How to Cultivate Eclectic Personal Style (a Cheat Sheet)

I was flipping through this book recently, and was struck by the way the author described "eclectic" style. She broke the book down into chapters, each featuring a different style: "Bohemian," "classic," etc. But, when she got to eclectic, she described it as being a combination of different styles.

Basically, you go through life, experimenting, changing your style every few years. Maybe you're a bit punk in high school, but by college you are more Bohemian, and after that you start to get into minimalism. Eventually, you have your own, unique, "eclectic" style comprised of all the best parts of each genre. You kept the leather jacket from your punk phase, and your favorite maxi skirt from your bohemian phase, and now you wear them both with a breton top from your minimalism phase. That's eclectic style!

Wow, I thought, that's such a good description of how personal style can evolve!

I have so many reference points for my own style, from designers to movies to characters in books! Sometimes I full-on embrace the character I'm feeling that day and dress 100% nautical or 100% grunge. But, more often than not, I combine a few seemingly contradictory references into one outfit.

Here are some of my favorite examples from past outfit posts.

Farmer meets Rockabilly

The rockabilly elements of this outfit (leather, nipped-in waist, saddle oxfords) are grounded by the country sensibility of a gingham button-down.

Heidi meets Western

The heidi braids are a nice contrast to the denim-on-denim look of this "Texas tuxedo."

Punk meets Romantic

This is a combination I wear a lot. I love to tone down a tiered dress with a leather jacket or dress up a band tee with a floral skirt. As opposites, these two styles work together in perfect, balanced harmony.

Military meets Garden Party

A casual, olive-green jacket makes a silky floral dress more appropriate for daytime. Add tights, and you've got a way to wear a summer dress in the colder months. 

Casual meets Glamorous

Another great example of how contrasting elements can make an evening piece daytime appropriate: a white t-shirt is the perfect counterpoint to a sequin skirt. 

Sporty meets High Fashion

What can I say? Sometimes, you get the urge to wear Versace to the tennis court. Versace for H&M, but still. 

'20s meets '50s 

Era mixing is a great way to keep vintage clothing from looking like a costume. Here, a '50s cardi gives shape to a fringed flapper dress. 

Wedding gown exhibit at art museum

Today I went to see an exhibition at the Cincinnati Art Museum called Wedded Perfection: Two Centuries of Wedding Gowns. It was pretty incredible. I wasn't allowed to take photos, but I bought a book in the gift shop and photographed some of the pages so that I could share some of my favorite dresses with you.

The trend of white gowns has come in and out of fashion, but I think it's fascinating how even in a group of gowns that are all in white, the change of shape can very so much with the times. For example...

This gorgeous number is clearly straight out of the late 1960s...

...while this one screams 1950s...

...and this lovely thing isa gem of the 1920s.

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There were some pretty interesting colored gowns (particularly popular during the mid 20th century), like this 1935 blue lace gown, made for the bride by her future mother-in -law since money was tight during the Great Depression.

This open-back yellow silk gown was also from 1935. The bride wanted something sexy that she could wear again, but her family clearly thought she should be more covered up for the ceremony so she wore a jacket on top as you can see.

This yellow gown from 1934 is made of velvet and has an incredibly opulent train.

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There were incredible gowns from as far back at the mid 18th century.

The above gown is decorated with wax orange blossoms (a symbol of fertility) which was a popular adornment for wedding gowns all through the 19th century.

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Some gowns were pretty avant-garde, like this one from 1967, made of leather rectangles secured together with silver rings like chainmail.

Or this hooded gown from 1946

Or this incredible hand-felted piece, made for a Japanese-American bride who wanted something to span the gap of Japanese and Western tradition.

The phoenix was hand-felted right onto the fabric.

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And, of course, there were original gowns designed by some of the biggest names in fashion.

Christian Dior, 1954

Yohji Yamamoto, 2000

Vera Wang designed this dress for herself, when she couldn't find anything that suited her aesthetic and was then inspired to start her own line of bridal gowns.

This gown, which is possibly my favorite (and certainly unique) was designed by Jeanne Lanvin in 1931.

The bride who wore it, Elaine Mack (née Joseph) wore it again and again on significant wedding anniversaries. Here she is with her husband in 1986 on the fifty-fifth.

I think what interests me the most in wedding gowns is how the choice is the ultimate opportunity for self expression through fashion.

Many people say that your wedding is the most important day of your life, but I don't think that's necessarily true. Others say the wedding gown is important because it's the brides only chance to dress up luxuriously and be the center of attention, but again, that's not necessarily true. For one thing, there might be other opportunities for these thing, but for another, some brides don't want to dress very fancy or be the center of attention, and they may choose something understated and that choice is just as important to her self expression as the choice that so many brides make to wear a Cinderella gown.

The point is that while the day may not be the most important day of your life, the choice of dress is probably the most important wardrobe decision of your life and there is the oportunity to express yourself as a rebel rule-breaker or a traditionalist, a minimalist or a maximalist. That kind of self expression is what I love about fashion.

What I wore today 01/27/2011

Today I wore the vintage 1950s skirt that I got yesterday at Chicken Lays an Egg with a black crinoline I bought on Ebay. I am starting to really love skirts with volume and layers.

Photos by Ryan. <3

New favorite vintage shop: Chicken Lays an Egg

My besty, Sarah, came back into town from Chicago, so we had coffee and dropped by Urban Outfitters, where I got a cute backless dress on sale and took a photo of this très inspiring mannequin.

It's rocking the visible bra trend, eh? I want to keep my eyes peeled for a lace shirt at the thrift store that I can cut and sew to a t-shirt to make something like this for myself.

Anyway, then we went vintage shopping at this place in Northside called Chicken Lays an Egg.

(Doesn't the model on the right look like SJP?)

Strange name, I know, but I had read great things on Yelp and it didn't disappoint. I found a lot of cute things and the prices were quite reasonable.

Check out Sarah's awesome vintage coat (it was her mom's) and fair isle leg warmers.

I fell so in love with this bag (wouldn't it make a great lunch pale?), but I totally didn't need to buy another bag, so I left the baby behind.

More gorgey stuff...

They even had vintage dresses for little girls which ranged from cute to hideous.

I love the material of this skirt, but it wasn't the right size.

Again, love the material (velvet, but not the size).

This top was pretty cute, but I didn't end up getting it.

Here's what I did get...

This 1950s skirt that I think will look lovely with my black crinoline

This lovely blouse

This 1960s wiggle dress