My name’s Romy and I work part-time in the Aspire Style boutique on Oxford’s High Street. The rest of my time is spent doing post graduate research at the beautiful Magdalen College, just down the road from Aspire. But as you can see from our facebook page I’ve also been dubbed ‘Fashion Guru’ of Aspire Style. In a solemn ceremony our manager, Lady Catherine of Aspire, tapped me on the forehead and shoulders with a coat hanger and then we drank a pink potion from an Orla Kiely mug. So now I think it’s high time that I lived up to my title and spread some guru wisdom . . .
According to ancient fashion guru laws, ‘you can only know yourself by knowing other people.’ It’s the fashion guru’s aim to pick out some stylish individuals in the public eye and explore their unique ‘look’. Now I need to stress that this is NOT a ‘celeb watch’ for the sake of highlighting unfortunately exposed underwear and the like. The Fashion Guru Blog is a Jody Marsh FREE zone! It’s also not about ’getting the look’ as much as ‘learning from their style’. You can certainly copy bits of other peoples’ looks, even try to recreate a whole outfit. However the key is to find ‘bits of you’ in other peoples’ styles.
Fashion Guru says: Experimenting with fashion brings empowerment, self knowledge and increased self worth . . . and it’s fun . . . and it means you can look hot! ; -)
So without further ado, Fashion Guru’s ‘Fashion Watch’, week one! It seems only appropriate to start with the First Lady, Mrs Michelle Obama! The wife of the leader of the free world is also the new darling of fashionistas worldwide! This week has definitely been Michelle’s week. If you’ve watched any news at all it can not have escaped you that Mrs O’s outfits have had as much coverage as G20 debate over the need for a greater fiscal stimulus. And quite right too in my opinion! Isn’t part of coping with a recession trying to inject some brightness into the gloom? Lifting the spirits also lifts the mind to see more clearly which path to take. That may be a quote from someone clever or I may just have made it up . . . clearly been drinking too much of that fashion guru pink potion . . .
Michelle Obama is a lady who knows her assets and knows how to work them. She has a favourite basic fashion piece that shows off her good points beautifully, the sleeveless knee length dress. She clearly loves dresses in general but she especially likes to show off her fabulous skin, toned arms and calves. GO for it, I say! Now Mrs O has a lovely statuesque figure with good curves, but she’s no waif. However a knee length dress, especially sleeveless, slims her figure through the strong vertical lines and by creating a column of colour. Michelle will also often select a dress with a fitted bodice style top and a full skirt
. The width at the bottom of the dress balances out her broad shoulders and the sleeveless bodice also slims them by drawing the eye down. This dress shape also gives her a nice small waist!
At Aspire Style we’ve got some dresses in the very shape that Mrs Obama loves! PLUS we’ve even got one that mirrors the classy monochrome she chose for meeting the Queen, dining at No. 10 and the Strasbourg Nato Conference Dinner! The Fever Lily Dress (pictured £59) would be ideal.
And if you want to plump up the skirt to make it look even more like Michelle’s stunning Azzedine ‘Paris legend’ Alaia dress, (see first photo above), then why not try a netted underskirt? Aspire has some in hot pink for the daring! But here’s a tip for petite ladies, to look taller choose a slimmer skirt. A very flouncy skirt can make shorter legs look a little stumpy.
I also love the way that Mrs Obama often adds a belt, (often her fave black studded Alaia!) to create a glamorous curvy look and to add a little extra detail to the outfit. We’ve got some great wide stretchy belts at Aspire with a silver butterfly clasp - £14.95!
But of course Michelle Obama also loves colour that says ‘look at me’! Bright colour is probably the best way to lift your mood and to make a statement about yourself. Neutrals can be elegantly soft but if your whole wardrobe is black, beige and grey then you should worry about your general wellbeing . . . You wouldn’t want your life to be represented by those colours would you?! Besides, I have yet to find a lady who didn’t suit a shade of pink or purple. It say
s ‘beautiful woman’ like perhaps no other colour. Find your inner princess....
Naturally at Aspire we’ve got a dress that’s perfect for that too :) (Also available in a blue and turquoise flower version!)
But don’t panic if you’re not that confident about your arms! Even Mrs Obama covered up for tea with the Queenwith a lovely black Alaia cardigan. You could put a red, pink, cream or brown cardi on the Moccoa Dress above – lots of choice! If you want to add volume to your top half, think bolero or cropped cardi, as well as chicken fillets ; ) This will also balance out your figure if, (like the Guru!) you’re a bit pear shaped. But if you’ve got enough va va voom on top, follow Mrs O and go for a slightly longer length. However remember to stick with fitted cardigans as you don’t want to swamp the dress and ruin the slimming effect.
Michelle Obama’s whole sense of style is a fabulous combination of femininity, sophistication and fun! Her dresses always show a flirty yet classy amount of leg. Plus the beady eyed amongst you will have observed that she likes to add to this sophisticated sassiness with pretty kitten heels and glam pearls. Now unfortunately we can’t offer you her ‘I want them NOW’ Jimmy Choos . . . but we do have a great range of kitten heels in our boutiques! I always think that the kitten heel is just perfect for feeling sexy without any crippling or hazard in walking :) You can also survive for most of the day in them, which is rather essential for busy working girls!
And if you like the idea of glamming up an outfit with pearls, at Aspire we’ve got PEARLS!!! Multi tiered or clustered, ladylike cream, romantic pink, sophisticated silver or rock n roll black - we do pearls justice!
So that’s it for the first ever Fashion Guru’s Blog! Thank you very much for sharing my thoughts on the wonderful style of Mrs Michelle Obama. Speak to you again soon.
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