*takes a deep breath*

Someonehelpmefigureouthowtodresssmartcasually!

I see myself as “afashionable” with the “a” denoting “absence of” (kind of like like “alexia” means the inability to understand language) because I have always been so incredibly apathetic to clothing and shoes. I wear things that fall in the middle of the “fashionable” and “fashion disaster” continuum, mainly a clean top and jeans 95% of the time. I have a number of these tops and a small number of jeans that I’d mix and match. I have other clothing, dresses and skirts and the like but I’ve never felt comfortable in them. I always feel like I can’t walk and move as freely as I usually do. I don’t buy clothing as I’ve rarely worn through anything and I don’t grow out of anything and what I have have been bought by my mum or my more fashion-conscious aunts in Hong Kong. This hasn’t been a problem until now.

I have a very tiny selection of work clothing and I need more. Currently I have two white shirts (one short sleeve, one long sleeves), two pairs of black pants and a maroony pair. That’s all. I’ve worn them for two years now (thank god I only work once or twice a week) and they’re getting thinner and more fragile given how many times they’ve been washed. My mum keeps telling me to go out and buy more clothes but I can’t because I don’t know how to!

There’s a number of fashionable people who’s blog I read (e.g. Amanda and Amber) and I’m at loss to how they, and all the fashionable people in the world, do it. How do you know if something looks good on you? Does it actually require frequent study of fashion magazines and stuff? I walk into clothing shops and I walk out, empty-handed and overwhelmed by the sheer number of styles and colours. How am I supposed to know what matches? What compliments my body and what not? What colours goes with my skin and what doesn’t? The other big problem I have is, it’s so hard to find things that fits me! I’m just a bit over 5 feet tall and I’m relatively thin so it’s so hard to find pants that fit. I need more pants! And work shirts!

Oh and I also need to know what kind of clothing one is supposed to wear under suits. I have to wear a suit to court sometimes and I usually wear a thin turtleneck under it in winter or my work shirt in summer. What else can you wear under it? Are non-collared shirts okay? What kind? Blouses?

And don’t even get me started on shoes. Same problem. *weep*