jackets and their hem lengths and shared her own "rule": short over long, long(er) over short or long over long. That leads us to the question of the week, which is:

 

What kind of rules do you have for combining your clothes? 

Do you rely on a certain colour palette, follow suggestions from style guides, never wear black with brown or clash your clothes fearlessly? We are curious, so share your personal rules and combination philosophies with us below in comments or on Facebook!

Interview: Two fashionistas, one blog and 365 days without new clothes

Meet Jeanine and Vera, two fashion professionals who decided to reset their fashion behaviour and stop shopping for a year. They write letters to each other on a blog called Fashion Reset, where they share their struggles, thoughts and successes. These girls get creative with fashion in an alternative way, and after a lot of digital penpalling, we finally managed to meet over coffee to talk about fashion, style and some “deep stuff”.

Let’s do it: 525.948 minutes without new shoes! Collage by Vera Van het Hof

 Please tell us something about yourself; who are Jeanine and Vera?

J: I’m Jeanine, a 34-year-old designer who graduated from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. I design accessories for private label collections and work on my own label that is to be launched this year.

V: I’m Vera, a 35-year-old freelance copywriter and stylist. I give branding advice for companies, but have also recently done styling for a music video, so my work is really diverse. Me and Jeanine met each other at a clothes swapping event called Ellie’sKledingkast, where we worked in the same team as stylists.

You started a one-year shopping sabbatical together in January 2013. Why? What were the main reasons for you to stop shopping? 

J: A few people I met were doing the Free Fashion Challenge and they told me that not shopping hadn’t been that much of a struggle for them. It made me wonder how it would be for myself. I wrote on my facebook that I was thinking about taking the challenge and not shopping for a year, and Vera reacted with panic. (laughs)

V:  I was like “what are you thinking?!”

J: Yes, and I then told you to join me.
V: It made me really curious. First I thought “no way”, but then I started thinking that if I could buy second hand, maybe I could actually do it. The thought became more serious, and I got an idea that if we did it together, we could also write about it to each other.

J: So, two weeks before the New Year we got together and set rules for our non-shopping challenge. We also made a list of must-have items for last minute shopping spree.

What were the items on that list? 

J: For me it was mainly the basics: socks, underwear and a few tops...I was actually so focussed on finding good quality socks that in the end I completely forgot to buy any bras. (laugh)

V: I bought socks and underwear, too, but I also had a last minute panic and made a 200€ order to Topshop. I got myself leggings with a super trendy space print that you can probably wear only once and a stupid pair of shoes which I didn’t really even like. I basically made all the worst shopping mistakes the night before the challenge started.

Have you also worn those clothes? 

V: Some of them, yes. Despite the panic, I was still thinking practically and also ordered cardigans and things like that, but the silly impulse buys that I threw in – like the leggings – I haven’t worn once.

J: One of my friends gave me a good tip to put some of the things you buy before the challenge aside until the time you need them. I still have some things in store that I haven’t worn, and when you need them it will feel like you really have something new.

That’s a smart tip. How did you come up with the idea to write each other letters on a blog? 

J: We wanted to get something extra out of the challenge. We both also wanted to do something with our talents, so the Fashion Reset-blog became a channel for us to do those creative things that we have dreamed of doing. 

V: The non-shopping challenge also makes you wonder about things about yourself. Why do you feel the need to have something new? It’s nice to record your thoughts somewhere, especially since fashion is everywhere and it means a lot more than just…fabric.

Q&A with Carlotta Cataldi

In the series of showcasing the contributors of Dear Fashion Journal, we now introduce you to our fashion cartoonist, Carlotta Cataldi. She adores polka dots and, being one of the members of the Slow Fashion Forward initiative, never gets tired of talking about sustainable fashion!

1. Name: Carlotta Cataldi

2. Age: 34

3. Please fill in: I am a ______ because ______.
I am a illustrator, consultant and educator in the field of sustainable fashion because I want to help people understand that we can truly live and love fashion without hurting the planet or the people working in the fashion supply chain.

4. What would be the name of your autobiography?
”The Diamond Quest”

5. What was the latest thing that inspired you?
A fantastic training for facilitators called ”the Art of Hosting”. It’s the second time I attend and it never fails to surprise me, move me, and inspire me.

6. Your biggest fashion fetish?
I don’t have any, I think. Or maybe I could say polka dots. They make me feel playful and elegant at the same time. I have tons of polka dots dresses.

7. What is your first fashion memory?
As a teenager, trying on dozens of vintage dresses that belonged to my centenary auntie, so that she could have a little fun from her armchair by looking at me catwalking.

8. What have you learned recently?
I have learned that I want to learn to forgive myself, because I am not perfect, and it’s ok not to be.

9. What are you known for amongst friends?

I am a big sustainability fanatic. I talk about it all the time.

10. What is the most important thing to have around you when working?

Music, and tea.

+1: What would your dream project be like?

I have many dream projects on my mind. One of them is to create a centre for sustainable fashion production where designers and different brands work in one open space and where manufacturing and finishing happens right on the same floor, in another large space. No need to send stuff on the other side of the world to have it made. So, more local employment, less kilometers, possibly spreading education on how to make real fashion etc. This is something that is hopefully about to happen in NYC! Check out this project here, and support it if
you can.

Excerpt from Carlotta's cartoon "Story of the Sad Pants", published in Dear Fashion Journal

The greatest of the great fashion tips

As mentioned before, last weekend we got to be part of a clothes swapping event called Krijg de Kleren. We spent the days before the occasion cutting, pasting, gluing and tinkering, making accessories for what was going to become Dear Fashion Journal's tip writing corner. Yes, we were on a mission - a mission to fill the wall next to our spot at the event with the greatest fashion tips from the fashionistas of Amsterdam. Here is our tip writing and reading corner and a glimpse of the Great Wall of Tips!

We promised to award one of the submitted tips with a surprise package filled with goodness from Krijg de Kleren, Essyello Jewellery and us! To select the winner, our critical jury put their heads together to make selection of the greatest tips that the fashion lovers of Amsterdam pasted on our wall. Here are our favourites:

 

Left: Let your new jeans soak overnight in water-vinegar mixture to keep their colour nice for longer!

Right: Soak your new stockings in warm water before wearing to make them last longer!

 

Right: Don't trust stores that call themselves "trendy" - trendy was cool in 1950.

Left: Buy good (bio) basics and complement them with vintage and swapped clothes!

Right: Yellow stains under your armpits? Using baby powder and then deodorant will prevent stickiness and therefore also yellow stains! You can also soak your clothes in vinegar to get rid of yellow stains.

Right: You know a colour doesn't suit you when it only brings out the bags under your eyes!

Left: Use transparent nail polish to protect the colours on your jewellery from fading.

And the tip that put a big smile on our faces and will receive a surprise give-away is...

(insert drums of excitement here):

Don't bother matching your bra & panties - your cat won't notice.

 Congrats - we'll get in touch with you via email!

Afternote: In addition to many handy tips for preserving the colour of your jeans and making your stockings last longer, we also found some interestingly opinionated views on fashion on our wall. Apparently, the Dutchies aren't very big fans of their national shoe, Crocs. Some of them would also advice people to avoid wearing beanies, Uggs and leggins (as pants). However, we are not Trinnies and Suzannahs and won't tell tell you what not to wear. Instead, we will end with this tip:

Defeat closet blues & swap till you drop!

Have you ever found yourself standing in front of your wardrobe, staring at its contents, putting on an outfit, changing it into another one and repeating this until a desperate long sigh disrupts the routine? You say "what ever",  change into the same clothes you wore yesterday (and the day before) and leave the house uninspired by your outfit. It happens. It's called garderobe boredom, which is most often caused by the different seasons in our lives; the ones that begin when get married, change jobs, become groupies of a rock band, start a new study or simply realize that after a long and dreary winter, spring is finally here and we have nothing to wear.

Being bored with your closet can be risky: it clearly calls for reinvention, but sometimes we might end up reinventing ourselves in a way that wears off quickly (pink pants, anyone?), leading us back to the dissatisfying daily routine of changing from one outfit into another and grunting at all of them. A better way to freshen up your wardrobe is to invest on a few seasonal pieces that a) fit your style and b) will fit it also next year. Those pieces will allow you to rotate your garderobe just like your grandmother rotated her house decor by having a different set of curtains for each season. The trick is that after four months of staring at the winter drapery, some light green summer curtains would always give a feeling of something new even if they weren't new per se. The same applies when talking about wardrobes.

So, here's a golden tip on how to refresh your looks sustainably with new items: swap your clothes! It's not only fun, but also a safe way to go outside your comfort zone and do some outlandish style experiments without having to charge your wallet or our planet for it.

Swapping is also close to Dear Fashion Journal's heart (and mine, says Emmi The Editor whose favourite striped sailor shirt is swapped), which is why we are psyched to be part of Krijg De Kleren, a clothes swapping event that will take place in Amsterdam this Sunday (7th April)! If you will be around, drop by for a fashionable treasure hunt and come share your best style advice on The Great Wall of Fashion Tips that we'll be putting together on the spot - a surprise give-away filled with awesomeness might be awaiting you!

More about Krijg De Kleren here

Psst...Remember our earlier article about defeating garderobe boredom? You can read it here

Trendspotting

No matter how long the winter or freezing the spring, the new trends are already taking us to the warmer seasons. We decided to do a bit trendspotting to show how to rock some of the hippest and the hottest items in a wallet and planet friendly way. Let's get trendy (not spendy) with tutorials from some of the most inspiring DIY fashion bloggers!

Polkadot bottoms

DIY instructions for polkadotting your own pair of jeans here: A Merry Mishap
Photo by Jennifer Hagler

Lace details and cut-outs

DIY instructions for embellishing your sweaters and shirts here: Trash to Couture
Photo by Laura Zpifer

Funky Accessories

DIY instructions for pearl glasses: a Pair & a Spare
Photo by Geneva Vanderzeil
DIY instructions for a multilayer necklace: Stripes & Sequins
Photo by Grace Atwood

DIY instructions for a geometric necklace: Sincerely Kinsey
Photo by Kinsey Mhire

Photo shoot: Where The Sun Is

Last week brought us a glimpse of sunshine, showing that soon it'll be the time to take off our coats, tuck them back to the attic and pull out the pastel coloured pants and light cotton shirts (or at least think of doing so)! To kick off the official beginning of the spring, we are showcasing a photo shoot called "Where The Sun Is". Photographed by a young Dutch photographer Jentie Youna Jelles, the shoot features beach fashion designed by Eline van Zwol, the make-up artist of the shoot. To create the pieces, she worked with fabrics found in the closet of her mother, herself and the photographer, giving the materials a second life and a 'high fashion' look.

If you are already hungry for a fresh pair of bikini, you better check out these photos for inspiration and consider cutting up your lace curtains or table cloths to pimp out your beach look!

Photographer: Jentie Youna Jelles

Model: Jessica van Den Berg

Make-up artist & clothing designer: Eline van Zwol

Styling: Jentie Youna Jelles & Eline van Zwol