STYLIST TIPS-SWIPED FROM THE BEST

Through my time with renowned celebrity stylists mental notes of the genius (and straightforward) tips overflow. Here is your insight into their most powerful tweaks that facilitate larger than life changes. Buckle up and don't forget to bookmark, this is a long one.

Stylists utilize a methodical approach to dressing clients that can often times appear like a formula. When broken down, these creators investigate the personalities and desires of their clients to originate a personalized selection of clothing. Throughout the fittings and the process following, assistants are relied on to utilize these tips to complete full looks.

“"Fashion has the power to transform how you feel and how others perceive you. Use it to your advantage and make a statement." - Ilaria Urbinati

Without further ado, here are The tips you have been waiting for:

Working with color

Color Balance

Color should work like a sandwich, if it exists on the bottom, find a way to add it to the top. In terms of a tonal look, make sure to follow the one tone head to toe, bringing in tweaks of the tone to add dimension.

Disassembling color laws

The rules of "you should never wear", two colors, together can often times limit someone with a small selection of items. Rather than avoiding any instances of duos like: Brown and Black, Navy and Black, Red and purple, etc... focus on tones, details and balance. First and foremost try to balance these colors as explained above rather than a black hat and top with brown pants and boots. By creating the sandwich, balance will take over the eye. You can also focus on tones and details. If you have a black suit on and only brown ties or shoes, try to pick a tie with a black detail or a brown shoe with a black sole. Rather than focusing on these rules as an automatic elimination in your closet, look at your outfit and recognize if you feel balance or conflict.

Picking a tie or Accessory

If you have a tie with a pattern or print, find one that has a minor detail that matches the color of your suit. Especially when you are in a plain colored suit, the tie brings in an opportunity to show personality and stylistic talent. The easiest way to accomplish this is to match the main color of your suit to a small detail in the tie. This can also apply in the reverse with a patterned suit! Lastly, please start using pocket squares. Pocket squares are both useful, and a perfect chance to bring a classic, or bold, touch to the front of your look.

The same can work for an accessory! When choosing jewelry, look for the undertones of your outfit and match to a silver, gold hue and try to stick to that throughout all of your selections. When pairing a bag or shoes, this can be a perfect opportunity to accentuate your balance of color or to find a small color in your look to bring out through a matching piece.

How to pick shoes to get the reaction you are looking for

High Heel Styles

Both an ankle strap, and a strap across the toe, will do more damage than good in terms of height. It is the intention of a heel to lengthen the leg and these two elements cut you off right where they fall. With that being said, an ankle strap will do more damage than one across the toe, but to visually achieve the extra 2-5 inches your shoe is giving you, look for a style that does not obstruct your lines.

An exposed toe runs the risk of your foot looking like a cinderella mismatch. Peep toe heels rarely contain the internal construction necessary to hold your foot in the perfect position to avoid your toes from busting at the seems. This style attempts to check both summer and winter boxes with one shoe, and instead falls short of both. Instead opt for either a fully closed pump or a summer sandal that lets your summer manicure *evenly* shine.

Men's Shoes

I often feel that footwear is mens greatest barrier in transitioning their high school wardrobe to adulthood. Appropriate foot (and sock) wear will help bring your new adult pieces to life.

Replace your "hypebeast" sneakers with three simple styles. The only two sneakers necessary are a plain low-top white and black pair. Opt for a leather or suede style to appear more expensive. When including a sneaker with color, look for a pair without more than two colors. A white or cream base with accessories of color are your best bet here.

Boots, loafers, and lace-ups. When creating a look that needs to be slightly more elevated than a sneaker look to the lace-ups, loafers, and boots. In order to have the right pieces for every look, try to acquire a brown and a black pair of shoes within this category. Oxfords are perfect examples of a detailed lace up, boots bring an edge, and loafers appeal to the preppy east coast boy. But PLEASE wear socks that cover your ankles, I beg of you.

Summer Sandals are a difficult one. No one looks good in flip flops but their utility is not lost on me. Look for styles, like Rainbows or Havianas, that come in a classic leather or suede style. Preferably choose a black leather Haviana or a brown suede Rainbow, and try to only wear these shoes when sand and water will be involved.

Socks are SO vital to carrying your new shoes to the finish line. Not only is the sock a fun opportunity to show personality and balance color, crew socks will blend the line from your shoe to your pant in order to create the illusion of a longer leg. Even when in shorts wear crew socks, no one needs to see your ankles.

How to upgrade the outfit you have on

Rolling your sleeves

When rolling a sleeve, the most life changing tip I have learned is to roll above the elbow! This stops your sleeve at the waist, emphasizing your shape, rather than drawing your eye to a wider part of the torso.

Wearing a Jacket

If you are planning on wearing a jacket, you should decide whether that is the part of your look you want to highlight or if you are going to take it off right when your teeth stop chattering. If you plan on taking the jacket off, make sure the best part of your outfit lives underneath and leave it open. But if the jacket is the focal point, zip to the nip is a perfect phrase to remember. Zipping your jacket and leaving the pull tab right in the center of the chest will create an expensive seamless look. If your jacket has two pull tabs, use the bottom tab to unzip the jacket about two inches. Now that you have both the top and bottom slightly unzipped, the torso will appear more hourglass.

The rule on belts

Don't wear a belt to hold your pants up. Your pants should fit you, and if you are relying on belts to keep them on, it is a sign there are most likely additional issues with the fit and you should take them to the tailor. Belts should rather be used as a chance to balance color, include additional tones of an existing color, or introduce some texture into an otherwise one dimensional outfit.

What kind of bag to carry for your event

There is a zipped up rule in celebrity styling- bags do not belong on carpets. While this seems like a niche rule, when dressing formally, try not to make any bag in your closet work because you want to bring three lip liners. If you can't convince a friend or significant other to throw a few items in their pockets, pair down your items and opt for a smaller bag that can complement the tones in your look.

Crossbody bags have the ability to cut your body in half and drag the eye down. Try to adjust your straps so the cross of the bag hits right at your waist for a synching effect. Even though they are larger, often times a tote bag can be the better choice to avoid distraction in your look. If you can avoid carrying laptops and notebooks galore, shoulder bags can be the most flattering additions to your look. Utilize these as an opportunity for color!

The transforming nature of a good fit

Through my experience with stylist, Ilaria Urbinati, I learned that the pinnacle of menswear lies in excellent tailoring. Whether utilized to create a perfectly fitting tuxedo for the most classic man or an increase leg seem for an oversized 70s look, a seemingly one dimensional piece can be altered to create your exact vision. Find yourself a tailor or visit my post 'Transform your wardrobe with simple alterations' in order to take advantage of the pieces in your closet.

When tailoring will not work

The most difficult items to tailor are the shoulders of shirts and jackets. The key is to look for the shoulder seam, if it lands inside the slope of your natural shoulder, the jacket is too small. If this seam lies outside of your shoulder and you are looking for a well fitted look, it will be difficult to attain this look with most fabrics and tailors (but it never hurts to try). There are also times where this seam will intentionally land outside of the shoulder for an oversized look. This can not be achieved through tailoring BUT if you have a jacket that is produced this way, this can look effortlessly smug. If the seam lands on that exact slope, congratulations! you have a very well fitting tailored jacket.

If the piece does not have the material, you will either be out of luck, or will need to take an alternative route. If you are looking to increase the length of your pants, for example, check inside the bottom hem for extra material. If you are looking to let out a seat or drop a crotch, look at the interior of the pant around where those two seams match for extra material. If you are looking to let out a waist, feel around the back middle of the waistband of your pants for extra thickness where material may be lying. Typically garments with a higher price tag provide the most additional material for alterations. If your garment does not have extra material, or you are attempting something like adding length to the sleeve, you will need to employ an alternate route. You can source similar materials either through your tailor, or at fabric stores in order to increase length by adding a similarly colored cuff to achieve an intentional addition. Similarly, you can add a band of fabric above the cuff of a button downs sleeve that will not be shown under a blazer, or when the jacket is removed, you can roll your sleeves to hide the different material.

With all of these tips in mind, the main thing to learn here is that these are a good framework to which you can weave your personality into the details. The main takeaway I have learned from my jobs in styling is that fashion is an opportunity. Often times you never hear celebrities speak, you don't know what roles they have played recently, you don't know anything about their family but yet consumers have an opinion on who that individual may be. These opinions come from how they present themselves whether that be on a carpet or a coffee run. The clothing that they wear and the person they become creates a voiceless persona that can alter public opinion indefinitely. Investing in your presentation has the ability to attract the qualities you are attempting to portray.