February 2016 archive

The Three Levels of Dress: Theatrical Romantic Casual

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Before I begin, I think I need to clarify something that came up on my Facebook page. When I say “casual,” I don’t mean the most comfortable clothes you own, the things you wear to clean your house or run to the post office or work in the garden. These clothes fall outside of the purview of the Three Levels. I’m not going to tell you what Romantic workout wear looks like. Anything you’re supposed to sweat in, forget about Kibbe.

“Casual,” in the definition I’m using, is when you want to look nice, but you can still wear jeans. These are the clothes you’d wear to meet a friend to lunch or for a meeting at your kid’s school. Or if you work somewhere without a dress code, like I do, these are even things you may be able to wear to work. This version of casual includes things like dresses and skirts, and not every type will get jeans and a t-shirt.

With that in mind, let’s talk Theatrical Romantic Casual. One of the common concerns from people who think they might be Theatrical Romantic is that they don’t want to be so “done up” all the time. They live a more casual lifestyle and want to be comfortable. My answer for these people is that there is good news and there is bad news.

The good news is that you can be comfortable. Clothing doesn’t have to be sloppy to be comfortable. Jeans actually aren’t really all that comfortable when you think about it. The clothes you will wear in Theatrical Romantic Casual are going to be no less comfortable than the clothes your SN and FN sisters get to wear.

There is a “but,” however, and that is the bad news. You will still look more dressed up. You do not lose your glamorous side just because you’re not going to a fancy event. You will be glamorous whenever you leave your house, except for the exceptions I mentioned above. You don’t have to be glamorous if you’re doing physical labor or exercise or lounging at home. But the rest of the time, if you want to preserve what makes Theatrical Romantic special, you need to retain your innate glamour. (This will apply to Soft Dramatic as well, which I will cover at a later date.)

Retaining glamour is not a question of just adding rhinestones to things that would look better on a Natural type. The lines of the clothes themselves already need to fit Theatrical Romantic’s recommendations and lines for them to work. One of the issues that we find with yin types is that fashion has been stuck in a Natural rut for years. To combat this, like we did for Soft Gamine, we’re going to go into the past a bit for our first Theatrical Romantic Casual look.

While Theatrical Romantic, just like Soft Gamine, draws inspiration from the 1930s, it draws from the formal, Hollywood glamour side. I don’t think even a true lover of glamour like Kibbe is going to suggest that you show up for a casual lunch in a long, bias-cut satin dress.

bias-cut-dress-jean-harlow
(Source)

The casual clothes of the era are clearly going to work better for SG than TR. So instead, we’re going to look back at a different era, the 1950s. Not everything from the 1950s is going to work. But the very feminine shapes that show the body will.

In the Theatrical Romantic workshop tape, David Kibbe recommends “wearing oversized tropical prints with big flowers. Feminine prints keep tops more casual.” This is a good thing to keep in mind for dresses and skirts, too.

eWSdMm4gEb_Bettie_Page_Pin-Up_Flamingo_Cross_My_Heart_Tiki_Wiggle_Dress

Bettie Page Pin-Up Flamingo Cross My Heart Dress

If this dress were a solid color, it would look far more formal. With a flamingo print, it’s a fun, casual dress for daytime. You’re going to wear this for shopping or lunch. You may still be more dressed up than others, but that’s the price we pay for fashion.

Adding details around the neckline and showing a little skin can go a long way to bringing a simple knit top into TR territory.

Ivory Short Sleeve Knit Sophia Top

Unique Vintage Ivory Short Sleeve Knit Sophia Top

In the tape, Kibbe mentions Betty Grable wearing high-waisted, flared shorts in the 1940s.

bettygrableshorts
(Source

Tops like the one above could look very fun and casual paired with a pair of shorts like these.

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Ally Fashion High Waist Flare Short (back view)

Or stay with the tropical-for-TR-summer-casual theme and go with a pair of tropical shorts.

tropicalshorts

Planet Blue Show Me Your Mumu Shorts

My shoe pick for outfits like these are a sandal with a very low heel. Kibbe recommends strappy sandals with a tapered 2″ heel on the tape, so I’ve included a pair like that, too. Sandals are supposed to be TR’s best shoe.


Chelsea Crew Wanna Prance with Somebody Sandal in Gold


Call It Spring Staval Rose Gold Heeled Strap Sandals

That takes care of summer… but what about casual for winter? The pants described by Kibbe in the tape and in the book–soft and draped, tapered–sound like they could be hard to find in this age of stretch everything. Another option is one that has been seen on TR Queen Susan Slavin, Kibbe’s wife–a tunic and leggings, done in a glamorous way.

drapedcowlsweater

Venus Draped Cowl Sweater

Add a belt to cinch the waist. He recommends wide, soft, and ornate.


Fashion Focus Black Flower And Crystal Stretch Belt

Delicate boots from soft leather or suede are perfect for TR. Snake print is also a great animal print for TR, since it’s the most delicate and ornate of all of the animal prints.

nicole_miller_suede_boots

Nicole Miller Atelier Nicole

Lastly, jewelry is going to be a key part of a TR’s look for any level. Sparkly and dangly earrings are an obvious choice, but another good option for casual or professional wear, suggested on the TR tape, is “huggie” hoops.

gold-earring-huggie-wide-cz_sls-_67ef3421g_2_1

Bling Jewelry Ritzy Wide Huggies

Even for casual wear, you’ll want to pile it on. Restraint is for classics. But while we’ve all seen what ornate TR statement necklaces look like, another option Kibbe mentions on the tape is several strands of seed pearls or liquid gold or silver. We all know what ornate statement necklaces look like for TR, but for casual wear, I think we can take inspiration from this other, unsung option for TR.

layered_fauxpearlnecklace

Layered Faux Pearl Necklace

It’s not that sparkly… but like with the earrings, it’s something for casual wear, not when you’re trying to make a big impression or statement with your look. The 1980s liquid gold version is much shinier, of course, and if you’re willing to spend the money on real vintage jewelry, it’s an option.

liquid gold

1960s Vintage Liquid Gold Necklace from Etsy

I did not include jeans and sneakers in this set of options, and compared to other types, this still looks pretty formal. But if you are a TR, that’s never going to be your best look. A dress or a pair of fabric shorts can be just as comfortable–and less restricting–than something made out of denim. Heels will definitely not be as comfortable as sneakers, but you’re a TR. You bring glamour into the world.

Theatrical Romantic is out of my wheelhouse, which is one of the reasons this post took so long to write. I didn’t even know where to shop for TR clothes. For an FG, it’s an alternate shopping universe! So I would like to thank Amy and Angèle for helping me by checking my selections and offering suggestions and showing me the world of yin clothing.

I am taking requests for the next installment of this series, so if you have something you’d like to see, please leave a comment. See this post for what I consider each base type’s most difficult level of dress.

Wardrobe Rebuilding for Weight Loss

As I think it happens fairly often, as soon as I had gotten around to accepting that there were clothes I was just never going to fit into again and I had rounded them up and given them to a friend, the motivation suddenly came to me to change my lifestyle. I eat more fast food than I’m even willing to admit here, and once I counted it all up, I realized that I was consuming at least 1000 calories just in Coca-Cola a day. This is not only terrible for your waistline, but disastrous for your health. I’ve been discussing this process some on my other blog, but I’d like to discuss one specific aspect here, and that is wardrobe rebuilding.

According to my Lose It! app, if I stay on track, I’ll be at my goal weight (what I was when I graduated from college and was going to the gym a lot so I could get my PE credit and graduate on time) sometime around my 30th birthday on July 23rd. I wear a size M/L, 8/10 US now, and back then I was an XS/S, size 2/4. So obviously, a lot of what I own is going to be too big. This will necessitate rebuilding the bulk of my wardrobe from the ground up.

Some things, like sweatshirts, will be fine to wear as-is. Other things, like jeans and leggings, I replace on a seasonal basis anyway, so there’s not going to be a real change. Where it’s really going to matter is Levels 2 and 3. I have only two formal dresses, since I don’t dress up all that much. I’ve already worn my more conservative one to pretty much every family function in the past year and a half, so it’s probably time to retire it anyway.

And then there’s Level 2, which I didn’t really have much of in the first place. Working on this level was something I was going to do anyway, so there’s no real difference.

The big one, however, is outerwear. My heavy coat probably should have been replaced this season, since its zipper only works when it feels like and there’s a few tears. I’ll have to see how my other coats fit when the time comes.

Luckily for myself, I’m going into this armed with my workbook. I’ll be posting screenshots here and there of my rebuilding progress, once my weight stabilizes and I can start investing in pieces.

If you have experience with redoing your entire wardrobe, I’d like any advice you have.

Can You Choose Your Season?

Getting your style type to work with your season is an important part of the workbook. A winter dressing one Kibbe type is going to be different from a summer dressing the same Kibbe type. I like to add more texture and tend to do less high contrast than a Bright or True Winter FG, for instance.

There was a discussion on the Kibbe group I co-admin recently, however, that got me thinking about this in a different way. Can our lines themselves affect what season works for us? Do our tastes and personality affect it, as in what feels authentic to us?

Some suggested that while one color may be flattering in the heavier fabric analysts use to drape, but if you’re a type with lighter-weight fabrics, other colors may work better when in the right fabric.

Then there are all the women who were draped one season and then received a vastly different palette from David Zyla or Beauty Valued. While some people receive pretty much the same palette from all the analysts they visit, some seem more like chameleons, with the ability to somehow wear both Bright Winter and something that would probably harmonize best with Soft Autumn–and look great in both.

So what do you do if you get wildly varying palettes? I think you could go with what feels authentic to you. If you like what Zyla (for example) gave you and you feel good in it, I think it’s fine to center your wardrobe around that.

Or you could use different seasons for different occasions. Use your darker/cooler/brighter season for Level Three looks for higher contrast and more drama. Plus, you’re not liable to mix these clothes in with your lower levels, so your wardrobe will still coordinate nicely.

The idea of choosing your palette brings to mind Dressing Your Truth. In this case, the vibe you want to give off, which is supposed to match your dominant energy, will be expressed by line and color. I know I look terrible in white and the colors that would be given to a Type 1. Do I look terrible in them because they’re just the wrong colors for me–or because they conflict with my energy?

I think I would be a 3/4 in DYT, and the palette I chose for myself, coincidentally, is Dark Autumn. I chose Dark Autumn, however, because I felt like it looked the best on me. But perhaps that’s so because it feels the most like me. If I were draped, however, and the analyst said that another palette looked better on me and I agreed, I would switch out my wardrobe.

In the end, I think we do have to make a conscious choice to whether we are going to dress in the palette and/or style we receive from an analyst. We have to decide whether this is the appearance that we want to project. So while I don’t think anyone gets free reign to just choose whichever palette they want–you still have to consider how you actually look in it–most people seem to have a bit of wiggle room and can consider which version of themselves communicates their style the best.

What has your experience been? Have you received wildly different palettes from different analysts?