In this modern world of curated fashion influencers posing in perfectly matched outfits by appropriately themed backdrops, it can feel downright disheartening when you have the dreaded *gasp* fashion fail. Throw in being a perfectionist like me and hellooooo recipe for anxiety pie! (Newsflash: It’s not tasty.)
In a throwback to the Alaskan cruise I took in 2017 (yes yes, I’m still working on the backlog of blog posts to write from it. So. Many. To. Write.), I had the brilliant idea to plow through Pinterest for reference of outfits to put together for the trip in the hopes of writing beautiful travel blogs worthy of Insta-famous drooling. Sounds fool-proof, right?
Ah. Hah. Ahahahahahah.I have a lot to learn. But learning is good! That’s something I think is missing from the conversation of bloggers. One tends to learn more from failures than successes. As I strutted out onto the deck to shoot this particular outfit that I for-sure thought was a perfectly constructed nautical masterpiece of chic sophistication, I was in for an eye opening experience.
The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I’m bad at math…
Let’s dissect this shall we?After selecting the first two photos in this post to achieve the look I wanted, I was disappointed in the full-body pictures. It took me a hot minute to figure out why. But as my knowledge of fashion and visual proportions has grown, I realized a few things…
1) When one has a torso as long as I do, visually, it’s better to balance out proportions by either making the torso look short or the legs longer. (i.e. tuck in the shirt. Wear high waisted pants. Or wear heels)
2) Learn thy angles! Editor Briana is disappointed in Model Briana for this. Model Briana should know better. Model Briana needs to Work. Those. Angles!
3) While I am naturally pear shaped, my lower hips stick out due to both the way my body deposits fat, but also muscle reformation issues from my accident (especially the left side which puckers out weirdly from my scar). It bugs my OCD, so I try to camoflauge it in different ways. This photoshoot was before I learned how to do that. Past Briana, flowy coats are your frieeeeend. They hide said hip weirdness and make you look epic when the wind blows.
So next time I put an outfit like this together, I know some different things to try to create a perfect nautical chic outfit for my odd little body. Voila!
Photographer: Alena Van Arendonk(Disclaimer: Anyone can wear whatever they like. This is just a personal commentary on my own wardrobe and personal look.)