Glamour and style are a manufactured quality. They have to be cultivated like a blossoming flower. Learning to love yourself in the mirror, creating your own personal style and having the self-confidence to stand out in a crowd are all necessary ingredients for feeling glamorous.
Style is also something that evolves with age (although French and Italian women seem to have developed the knack almost from puberty!) When you are 20-something you can afford to get away with fast-fashion of the throw-away variety, but as we get older, fashion gives way to style, although the two are by no means necessarily exclusive.
How to Transform Yourself from Plain Jane to Glamorous Goddess
Achieving a sense of style means dressing in cuts and luxury fabrics which flatter your figure, wearing mainly classics that are timeless, and investing in the best when it comes to the quality of those wardrobe basics. Looking glamorous, however, means accentuating your outfits with some on-trend accessories, mixing timeless pieces with some up-to-the-minute ones, and adding new season colors to ensure you don’t look stuffy or overdressed. In her book Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me, lifestyle journalist, Lucia Van Der Post says, “Never underestimate the power of glamour. It’s life-enhancing and even the plainest woman can be glamorous.”
Just a headscarf, a pair or shades, a gorgeous belt, or a well-turned heel can make the difference between a plain-Jane or an Audrey Hepburn moment. Whilst we can’t all afford Manolo Blahniks, a Hermès scarf or a Fendi bag, a la Sex and the City, we can learn to understand how fashion accessories can transform a look and work them to create a more glamorous wardrobe.
The Current Celebrity Culture
As, a nation, being glamorous has never been so on-trend. We are obsessed with a celebrity culture, fascinated by what A-listers wear, where they go and what they do. From images of celebrity red-carpet moments, advice from their personal stylists, and their setting of new celebrity trends. We live in an age where celebrities are now more popular than models when it comes to creating fashion fads and endorsing trends.
Starlets like Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and Jessica Simpson are idolized as role models for contemporary glamour by millions of 20-somethings, whilst women in their 40s and 50s hanker after that touch of old fashioned-style and Hollywood glamor, epitomized by fashion icons such as Hepburn, Kelly, Onassis and Monroe. The fact that much of the last 2 seasons' fashions have been heavily influenced by Hepburn's look is no accident. Women want to feel feminne and glamorous once again.
How to Glamorize your Wardrobe
Whilst we can’t all be an Onassis or Hepburn; glamour, which was once a fantasy can become a reality. It doesn’t happen overnight, by following a few simple style tips you can learn to glamorize your wardrobe; building a collection of clothes which are stylish rather than overtly fashionable, and are therefore less likely to go out of date:
- Learn to get to know your figure. The current trend in 1950s-style clothes are perfect for hour-glass shapes but if you have a boyish figure then ‘60s cuts are better, a la Jane Birkin, Twiggy or Jean Shrimpton.
- Buying vintage automatically gives you a head start on style. You are wearing something unique, which no one else is likely to be seen in. However, to appear truly stylish, a vintage garment has to fit well, otherwise it looks as if you’ve found it in some sale bin in a bargain-basement store. Whatever vintage piece you are wearing, study the look of that era and try to match accessories to complement it. This means either some wearing vintage-inspired items/accessories, or adding something that is so modern that it brings your vintage outfit up-to-date.
- As glamour needs to be acquired, take tips from the many personal/celebrity stylists who have been there and done that! Must read books are Rachel Zoe’s Style A to Zoe, and Karen Homer's Things a Woman Should Know about Style. The Telegraph, in its article "How to be Chic", of 16 March 2008, recommends getting hold of a copy of the 1950s movie, All About Eve. Watch how Bette Davis and Anne Baxter move and act, and you’ll learn everything there is to know about being stylish. All About Eve is a classic women's film, and in its time was nominated for 14 Academy Awards the largest number of Academy Award nominations to be given to any movie.
- Learn to love the way you look, not yearn for the body you wish you had. According to the Telegraph, the reason why French women have such a glamorous reputation is that they know themselves so well. They are prepared to spend hours in front of the mirror, finding the right look, and accentuating the positive aspects of their bodies.
- Whatever your age, every woman needs high-heels. This is instant glamour the moment you put them on. Forget mid-height heels, go for very high, or very-low flats. However, nothing transforms the look or an outfit more than a pair of stilettos.
- Appearing glamorous is also about the way you walk. Slouching and shuffling does nothing for an outfit, yet along your posture. Hold you head up high, keep your back straight, and your eyes fixed on your destination. Learning to walk in skyscraper heels is an art form, (they don’t call them taxi shoes for nothing!), but once you’ve cracked it, stilettos have the power to boost your confidence and make you walk tall, literally! If you don’t believe it, just try!
