A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style (11 page)

Vanessa Redgave, from
Blow-Up
on, managed to retain her steely reserve while being a red-hot mama. There is something in the tension between her patrician beauty and carriage and her obvious sensuality. She has managed to maintain this beautifully—she does not shy away from aging, but rather embraces it and dresses accordingly. Her clothes are luxurious and structured—they befit a woman her age while not aging her at all.

Oprah Winfrey is a prime example of someone who always looks polished. Her hair, makeup, and all of her clothing are exquisite—she gleams! The way this look is attained is by wearing well-cut, beautifully designed, gorgeous fabrics.

Signature Look

This is a look that stresses quality over quantity—well-structured, tailored, and in the most sumptuous fabrics you can afford. These are women, not girls throwing an evening’s outfit together.

The Blind Spot
: It’s important to note that there is a difference between homage and parody. While we encourage you to draw inspiration from your favorite mentors, this does not give you free rein to dress as an Angelina Jolie or Martha impersonator. Real style is achieved when accenting your signature look with one of theirs.

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Her large Georgetown house was decorated with an elegance and taste that was new to me as a child: coromandel screens, buttery painted walls, heavy gilt mirrors, and beige suede upholstery. Hers was a D.C. version of Chanel’s apartment on the Rue Cambon.

The Lesson
: No matter how spectacular a look, if the person inside it is bent, lopsided, crumpled, or otherwise hunched, there is simply no saving it. Far too many people, men and women alike, are walking around completely unaware that with a few simple adjustments they could look and feel immeasurably better. It’s time to straighten up and fly right.

“It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances.
The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.”

—Oscar Wilde

One complaint that many, many women have is that fashion is designed only to be worn by sixteen-year-old Slovenian sylphs. This is, of course, a huge generalization, but it highlights a problem. We are repeatedly asked why designers don’t do more for the shorter, rounder, or older among us. The tone of the question often suggests that the asker is being hampered in her quest for style because of the limited clothing choices available to her. There are a plethora of reasons why the fashion business runs the way it does, and change in this area does not seem too imminent. So why not look at it this way: While it is true that the farther one gets from sample size—the standard size designers work with—the more limited the selection of on-trend looks becomes, this is not necessarily a terrible loss. In fact, it forces one to let go of the idea of fashion and truly embrace her personal style. So, a bit of tough love. We cannot control what designers, magazine editors, and advertisers are going to foist on us next. What we can
control is the way we present ourselves. In this chapter we will discuss how to get the most important element in any look—the person inside it—simply glowing with chic.

Everybody has been ordered to “Put your shoulders back” by a mother, teacher, or drill sergeant. And how do we comply? We push our shoulder blades back and together with all our might. This position is sustainable for the moment it takes to march out of sight of the authority figure. Once we are alone again, we release our shoulders to their habitually rounded position and slink away. What a tragedy! No one wants bad posture, but the idea of maintaining that uncomfortable “shoulders back” position is unrealistic and far from pleasant. For some, the rounded shoulders act as camouflage, a spine-injuring attempt to deflect notice away from a large bust or tall height. Perhaps you are familiar with “Tall Girl Slump.” The trouble is, posture telegraphs the slumper’s feelings of discomfort and insecurity, making her far more likely to be noticed by those who might wish to take advantage of such a feeling. The well-positioned shoulder tells the world that you are a confident, healthy individual—not a showboat or a dormouse.

Although adopting correct posture habits takes time, the process is not painful and the benefits are immediate. The first, absolutely ironclad rule may seem strange, but here it is: Forget about putting your shoulders back.

Well-positioned shoulders are not achieved by actually putting them “back.” Instead, you must do the
following: Focus on pulling the shoulders away from the ears. Imagine drawing the shoulder blades down the back and allowing the collarbone to be as open as possible without thrusting the breast forward. At no time should the shoulder blades be pinned together. This position makes keeping the head perfectly balanced on the neck far easier. This means you’ll sail through life and into old age with a limber body and not a trace of a dowager’s hump. Have you ever heard of a dowager’s hump? This outdated but evocative phrase refers to a curvature of the spine that produces a lump of flesh between the shoulder blades. The curvature is a product of osteoporosis and contributes to the impression of shrinking as one ages. No one likes to shrink, so work on those shoulders.

Imagine a model skeleton hanging in a very chic laboratory. The skeleton is held together by wires and a pole that travels from its base, through the cavity between the pelvic bones, along the spine, and up into the skull. Try standing in front of a mirror and imagining yourself suspended in the same manner. Yes, a bit macabre, but a helpful exercise nonetheless. Does your pole travel gracefully up into your skull? Or does it poke out of your neck because your head juts forward? Is the pole knocking into the back of your pelvis because you stand with your stomach thrust out? Is the pole too long because you allow your ribs to sag into your diaphragm, shortening your torso? The best way to make sure that your skeleton is giving you its all is by remembering that just as in clothing, the line is what
is important. Nothing on our model skeleton is crunched together or sticking out to the side. The skeleton looks relaxed, ready to samba or hit a tennis ball.

The body is engineered to function in the most efficient manner possible. That means that aches and pains can be avoided if the skeleton is given plenty of room to work. It also means a youthful, attractive silhouette really should have very little to do with age. For some reason, many American women insist on foreshortening themselves by allowing their shoulders to round forward, their ribs to sink toward their pelvis, and their heads to hang forward heavily. This difference is rarely mentioned in that endless debate of why French women are chic, but it is worth noting. What often gets chalked up to a certain hauteur in the French is partially the impression given by proper alignment of the body. Dior’s new look does not work if one is slumped over and drooling. Nor does one see many photos of Catherine Deneuve standing with her stomach sticking out and her shoulders rounded. So the question is: How does one go about getting things to line up? By starting with the pelvis.

One of the most helpful pieces of advice on the subject comes from a wonderful book called
Your Carriage, Madam
by Janet Lane. Though published in 1934, it is not in the least bit dated, perhaps because the temptation to slump is eternal. Ms. Lane suggests that in order to bring the pelvis into proper alignment, one should imagine slipping between two tables at a crowded restaurant. Instinctively, one tucks one’s bottom under and draws the navel into the spine. This is the proper position for one’s
pelvis. Since French bistros are usually packed and their tables are only inches apart, one can think of proper pelvic alignment as the “bistro position.” If one is familiar with pilates, it is also immediately recognizable as the “scooped” position that is the backbone of that fitness method. This ever-so-slight pelvic tilt keeps the bottom from jutting out and flattens the stomach. Not only does it make one look slimmer and taller, it provides support for the lower back. The change it makes to one’s seated posture is also tremendous. Next time you are seated at a desk, try slipping into bistro posture. It naturally brings the spine into contact with the chair and makes it far easier to pull those shoulders down. All of this means less fatigue, which means more time for productive work. Or more efficient work—which means potentially leaving the office early! The benefits of good posture are manifold!

One of the joys of living in New York, as both authors of this book do, is that you can walk anywhere. The sidewalks are perpetually filled with people hurrying about. The rich, the poor, the glamorous, and the frumpy all jostle for space on the same few feet of sidewalk. Observing this pageant of humanity, it becomes clear that despite all of our differences, the vast majority of people have one thing in common: They are terrible walkers. One can see it all—clumpers and shufflers, weavers and waddlers. It’s not just on city sidewalks, either. We cannot forget a day spent on a gorgeous beach this past summer watching a parade of swimsuit-clad bodies traipse by. The problems
weren’t the bikinied and betrunked physiques; it was the way their owners dragged themselves up and down the sand. You’d think they were on their way to the gallows, not lunch and a glass of rosé. These were people who had obviously invested time at the gym, and plenty of money at Eres. Yet the whole effect they’d worked to achieve was undone by the simple act of walking. Far, far better to be softer of tone but walking with one’s head and neck in proper alignment than to be a hunched person with visible stomach muscles.