unsolicited fashion advice

I don't have a lot of credentials, I don't sit front row at every fashion show. I'm not a full-time fashion designer. I'm not the most fashionable girl in the world, but I do have one thing, and that's a passion for fashion. And hopefully for some of you, that's enough.

Out of curiosity, the other day, I google searched fashion advice just to see what would come up. I didn't need fashion advice when I googled that. I just wanted to see what would come up. I wasn't looking for anything, I just wanted to see what would come up.

I expected to find great advice and I was shocked when that's not what I found. A lot of the advice I found, at least from the top five to 10 articles, was hard to follow and vague and empty. And it was sort of shocking to me. And so it inspired me. It inspired me to come here today and hopefully provide some fashion advice that's specific and easy to follow and actually helpful.

Some of this advice might work for you, some of this advice might not. Fashion is very personal, and what works for me might not work for you, but also what works for me very well might work for you. So take it with a grain of salt, take what applies to you and your sense of style.

Ditch what doesn't, and let's just have a good time. I'm going to be touching on two themes here today Number one, styling an outfit, assembling an outfit, Number two, building a wardrobe, accumulating thoughtful, useful pieces to create the ideal wardrobe.

So those are the two themes, and we're going to start with. Advice for putting together an outfit One of my main focuses when I'm putting together an outfit is balancing colors. And this is something that is not a priority for everyone. And so I'm almost hesitant to even bring it up.

But for me, this makes an outfit and it's kind of hard to talk about because there are so many different ways to make the colors in an outfit feel balanced. It's almost intimidating to talk about because there are so many different ways to do it. But I think an outfit looks so cohesive and snappy when the colors are well balanced. There's a few things that I keep in mind when I'm trying to create an outfit that has the proper color balance.

Number one, I consider a through line throughout the outfit, by that, I mean a color that's present above the waist, in a color that's present below the waist. And then a lot of times, the rest of the outfit can be other colors. But if you have that through line, you know that color that's present on the top of your body and on the bottom of your body, it naturally just creates this balance. So I'll give you some examples.

You could be wearing blue jeans and a white top to really balance the colors. You could wear black shoes in a black bag, or you could wear black shoes in a black belt. Or you could wear black shoes in a black pair of sunglasses in a black bag. I think the key is to have that one color be the through line from your feet to your head. It could also be that your shirt matches your socks, and your socks are sort of peeping out, you know? And so you can sort of see the sock color. And those are the two things that match.

Your pants and your bag could match, they could be the same color when in doubt. If you really want to balance the colors of an outfit, match the glasses, belt, shoe and bag. And then what's happening with the pants and what's happening with the top doesn't even matter. Because you have this through line color, you have this color that's present from toe to head, and it just feels like balanced.

That's sort of my daily cheat code to making an outfit feel balanced. It's not something that I do all the time, but it's definitely a tool. I use quite a bit to create that color balance now, that's kind of a cheat code to accomplishing color balance. But sometimes you want to get a little bit more creative, and that's when it's really helpful to choose a color palette in your mind. Now, you don't need to go and make mood boards online for every outfit to figure out the perfect color scheme. That's very unrealistic.

Okay, who the fuck has time for that? By the way? Me, sometimes, me sometimes. I've been known to do things like that for special occasions. Okay, on a day to day basis, we don't have the time or energy to really organize a full color palette.

Just for one outfit, so you have to be a little bit more abstract with it in your brain. You know, you might choose to go full monochromatic, where all one color, you know, an all white outfit and all black outfit, all gray, all beige. You know, you might choose that route. That might be your color palette for the day.

You might want to go with all sharp colors, colors that are really bright and vibrant, and you might stick to that sort of palette. Or you might go in the opposite direction and wear all muted, grayish tones of colors and that can feel really cohesive. You might choose a color palette that evokes a certain feeling, for example maroon, black, gray.

That sort of has a vampy vibe mustard, yellow, yellow, rich navy, blue, white, burnt, orange, dark green that has sort of a Seventies Woodstock-y feel. There are many ways that you can create a color palette in your head. But I think it's really helpful when it comes to finding color balance because it sort of gives you direction. It makes it a lot easier to accessorize and choose the right hand color handful of pieces to put together.

But on top of that, it makes the outfit feel cohesive when there's this experience happening with the color scheme. And the opportunities are endless. There's no rules, you can do whatever you want, if it makes sense to you, it makes sense to you.

But there is something valuable about figuring out that color palette while putting together an outfit. Because regardless of how out there or tame the color palette is, it aids you in creating an outfit with a balance.

Another tip to balancing colors in an outfit is to choose one metal, gold or silver. Okay, this is going to be controversial to some, because some people don't even think twice about mixing metals in an outfit. They're like, there's gold over here, there's silver over here, whatever. I totally get it because I used to be the same way.

I didn't even pay attention to it, but there's a lot of small details on clothing buttons, zippers, visible zippers, little metal details. And I think you can put together a phenomenal outfit that mixes metals. But I've noticed that I feel like my outfit is more cohesive when I just stick to one metal, either gold or silver. I'll give an example.

If I'm wearing a black skirt that has a silver belt connected, you know, built into it. I'm going to choose a bag that has silver detail and I'm going to wear silver earrings, and I'm going to wear shoes that have silver detail. If there's metal involved, and I think two things are happening here, number one, it really brings out that metal and it makes it a star in the outfit. Whereas when you mix metals, I don't know. There's not like this pop of silver or pop of gold happening, it's like both are happening. And then I don't know, it's kind of distracting to me.

Maybe I could be totally crazy for this, you can be honest and be like, Emma, that is like, really weird that you think that way. But this is just how I style myself. Okay, these are just fashion codes that I've built into my own fashion brain.

And again, you can take them or leave them. I just find that when I stick to one metal, the outfit looks and feels more cohesive, and on top of that, the metal really shines. In pops, there's something about the cohesion of matching metals that just makes the metal pop and shine and become a star in the outfit. I would say that matching all your metals is another cheat code to putting together a cohesive, color balanced outfit.

But again, there are always going to be exceptions, because fashion can be anything you want it to be. And my last tip for achieving color balance is to choose between brown or black. This is very similar to choosing between gold and silver. Okay, almost every outfit has black and or brown details somewhere, but similar to choosing one, metal or the other.

When you choose between black or brown, it really allows for that color to shine. Now, it depends on what's in your closet, right? I have a lot of black and brown boots, loafers, et cetera. I have a lot of black and brown belts, I have a lot of black and brown sunglasses.

I have a lot of black and brown bags because they're staple neutral colors almost everyone has in their closet. I'm not unique for that, which is why I'm including this as a tip. Because those neutrals really root in outfit. They're like the foundation of an outfit a lot of the times. And it can be tempting sometimes to do a brown loafer with a black bag. But there's something so balanced and sharp and chic about a black shoe in a black bag. A brown shoe in a brown bag.

Have I had times where I've mixed brown and black and it's worked? Yes, I'll give an example black loafers, brown slacks, black belt, black shirt, black bag, brown sunglasses. That totally worked.

That was different. Here's an example of when you may want to choose between black and brown. Okay, you're wearing a pair of blue jeans, a white tank top and a red bag. You don't have red shoes in your closet, so you're choosing between black and brown.

Choose one or the other, black or brown, let's say you choose black. Now you're looking to put on a belt, You should choose a black belt, you shouldn't choose a brown belt.

I'm being.

Um, you can do whatever you want, but I'm just saying, Okay, I'm just saying, I'm just saying this is advice. It's free and you don't need to use it. okay, it's free for a reason.

It's free because you don't need to listen. This is an opinion piece, really, anyway. So you choose the black belt because you have black shoes on, then you're going to pick out a pair of sunglasses, okay?

You really love your brown pair of glasses? No, choose the black pair, it's going to match the best. You see what I'm saying, balancing colors in an outfit.

To some people it's life-changing. for me it was life-changing acquiring this.

Understanding of balancing colors in an outfit? It's really elevated my style in a lot of ways because it's made outfits look and feel cohesive in a way that they just didn't before. When? when I wasn't thinking about that. But again, do your thing always. Let's finally move on from balancing colors because that was an absolute rollercoaster of emotions for everyone involved.

It was stressful, it was confusing. It was borderline frightening. To see me take that so seriously, was frightening for all of us, the entire community. So let's please move on to my next piece of advice.

When it comes to putting together an outfit, you have to trust your gut. A lot of times when we're getting dressed in the morning, we're being influenced by something, we're being influenced by our friends, we're being influenced by something we saw online, we're being influenced by societal norms.

We're being influenced by very many things. When you choose an outfit based on an external source, you'll almost never feel the full benefit of using fashion to express yourself. And isn't that the whole point? For those of us who use fashion as a way to express ourselves, the whole point is to express ourselves, right?

If we're influenced by an external source, when we're getting dressed in the morning, we're not getting that experience, and that's sort of the whole point when you're getting dressed. Your gut's going to tell you two things number one, whether or not the outfit feels like you, and number two, whether or not you're comfortable in the outfit. You have to listen to that instinct.

Because when you listen to that instinct, you put together an outfit that accomplishes what you want to accomplish, you're able to properly express yourself and you're comfortable.

The perfect outfit is physically and mentally comfortable for you, physically in the sense that your clothing fits in a way that's comfortable for you. Physically in the sense that you're showing as much of yourself as you want, or you're covering as much of yourself as you want. And mentally, you're expressing a side of yourself that you're excited to express, and it feels like a genuine representation of you.

And that makes you feel comfortable and confident. A lot of times when I put on fancy outfits, I don't feel mentally comfortable and confident. And the reason for that is that I feel like a casual girl, you know what I mean? I feel like I'm a very casual, relaxed person.

And so when I put on fancy clothing, I feel a little bit weird. It takes a little bit more effort for me to find fancy outfits that make me feel physically and mentally comfortable and confident. Because it rarely feels like a genuine reflection of me. On top of that, fancy outfits tend to be physically uncomfortable. So I usually have to find something that has a bit of an edge or something that is leaning a bit more casual, otherwise I don't feel good.

And there have been times when I've worn things on a red carpet that didn't feel me. Because I was like, I don't know, I don't know. I don't even know how to find something that feels me that is fancy, right?

That's taken me some practice and it's interesting. Because whenever I wear something out that went against my intuition, I never feel confident, I never feel outgoing, I never feel excited to be there. I'm just I'm self-conscious and I feel weirdly fraudulent.

Like, I don't feel like myself and it sort of ruins the experience. You have to put clothes on for you, you have to get dressed for you.

End of story. And you have to listen to your intuition and validate your intuition. Because fashion can really lift you up and bring you confidence and make you feel even more like yourself. But in order for it to do that, you have to allow it to do that.

Next piece of advice for when you're picking out an outfit is to choose a theme. Now, listen, okay, I'm not talking about making every day costume day, I'm not talking about full dress up. I'm not like, choose a theme and then stick to it so heavily that you're fully dressed as a cowboy. Because your theme that day was wild, Wild West like.

That's not what I'm saying here. When it comes to picking out a theme you want to use that theme. vaguely. does that make sense? You don't want to fully be on theme?

You want to just kind of be on theme, fully being on theme is like orange juice.

Sweet, potent orange juice.

Vaguely being on theme is like orange flavored Lacroix. Is that a good metaphor? Help me, I hope it is. Being fully on theme is how you dress up for, like Halloween, you know, going in on the costume. Being vaguely on theme is more doable for day to day life.

Listen, every day can be costume day, if that's what you want, but most people don't have the time, energy or inspiration to do that. So ignore me if you like costume day every day. This one, this one's not for you, this one's not helpful.

There's still some value in sort of choosing a theme for day to day life. But don't feel the pressure to go full Orange Juice mode, go Orange Lacroix mode. A lot of times when I'm getting dressed, I have a vague theme in mind today I want to go alien today.

I want to go vampire today, I want to go Eighties rockstar today, I want to go cowboy.

Today I want to go Coraline, one of my favorite movies, today I want to go Napoleon Dynamite.

One of my favorite movies today, I want to go Tropical Summertime. I'm always choosing some sort of theme. Not only does this make picking out an outfit even more fun, but it gives you a great place to start.

So I'll give you an example. The other day I wanted to go vampire mode, don't know why, I was just in like, a vampire mood. So I chose this dark gray long skirt because that felt sort of vampire to me.

And then I was like, All right, what kind of shoe? okay, I'm going to do black boot? and then I was like, Okay, what, what am i? okay? Black belt with silver.

Because to me, silver is a bit more vampire. And then I was like, Okay, what about? On the top? Black long sleeve mock neck shirt, silver hoops, sleek black sunglasses, matte kind of red, dark red berry red lip. I'm not dressed up like a vampire, but that felt vampire to me. Another example?

The other day, I kind of wanted to go hiking outdoorsy mode, but I wasn't like going hiking, I just kind of wanted that vibe. So I wore cutoff Levi's shorts, a sort of oatmeal earthy sock, a classic Birkenstock, a classic white tank top, a cutesy little pair of brown sunglasses, like light brown sunglasses with green lenses, felt very outdoorsy to me. I don't look like I'm going for a hike, but I kind of got a little hiking vibe going on. I love choosing a theme because it gets me started.

It gets me started and it gets me excited, and it kind of helps everything else fall into place. I think the magic of going in with a vision is that it gets you started. But then the outfit can evolve into something completely different than the theme itself, and it can kind of evolve into something that's unique to you. My last piece of advice for putting together an outfit is to layer and accessorize with intention. Layering and accessorizing allow you to create something that feels brand new and exciting. I think what accessories do best is take the vision for the outfit to the next level.

Accessories adds so much personality. You can be wearing a really simple outfit, but accessorize in a really thoughtful way, and the outfit feels like something much more thought out. Layering allows you to reinvent simple pieces in a way you can take simple pieces, layer them in such a way and create something that feels brand new. Wearing a long sleeve tight t-shirt under a stretchy white tank top, now that looks like a completely brand new top.

Wearing a button up flannel underneath a crew neck sweater adds this beautiful plaid collar around the neck that adds so much detail. Things like that really take an outfit to the next level, and that's kind of where it gets fun. Playing with accessories, playing with layering, the opportunities are endless. And for a long time, I was very intimidated by accessorizing and layering. Because I was like, that's just too much for my brain to comprehend. But as I started growing my fashion brain, it became easier over time and more automatic. But it wasn't something that came to me.

Naturally, I kind of had to learn as I went and expose myself to a lot of good fashion content. And try a lot of stuff. That that didn't work, standing in my closet for three hours, trying things that didn't work. So that's all I got when it comes to putting together an outfit. But we're not done yet. Because now I have to give you advice on building your wardrobe, because it's one thing to get dressed in the morning.

It's a whole other thing to figure out what the hell to put in your closet.

Again, this is only for people who care about fashion, want to participate in it, want to use it as a way to express themselves. This is not advice for everybody because some people are like, I need two pairs of pants, two t-shirts and I'm good to go. For the next six months, that's totally fine. But for those of you who love fashion, expose yourself to a lot of fashion constantly. Mood board go on Pinterest.

You're probably already doing it, but keep doing it. Keep your eyes peeled when you're out and about, subconsciously, you'll start developing your taste. The more you expose yourself to fashion, the more developed your taste will be. Constantly keep your eyes peeled and expose yourself to as much fashion as possible.

And the reason why this is helpful is because your ability to figure out what you need in your closet, the more developed your taste is. It's very hard to go out and go shopping when you don't really know what you like. And I spent so many years buying things that I didn't even really like because I didn't even really know what I liked. I was sort of a loose cannon. Nowadays, I have a firmer vision of what I like. And so I'm not wasting time and money buying things that are not going to be properly utilized by me because I have a firmer vision of what I do like.

I think developing your taste directly helps you figure out what you need in your wardrobe. Pinterest, Instagram and the world around us has endless inspiration.

My next piece of advice is to really focus on good basics. I can't tell you how often. I just put together an outfit composed of basics and I take it to the next level with accessories. I wear jeans and a t-shirt so often, but every time I wear jeans and a t-shirt, it feels a little different because of how I accessorize it. Right? I think the number one priority should be having perfect basics in your closet, that you love, that you feel comfortable in, that you feel yourself in. And then going out and collecting cool, random accessories that can really spice up your basics.

Now I think this is a good method for a few reasons number one, it makes the most sense. Space-wise, clothing takes up a lot more space than accessories do, especially when you're someone who has an ever evolving style. There's much more room to experiment when you just have a bunch of basics in your closet.

You can reinvent basics a trillion times, using accessories or layering. A black pair of slacks can be worn a trillion different ways, whereas a cheetah print pair of slacks can't. Let's say you're really into Cheetah print. Instead of buying the Cheetah print pants, stick with the pair of black pants that you have in your closet and buy a Cheetah print scarf. You know what I mean?

And then in a month when you're like, I kind of want to go 80s rockstar mode, okay? Maybe? Wear the black pants with a cool belt and a black turtleneck, and style your hair a little different and do your makeup a little different. Focus on having a solid collection of basics and let the accessories do the talking. And my last piece of advice is to buy rare pieces now, I'm not talking about rare, like the rarest Supreme hoodie. That's like $50,000, probably.

I'm talking about something that's rare because you found it at a thrift store. It's rare because there's a good chance no one else can go out and find that piece. They can't just go to the same website that you went to and order it right. When you buy something from the thrift store. It's kind of untraceable at times, it's it's sort of rare in a way.

Who knows where it came from? And this is so valuable when building a wardrobe. Because we're in this phase now where everyone jumps and buys the trendy hot new thing, and then a month later, everyone's sick of it. Not only is that wasteful, but it's also frustrating. When we open up our closets, we want to find things that inspire us to get dressed in the morning. But when we open up our closet and find a dress that 50,000 other people have, we're not excited about that because it doesn't feel unique to us anymore.

My recommendation is to go thrift shopping, go vintage shopping, find cute small boutiques. Try to find things that feel unique to you because that's how you create a wardrobe that feels timeless to you. It's so satisfying to get proper use out of our clothing. And I think when we buy things that are rare and feel unique to us, those pieces don't feel stale to us. In the way that they would if everyone could have them, the hot new thing is not going to be hot new in two weeks to a month.

And when it comes to building a wardrobe, I think your best bet when it comes to special pieces is to find something that is sort of rare. Rare does not have to mean expensive. I think a combination of quality basics and cool, rare thrift finds is the most gorgeous balance in a wardrobe. That's all the fashion advice I have for you today. I hope it was helpful.

I hope you got something out of it. I know I had fun, okay, I might've exposed a side of my brain that I didn't want anyone to see, which was the side of my brain. That takes fashion way too seriously. And part of me is wondering if it's toxic for me to pass off my own ideology onto you. Because I don't know. Maybe I'm too picky and too harsh and too strict, but I already told you to take this with a grain of salt.

Okay, so the ball's in your court.

Well, I really appreciate all of you listening and hanging out today. It was so much fun. And if you enjoyed it, you can tune in every Thursday and Sunday for new episode. Video episodes exclusive on Spotify. Audio is available anywhere you stream podcasts. Follow Anything goes on Instagram and anything goes. Follow me on Instagram at Emma Chamberlain. check out my coffee company, Chamberlain Coffee.

We have coffee, we have tea, we have other stuff. You can use code at AG 15 for a little discount if you want. I just love and appreciate you all. I'm just so grateful that we get to hang out twice a week, twice a week, we get to hang out.

All right, I'll talk to you later.