5 Subtle Style Mistakes That Can Cheapen Your Look
As with anything in life, we can all agree that we learn and grow as individuals as we get older. Our fashion sense and styles change, trends come and go, and over time we tend to build our own individual style that suits us. But in my opinion, I’ve put together a few style mistakes that may cheapen one’s look and won’t ever have the elegant effect one would want it to.
In my personal fashion journey, I can say I’ve made many fashion blunders that has left me, well kind of embarrassed when I look back! Do you ever have an outfit you put together but something about it just feels off and you don’t really know why? I could be that you have some of these subtle styles incorporated in your clothing pieces that may be cheapening your look without you realizing it!
Let’s go over in my opinion, five style mistakes I’ve seen that I feel cheapen a what could be an elegant look!
One sided patterned shirts and/or pants
Fashion is all about expressing your unique personality, but some trends can detract from a polished appearance. One-sided patterned shirts and pants are a prime example. I’m sure you’ve seen this style before – a patterned shirt on the front side but turn around and it’s blank. For me that completely kills the look and instantly cheapens it.
Dress: Alice + Olivia Tanika Button-Front Maxi Shirtdress
TOP (Right): Aqua Blu Australia Jasmine Natalie Button-Front Blouse
It’s as if the clothing maker cheapened out on finishing the other side and thought “no one’s going to see the other side!”.
What I recommend
Fully patterned clothing gives off a finished and polished look. And so does the other side of the spectrum – plain, mono-colored clothing.
Exposed Zippers
Where do I begin? Personally, this is such a huge eyesore because to me it looks very tacky and cheap on a what could be a wonderful dress or outfit!
Some exposed zippers show a stark difference and contrast between the fabric and the zipper itself, and it throws off the entire look. Imagine looking at a dress from the front, then turn around and your eyes are immediately drawn to the eyesore on the back.
And an exposed zipper looks even worse, in my opinion, when it is exposed in the front. This can completely bring down the ensemble – where you may otherwise have a very elegant and put together look but the zipper throws it off.
What I recommend
Instead, go for the hidden zippers, or zippers that match the color of the fabric and are small and not very noticeable. Essentially zippers that are seamless with minimal exposure.
However, I will mention that there are styles where an exposed zipper is intentional on an outfit. For these types of looks, go with simple mono-colored fabrics without the embellishments or patterns, otherwise it’ll overwhelm the look.
(Thinly) Ribbed Texture
I personally like ribbed texture. It can add a pop of style to an otherwise bland look. But some ribbed texture styles do look cheap so it all really depends on how it’s made (for example, thin vs thick) and how and where you may be wearing it to.
For me personally, thin fabric with wide ribbed texture gives off a fast fashion look. I often think loungewear, athleticwear or some other quick and cheap look.
What I recommend
I prefer the thicker and smaller, vertically lined ribbed texture because no matter how tightly it is worn on you, the ribbed lines do not spread as much. And something about this gives off an elegant vibe. Wide-ribbed texture would give the opposite look – making it sheer and giving the vertical lines different widths depending on how much its stretched out on your body. With a thicker and smaller ribbed fabric, you’ll get a uniform look no matter how stretched out it gets.
Ruched Texture
Well you’ve met ribbed, but have you met its cousin, ruched?
Don’t get me wrong, ruched texture can look very elegant in certain settings but the thing with a ruched is it’s got a lot going on with the bunched up and wrinkled fabric. That’s why in my opinion, if you want an elegant look with ruched texture, stick to just that – only rouche.
You don’t want to wear some thing that is ruched with loud or crazy patterns and printed fabrics. Bold colors is also something you’d want to avoid with this texture in addition to any sort of bows, embellishments, strings, laces, etc. Having these with ruched texture will overwhelm your look.
What I recommend
If you really like the ruched texture, then my recommendation would be to stick with solid colors such as a nice beige, a white or even black. A solid color won’t compete with the texture (which is the main star of your look!) and you’ll still be able to keep it classy and elegant with a play on fabric.
Loose Hanging Buttons
Oftentimes, fast fashion or cheaply made clothing will have buttons that are only threaded through two or three times. They are sewn on very loosely which cause it to hang or sag against the clothing. For example, a double breasted blazer with buttons where the hole is on the back of the button – here you’ll usually see those buttons sag due to their weight and poorly sewn on.
Take a look at the example below. The left is a Balmain Blazer where the buttons are sewn on well and face perfectly horizontally. Whereas the other blazer on the right shows buttons hanging down, which you can see the button holes due to the angle they’re hanging off of the clothing.
What I recommend
Well there’s certainly nothing wrong with a blazer or any article of clothing that has loose hanging buttons if you know how to fix it. If you’re good with using a needle and thread, the cheapest and probably best alternative it to tie up those loose buttons more firmly.
If you really like the piece, try that approach first. Otherwise, you can always switch out the buttons for lighter buttons or buttons that don’t bulge out as much to give a more flattened appearance. In fact, I’ve swapped out buttons many times on blazers or coats that had buttons that were unappealing, tacky or just too heavy for the fabric.
The more expensive alternative is to purchasing pieces with better fitted buttons that are sewn on more firmly (such as Balmain blazers).
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