Dude's Smart Casual Style

 

Dude's Smart Casual Style 

Smart Casual Style is for you who wants to elevate your look, without being overboard. It's not a BUSINESS CASUAL outfit. Keep reading, if you want to know what is the difference between Smart Casual and Business Casual.

When you are attending a Social Function and the dress code is SMART CASUAL, try to find out more about the event, so that you will not be wearing a " too casual " outfit, and you will feel underdressed compare with the other guests. In many cases it's better to be Overdressed than Underdressed. 

Let's dive-in and find out more about Smart Casual Style...

There are 4 important PIECES for SMART CASUAL Style, namely :

Less Structured Blazer, Button Down Shirt, Smart Trousers and Smart Shoes

I will go one by one .....

BLAZER is a " Must-Have " pieces for Smart Casual Style.

It could be in Solid colors or with patterns ie pinstripes or plaid. Mostly are in Solid Color

Blazers should be neither in the same color nor in the same material with the Pants, to give a casual vibes but still looking smart.

Blazer in lighter colors ie Beige Colors or Ivory color, have the more casual vibes than the dark ones

Blazer for Smart Casual Style is not only in Single Breasted style, but could also be in Double Breasted style.

Unlike SUITS Jakcket, Less Structured BLAZER has less padding. The Structured Suits Jacket creates a more formal look, whereby Blazer exudes more relaxed and casual vibes.

BUTTON DOWN SHIRT, is a shirt that has small buttons in the collar to keep it in place. It will make a sharper looks when you layer it with a Blazer.

It could be in block colors or patterns. Long Sleeves or Short Sleeves. You may wear Tie or without Tie. Depends on how Smart you're required to dress up for the events.

As option you could also wear POLO SHIRT, TURTLE NECK, MANDARIN Collar, or the most Casual is the Crew Neck T- shirt under your Blazer

The best SMART PANTS for Smart Casual style is CHINOS. It is made of TWILL material that ooze more casual vibes than pants made of WOOL material, but more smart than JEANS pants. It is available in many colors to suit your mood and style.

If you really want to wear jeans in your Smart Casual Outfit, opt for Dark Wash Jeans, to create the Smarter Look than other type of Jeans.

The SMART SHOES for Smart Casual Style are LOAFERS ( Tassel or Penny Loafers ). You might want to wear it without socks, an option if the events is more casual than smart. 

You can also wear BROGUES or CHELSEA BOOTH. Shoes in Tan or Brown or lighter colors are more casual than the darker ones. You can also wear LOW TOP SMART CASUAL Sneakers in your Smart Casual Combo, if your are attending more casual events.

BUSINESS CASUAL attire is not a FORMAL BUSINESS attire, where you have to wear a suits jacket with a matching pants. It is more casual, but it's still conventional in a way. The suits jacket is not necessarily matching with the pants, but it's a tailored pants ( not jeans ), you should be wearing a normal tie, light color shirts, smart shoes, no sneakers.

Unlike Smart Casual the preferred colors of the Business Casual will be darker conservative colors such as Navy Blue or Greay.

So, the option is more limited than the option in Smart Casual attire.

The Smart Casual Style is for you who would like to express yourself with the way you dress up to impress without going overboard

Colorful Pocket Square or Lapel Pin are 2 accessories that could be used for accents in Smart Casual Combo

You can explore your Smart Casual style with different colors of Blazer, Chinos, Shirt and Shoes to create a casual but smart looks

With option to wear sport jacket in Smart Casual Combo, it gives this style a more versatile outfits and a forever favorites for Stylish Dudes.

Some ideas for Smart Casual Getups

See you in my next write up....

PUTRI HIDAYAT

@meand_mylooks

Jakarta, May 2024

                                                                                 

   French CHIC 

Welll... as you can see.... am not a French Woman .... although sometimes I wish I was one ..... simply for the reasons that they always know how to carry themselves so elegantly and looking so Chic. Have you notice this ?

CHIC is actually more than just about your looks or appearance and I will explain to you on my next write up....

BUT in this one, I want to share with you on how French Women always looks so CHIC... I adore them.

I've tried to find information on this subject and luckily I found a Youtube from a FRENCH Lady, by the name of Marie Ann LeCoeur. She is a Personal Stylist and also book writer. Her Best Selling book in Amazon is " How to be Chic and Elegant " in case you want to read it...

In this post, I would like to share with you her advise on how to be Chic à la French Ladies, that based on the following habit from these Ladies

So, Let's Dive-in my friends....

There are 5 Rules or Guideliness on how to be Chic the French Women's Way. These Rules are easy to follow and hopefully it could be incorporated in your daily habits if you are interested. 

The FIRST RULE : DRESS UP TO YOUR BODY SHAPE. French Women make efforts to get familiar with their respective Body Shapes. This is imperative as the basic knowledge to be Chic and to dress up elegantly. There are 5 women's body shapes namely : Apple Body Shape, Pear Body Shape, Inverted Triangle, Rectangle and Hourglass Body shape. Each has its own characteristic and when we are familiar with the characteristic of our Body Shape, we could learn how to dressed it up to look Chic and Elegant.

French Women do not like to complicate their outfits. They prefer to have simple pieces. For examples : They like to wear monochrome colors. They prefer to have Solid Colors over Prints. And if they choose prints, they rather have simple Prints over the busy Prints. Etc.

THE 3RD RULE goes hand in hand with THE 2ND RULE. In order to keep their Outfit Simple, they need to apply the concept of LESS IS MORE. 

Our purpose of Dressing-up is to Show Off our assets. We might want to show off our beautiful neck and shoulder, our waist, or long legs etc. Therefore, we could not wear too much pieces or too busy colors in our outfit that will distract people's attention and overlook the assets that we would like to showing off.

Therefore, simple Cut & Design for the Outfit, will be better. Do not wear to much accessories and opt for simple pattern design over the busy ones, or avoid too many colors in an outfit

French women will have a statement in their outfit as an accent to their overall looks. But... only One... in accordance to the concept of LESS IS MORE ... to keep it simple and compelling.

French Women's closet do not keep many things inside. They believe in the concept of QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. They prefer to have FEWER good Quality pieces, rather than MANY lower quality pieces.

Their closet looks tidy, manageable, cohesive, with the pieces that easily be mixed and matched in high rotation.

The high quality pieces will make us looks much better than the lower quality pieces and this will create more confidence in the way we carry ourselves.

And definitely, the high quality will be more lasting than the lower one.

The 3 Color's rule simply means not to combine more than 3 colors in your outfit at any one time.

This rule goes hand in hand with KEEP IT SIMPLE and LESS IS MORE rules that if we follow these rules, it makes the colors blend in harmony and you will be looking more Chic and Elegant.

Ines De La Fressange was a prominent International Model of the late 80s who was signing an exclusive contract with CHANEL during the era of Karl Lagerfeld, due to her resemblance in her appearance to Madam Coco Chanel. 

She has a number of interesting quotes supporting the French Chic guidelines. And obviously some quotes from Madam Coco Chanel herself who was a true believer of simplicity.

Ladies, I hope you will enjoy this write up and learn something from it...

Be happy and be kind to one another....

Thank you for Reading

See you on my Next Write up

HOW TO BE AN AWESOME DUDE  AND BE THE FAVORITES OF THE GIRLS

Have you ever met a Dude who is not conventionally handsome, but always  have girls nearby who love to be having him around ?

This Dude seems to be the Favorite of the Girls...

His Personality is the reason why these girls are attracted to him, it draws them to him like Honey attracting Bees buzzing around it.

How his personality creates this strong attraction and it's beyond a mere looks... 

In this post I will tell you what is behind his personality and hopefully it will inspire you... It's simple really ....... 💕

Girls adore well mannered Dude,  who spread positive energy, kind,  supportive and never talk harshly. Dudes with integrity.  He respect the Girls and as a Gentleman, he thought that the girls deserve to be treated nicely. However, when he needs to be firmed somehow, he does it in a nice way

He is not only communicating with the Girls but he tries to understand what's important to them and why and will respect it accordingly. He also respect boundaries that have been set up by the girls and this makes them feel comfortable around him.

Girls are creatures who love to talk. Therefore, they love to have Dudes who genuinely listens to them

It's not only as good listener but as an active listener  as well where Dudes can give valued remarks that will inspire or provide solutions to the Girl's issues.

Why Girls love Dudes who are knowledgable and broad minded ? Girls adores Dudes whom they can  have great conversations with. Someone who will be able to cover many interesting topics and make the conversation far from boring. In addition to that a Broad minded Dudes are not Judgmental type of person and it makes the Girls comfortable around them.

It will be a perfect combo if Dudes are not only knowledgeable but also have a great Sense of Humour. Girls love this. Humor will always sparks some fun, an ice breaking and get rid of awkward moments during conversations.

It's the first impression kind of thing.... before everything else, the way Dudes present themselves to the world is important. AT LEAST they should be taking care of their Grooming and Hygiene. If they have Great sense of Style it will be perfect. Girls love Dudes who smells great too.... so dab a bit of Men Fragrance. Remember, NOT TOO MUCH... just a bit, to be more impactful and give a mystery vibes to your present.

So Dudes, when you ready to be popular amongst Girls, be a mature person, treats the Girls with respect. There will be moments when some Girls are obsessed with you. You can't avoid this situation when you are popular amongst Girls. And it can be annoying sometimes. But you have to be ready. Always be a cool headed Dudes.  Be firmed but always respect and treat them nicely. 

CIAO and let me know if you need assistances

IG : @meand_mylooks

FRIEND to Dudes who want to feel, look and act their best

April 2024

BLACK TIE

Whenever we received invitation to attend special events, such as Wedding, Special Gallery opening, Charity Gala Dinner or similar, we should check on the invitation to see what is the required DRESS CODE for the events. It's important to note the Dress Code of the events that we are going to attend and follow the requested attire to show our respect to the Host and other guests who attend the events.

BLACK TIE is one of the Dress Codes, designated for Formal Events, that requires Formal Attire, namely TUXEDO or FORMAL DARK SUITS 

For the first timer to such an events, I would like to share some information on what to wear to comply with the BLACK TIE Dress Code.

When you know what to wear, you will be more Confidence in the way you carry yourself and you will be at ease to mingle with the other guests during the events. 

Cool, Calm and Collected. Know when to talk and have good subjects to start a conversation, yet be a good listeners too.

With this attitude, am sure you gonna be fine and for the next black tie events, you will be a Pro for Black Tie events...

DM me for any questions..

Putri Hidayat

IG : @meand_mylooks GIRLFRIEND

Friend to Dudes who want to look, feel and act their best 

Jakarta, February 2024

 

Personal Style

If you ask me why I love being a Personal Stylist, it is because I work with people who wants to improve themselves..... To present the best version of themselves by expressing themselves in the way they dressed up.

It makes me happy when they succeeds in elevating their looks and along with that they achieved their goals in their Professional as well as in their Personal Life

It all starts with Discovering our Personal Style. Things to do in the process of discovering  personal style are as follows  :

• To select the right cut, fabric, texture and length that best complients your body shape
• Taking our lifestyle into considerations
• Using Style as a primary tool for Self Expression

I believe you are aware that every individual is Unique. If we embrace our uniqueness in our Style,  we will feel most comfortable with this style, therefore we will be more Confidence in the way we carry ourselves. This style will let our personality shines and this style is our Personal Style

Confidence is important factor when we are presenting the best of ourselves to the World.

The next stage is to check your Wardrobe. 

Cluttered wardrobe will stress you out and confuse you when it comes to styling your outfit. 

Decluttering and organizing our wardrobe is crucial in the process of developing our Personal Style.

An Ideal Wardrobe should be neat, effective and manageable wardrobe that works for us.

As Personal Stylist this is one my jobs to assist you creates your dream wardrobe that suits you and support your newly found Personal Style.

My Motto is SLOW FASHION, meaning we will re-create your wardrobe by using clothing items from your existing wardrobe. 

LESS CONSUMING - Less shopping for new Clothing items

MORE CREATIVE in using Styling Technique to create compelling looks using your existing clothing items

Choosing Only Clothing Items that will support your Discovered Personal Style

Discard Clothing items that is no longer relevant with your Personal Style 

However, if you have to do a real shopping to complete your New Wardrobe, we will be your Personal Shopper and provide you with relevant tips on what you should be purchased

                                       

So when you are ready for your transformation, 

I will be a call away....

Happy New year ...... 

Let's get dressed for Success....

It's your year to shine....

You got this....

Putri Hidayat

IG : @meand_mylooks