Personal
Stylist - A Brief Guide to Shopping
By: Husam (Sam) Salman
June
3rd, 2016
It takes a savvy business mind to building
a great wardrobe – it takes an understanding of self-identity, reviewing
your current wardrobe and planning on your purchase needs. Once you have those understood, you’re ready
to shop effectively and efficiently.
We are not only about making great garments;
we are about making great shoppers. Sometimes that requires help from an
industry expert like a stylist, personal shopper or wardrobe specialist.
A bartender, for example, should be
more than a drink expert or mixologist. They should also be that someone you
can rely on for flavor pairing or drink suggestion advise. Designing a garment
is not different, a tailor is more than a fitting and sewing expert; he should
be masterfully skilled in all things lifestyle and menswear. He should consider your wardrobe, the colors
that work best for your complexion and most of all – fit.
When considering wardrobe upgrades,
consider the investment in quality menswear. This is about more than selecting
a stylish garment – remember the big picture and be you’re your selections consider
developing long-term wardrobe based on texture versatility and color
theory.
Thank goodness everyone is made
differently – I personally believe this is what fuels innovation. Due to regional climate variations, skin tones,
body types and sizes and preexisting wardrobes – navigating the do’s and don’ts
to consider when building your wardrobe.
1.
Skin Tone Vs. Fabric Color
Here we are addressing the first
hurtle of garment selection. Although staples like white, black, medium grey
and navy are neutral tones that work well on all men because they are “safe”,
we must take our tertiary selections with more though.
“I
understand how scarlet can differ from crimson because I know that the smell of
an orange is not the smell of a grapefruit… In smell and taste there are
variations not broad enough to be fundamental; so I call them shades… The force
of association drives me to say that white is exalted and pure, green is
exuberant, red is suggests love, or shame, or strength. Without the color or its equivalent life to
me would be dark, barren, a vast blackness.”
~
Helen Keller (1880-1968), blind and deaf from infancy.
Think about your skin tone using the
color wheel provided above. Are you more
red or blue, purple or orange? Once we
notate our skin tone we can do many things to accessories our wardrobe
effectively. One thing we can start with
is tone on tone. This is when we
incorporate colors that are similar to our skin tone. Another way is to select opposites as they
have a great contrast value and presents itself radiantly on the body. The
final option, I will present, are the tertiary colors. Again referencing the
wheel graph above, note the radiating lines that stem from each color, the
triangle angles are our complementary ‘tertiary’ colors.
In the age of unbound expression,
what once was taboo yesterday according to ‘etiquette of fashion’ has since
been abandoned. White shoes…yes, today we wear them both before and after Labor
Day – sometimes with our white belts and/or jackets. Remember – it’s always
summer somewhere and you never know where you may end up tomorrow. Have pale
skin and want to wear those acid wash jeans and washed-out colors…go nuts! That’s
kind of hot today! Do you have dark skin and want to wear those saturated
colors or hyper prints – I don’t think a soul in the world will tell you
otherwise – because that is fashion!
Finally, when in doubt – wear black. It’s slimming at times. When worn sparingly
it can really punch up a look with a lot of impact by creating a focal point or
void in the outfit.
2.
Tone & Weight
After establishing what season our
skin tone is and what colors work best for us, we can now shop more freely. Ask yourself what season this garment will
satisfy – most like your shopping options should match your need. Shirting fabrics
are typically thicker in winter and lighter in summer usually noted as “Winter
Weight” or “Summer Weight”. It’s also
like linen in summer and wool in winter – these are things a good designer
naturally incorporates unless innovation or ‘fashion’ otherwise dictate.
The next thing to consider is
tone. Once we agree on our ‘season’ of
our skin-tone and the colors that work best for us. We can now select a lighter
or deeper tone for those colors. Don’t be afraid to try that dark grass-green button
front shirt for the office if you were just rockin’ that spring-grass tank all
summer! Chocolate denim in the winter – Khaki chinos in the spring? Do it! Take
a look at the graph above as an example of tone. An aborigine button front
dress shirt and you’re thinking about that lavender trimmed cardigan – sounds
like you just found a gem!
3.
Texture
Texture - Here is an opportunity to
find those unique gems of our future wardrobe. Fabrications today are innovative and tech
savvy – it is easy to continuously develop new ‘looks’ as the industry is
constantly upgrading itself with these innovative textiles.
Sometimes it is as fun to pullover a
sweater than it is to put on a warm down-jacket. Texture and options in garment
type allow for versatility in our daily selection.
The most fun when assembling an outfit
is to mix and match textures. There are
different categories of texture to note when making your selection: Piled
fabrics – velvet, corduroy and terry; woven – notably flat to lightly textured
like denim, poplin or duck; knit fabrics – range between super soft to highly
textured as seen on some sweaters.
Something for everyone,
Husam (Sam) Salman
