Tuesday 19 October 2010

Return of the Quirk Factor

My style's always been a bit offbeat: at uni I was a goth, but with an Asian fusion edge: bright embellished dresses and skirts, over massively wide jeans with clumpy Acupuncture trainers, lots of heavy dark eyemakeup but with a big smattering of glitter and stacks of bangles on both wrists. Then kooky librarian-chic during my PhD in chilly soggy Oxford: big bright beads, bold colours, tweed and cord full skirts, cute mary janes and T-bar flats.

Recently I've got a bit boring though, lapsing into a endless cycle of floral empire line dresses and cardigans. Much as I love my dresses, I've started to look like pretty much everyone else out there. Not a bad thing in itself, I suppose, but not very me.

However, over the last two weeks I've become much more inspired by accessories again. And it has made all the difference to what remains a fashion-diet that consists mostly of floral empire line dresses. In particular, I've made the following discoveries and rediscoveries:

*Knitted headbands - more comfortable than Alice bands and a little cooler too (though I still love bow hairbands!)
*Woolly polka dot and brightly coloured tights - (especially polka dot tights worn with printed dresses)
*Unusual handmade necklaces and earrings - Etsy has been my friend
*Coloured kooky flats
*My burgundy DM 8 hole boots that are now older than I was when I got them ("embellished" with gold paint from my GCSE art exam) worn with floral dresses
*Leopard print - especially my headband and new furry cropped jacket from Primark - worn with ditsy floral dresses
*Printed/jersey scarves (great and snuggly way to liven up a black outfit or even a printed one - on the lookout for a soft fairisle print one)
*Beanies - I have a teal one but would really like a cream chunky knit one too.
*Printed/embroidered cardigans - lovely way to up the kook in a vintage inspired style with colour block outfits and simple patterns

Looking at the list I'm not quite sure how I'd label my current style apart from being "me". It's now a combination of all the things I love: secretary chic, gothic/grunge, girly floral prints, whimsy, Indian jewellery, soft tactile fabrics, a dark jewel colour palette, a bit more whimsy.

Have you ever got out of a style rut? How did you do it?
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4 comments:

  1. Ohhh Naz you've inspired me. I'm in a total rut now with clothes wearing the sames bits that fit over and over. Everyone tells me i look nice but i'm not feeling 'me' if that makes sense. I'm going to dig through my accessories xx

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  2. I am so in a Style rut:-( Should look into layering options as well as accessories..Need to stop being lazy:-)

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  3. i know what do you mean - i also took a long journey through a wide variety of style: from a fierce goth (just like you) to a pin up girl. to be frank, i can't define my style. there's a pelentihood of things that inspire me, and as a result one day i wear a femine dress, and another pair of jeans styled with boots and a baggy sweater.

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  4. Haha! Oh, Naz. I also used to be a PROPER goth when I was like 15. Then when I turned 17, I just wore asian clothes. Then when I hit 21, I was a primark whore. But I wasn't very good with putting things together so basically I was a tramp! Haha. But by 24, i somehow got really into clothes and have somehow know how it all works, so I wear a wide range of styles. Although I've been stuck in a loop of wearing crops with bodycons underneaths, really cannot let this combo go at the moment. xx

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About Me

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Rabbit-like in a nose that twitches when I laugh and front teeth not 100% rectified by 7 years of braces, postcolonial in being of British-Bangladeshi heritage (and reading many many books thereon). Books, tea and dresses: these are some of my favourite things.