Da Fashionista.com

The Scene
Mr. Diabolina and I went running in Runyon Canyon this morning. Like the spry 18 year olds we were when we first met and would go on jogging dates around USC.

Well...except today we couldn't catch our breath, turned purple within 20 minutes and had to take lots o' water breaks. Wah to being old and busted.

In the afternoon, I hobbled over to Sable Crow for his wardrobe and personal shopping consultation. Eeeks! Our plan was to prune his closet and identify low cost ways to inject a little color/lightness into his arsenal of Armani. I was nervous but giddy with excitement. Helped that Sable Crow's mom, when told about our appointment, rejoiced at the thought of her firstborn in colors other than black and gray. YAY!

Two things struck me about Sable Crow's closet. First, it was super organized - American Psycho super organized. I looked around a few times to make sure he didn't have a drill laying ready to kill me if I offended his fashion sensibilities ;)

The second thing that struck me was that his wardrobe was organized into two camps: work and play. There was no overlap. I remembered that I used to organize my closet like that once upon a time. When I worked in less formal, more corporate offices early in my career.


It's important to mention here that for nearly 10 years, Sable Crow worked in a very traditional corporate environment. Suits and ties were de rigeur. But last year, he left that world for what amounted to a dream job. One where the environment is significantly more relaxed.

He has often remarked how odd it is to dress more casually for work. He has even DARED to wear jeans when his boss is out of town. But I think his closet organization belies a fundamental belief that work and play clothes really shouldn't mix. And as I've said before in this blog, I think that is nonsense.

You can mix a suit jacket with jeans for a night out. Or wear a trendy top under a suit jacket to work. You can wear heels to dress up a casual dress. Or flats to tone down an evening look. And you can play with accessories - hats, scarves, necklaces, purses, bracelets, rings, earrings, cuff links, glasses, headbands - to completely reinvent any look for any situation. That's what true style is all about. Otherwise all you are doing is wearing a uniform. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Except it can get a little boring.




So half way through our consultation, I pulled a few of Sable Crow's custom made dress shirts and paired them with denim. To show him that the world wouldn't spin off its axis if he experimented a little.



This blew his mind at first but then he started getting in on the fun. Seeing new possiblities, shifting his perspective, letting go of the rigidity.

Then we tackled softening his look for the weekends. Pulled one of his almost non existent color t-shirts and paired them with jeans and a zip up. I am a big big fan of zip up sweaters on guys. If they are the right weight and cut, they can look pulled together but still comfortable and easy.

Absolutely loving the color - any color - on Sable Crow! In 12 years, I've never seen him in green. Seen what the color does for his eyes. That's bananas!

Had him dig out some colorful accessorizing options.



Like the rest of his closet options, they were mostly black and gray.

But there were a few lone pops of beautiful color that I plucked out. Look how amazing the violet and the tomato look together - especially with his coloring.



If he wants to do something a little less bold, camel and blue are also an amazing combo on him.

Definitely need to get him into more earth tones.

And into another pair of neutral shoes. These fabulous thrifted boots are his only non-tennis shoe neutral option. And they were only purchased for a costume party and recently rediscovered.

Speaking of costumes, Sable Crow bought this hooded sweater coat in 2007. He loved it at first but never wore it this past winter. Felt too sorcerer's cloak. I thought it looked a bit bath robe myself. He was ready to gift it to a friend when I suggested that if he really loved it, he should think about hemming it to about the knee.



Completely changes the feel of it, no? Proportions are soooo important, my lovelies. Did similar before and after exercises with Amber and The Modern Type during their consultations. When shopping, always think about where pieces hit you. And if the proportions are off, walk away or run don't walk to a tailor to have them altered.

Finally, I whipped together a little saucy outfit for him to wear on our shopping excursion. Just a little color and flair coupled with his go-to gray. Adore.

All the fashion talk left us starving so we had a very unfashionable pig fest of a lunch. This is Sable Crow flipping off judgmental fashion people who don't eat.

After hardening our arteries, we did some serious browsing - at Urban Outfitters, Paul Smith, Marc Jacobs, Diesel, Theory, Revolve, Phillip Lim and John Varvatos. Focused on shifting Sable Crow's deeply ingrained shopping patterns - somber colors, formal wear, exclusively Armani. Got him looking at patterns, bold colors, earth toned accessories and OTHER DESIGNERS.

Realized that we've never been shopping pals even though we both love fashion and spending time together. It's likely because he does the bulk of his shopping at Armani. And Armani is a little out of my price range. And comfort zone - too little color :)

Enjoyed a leisurely dinner and dessert at Musso & Frank's with Mr. Diabolina

Followed by Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Much more watchable than expected. Gotta love that Apatow clan.

Wonderful day.

The Outfit

Diane Von Furstenberg dress

Fashion District jacket

The Accessories

Forever 21 necklace and sunglasses

Chanel bag

Urban Outfitters sandals

Fashion District bangles

The Grade

B+

The Commentary
Knew I had my work cut out for me today getting Sable Crow to open his mind up to color. So decided to wear color in a way that appealed to his painter's sensibility.

The bubble DVF dress was perfect.

Added the black accessories to show Sable Crow how simple it is to integrate color with what he already has in his closet.

Since I recently did a DVF post, let's focus on another part of the outfit: the jacket.

More specifically, the slightly puffy shoulders of the jacket.

This is a little detail that would probably go unnoticed by most lay people.

But not by a true fashionista.

The shoulder is the new body part fashion is focusing in on

It's everywhere: on the red carpet, European streets, the runways.

It was all over the spring runways: at Armani Prive



And Gaultier

Givenchy





Balmain

Matthew and Marc








But my favorite bold shoulder was at Dolce and Gabbana

Especially this shoulder shape - like having Minnie Mouse ears on your arms!!!

Also a little like angel wings - ADORE!

They look quite costumey on a real woman. Especially in red satin with opera length gloves. But we better get used to big power shoulders.

They are sticking around for Fall 2009.

Dolce and Gabbana showed many a Elsa Schiaparelli-inspired variation.

The good news is that this focus on the shoulders shifts the entire silhouette. Broader shoulders make waists look smaller. And if you are like me and don't have a waist, this is a very good thing.

Also a good thing: piling on cheapie bracelets with major ring bling.

Borrowed this fancy ring from my mom last week for the Oscar party and forgot to give it back ;)

Made me feel extra stylista fabulous all day.