Do you dress eccentrically?

[Crying Diamonds]

^ Ha, I have considered that.
My mother is always like "Don't wear that! It'll get destroyed!" But when else am I supposed to be wearing these clothes? I'm at college all week and then I might go out "into town" of a Saturday.
I'm okay now though; i'm reinspired, but i'm still a tad scared of wearing my light grey Dunhill mohair/wool jacket that I treasure to the max.

Yesterday I wore all black; blazer, t-shirt, suede waistcoat, trousers tucked into New Rock cowboy boots with a metal heel with just one shot of colour: a wide red leather bangle covered in studs. I got many looks. It felt good.

Today I totally went Country Squire on everyones behinds. Multi-coloured miniature houndstooth jacket, silk and wool green paisley scarf, dark paisley tie, sort of plaid blue and brown shirt, tucked into brown trousers, black biker boots.
I love the people on the bus who watch you getting on in just pure shock.

Exhibitionism is like a drug - Quentin Crisp

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ It's good for them, I have no doubt

 

[dumbfairy]

I used to but I'm more conservative in my old age I feel

I still wear all matter of things in my hair. Bows,flowers,anything really. The bigger and the more the better.

Plus I like wearing top hats to the grocery store,but I don't think thats eccentric per se,just in the wrong environment surely? But I like it

 

[mkd1187]

I did the whole "mink stole over a blazer and tie" look again tonight and I thought of this thread =)

 

[gius]

I go to art college so I don't want any of my clothes to get destroyed by permanent inks or paints or whatever.
I'm just really uninspired as to what to wear lately. I'm usually eccentric but i'm just sort of dumping something together, and it sort of turns out relatively eccentric but not the eccentric I like. It's too boring.
I need inspiration for destroyable, stylish, show-stopping clothes..

me too
many times i am in a work-related environment
(just part of my life)
toxic fumes and dye particles mostly... is the factor
you do not want an unwashable fabric in a place that has invisible things floating around. could be absorbed... which reminds me, my skin is unprotected

eccentric style does not quite suit the work place

 

[Crying Diamonds]

^ You're right, if a cummerbund is restricting your breathing you can't work too well.

I love that wrong environment dumbfairy was talking about.
I find it interesting how you can be inappropriate just because of the style of clothing you are wearing.

 

[GasolineRainbow]

I go to art college so I don't want any of my clothes to get destroyed by permanent inks or paints or whatever.
I'm just really uninspired as to what to wear lately. I'm usually eccentric but i'm just sort of dumping something together, and it sort of turns out relatively eccentric but not the eccentric I like. It's too boring.
I need inspiration for destroyable, stylish, show-stopping clothes..

Your style sounds fantastic, but have you considered just changing clothes when you're painting? I always changed. And wore an apron. Art and pottery were two of my favorite subjects at school, though I'm no talent.

But I loved those classes because I would change into, well, old cotton rags basically, but I would just layer them on haphazardly in a creative fury, and allow paint and clay to splatter all over them. Let's just say the present-day Olsen twins would approve.

Back then I was in the throes of teenage angst. Some kids dye their hair blue and get 10 piercings. I was the opposite; I just wanted to disappear. My basic uniform was jeans and a tshirt, and nothing trendy or striking about it either.

Art and drama class were the only places where I could cultivate the creative, expressive person I longed to be. I looked awful, but I felt more like myself in those paint-splattered rags than in my regular clothes. I haven't read this entire thread yet, but has it been mentioned how utterly liberating it can be to dress in an eccentric way?

 

[pantaloend]

I do not dress in an eccentric way but many people think I do.
I am French ... and French people, though some of them are elegant and stylish, are the kings for wearing only white, black and grey !!
It's awfully sad.

So, as I love floral materials, some colours such as purple or red or orange ..., as I wear hats - all the time !-, some people call me eccentric. But I do not really feel eccentric. I just feel myself.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I love that! If everyone were like you, the world would truly be a better place

I used to work at IBM, and even though there was a business casual dress code on our campus, so you could wear anything you wanted pretty much, nearly everyone wore blues and khaki and white. I remember the day our boss wore a bright green shorts suit (they were the thing at that time ...) ... it caused a huge stir. I wore bright orange linen, floral prints, etc. One day in the elevator this guy (wearing a purple shirt) told me how he always liked to see me because I was a splash of color among all the blah & boring uniformity. I thought it was a very nice compliment.

 

[GasolineRainbow]

Oh Gwennaliann, just admit it, you're one of those crazy hat ladies!

Isn't it ironic how in the past (and also in many places nowadays), you were thought of as different if you dressed in minimal patterns and dark hues? Now that it's become the norm to dress that way, you stand out if you're drawn to bright colors.

No one bats an eyelash at the proliferation of people in black leather jackets, stripper-inspired heels, tights as pants, shiny pvc leggings; those have pretty much lost their subversive connotations. But when you wear floral prints and (non-hipster) hats, you stand out as memorable, eccentric even. I find it so amusing, it just goes to show how relative most things are.

 

[Snow-White]

I got the best compliment ever because of the way i dress... that I dont look like I am from the same town. I love that

I wore a tie with a short skirt and silk shirt the other day. .. i dont usually dress like that. It was eccentric for me

 

[fashionista-ta]

Pushing the envelope - style that goes against the grain

softgrey mentioned she would like to see more avant garde style here in Personal Style ... so voila! this thread

Do you wear avant garde designers? Do you roll your own (DIY)? Do you take non-avant garde pieces and put them together in a way that is? Or are you pushing the envelope in another way?

Show us your stuff ...

And I imagine, if you're trying to work up the courage to be edgier in what often seems to be an "I'll have the vanilla" world, this would be a great place to get a little encouragement

 

[softgrey]

thanks ta-ta...!!!...

...

i just think it's great for people to experiment and take risks and try new things...
so i always cheer on anyone who is taking it to the next level...
these are the people who push fashion forward...
so i am always interested in what they are doing..

*even if they don't get it right all of the time...

 

[cesarcmma]

great thread

...many people around here has great avant garde style , I personally love it and I am a devote follower...and would love to embrace it but here I can't wear anything like that...

but I love seeing other people taking risks as softgrey said!!!

 

[gius]

i'm wondering what avant garde might look like..

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Perhaps softgrey or fashion.fashoff or laika or someone else will be kind enough to post a few pix

 

[fashionista-ta]

great thread

...many people around here has great avant garde style , I personally love it and I am a devote follower...and would love to embrace it but here I can't wear anything like that...

but I love seeing other people taking risks as softgrey said!!!

What means this word can't? How come you feel you can't wear what you would like to wear?

 

[Scott]

don't forget inaya!! i would think anything in that vein of say a susie bubble would be considered pushing the envelope. interesting and complex pairings,textures,materials,shapes...etc.

unfortunately i have no real style at the mo because i've had no money to spend on anything so i cannot post anything.

 

[kiddokiddo]

^I echo your sentiment, Scott. My budget never matches my desire for garments from certain designers. But I think judging from your taste, I'm suprised to hear that you don't consider yourself having no style at the moment. Perhaps you're being hard on yourself

I'd say a lot of our members, including our dear Inaya, MulletProof have rather unique, off the path and avant garde styles. Susie_bubble is quite an example, she styles clothes in the most interesting, quirky way

 

[Meg]

See I disagree. I think what you said 'quirky' better describes Susie's style than avante garde. I'm sure she'd protest that she wouldn't want to put her style into any sort of box, but still. I think, in my view, avant garde is about interesting, new shapes and proportions. I also associate it with neutral colors, though for no particular reason I think Susie just layers a variety of pieces, some vintage, some new, to create something. But there is a refinement I think, when dressing in a kind of 'avant garde' style. It's not a huge amount of pieces, but each individual piece is unique from the mainstream in some way. Anyway - I think the turn of phrase is going to be one of those things that means something different to everyone.