Wardrobe Architect 2015 Challenge : Week 1

Last week I spoke a little about wanting to define my personal style and to collate a capsule wardrobe this year – a project on”closet control” if you will. The problem was that I had no idea where to start or how I would implement it. So imagine my excitement when I saw this post by Kristen issuing an open invitation to work through the Wardrobe Architect series with her this year – lucky me!

Kristen has undertaken the very brave challenge of not buying any RTW clothing this year – I don’t quite feel that I have the necessary skills (or time) to rely wholly on me-made clothing as yet so I’m just hoping to be able to keep up with this series and to use what I’ve learnt to focus on making clothes I will actually wear, as opposed to clothes that are simply fun to make!

My plan is to post every Monday about my progress on this series, starting today. Since there are only 3 weeks of January left, I’ll be covering week 1 today, and week 2 on Thursday.  If you guys are interested in joining in, please do! I would love to hear all of your input – often my sister is my only fashion critic, so any other feedback on how I could further define my style, or what would work on my body type would be amazing. Now, are you ready? Here we go!

Week 1 – Making Style More Personal

I found this week’s activity rather difficult – we were asked to reflect on how each of these 7 factors (your personal history, philosophy, culture, community, activities, location and body) affect your fashion choices. I had some problems tackling some categories of the worksheet, but was really surprised by how a few of these factors have really shaped my personal style and what I choose to wear on a daily basis!

For one, I had always thought that my activities for the day and the need to dress comfortably played a major role in determining what I was to wear that day. As it turns out, a more significant factor is how I perceive my body and whether I feel that a certain outfit looks and feels good on me. Fit and my body image are probably the main reason why the styles I like on others (and most of the things I pin) are not looks I actually wear in real life.

For example, I’ve been loving the midi skirt trend over the last year or so and have actually amassed a number of midi pieces of my own. In my mind it was the perfect piece for a pear shaped person – slim on the top, cinching the waist and flaring at the bottom to hide our child-bearing hips. In reality, I’ve worn a midi skirt maybe twice in the whole of last year, mostly because I thought it looked strange on me. My waist isn’t as small as a model’s and my legs aren’t long enough to even out the longer skirt length without the added height of heels – the end result is that I feel stumpy in them so it never makes it out past my bedroom.

Another interesting discovery is how my culture and religion have impacted my preference for clothing. I’m ethnically Chinese and a Christian from birth – this means that both my culture and religion value modesty and purity. This doesn’t mean I dress like a nun (my bow-back Sabrina crop top is evidence of that), but it does mean that I’ve grown up being lectured by my mom about my “too-short skirts” and “too-low tops”. I’m guessing the nagging actually worked, because some time in University I decided that (1) I didn’t like figure-hugging clothing, (2) I didn’t like short skirts and (3) tube tops and plunging necklines fit me badly and made me feel uncomfortable due to my distinct lack of bewbage.

Being Chinese also means that I grew up admiring the classic silhouette of the cheongsam (or qi pao, as some call it), and still do! I think this has influenced my love for clean lines and classic, elegant styles that are both sexy but modest at the same time. I’m talking illusion backs, sheer mesh panels, and sheath dresses that skim your curves instead of hugging them. As Emma Watson once said “The less you reveal, the more people can wonder” – dang, girl!

Are any of you guys joining in #WAChallenge2015? If so, link me down below, I would love to see how you guys are getting on! For anyone else, what do you think of this week’s challenge? How has your background or location (or any of the other factors) impacted your fashion style?

If you would like to follow along with my Wardrobe Architect Challenge journey, here’s a list of all my posts so far:

January

Week 1

Week 2: Defining a Core Style

Weeks 3 & 4: Shapes, Proportions and Silhouettes