You saw a skirt. You put it on. You loved it. You bought it. That was five years ago. You have yet to wear it. You have no idea what to do with this skirt.
Many people have this one skirt, dress, belt, scarf or shoe that they love, but have no clue how to wear it. More often then not you don’t actually own the items to work with this particular garment. When we come across this predicament during one of my client’s closet purges, sometimes we decide the time and money needed to make an outfit out of the confusing item is not worth it and we donate it. Other times we keep it and seek out the missing puzzle pieces.
The most recent “keep and seek” garment on my mind is Katie Farris’ maxi plaid skirt. Katie is a writer and dream client. Nothing is too edgy or too funky and she trusts me completely. She is also delightful as all hell. When she presented me with this sensational Scottish piece, I knew she was the client that could handle the outfit this skirt demanded. Inspired by Sharon Stone’s look at the Oscars in 1998, I asked if we had a glamorous button front. Katie showed me a baby blue version of what I wanted. The shade perfectly picked up the thin light blue stripe in the plaid. We then looked through her belts and selected an ornate gold thrift shop find of Moroccan or Ottoman influence. We then added one of Alexis Bittar’s stunning rings to her long fingers. All we need now is Dolce & Gabbana’s elaborate gold heels from their Mosaic winter 2014 collection. Too bad today is Spring 2013 and the heels may not be in our price range. This is where the seeking begins. We had a few of the pieces to make this skirt work, but not all. After seeing the skirt’s outfit potential, Katie was more than excited to search out the missing shoes and necklace.
Although the look we want with this plaid maxi skirt will be interesting, flattering and appropriate for cocktail or holiday parties for years to come, it is Katie’s love for the skirt that ultimately made us decide to seek out the items the skirt needs instead of donating it. When a client loves something and turns to me for help, as Tim Gunn says, I make it work. I can always find a way to freshen, modernize or fabulize (not a word, I know) a client’s beloved garment.
This picture of my client was taken as part of the outfit creation portion of my services. This
picture was published with my client’s permission. No client photos are used on V-Style without the client’s consent.
