Looking Good For Not A Lot


I've started two new series of sets on my polyvore called Under 100 and Under 125, featuring sets that total to (amazingly) under $100 and $125. IN these times of belt tightening all around, I think it's a good idea to start looking in my wallet. 

One of the first ways to save while looking good is to identify your own style in stick with it. That doesn't meant that your style shouldn't change and grow as you do, but knowing what you really like and what will make you look amazing saves so much more time and money and even emotional grief than being so wrapped up in what's trendy and "in" that you can't see the fact that you don't wear half of what's in your closet and that the other half you don't even like.
 
Style is about you. 
Not "them", not "they say". 
You.
This fall has definitely seen a change in my own style. I--as well as the fashion world at large--seem to be going back to my 80s/90s roots, and it's something I can definitely embrace.


5
5 by jmelkw featuring Forever21


Loki
Loki by jmelkw featuring Forever21




I absolutely LOVE that maxi skirts and dresses are back in style, because not frumpy long dress and skirts were so hard to find before. I plan on stocking up on these essentials, so that I'll have plenty when they go back out of style. Or I could learn to sew like I've always been wanting to, lol.

Here I've found a few sets, that show off this long-to-super-long style to it's best advantage. Enjoy!




So I'm doing a blog about style, my own personal style should be expounded upon somewhere here, right? To say the least I am a proponent of alt fashion. Though my daily life requires some taming down, I am slowly but surely refinding my own footing in the style world.

For awhile I let myself go style wise. It just wasn't as important as what was and is going on in my life, but I'm learning how to change my wardrobe so that I spend less time thinking about clothes and trying to find something to wear that I actually like, by only having things that I like and that look good together in my closet. When the only options are good options, good things are more likely to happen clotheswise...

Anyway, like I said, I am a proponent of alternative fashion and my style motto is anything goes as long as you can make it work for you. I do believe in being ladylike and having a sense of modesty and refinement, but that doesn't mean being cookie cutter or unindividual. It means finding the shapes that work for your body and investing in them in prints and colors and styles that express who you are, and combine and arrange in creative and unique ways--that work.

What we have below is a glimpse of some sets I've made that express not just a style I like, but something I'd want to wear myself. Outfits that encompass who I am stylistically.








Blood On the Snow

Blood on the Snow


Blood on the Snow - by Esther Leone on Polyvore.com

vino

Vino


Vino - by Esther Leone on Polyvore.com

Modesty

Modesty is the citadel of beauty.

Demades


A huge part of my style philosophy and about the only ironclad rule about style I have is modesty.

Modesty-1 : freedom from conceit or vanity
2 : propriety in dress, speech, or conduct

Modesty is dressing in a way that is not purposefully sexually provocative. I'm not saying don't wear clothes that look good. But am saying examine yourself before you walk out the door. Is too much skin showing? Is something too tight? What is the overall effect of what you're wearing. The status quo today is "if you've got it, flaunt it" but that isn't what God says. He wants us as young women to respect ourselves and our brothers in Christ by adorning ourselves in a Christlike manner. Treat yourself like a treasure. You don't wear your most valuable jewelry everywhere, all the time, in front of everyone. You save it for special occasions. Your body is a jewel and the only special occasion worthy enough for your "treasure" to be seen is when you're with the person who has committed themselves to you for life privately and publicly, meaning your spouse.To be quite honest, anyone else who isn't willing to commit to you publicly and privately but wants to see you, feel you, and have sex with you is using you for their own gratification as nice as they may seem about it and you're doing the same if you treat others that way.

Desire is a powerful beautiful thing in the context of marriage, but outside of that framework. outside of that protective boundary, desire becomes selfish lust that cares only for satisfying itself and little to nothing for the object of desire. Modesty for both men and women is the first line of defense against such objectification and ideas of low self worth. The body is not being hidden because it is dirty or ugly, it's being hidden because it is so beautiful and worth so much.

None of this means don't have fun with your clothes. It doesn't mean don't be unique. It means stand up for what is right. Modesty. Every outfit you see on this site will be modest and if you have a complaint please send me a comment and I will take care (within reason, obviously people have differing opinions about what is and isn't modest; the most important thing is the intent)

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Fashion vs. Style


I want to say that I have never been a person to follow fashion trends but that would be a lie. For awhile--a long while--I was very obsessed with everything that Vogue, Elle, and Lucky had to say, but things changed.


I was a very depressed teenager and I almost killed myself. Afterwards I had my first introduction to style: a personal mode of dress that isn't affected by the ever flighty flimsy, coquettish whims of the fashion industry. I *became a goth* and my love affair with fashion ended abruptly. Though I still loved clothes, my point was no longer keeping up with the Olsen twins (though I still like their personal style don't get me wrong); it was finding a way to express myself artistically in a way that anyone and everyone who met me could see.


What you wear shouldn't only or even mostly be a reflection of what's in this season. It should also be an expression of your personality, your artistic bent, your likes and dislikes, etc. This is usually your first and sometimes your only message to someone you pass on the street. Should that message be "I follow trends, and I know what's in" or "Here is the real me"?

So... I guess this is the point of this blog: expressing the real me in a way that I think I do pretty well and is fun for me. Feel free to look around and to comment; I love hearing what people think, what they like and dislike. I will be using Polyvore heavily and i think it's a wonderful website to check out so please do so.