STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Kitty · Hermes

Have you always been into style/fashion/clothes?

Elle · Hermes

Haaaaahahahahahahahaha! I liked clothes and stuff, but you'd never have known it! I wore my dads grey sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers pretty much every single day, but part of that was rebellion - I went to school with girls who used to paint their nails to match what they were wearing the next day, everyday! You know the kind - the tanorexic, bleachy bleachy girls?

I also didn't really have any money to spend on non-necessities until recently, so I didn't take an interest in fashion because I didn't think it would do me any good to look when I couldn't have. And I was a dancer, so I was always in tights and leotards anyhow - I had some cool leos though!

halleybird · Hermes

yes! I loved clothes, but I dressed terribly. I still remember the day in 6th grade when all the other kids wore shorts and sneakers, and I showed up in a pencil skirt, a ruffly poet blouse, and hose!

AllieGurl · Marc Jacobs

Always. My mom even told me that when I was 4 prior to a school field trip to the pumpkin patch I INSISTED on wearing a dress that would match the pumpkins!

Which is funny I am this way because my mother has no fashion sense at all.

I used to save all my babysitting money and then head to the mall to put together "outfits". In Highschool and junior high I was voted "most stylish". The best part was I bought or made it all myself. My parents never had alot of $ and couldnt contribute. So I didnt need to be desinger clothes to feel cute.

theotherjess · Chanel

I have always been interested in clothes, but not until about 2-3 years ago did I actually start dressing well.

Metric · Gucci

I always liked clothes but growing up I had my own quirky sense of "style". Things that horribly embarrass me now. My mom used to make my clothes (and we were poor) so I would get her to make me the craziest stuff- overalls out of tablecloth material or hawaiian shirt fabric, jumpsuits, vests, hats, just really bad, really nutty 80's stuff. I think I was very heavily influenced by the tv show "Blossom", then into grunge and punk looks when I was older.

When I started making my own money is when I think I finally found a sense of style.

boobaby · Kate Spade

I've always loved fashion, but I haven't always dressed well (in fact, I sometimes feel like I look pretty shitty now). My sister is 6 years older, and my mom always wanted me to wear her hand-me-downs. I would cry and cry, because we are talking about a significant style gap, and I knew this. My sister was 6 in the seventies, I was 6 in the eighties. I mean, my mom was trying to put me in orange/green/white plaid bell bottoms in 1982-83.

In high school, I was really girly and out there at first, but then I became more and more self-conscious, and morphed into a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl, which lasted until after college. When I started accepting myself more and becoming more interested in clothes again, I was pretty broke, so I spent most of my money on personality-less clothes for some corporate job. Now I have a little bit more money and a casual, anything goes job, so I have been having more fun and being more experimental.

Plus, up until recently, shoe shopping was just depressing, because I have a bad ankle and can't wear high heels, yet I hate sensible shoes with a passion. But in the last couple of years, styles that are ankle-friendly, like wedges, flats, and kitten heels have been more prominent, so I have been on a pretty serious shoe shopping spree lately.

kenzie · Chanel

Yeah, but I sometimes I dressed like a fright! When I was a little girl, I was very girly and loved to wear dresses all the time and loved red shoes (I called them my 'Dorothy' shoes). In fact, I refused to wear jeans until I was about 10 years old. Which really wasn't too bad, I suppose.

Then I went through this phase of neon which gave way to grunge which gave way to an overly preppy look. This all over the course of about 7 years.

Then in college, I did the whole AE/Abercrombie look and finally got it together when I graduated. But I think in college, I just wore more practical clothes for my lifestyle. I don't look back on those years or at pictures and think that my outfits are overly frightening. My style now is very girly, as it was when I was little. And I'm still completely obsessed with 'Dorothy' shoes.

-- Edited by kenzie at 21:33, 2006-08-16

honey · Gucci

yes! i used to beg my mom to buy me vogue so i could copy the outfits. seriously it was an ordeal trying to convince my mom that a nine year old girl needed a $4 mag.

my style has been all over the place, but i fell like i've always had a strong sense of what i did and didn't like.

luckylily · Gucci

I've pretty much always been into clothes, but I haven't always been good at putting colors and outfits together. In middle school I was WAY into mixing patterns, and I loved wearing my Grandmothers vintage scarves and jewelry. I did it all wrong, and I'm sure I looked like a complete ass most of the time.

I really relate to what honey said about her style. My style has changed a lot over the years -girly to tomboy to grunge and back to girly - but I've always pretty much known what I liked and been really passionate about it.

zeitgeist4 · Gucci

My style has definitely been a roller-coaster, but I guess I have alwasy been into making a statement with clothes.

When I was young I wanted to be a cool girl with scrunch socks and leggings (the original 80's kind, not the 06' kind). My cousin had Guess jeans and shopped at Wet Seal, and I was soooo jealous.

In middle school I kinda went hippy then grunge. I was never caught w/o a flannel shirt, boots, and a Pearl Jam or Nirvana t-shirt.

In high school I morphed into goth and wore all black until after my sophomore year in college, when I transfered to a UC.

My first year at UC (junior year) I wasn't sure what "normal" girls wore. I ventured into Gap for the first time, and wore my first pair of jeans in 5 years. I was pretty clueless. I think I had 1 or 2 pairs of shoes.

Eventually I figured it out and wore normal college-casual. And then I slowly morphed into my current style.

TheLovelyLady71 · Hermes

Good question. I don't think I really got into clothes until after high school, then I got my current job, I started to get into heels, from an older lady friend of mine, so now, I LOVE clothes, and anything to do w/fashion. I think I got into fashion about 6 years ago, and don't regret one minute of it! LOL I did use to be a tomboy as well, I'm so glad I outgrew that stage in my life! LOL

-- Edited by TheLovelyLady71 at 16:09, 2006-08-17

cahabo · Kate Spade

I really didn't know a whole lot about fashion until I was practically out of high school. I'd wear clothes and shoes that were too big. (My mom tricked me into buying a half size larger in shoes about every year even though my feet had stopped growing just so she could wear my shoes when I didn't want them anymore. She had me wearing size 9 even though I'm a size 7.5) Anyways, when I was younger I knew nothing about brands and designers. Mostly because my mom never took me shopping at the mall. It wasn't until I started reading teen fashion magazines that I realized that there are shirts out there that cost more than $10! But even though I didn't know much about being stylish, I did know when something was ugly.

erin · Chanel

yes. i've had a long-term love-affair with borderline ugly clothing since about 7th/8th grade, but i didn't start trying to control my "taste" until about 4-5 years ago.

oddly enough, i didn't start reading vogue/etc until i was maybe 20...surprising, because i have quite "editorial" (read: unwearable) tastes.

Kelly · Hermes

I actually have only gotten into clothes in the last couple years. At home, everyone is super casual. My mom is getting more into dressing nice lately, but it's been about the same time I did - by the time I already moved out. I have two brothers and my family business is an auto salvage - so even wearing a denim skirt with a tee is considered "dressing up" there. I remember being really suprised when my dorm roommate wore a skirt to class, because I never wore skirts other than to school and maybe on holidays. I went to a private school with a strict dress code, which was basically business attire. So I only had the weekends to really choose what I want to wear, and I didn't get a whole lot of practice. Plus, while my family wasn't destitute, we didn't have enough money to let me spend uncontrollably. In fact, I was basically only allowed to shop at a store called "Value City," which is department store rejects. Read: clothes no one else dared buy. It wasn't until I went to college and started shopping on my own, that I realized I could buy much prettier things for the same prices by shopping smartly.

Anyway, when I moved away from home and would no longer be questioned on what I'm wearing, I started to branch out more. Plus, I started having more money in college, and more interest in looking pretty, I guess because now I have the freedom to.

-- Edited by ttara123 at 15:56, 2006-08-18

shopgirl82 · Chanel

YES!!!

when i was in pre-school, i had a dress that was white with pastel polka dots. and one day, my teacher was wearing a white plastic bangle with pastel polka dots!! i totally picked up on it, and insisted that she wear it again so that we could match! i remember we picked the date and she wore her bangle and i wore my dress and she even let me wear her bangle for part of the day. yes, i was in pre-school.

i did the whole 8o's neon thing in which i match my koosh ball earrings with my neon shirt. hot.

so, case in point, even though i've always been into fashion, it's not that i always dressed well.

monica · Kenneth Cole

since i was in grade school - my father was in the fashion business and would make me go upstairs and change if he felt that my colors clashed - seriously.

so i just started to get into it and he would teach me about the industry - he would bring home W magazine for me. he even had halle berry modeling for him (in the early 90s) - it's crazy now that i actually think about it.

i became intrigued at a young age w/ fashion and the entire industry.

killa · Dooney & Bourke

I have always been into clothes and shoes. However, most of my choices were driven purely by trends. Some of the choices I have made baffle me to this day.

In 3rd grade, I raided my brother's closet and cut the neck and sleeves of his gray sweatshirt to make an off-the-shoulder 80s top (thanks to Pat Benatar). I wore it with short denim shorts. My mom didn't let me wear that outfit to school, but snapped a picture of it!

In 6th grade, I wore boys' Nike hightops with my jeans tucked into them because my whole "group" was doing it.

My mom forced me to buy plain white Keds waaay before they were trendy at my school because she was "up" on the trend in the adult world. I remember that, and now see where I get my drive from!

In college, I shopped at Goodwill and dressed grunge. I poo-pooed going to malls for clothes.

Now, I am an adult and spend way too much $$ on quality designer pieces whenever I can.

small fry · Chanel

No in fact I really never thought/cared about fashion until about 2 yrs ago. Alot of it was due to a crappy marriage and I never got to spend money on myself. But it was last year when I joined this fourm and really started to pay attention to it all. You ladies really insipred me- Thanks so much~~

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

Absolutely. It's totally from my mom too, she has an amazing eye, for everything from fashion to interior design. and we have very similar ideas about what looks good on me. this is embarassing but she calls me her "living doll." so cheesy, i know! but we were lucky in that we never fought about what i should wear because we'd naturally be in agreement. and for halloween, she'd make me the coolest costumes (she sews), i'd be cleopatra, a belly dancer, jasmine from aladdin, it was awesome.

as for my style, my best friend describes it as "california lady." i've always loved dresses, skirts, heels. but i also love the climate here in that i can wear open toed shoes year round, shorts and skirts and fluttery or bare tops and never have to worry about freezing to death. although i do think it will be fun to be in paris and dress in layers to keep warm. like i totally miss having nice winter coats and stuff. oh and i'm baffled when someone says something like "i can't walk in heels" or asks "when did you learn to walk in heels?" because honestly, i was born knowing how to walk in heels! so yes, i've always been into clothes and i've always had a very distinct sense of my individual style. like when all the girls in high school were wearing doc martens, i was in pretty sandals.

However, it wasn't until college that i discovered expensive clothes (like my pretty sandals in high school were from ross and mervyn's, not barneys' or neimans'). we didn't have that kind of money and i wasn't exposed to haute couture until i moved to l.a. after that it was a whole different league. i remember being shocked that my friend spent $100 on boots @ nordstrom! i was like, "a HUNDRED dollars?!?!" lol, she still makes fun of me for that, actually. and it wasn't until law school and afterward that my closet started having more pricey pieces in it.

the thing is though, my mom is still my guide when it comes to my style and what looks good on me. for example, i bought these two dresses from shopbop, i posted about one in the shopping forum and she immediately knew the black one would look good whereas the green one (the ella moss clementine dress, it's going back) totally was not flattering and hid my figure. wow, i am a lucky daughter to have such a stylish mother!

-- Edited by esquiress at 20:58, 2006-08-21