Pix-Elated

28 Comments

• Carol replied 6 months ago

  Suz--love the outfit, especially with those bright orange sandals.  You do have a lot of stripes, and I can see you wearing all of these. That tan/black outfit on the blog was gorgeous--I thought so, too. Hope you get to put something together. 

• Jenni NZ replied 6 months ago

  Can you be Queen Stripe as well? Or is that someone else’s title?
  I find your vertical stripes more interesting, especially the dress that mixes vertical and horizontal!

• LJP replied 6 months ago

  Really nice, summery indeed, and proportions look bang on to my eye.  I find the whole conversation around stripes fascinating in that some love them and have many pieces, and others of us don't. Stripes seem so easy and innocuous, yet they clearly aren't.  I'm in the don't love/wear camp because I feel odd in stripes, but I wonder why that is.  

• Suz replied 6 months ago

  Lisa, the question of pattern preferences is a fascinating one and we could all talk for eons about it. I'll bet Jaime has some great insights from reading that Evolution of Style book (if I have the title correct) -- and those who have gone deep into Kibbe can probably comment, too. 

  I think for some people, stripes (or geometric patterns more generally) can feel overly masculine. For others, they feel too "preppy" (which might be a kind of variant of masculine) especially in higher contrast or with white. They might feel too "crisp" and "clean" to those who prefer muddy or muted colours. (It's possible to find stripes in lower contrast tones but a lot harder, I think.) I remember Brooklyn had thoughts about this some years ago. Her version of stripes turned out to be the chevron (another pattern I happen to love, but don't see as often). 

  I have a similar issue with florals to what you might have with stripes. I actually love how many of them look in theory. But much less so on myself unless certain very specific criteria are met. They must include white or silvery grey. They must be the right size/ scale. And even if they are perfect, I am likely to tire of them more quickly than I will ever tire of stripes or tartan or check. Geometric patterns are my go-to. 

  Jenni, thanks -- that dress was such a great find at an incredibly reduced sale price. It is beautifully, beautifully made. Seams finished with such elegance. And the cotton almost wrinkle free. 

  Carol, I can see you in a version of that 3rd outfit wearing your headscarf, which would be really cool with it! 

• kkards replied 6 months ago

  You had me at stripes. 

  
  
  
  

• Lisa replied 6 months ago

  Love the summer stripes and proportions here. This is such a good summer outfit, relaxed and casual while also structured and a pop of fun color with the sandals. An excellent summer outfit!

• Suz replied 6 months ago

  The jorts have obviously been complete winners for me. Can't believe I actually thought I might return the at first! 

• Ket replied 6 months ago

  Looking fab as ever!! I love you in stripes and jorts!

  Stripes have always been a struggle for me. I want to love them but they always feel odd and uncomfortable to wear. I just bought a very interesting 1970s style belted midi cardigan. It has horizontal stripes and I’m feeling unsure about it.

  I think my stripes are either diagonal OR perhaps chevrons/herringbone?? I’ll have to experiment some more.

• Firecracker (Sharan) replied 6 months ago
  The outfit is super fab, Suz! I'm glad you kept those jorts, too, and now can't recall why there was any doubt about them! The orange sandals are brilliant with this outfit. 
  You are clearly one of the MVPs of Team Stripe.
  
  

• Star (Lise) replied 6 months ago

  Love this and the unexpected sandals. Very fresh! Also isn't it fun that the jorts have become workhorses. Love that evolving aspect of our personal style.

• Mirjana replied 6 months ago

  Wow Suz, you have a great collection of stripes. I kow that you like stripes, me too. I adore your striped dress, beautiful. Your outfit with shorts and striped shirt is gorgeous.

• Irina replied 6 months ago

  Love your outfit! And you have a nice collection of striped tops. 

• Dee replied 6 months ago

  Well, this outfit has all the elements I love to wear, blue stripes, trendy  jorts, fun coloured footwear. You know I’m a big fan of stripes in all their iterations and have a closet full of various stripes myself.

• Angie replied 6 months ago

  Your Majesty-Suz, you wear STRIPES, blue, and white with the best of them! Looking summery, punchy, and casual-chic! 

  
  
  KILLER jorts! 

• Jaime replied 6 months ago

  Well Suz you already had me with your jorts and fab striped top, but then you brought up The Triumph of Individual Style (that's the book you meant I think). First of all, I love the outfit! Secondly, such an interesting question by Lisa about why some love stripes and some don't. Interesting point about their potentially masculine/yang vibe. Gamines and stripes are a classic combination so you have a good point with that. But classics (like Angie perhaps) also love stripes. Maybe it relates to the angularity vs. curviness of the wearer, or maybe it is more the associations since stripes have a long fashion history - they are gamine, they are French, they are nautical and so on. Food for thought!

• Suz replied 6 months ago

  Jaime, those are all good points. Associations matter! And thank you for helping me with the title of the book! 

  I was thinking afterwards that a non-geometric pattern that I love and do not tire of is paisley. (Or is it geometric?) It's more organic, at any rate. Curvier. I have mixed floral / paisleys and those work really well for me. 

• Bijou replied 6 months ago

  Great to see your stripes and how blue and white are the dominant colour scheme for you. I love the cuffs on your JCrew Garcon shirt, tres chic!

  Like Lisa and Jaime mention, classic stripes are not for everyone, it's taken me a bit of time to work out what stripes work for me as I love how the classic military stripes look on others and then get disappointed when they feel wrong on me. I have three striped summer dresses which suits me better than classic stripes. 

• Jenni NZ replied 6 months ago

  Ha! Thanks Jaime for saying the name of the book. The Carla Mathis book, is that correct? I was Googling yesterday the name of the book you mentioned Suz and couldn’t find it so was about to ask Jaime!
  But here’s a Kibbe conundrum then… if I am a soft gamine (not confirmed) and you’re a flamboyant gamine, is that difference enough to make you Queen Stripe and me not mad keen on them? Off I go to Google or even Reddit, LOL.

• Dee replied 6 months ago

  Oh, interesting points Jaime, Suz and LJP about why stripes are loved by some and not on others.

  If I'm categorizing myself under the Kibbe system, I generally come out as a Dramatic Classic. Stripes are a classic pattern that is typically symmetrical and structured, they can also be quite graphic which may or may not suit some kibbe body types but for me, these are the exact elements that work best. It may also explain why big random florals don't work as well for me. I need symmetry, structure  and balance.

• Helena replied 6 months ago

  Simple perfection Suz!

• Kyle replied 6 months ago

  This is the way to dress in summer and still look pulled together and chic. Breezy, cool colors with a touch of structure, a bit of trend and an unexpected pop. 

• Bonnie replied 6 months ago

  Fun outfit! It looks great and the linen fabric makes it perfect for hot days.

• Sal replied 6 months ago

  Gorgeous!! Definitely a winning look Suz.

  I like stripes but haven’t worn them as much recently. I did overdo them for a couple of years.

  Here are my stripes - one is a zebra stripe - does that count?

  The knit dress is yet to be worn as I thrifted it in winter.

  I am a flamboyant natural I believe under Kibbe - with my height the only three choices are D, SD or FN.

• Suz replied 6 months ago

  Sal, if I understand Kibbe at all (and I don't pretend to, LOL!) I would agree you are some kind of natural, for sure. Hence, zebra stripes definitely count! 

  I actually think out of the box, non-classic stripe patterns are really interesting. Like Brooklyn's chevrons. But also animal prints like this, or even some photo-graphics, like fish bones, etc. 

  Thanks, Bonnie, Kyle, Helena! 

  Dee, what you say makes a lot of sense. Dramatic classic sounds right for you. And stripes are definitely your friend! 

  Jenni, the difference between flamboyant gamine and soft gamine might indeed influence pattern preference and what looks best. You probably gravitate to smaller prints overall? And less graphic patterns. 

  Bijou, I love those dresses and see immediately why they would work so well on you. They have the feminine, graceful, and glam elements that work so very well on you! 

• Jenni NZ replied 6 months ago

  Well Suz I Googled “Are stripes better on Flamboyant Gamines or Soft Gamines?” and it gave an AI answer about smaller stripes possibly mixed with softer patterns would be better for soft gamines! I also last night went down Reddit Kibbe rabbit holes and at least it helped me decide not to spend my money on Kibbe’s new book ( David Kibbe Power of Style) I think- for several reasons but partly because it’s full of metaphysical ramblings apparently. So I’m happy about that. Might check a library some time.

• Suz replied 6 months ago

  Very interesting, Jenni! And thank you for the preview of the book that we probably don't want to buy if we want to avoid confusing ourselves even more thoroughly! :) 

• Karie replied 6 months ago

  I love stripes! It’s my second favorite pattern (polka dots gets the top spot). I’m also loving the high-low hem of your shirt, it looks great paired with the jorts.

• lyn67 replied 5 months ago

  LOved all the discussions about fifferent pattern prefferences including stripes but wanted to add my two cents as it is NOT only about the pattern of the stripes per se when loving/or not a striped item, but so much more complex including on what kind of clothing item it is placed, , fabric (texture, drape), cut, color, contrast, scale, styling and who knows what many more.

  I certainly love stripes, but a classic crisp collared long sleeve button down is my pet peeve and makes me feel drab and masculine. Still I have a button down collared shirt dress which I love but it is not a crisp ironed poplin kind rather a softer natural drapey and is a low contrast grey pinstripe on an off white cotton-then I have jersey dress and skirts (tube, pleated & wrap) in stripes, too-so I probably love to wear them on my lower half?

  I too own the same Zara shirt top in uni cognac but my next buy will be one of the blue stripes like Suz's because the cut is so clever with the wide hemmed half sleeves, V-notch collared neck, hi-low hem and drapey linen blend fabric that I was really surprised how well it felt on when trying it in the store--BUT will wear it open layered over a cami to an A-style satin skirt-SO it didn't even occured me to style it in a gamine way like Suz here...:-)