Crack the Code: The Over-The-Knee Boot

Sound the alarm: I've cracked the secret...

In a previous post, I shared my secrets to finding the most flattering ankle boots and taught you how to dispel your worries of stumpy looking stems regardless of your personal height.

After trying on 13 different pairs of above-the-knee boots (I deeply apologize to the shoe rep) from boots from Report to Michael Kors, I discovered the secret to find the most flattering, slimming over-the-knee kicks for you... 

Top 4 "Issues-up-to-your-Knees"

• Bundled fabric around the ankles-- Can someone say expensive Elephantiasis?
• Fitting from the ankles to the small calves... but not tight enough around the knee and thigh -- result: floppy, sagging boots
• "Tamale Legs": whether belted around, lace tied, and such and such, the legs look like a tamale tied-to-fit with a string
• Stumpy, shortened legs 

I know they say style isn't rocket science, but finding the perfect fit is. Otherwise, you'll look like a coat stand with ill-fitting items thrown over you. Remember, you wear the clothes, not the other way around... ever!


What to Look for to Cure These Concerns:

Dressier Gals:

Tidbit:  An over-the-knee boot with a heel is the best option.. A heel will help lengthen you, but a heel with a hidden platform in front will do wonders.

I cannot overemphasize this enough -- To up your luck with finding the perfect pair... always, always, always go for a pair with a a little spandex stretch in them. Purpose? To help pull the boot closer to the form of your leg from the ankles up to your thighs... melting all your worries of frump, stump, and clump!

Exhibit A: Audrina Patridge

Exhibit B: Lindsay Lohan *as much as I hate to say this.

Exhibit C: Kate Moss

 Exhibit D: Emma Roberts

Exhibit E: Blake Lively

Exhibit F: Hilary Duff

Exhibit G: Taylor Momsen

Exhibit H: Olivia Palermo

Casual Ladies:

If you prefer a flat boot, take extra precaution to make sure your legs don't look stumpier than they really are. Ever notice when you wear flared jeans with flip-flops, you looks stumpier and shorter than if you wore the flares with a pair of high heels? This is a natural, physical build matter. When standing on a flat surface, our thighs relax while our small calves flex. Relaxed thighs meaning... we looks thicker... meaning... we look stumpy.

Same rule applies with over-the-knee boots. This species of boots draws attention to our thighs... 

With that said, for the casual ladies who prefer a pair with more practicality, aim for more stiffened material for the boots with less scrunch. This will draw a the line upward, limiting the shortened height problem. 

Flat-Boot Don't: Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale-- Droopy, Stumpy



Flat-Boot Winners:  

Exhibit A: Blake Lively

 

Exhibit B: Miley Cyrus in Alexander Wang Boots

Exhibit C: Olivia Palermo

xo QBee







JustJared, BatchPlease, TMN, StarStyle

Confession #2

Romanticized Ruffle Blazers, Hard Metal Accessories, Heather Grays, Cozy Knits, Clash of Color Dynamics, and Floppy Fedoras... 

Never Forget the Femme in Femininity

With the escalating number of fierce, career-driven women, the inspiring attitude has revolutionized womens-wear (if menswear is accepted as a word in itself, I think it's time womenswear becomes its own word too). This generation of fashionistas has made menswear all their own without losing their feminine roots.. The difference between power-fueled men and power women? We cut you in a blink of an eye.. in style of course.

Olivia Palermo's best accessory (okay, aside from her elegantly orchestrated outfit) a good laugh with an equally stylish other half. A blazer and paired with an above-the-knee skirt does not have to be strictly business. Her vanille-creme off-white ruffled blazer brings sophistication to the look... while her sheer lingere-esque lace skirt adds a soft and sexy touch -- keeping it classy. She adds some edge to the look with a pair of black lace-up heels and heavily accessorizes her wrists with chunky gold jewelry. Pairing a black pair of pumps with a neutral color scheme helps to break the uniformity of the look... if you haven't already, it's time to fall in love with pairing nudes with black..

Now onto her friend: I taste a bit of the UK in this look... and absolutely love it. Rather than wearing the femininity in her outerwear, she chose to reverse it. Her coat is a mix of our favorite boyfriend blazer and a British peacoat with an dramatic collar. She keeps her look effortlessly chic with her tiered skirt, embellished flats, and disheveled hair -- transitioning her serious-business-blazer into a playful and youthful addition.

Tidbit: If you're more on the top-heavy side, leave the ruffled blazer to the rest. With so much commotion going on in the blazer, be warned: the side view will make you look like you're in your 3rd trimester with Junior rolling in the womb. Searching for the perfect ruffled blazer is a mission requiring much calculation. When wearing such a statement jacket, do not wear a blouse inside that will crowd the spotlight. A simple silk tank or basic blouse would be best.

Strategy: Find the Perfect Ruffled Blazer

For a neck elongating effect, make sure the ruffles along the back of the neck and above your collarbone flower upward -- much like a flower. this brings down your shoulders without broadening it while lengthening the front view of your neck. Now here's the tricky, crucial part: the ruffles from your chest down should be able to drape downward on its own. The downward and subdued ruffles along the chest and waistline of the coat would de-fluff your look, avoiding the "Congratulations! When are you due?" comments / accidental insults.

Accessorizing Strategy: The Rule -- Never Leave the House Without One Piece of Jewelry Still Stands

When wearing an attention worthy statement piece, keep accessories away from the business of the outfit (the neck area in this case). Chunky bracelets or gold vintage rings play a key role here. These accessories give your look a luxurious touch. Personally, I would rather choose to opt out on the bracelets (I hate when they start crawling into my sleeve) and instead, add spike-stud earrings to the mix with my rings. There's something very ladylike about earrings and it helps leave the busywork to the ruffles.

My Favorite Go-To Pair of Earrings: 

I am obsessed with Noir's jewelry... OBSESSED... it's beginning to take over my accessories tray...

Noir's Crystal Stud Earrings: 

Case: Nude + Black = Car Crash Disaster

Freida Pinto, Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto literally looks like a work of art.. both camel-tone blouse and skirt by Christian Dior perfectly compliments her skin tone. I love her daring attempt to pair black and nude together, but this is just awful. Not only are they point toe heels but a geometric t-strap? Roger Vivier heels or not, disasterly!

Kate Bosworth: Always effortlessly beautiful.. Kate is very familiar with color tones that fit her best. Love the sheer texture of the disheveled and unpredictable ruffled tiers on her No. 21 dress. Beachy waves in the hair and Nicholas Kirkwood pumps on the toes.. simple and done right...

 Hard Metal Accessories

All the Rage: Mawi's Sunray Tube & Boxchain Necklace 

Heather Grays and Knitwear

Hilary Duff: Pair your heather gray knits with matte liquid leggings for a toughened up look. The knitted sweater adds a softened look along with the contrasting nude pumps. I love her choice of accessories!

Tidbit: To defluff your look when you're wearing a chunky knit sweater, putting your hair up in a clean chignon would clean up the look. Adding some volume to the roots of your hair would add a kick of edge..

Rihanna: Recipe for Instantly Chic: dressing head-to-toe in one color shade.

Victoria Beckham: Nobody does it as cool as you Mrs. Beckham... pairing her black and nude striped Isabel Marant knit sweater with denim cut-off shorts and black peep-toe leather booties... O.M.G...

Dare to Be Bold: Color Clash Dynamics

It's a lot easier to be "matchy-matchy". We've naturally trained our minds to know how to play things safe and what colors don't "blend" well with the rest of our outfit. You would think breaking this good-and-bad habit would be easy.. But only the bold and daring could break out of this shell and dare to be different. You thought matching took a lot of work? Mixing different colors in one look to make it all your own takes more heavy calculation than you think. Feast your eyes on these style vixen Picassos!

Jessica Alba: Be aware of all the colors you've involved into your look. Strike a balance of proportions with the frequency of each color in your outfit. For instance, if black appears twice in your look, then all the other colors should appear twice or more (never less than twice -- unless you want one color to pop from the rest. That one piece should be the brightest color and only appear once).

 Olivia Palermo

 

Nicole Richie

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: Boho-chic with a play on colors and texture of material from knitwear, leather, to her buttery-velvet floppy hat.. she's done her math well and prevented this from being a "Did you dress in the dark?" moment.. She's becoming one of my favorites for a bohemian-mixed with city street style...

Side Note: With the Fall Season here... Floppy fedoras are the new Bohemian beanies of 2010.. move over Jenny Humphrey sloppy beanies, we're bringing this back...

Hilary Duff channels her inner Bridgette Bardot.. absolutely love..

Vanessa Hudgens

Lauren Conrad

Nicole Richie

xo QBee

Jusjared, StarStyle, Stockholm

Confession #1

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned...

It has been what seems to be days, weeks, perhaps... even months since my last visit... Where should I begin?

Remember how we say, ""As winter approaches, we pile on the layers" ? Well... not only are we talking about the number of articles of clothing we wear to avoid catching a cold, we're talking about various trendy pieces... 

Little Black Dresses, Matte Leather, Luxurious Faux Furs, Romanticized Ruffle Blazers, Hard Metal Accessories, Heather Grays, Cozy Knits, and a Clash of Color Dynamics... 

Little Black Dresses: Never Old, Always New

Photos: JustJared, Starstyle

Nina Dobrev opted for a slinky, black number for the Scream Awards. It's all about the accessories! With simple, black dresses... accessories and hair are key to making the basic look pop. Add edge to the look by adding heavy duty chain embellished accessories. Note that Dobrev still kept the look clean by limiting her accessories, making the focal point of her outfit her statement heels and chain draped clutch. She softens her look by keeping her hair in in soft curls, looking sexy rather than rough-tough.

Head-to-toe black is never outdated, rather a staple for the sophisticated. Dash up the look with a sudden dash of color as Olivia Palermo demonstrates with her Hermes orange-tan croc Jige clutch paired with gold chunky accessories.

Tidbit: What I love most about this look? The padded shoulders on her winter-worthy dress. Contrary to popular belief, shoulder pads aren't just for business types or blazers... believe it or not they actually serve a purpose! The plus side of padding the shoulders? It actually adds structure to your shoulders giving a slimming and lengthening effect-- making your neck look slimmer and longer. Try it, you will see what is all the rage...

Victoria Beckham keeps it simple with one staple focus: her perfectly tailored-to-fit black dress. Cinching the waist with a medium width belt in a matching color helps accentuate and slim her waistline.

Matte Leather: Take Out the Shine

Rachel Bilson: Break out those leather shorts again (please, matte it. Any shine would be borderline Julia Roberts a la Pretty Woman hookerish). Break the tough chic look with a flowy blouse, preferably with a feminine accent like subdued ruffles or subtle floral prints. Pairing the shorts with black booties keeps the tough in the look, while the wavy hair and feminine top keeps the look fresh, youthful, and downright girly...

Olivia Palermo: Again, add a touch of sophistication and youth to the look with playful colors. I love the balance of masculinity and femininity in this look. She has the tough exterior of the matte leather dress and bullet-inspired chunky necklace while keeping the balance of sophistication with her suede canary-yellow, broached pumps and orange-brown croc print clutch.

 Luxurious Fall Furs

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: This Victoria's Secret model turned Transformers hottie's fashion sense has caught my eye for the past few months. With layering techniques meant for professionals, she dares to be different and is always mixing different textures and colors to make a look all her own. 

Tidbit: Add a faux fur piece to your day look.. whether a vest, fur-trimmed coat, or scarf... it'll instantly add a luxurious vibe to the look.
  
to be continued...

xo Qbee