Style 101 - Trying a new type of post in S&C

I've always been a great admirer of personal style blogs. I love seeing how people put together their outfits and make a statement.

I want to be one of those people. I really do. I do enjoy clothes and dressing up and putting outfits together. I would love to show off the my favorite outfits.

I do have a few problems though. There is a good reason why I will never be able to make a blog just about personal style.

I'll start by saying I'm a terrible shopper. I do enjoy shopping. I enjoy finding that one perfect piece of clothing. I sometimes find that the impulse buys, the ones others think I spend too much money on, the ones I find I can't resist, are the clothes and shoes I end up loving the most. I rarely ever regret a special purchase.

That being said, when it comes to going out on a shopping mission with the intention of trying to achieve certain looks, I always seem to fail. I will go out to the stores knowing exactly what looks I have in mind, but I never seem to find them in the stores I visit. I don't do enough research. I don't know my brands and designers. I will often end up browsing an entire mall or outlet complex and just not find what I think I want. I often end up buying something close to what I want, but really isn't the look I'm going for and the resulting outfits kind of flop. I don't have the patience to know where to shop, or to keep looking.

The other problem I have is fit.  I have a very hard body shape to fit. I like to say they don't make many clothes in size troll. I'm very short and lumpy in all sorts of places. Even petite sized clothes hang too long on me sometimes. That means tops sag in back and necklines hang provocatively too low. Sleeves can be too long. My stomach, my worst feature, bulges through fabrics, as does my back fat. My heavy thighs strain against pant legs. I will often buy something too big or too small trying to make a garment fit one body part at the expense of others. I will often buy clothes that are way too big because I find myself in the mindset that if it's not too tight, it "fits". Then I'm wearing clothes that look sloppy and unflattering.

The next problem is I'm sometimes cheap. If I were willing to take my clothes to a good tailor to have them fitted to me better, I would have fewer problems with fit. I also know that better quality of fabrics and better construction can make for a much better fit (although higher price doesn't always equal better quality). I'm not always willing to spend time and money on either buying top quality gear or having something altered to fit me properly.

I'm trying hard to lose some weight and if I make it down 20 pounds, I do want to reward myself with new clothes and start trying to develop that personal style a bit more. I'm hoping doing some occasional blog posts on style will help me develop some looks.

There is another element of personal style though. Style isn't all about clothes. It's also about hair and makeup. I'm not makeup artist, but I do love playing with makeup and finding new looks. I thought I might start using this blog to show off some of my favorite makeup looks as well. I was inspired by a friend who has been blogging about her odyssey of developing snazzy new manicures for herself. I thought about how I could do the same for makeup looks.

Anyway, I'm really at the age where I can't go without makeup anymore the way I'm in the habit of doing. A blog with some makeup posts might also remind me not to walk outside with a naked face.

So here is my first entry in the style department.


This is my Basic Day Face. This is my daily minimalist look. This is what I wear when I don't want to linger over makeup.

I start with concealer. My current fave is Lancome Effacernes.

I then use Bare Minerals foundation. Beige is my color.

For face color I use one of the Bare Minerals All Over Face Colors. I switch between Glee and Warmth (Glee pictured here) depending on what I'm wearing.

I may or may not use eyeliner when I go minimal. Today I did. For this look it's always just a smudge of dark taupe. I finish it off with Mineral Veil (which now comes in pressed form so it's not as messy as old style Mineral Veil).  Lip color is a sheer raspberry.

It takes about 2-3 minutes to put this look together.  It's great if you need to rush out the door, but want to look a bit more than undone.

If you like these types of posts, please feel free to give your feedback. I'll definitely continue them if I see interest.

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