I paid for Masterclass to take a French bread making class, which was excellent and I learned a lot. So far the only other course I’ve taken has been Tan France’s personal style Masterclass, as neither felt like “work” or studying at all. I’ve loved fashion and dressing up since I was a little girl. I learned some really great tips from Tan that I wanted to share, particularly about finding what works for your personal style. He spends a lot of time going over his recommendations for a capsule wardrobe. As someone who collects clothing, this did not resonate with me so I’m skipping that part. You can read more about his recommendations for creating a capsule wardrobe here. Here are some of the notes I took on his Masterclass and the things I wanted to talk about. This is mostly in my words.
Style matters. It can give you confidence and help you meet your goals in life.
When adding to your wardrobe, ask what you can add that can make you feel amazing and like yourself.
You can find formfitting clothes that flatter you no matter your size. This includes tapered jeans, not necessarily skinny jeans. Curvy people can work tapered looks and he recommends that.
Go with how an item of clothing or accessory makes you feel. Less is not necessarily more with accessories, don’t be afraid to be bold.
Accessories, jackets and shoes can help switch up a look.
Style is separate from fashion, it’s about creating your own look. Style is fun.
Create a mood board. Collect photos of fashion and celebrities whose fashion you admire. What themes do you follow and love?
Get things tailored when you can. With tailoring, you can practically design your own clothes.
Study the color wheel. If you always wear a certain color, choose something from a close color instead. You can pair the same family of colors.
Do not be too matchy, mix it up. You can wear denim on denim if they’re different types/colors of denims. You can mix prints under other prints if you just show a hint of one and they’re complementary.
When shopping online, buy two different sizes and try on both. You should try on jeans at the store though. You can buy affordable pieces at stores like walmart without shame.
Find a celebrity whose style you admire and study their looks. (Mine is Helen Mirren!)
Which outfit in your life made you feel the most fabulous? Take that look and find something similar but a little different.
You don’t have to wait for a special occasion to look fabulous or to wear a particular outfit.
Fashion can help you define who you want to be and what you want to feel.
[My notes from Tan France’s Masterclass]
This course helped confirm my love of dresses, particularly a bold print wrap dress. As the Fug Girls say, a dress is so easy because that’s your whole outfit sorted. I’ve known this about myself for a while, but I was able to define and better understand my personal style. I also realized how much I could switch shoes and accessories, which is something I tend to get into a rut with. There’s nothing quite like putting a cute outfit together and being thoughtful about it. It really helps boost your confidence and self esteem. I also liked the fact that Tan doesn’t recommend spending over $100 on jeans and that he’s not a label person. He says you can get designer clothing if you feel like splurging and can afford that, but it’s more about creating a look. I’ve always loved fashion and enjoy secondhand shopping and bargain hunting. I appreciated this class and got a lot out of it.
Oh and Tan and his husband, Rob, are expecting a baby via surrogate! Congratulations! He told some cute stories in his Masterclass about Rob, particularly that Rob always wants to buy the display outfit at the store. Tan doesn’t recommend that. He says you should go easy on trends and pick classic pieces that will work long term. I also should mention that he says style is for straight men too and that they shouldn’t be afraid to dress well.
— celebitchy (@celebitchy) April 1, 2021
Photos credit: Avalon.red and via Instagram
Thanks for sharing CB!
I have an interview today and I was having a meltdown last night-I haven’t worn a suit in over a year! It’s over Zoom so I’m still wearing leggings, but I am pulling out a suit jacket and blouse. Legit excited about it (the interview and the outfit).
My sister in aw defended her thesis over zoom and she was allso very excited to get dressed up! she also wore leggings tho. good luck!
Thank you! I’m happy in my current role but this could be a MAJOR upgrade so *fingers crossed*
Good luck with your interview today! I interviewed a bunch of people last week and just wanted to say that I found the following very distracting: blouse that was very wrinkly, sitting too close to the camera and looking away/having profile to the camera.
Good luck with the interview!!
Love that your lower half will still be legging’d – LOL.
Helen Mirren is a great one for a personal style role model. I’m interested to know other CBers’ icons.
Michelle Obama (sang that to the tune of Boss!)
Seriously, Michelle, Kamala, and the Duchess of Sussex have me shopping for bold, solid colors and monochromatic schemes. The “You coulda had a bad b*tch” tour last year started it, then the Inaguration cemented the wardrobe shift. I love prints (polka dot, bold florals, etc) but for power, the bold solids is now my go to.
Case in point, today’s interview outfit is a solid kelly green blouse under a black suit jacket-with pearls, of course.
Good ones! I’m all for the jewel tone solid dresses too. D of S is a great icon, I love her casual styles best! Just took a quiz and it said mine was Nicole Richie, which I wasn’t expecting but really fits.
Culottes with horizontal stripes are never the answer, Tan France.
LOL true, true. OTOH I love his long sweater-coats.
@Tom, agreed! I find Tan’s style to be all over the place so I wouldn’t be likely to take his advice on fashion & styling. Also, none of the tips that were shared from his masterclass are new or groundbreaking regarding fashion.
“style is for straight men too and that they shouldn’t be afraid to dress well.”
AMEN, BROTHER!
You might enjoy Trinny Woodalll’s YouTube channel. She has several makeovers she did of women, and every week she does something called “closet confessions” where she explains an aspect of fashion and gives examples from her own voluminous closet.
I enjoy Trinny’s videos so much! It cracks me up because her style is SO not mine, but I enjoy looking at and thinking about clothing and accessories.
I am not a stylish person, but I did feel great in my interview outfit that I wore to get my current full-time, tenure track professor gig! I wore black skinny pants (thicker material from H&m), a white blouse, dark olive kitten heels, and a bold red lip. I just don’t feel comfortable/confident in suits or skirts, and I knew this outfit would make me feel confident. And it worked!!
Style over fashion. I’ve never heard it put this way, but fully always agreed.
I have unique pieces from high school as I haven’t changed Sz in 40yrs. I collected vintage back then & mom was a clothes horse. All on trend jeans I get from my kids who grow out of them!! That’s been my forever look. On trend jeans w vintage jackets & accessories in color me beautiful scheme!
CB: I too, am a wrap dress gal. My favorites are from Boden, DVF (on a splurge) and occasionally AnnTaylor for work. Where do you get your best wrap dresses?? I feel like they are in short supply these days. (I can’t do the long flowy ones, I look like a pregnant Mennonite in those.). No shade to mennonites. Or pregnant ones. It just isn’t the work lewk I am going for. I’ll see myself out.
Yes – his master class was very enjoyable- and promoted self style as opposed to just following any trend!
Bobbi Browns makeup class was also awesome!!!!!
ALWAYS USE THREE COATS OF MASKARA!!!
i don’t always love Tan’s style choices (for his Queer Eye subjects or himself lol) but i appreciate the values he communicates—that style is for everyone and you don’t have to spend lots of money to dress in a way that makes you feel confident. i also appreciate the note about decision paralysis! as someone who’s always felt anxious about fashion this helped me give myself permission to cut down my closet and rely mostly on some basics.
“Curvy people can wear tapered looks and he recommends that.”
Maybe this was just a paraphrase of something he said, but wording like this always makes me cringe. My weight has fluctuated a lot of my life, thanks in part to an eating disorder, and I really don’t like when people say “plus size girls can’t wear X,” “can wear this,” etc. People can wear what they want and like, regardless of body size or type. If that’s skinny jeans, tapered jeans, or even mom jeans…whatever.
Anyway, I will say I’m intrigued by some of the masterclass offerings. The baking one sounded really interesting, too.
Ok I will rephrase that to they “can work tapered looks?”
Thanks, genuinely appreciate it. Sorry if I seem overly sensitive.