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LouieSignature Styles
January 15th 2007 11:26
Most people cultivate a style of dress over time that becomes their trademark...their signature. It can be either a conscious or subconscious development, and it has a different purpose for each person. Your signature style can serve to make you unforgettable, or it can ensure that you remain a wallflower; it can allow you to experiment with fashion, or it can remind you how much you loathe fashion. Whatever it does for you, it bears your signature. Though the styles of renowned trendsetters are frequently replicated by the masses, a true signature style is owned by its wearer, and seamlessly suits their character and persona. That's why it's so difficult to adopt someone else's signature look - unless you make it your own by adapting it to your individual style, it will look stolen. Here are some examples of less famous signature styles, starting with my favourites so far at Milan Men's Fall-Winter 2007/2008 fashion week.
Almost all top designers have a signature style, and Dolce & Gabbana's trademark male glamour look, fused with classic cuts and colours, is one that is imitated the world over. Though the metallic sheens seen in their latest mens collection overtly intimate a futuristic theme, their aesthetic is still focused on archetypical, meticulous tailoring.
While metallics and shiny shine do a good job playing a futuristic-themed role in Dolce & Gabbana's aforementioned collection, they are even more at home in Costume National's collection. The spirit of Costume National is manifest with ostentation, and Ennio Capasa has remembered this in a collection of indulgence and gloss.
Nancy Pelosi is the 60th and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and is impressively the first woman, first Californian, and first Italian American in American history to have that responsibility. We all know from Spider-Man/Peter Parker's Uncle Ben that great responsibility and great power go hand in hand...well Pelosi's power is so great that the trademark multi-colour pearls she wears around her neck have been dubbed 'Power Pearls'. Pearls are definitely her signature style - she is also frequently seen sporting strands of small black pearls and traditional golden pearls.
Though models are normally seen strutting down the runway flaunting the signature style of fashion designers, they do of course have their own signature styles as well. This picture of Freja Beha Erichsen is really a perfect example of the signature look for fashion models these days - when backstage, they are often spotted in very minimal, casual chic outfits, with a signature piece that they are rarely seen without. In Freja's case, it's the ubiquitous scarf. She has so many different colours and prints!
Developing a signature style won't happen overnight, but if you keep at it, it will happen. The key is persistence. Choose a signature look, whether it be a colour, an accessory, or an entire outfit, and stick with it. You can try out new signature styles once you've already established one, but to start off with, wearing your signature piece will be a repetitive affair. Gwen Stefani didn't earn her reputation as a Harajuku dresser immediately after her first Japanese-style outfit debut, Nicole Richie didn't reinstate the Jackie-O-sunnies trend by wearing them once, and Karl Lagerfeld's fingerless glove bug didn't infect instantly. These luminaries have developed their signature styles over time, and though they have taken on looks that have been prominently featured in the past (Jackie-O-sunnies and fingerless gloves are hardly new concepts), they've reworked them to fit in with their personal styles and attitudes. The best way to show off your signature style is to use it to accentuate your finest features.
Readers, what's your signature style?
* These images are taken from Style.com, The Business Innovation Insider, and Style Bubble.
Dolce & Gabbana Mens F/W 07.08
(Style.com)
Almost all top designers have a signature style, and Dolce & Gabbana's trademark male glamour look, fused with classic cuts and colours, is one that is imitated the world over. Though the metallic sheens seen in their latest mens collection overtly intimate a futuristic theme, their aesthetic is still focused on archetypical, meticulous tailoring.
Costume National Mens F/W 07.08
(Style.com)
While metallics and shiny shine do a good job playing a futuristic-themed role in Dolce & Gabbana's aforementioned collection, they are even more at home in Costume National's collection. The spirit of Costume National is manifest with ostentation, and Ennio Capasa has remembered this in a collection of indulgence and gloss.
Nancy Pelosi (The Business Innovation Insider)
Freja Beha Erichsen (Style Bubble)
Developing a signature style won't happen overnight, but if you keep at it, it will happen. The key is persistence. Choose a signature look, whether it be a colour, an accessory, or an entire outfit, and stick with it. You can try out new signature styles once you've already established one, but to start off with, wearing your signature piece will be a repetitive affair. Gwen Stefani didn't earn her reputation as a Harajuku dresser immediately after her first Japanese-style outfit debut, Nicole Richie didn't reinstate the Jackie-O-sunnies trend by wearing them once, and Karl Lagerfeld's fingerless glove bug didn't infect instantly. These luminaries have developed their signature styles over time, and though they have taken on looks that have been prominently featured in the past (Jackie-O-sunnies and fingerless gloves are hardly new concepts), they've reworked them to fit in with their personal styles and attitudes. The best way to show off your signature style is to use it to accentuate your finest features.
Readers, what's your signature style?
* These images are taken from Style.com, The Business Innovation Insider, and Style Bubble.
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Comment by Sisi
Daytime:
- loose singlet
- skinny jeans or mini shorts
- big plastic red chilli pepper necklace (my most signature piece by far) and long silver chain with cross and little anchor pendants
- flats or sandals
Nighttime1:
- loose tank
- loose cropped vest
- leggings or mini skirt
- pumps or above the knee boots
- thick gold hardware store chain and long silver chain with little lock/key pendant
or
Nighttime2:
- cocktail or mini dress
- leather waist belt
- pumps or above the knee boots
- same accessories/hair as night1
Anytime:
- black leather bag that i got for US$1 and have been using for over a year
- black bugeye sunnies
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
I think you've got your signature style well worked out.
I liked the fabrics of the men's suits but found it detracted from a tailored appearance, liked the older 'power woman', she had her own style, classic tailoring, young girl left me COLD, as for me, I'm afraid I'm last cab off the rank, must try harder to lose some weight, that will carry its own style.
Congrats on getting into dentistry, hope you like teeth. Lots of scope there for some style pleasers.
katyzzz
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Excellent post!
Love this question....but as I sit here thinking about how to describe my signature style....I realise it's not as easy as it seems.
Okay...my style is mood and era dependant, ranging from long and flowy(?) layers to sleek silhouettes, 50s dresses, 60s wild sass, 70s funk, occasionally the 80s!
Common factor is colour....lots of it.
MY NT look is...hmmm...dramatic.
I wear outfits not clothes!
So clothes wise, I don't have a signature look unless theatrical flair is counted!
Shoeswise; thongs and wedges in Summer, ballet flats in Autumn and Spring and knee high boots in Winter.
My signature is in the constants of the simple jewelry I wear; my wedding ring, one other ring, 2 gold bangles and a wristband that features on my homepage and my toenail polish; always fuschia and blue, together.
And...there is one style of bag I always wear.
That's my signature bag.
I love your style Queen Kong, elegant, funky and classic.
Hope you have a great day Sisi.
Dusk
Comment by David my David
Daytime:
Undies
Afternoon:
Bone trousers, black belt (in fashion design, not martial arts),powder-blue l/s shirt [don’t like tans, prefer to preserve my milky, lily-white skin] black shoes, black socks, white hankie (just in case I get excited out in the big wide, wicked world). For …
When I go walking …
the streets as an ordinary man … (quick ½ foray into public, run, skip, jump. Dodge all the crazies in their cars. Grab White Ox, Tally Ho’s, 6 pack of VB. Run home in similar fashion. Crazy).
Nighttime1:
Undies
or
Nighttime2:
Change undies. Wear other pair. Wash pair 1.
Anytime:
Undies.
It’s hot in Adelaide. 40 degrees C here today.
My mum? She wears old fashioned petticoats and slips. Lacy. About 30-40 yrs old some of them. Love to see someone besides my mum in them. Feminine. Delicate. Hand-washing only. Dry spread on towel. Ah, the way women used to dress in the 40s. When women were proud of their curves and love-handles. Me? Born in the wrong era.*
Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Damn, thinking of my personal style ain't so easy!
I usually opt for simple outfits (i'm not a frilly or flouncy kind of chick). But I love colour. So I'm rarely seen in head to toe black (as opposed to most Melburnians!).
Shoes and handbags are my thing. I usually keep outfits simple and have either my shoes or bag as a statement piece (never both.....that's just vulgar after all...hehehe).
Unlike Cibby I do try to wear undies most days.
Kylie
Comment by DuskDevi
Rugby World Cup 2007
Can't believe I forgot this...
I always wear something Brumbies Jan-June and something Wallabies Jun-Nov.
Even if it's for just an hour, it has to be on me...
And no I'm not talking about Stephen Larkham.
Sheesh.
...giggle...
Dusk
Comment by Sisi
DuskDevi it was difficult for me too to describe my signature style...I really like wearing certain things, but I wouldn't say they're my signature. Not to mention the fact that my style is so incredibly eclectic that I can't confine it to a brief comment's worth of description...your style sounds great though, you sound like you'd probably be big on vintage too! If you are then your style is a yay in my opinion...I absolutely love old-school fashion. Hope you have a yay day too Dusk! ps that was a great Larkham wisecrack...couldn't resist shoving his name in a comment could ya! Haha
David my David to be honest I'm a little over undies...wayyyyyy too many people wear them these days, they're just soooooo not special anymore. Any kind, get them away! (Haha I kid you, I love undies). Your mum's old-fashioned petticoats and slips sound so nice...these will NEVER die in my eyes. And when I was little I used to think I was born in the wrong era too, but then I discovered op shops and now I know I'm definitely in the right era as long as I can keep stealing fashion from past ones.
Cibby I'm not in the slightest bit surprised
KylieW sorry to hit you with a tough question haha it's a tricky one isn't it! I'm glad you're making a conscious effort to wear underwear too haha...ps simple is stunning - I bet your outfits are gorgeous