Age Appropriate Style

I can imagine many of you cringing when you read the title. I can imagine some of your thoughts: “Age-appropriate style?? Oh, no! Will she condemn us old folks to loafers and black clothing?”

The answer is no! This post is meant to help you navigate through all the different clothing styles with your age as a guideline. * Hopefully * all of you have read the “Signature Style” post. If not, I encourage you to do so. I will be referencing many things in that post. The foundation of age appropriate style is the “Classic Style”. Every single age group should have at least 10% of classic style. This is because the classic style is timeless and elegant; it will work for you throughout your life. God desires that all his daughters dress with dignity and strength. “Proverbs 31:25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” The clothes you wear affect your dignity. A lot. Different age groups need to wear different clothes because as you grow older, some clothes will not help you conduct yourself with dignity. Would a 70 year old feel classy and poised in a Hello Kitty T-shirt? I don't think so! If any style does not encourage you to conduct yourself in a worthy manner, then leave that style alone. Style should complement your class and dignity, not cheapen it. Remember that! In the sections below, I will give guidelines for dressing appropriately for each age group. I encourage you to read each section, because they shed light on different aspects of age-appropriate style. J

Teens:

When you are a teen, it is the time to explore different styles. This is the time when you can experiment. Use this time to explore all the styles and figure out which one suits you. If you already figured it out, I would still encourage you to experiment at least a little. Make the mistakes now, rather than later, when they matter more. J Of course, don't go near the immodest and unfeminine styles, but other than that, it is a time to try out trends and styles. You can have as little as 10% classic style in these years. You don't want to look like an old granny, so make sure to tone down the classic style with younger styles such as, "Trendy Style" and "Romantic Style". :) Growing physically, emotionally, and spiritually, a girl in this stage of life changes a lot. Cultivate that gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth and God's sight. You are laying the foundation for your life, so make sure that foundation is Jesus Christ!

20s:

In the twenties, it is still a time to explore different styles. But, you should start sticking with your gorgeous personal style. Have the confidence to rock it! Trends are still good, but make sure they add to your class and poise, and don't detract. (for example: no viking helmets, please! ;) During the twenties, I suggest you dress 20-30% classic. The classic style is so easy to work with because it lays a great foundation for all the other styles. It is your glue, your cement, your thread. :) Discover what you love, and stay away from those things that you are not so happy with. :D

30s:

The thirties are a time when you should *radiate* in your personal style. Hopefully by now you have figured out what your personal style is! Depending on the category, your personal style should be 40%-50% of your style, and to add age-appropriateness, you should be 30% classic. Or more. While you are in your thirties, I suggest you start having an accent style, or a style that is not as major as your personal style, but the style you like second best. This style will add the flair you need in your clothing. For example, if someone's personal style is Romantic, they could start having an accent style of Dramatic. Don't ask me how that would work, but if you are creative and confident enough, it will probably look good! During the thirties, start to think about what is behind the clothes: you. Remember that you want to dress with class and style as you get older. When you are younger you can dress with style and some class, but class is accumulated as you grow. Start to acctively accumulate it. Keep an eye out for elegant, stylish women. What do they do that you admire? What could they do better? How can I emulate her class and poise? (of course, don’t say these to her!) Watch and learn.

40s:

I think that it is important that the older a woman gets, the more classic and timeless her style should be. The 40s are on the middle part of the spectrum. During this time, I would suggest you start ignoring the trends and develop timeless elegance. This is the time to get to know yourself and spend some more ME-time. (If possible!) Learn about ettiquette, find a style role model, learn to conduct yourself with poise and grace, and gain class. Now, it is less about the clothes, and more about your conduct and air. During this time, I suggest you are 10% or less the trendy style, 40% or more the classic style, and 40% your own style. The percentage you have left can be for your accent style. Remember to still occasionally check up on trends. Don’t get stuck in a time rut!

50s:

Classic elegance. Personal flair. These are the two phrases that should describe the 50s. During the 50s, 50% classic style or more will allow you to focus intimately on your own style. Your own style should be about 40%, and your accent style should be about 10%. By the time you are in your fifties, it is likely that you have an air of elegance, a confidence in yourself, and poise in your conduct and words.

60 plus:

You are now a classy, graceful lady. Poise and dignity are the main elements of your style. During the 60s and beyond, your style will be about 60% classic, 35% personal style, and 5% accent style. You will be able to focus on your personal style, and people will notice the little bits and pieces that you use to make your outfit stand out. Become a role model for younger ladies and encourage that Titus 2 spirit. :) Encourage them in their modesty and femininity. You have a lifetime of watching all the trends; you are now the woman that everyone will be emulating and watching. They seek the class and dignity you have. Please, share the lessons you learned!  
God bless!
~Southern Belle

Charles Dickens in Bonanza

Since I'm on Christmas break, I actually have time to watch TV shows that I like to watch, but are always on while I'm at school. One of these shows is Bonanza, the classic Western television show. I remembered seeing this episode ("A Passion for Justice") a while ago, but I only saw the second half of it. I finally found it on YouTube in six parts and watched the whole thing. In this episode, Charles Dickens (played by Jonathan Harris, known for his role as Dr. Smith in the show Lost in Space) pays a visit to Virginia City. He finds himself in legal troubles, however, when he finds out that his books are being printed in violation of his copyright.



I don't know how accurate a portrayal this would be of Charles Dickens, but I found the episode enjoyable. I hope you enjoy it too! :-)

Signature Style

Audrey Hepburn

To be truly chic, a woman must know the building blocks of style. One of the major building blocks is knowing your personal style. Understanding your unique style comes from knowing yourself, and being confident in expressing who God created you to be. We are God’s children, and we are beautiful in his eyes. Do not hide the woman he meant you to be, just because it isn’t “in”. If you love loafers and L.L bean, don’t down a ruffled lace cardigan and sky high pink heels just because everyone else is. The truly stylish women were comfortable in their own skin. Two examples are Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. When one thinks of these two women, they often think, ‘Beauty, class, and style.’ Similar words were used to describe these two women, but they were uniquely different. These two women discovered that trends came and went, but style remained. They wore what they loved, what gave them confidence, and if that was “in” then wonderful! But if it wasn’t, they still wore it, and looked utterly fabulous. Style is discovering who God made you to be, and expressing that with confidence.

Fashions fade, style is eternal.

Yves Saint Laurent

Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest.

Christian Dior

Elegance is a question of personality, more than one's clothing.

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Style is primarily a matter of instinct.

Bill Blass

While clothes may not make the woman, they certainly have a strong effect on her self-confidence - which, I believe, does make the woman.

Mary Kay Ashe

Fashion condemns us to many follies; the greatest is to make ourselves its slave.

Napoleon Bonaparte

“Style” is an expression of individualism mixed with charisma. Fashion is something that comes after style.

John Fairchild
Although the names of different styles vary in different sources, there are about 7 categories of personal style. Often, you will relate to two or even three of the categories.
Romantic
Classic
Bohemian
Dramatic
Natural
Trendy
Eclectic
In each of these posts, I will describe the style, list the style essentials, and give it a rating on its modesty, femininity, and age-appropriateness. 
God bless!
~Southern Belle

New Banner

Hey,
I've been pretty busy with Christmas, so I haven't had much time to work on banners. I did make one, though. Here it is!

I got a little creative with pixalating and slightly bluring the pixals. I think it turned out pretty good.

No fur allowed

The Oslo Fashion Week made history. Oslo is the first city who had a Fashion Week were designers are not allowed to show fur on the catwalk. I say: Go Norway, go the rest of the world!

Backstage at Louis Vuitton S/S 2011

Marc Jacobs proves time after time that he's a great designer. He blew everyones mind away with his Louis Vuitton S/S 2011 collection. His models looked stunning and they had lots of fun with Marc Jacob himself backstages. O, being a model is such a hard job!

Blog Button!

At last, I finally have a blog button!

<center><a href="http://elegance-of-fashion.blogspot.com/"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnpYEf0Ix9p5VUNHI6x2BQh7eSdffQTgK4eQaQQU-ZcdKyP2ipniyxYkMMYvun-nFLTxMwxNG0UbIbTnuw2hz-39gSRBe3hgCw7f8zLuM0kiLSeMxyO9qm9ar-H0ZHb7u-Tz4y_ue3lfq/" /></a></center>
I've been contemplating on creating one for a while now, but now I have one! If you wish to link back to Elegance of Fashion, you can use this picture that comes with a link! I might make a couple more, but for now, there's only one. This is also available on the sidebar. Edit: I just put up a new page for more blog buttons. There are three more to chose from.

Greetings and Welcome!

The ribbon has been cut! Since this is the first post on this blog, I feel safe to say that this blog's life has begun. To start off, I think I should state several facts for those of you who have no time to read the "My Faith" and "Vision Statement" tabs at the top of the page:
1. I am a Protestant Christian who is totally sold out for God. I desire to do his will and glorify him in all that I do.
2. I believe that dressing modestly is crucial for all women, especially Christians. The culture of this world does not embrace true modesty, and I want to reclaim it.
1 Timothy 2:9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
3. I believe that dressing femininely is important for all women, especially Christians. Women are hiding under masculine shells and hoping to appear tough, forceful, and strong. God created women to be uniquely feminine and men to be uniquely masculine. We need to embrace our God given roles.
Deuteronomy 22:5 A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.
4. I strongly believe that dressing fashionably is critical, although not as much as modesty. Many Christians feel that they can never be modest because that would mean dressing in barrels all the time. Yes, a bit of an exaggeration. But, the truth remains: people are turned off by modesty because they feel it is ugly. I am here to proclaim that a woman/girl who is modest and feminine can be much more beautiful and fashionable than that skin baring celebrity on all the magazine covers. I encourage you to push past the potatoe sack mentality and discover that you can be oh so fashionable and oh so modest at the same time.
Now the question on the tip of your tongue is probably, "Why did you start this blog?" When I first became interested in fashion, many of the blogs and books I read were written by non-Christians with no convictions on modesty and femininity. Perplexed and clueless, I attempted to pick through the trash and develop my own sense of style while keeping my convictions. It was really difficult, but I did eventually develop my own style while keeping my convictions on modesty and femininity. When I look back at my experiences, I wish there had been an easier way to learn about fashion. The values of this world are so different from the principles in the Bible. How are Christian ladies suppose to learn how to be fashionable, feminine, AND modest at the same time? It seemed a colossal task. Then, the idea came to me to start a blog. I had learned so much through my experiences, why not pass the ideas to other people? So, I am. 


If you would like to stay updated with my blog, go to the side of the blog and become a follower. This enables you to participate more fully in my blog through giveaways, etc. 


Enjoy, and God bless!

Something I noticed...

I was watching Pride and Prejudice just now when I noticed something very peculiar...

Look at Miss Bingley's left glove by the palm of her hand... is that a hole I see?

I never noticed this before! Apparently Miss Bingley can't afford new gloves or she saving them for some reason? (I'm kidding, of course) I don't believe that hole was apart of the design of the glove. Has anyone else noticed this before?

It's kind of funny: I've seen this miniseries many, many times and this is the first time I noticed this. It's interesting to notice something that you've never seen before. What other movies/miniseries/TV shows have you watched many times and noticed something that you've never seen before?


Edit: The hole is apart of the design of the glove. I noticed the same thing on Elizabeth's glove. Thank you Rebecca Jane for the insight on the glove style :-).

Review: Pride and Prejudice (Restored Edition)

For Christmas, I got Pride and Prejudice: Restored Edition, which is pretty much what you would get if you bought Pride and Prejudice on Blu-Ray but on DVD. Here, I'll be reviewing the quality of the DVD, not the miniseries itself. For the story itself, click here.

Box Art

Picture Quality
The colors are fantastic! Where in the original the colors appear to be washed out, here they are much more vibrant. You get to see more colors that you otherwise would not have seen. This greatly improves the wide views of the scenery and makes it even more wonderful. I have pictures below because, especially in this instance, a picture can speak a thousand words.

Audio
You will notice upon first viewing that the sound is a little bit different from the original release of Pride and Prejudice. The soundtrack sounds lower than the original, and even some of the speaking parts might sound a little lower, though the speaking parts are less noticable. I have read elsewhere that people have found Mrs. Bennet's voice very high and shrill, so they like that her voice isn't as piercing as it was. I didn't mind Mrs. Bennet's voice in the original release: if I did think it was high, I would have thought that it would be in her character to sound shrill (and maybe even a bit hystarical). Some of the singing parts have a noticable lower pitch compared to the original. It is a bit different from the original.

Comparison
Personally, between the original DVD release and the restored edition, I prefered the picture quality of the restored edition, but the audio of the original. I probably prefer the audio from the original because I personally never found anything wrong with it in the first place, though now I know some people thought Mrs. Bennet's voice was a little high. I do love the improved picture quality; it does the scenery a great justice.

Overall
I would recommend this DVD. Though I am still partial to the original audio, the new audio isn't bad at all; people new to Pride and Prejudice would most likely not find the audio a problem. The picture quality is very stunning and a great improvement. You get about the same quality of picture as the Blu-Ray version but for the price of a DVD. It's really great if you want Blu-Ray quality, but don't have a Blu-Ray player nearby.

Pride and Prejudice: Restored Edition is available online and in the stores. Below are the screenshots comparing the original to the Restored Edition.




Original

 

Remastered

Original



Remastered





Original

Remastered





Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

"Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

-Luke 2: 10-12

"Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."
-Luke 2:14


Original Source



"Christmas weather," observed Mr. Elton. "Quite seasonable; and extremely fortunate we may think ourselves that it did not begin yesterday, and prevent this day's party, which it might very possibly have done, for Mr. Woodhouse would hardly have ventured had there been much snow on the ground; but now it is of no consequence. This is quite the season indeed for friendly meetings. At Christmas every body invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather. I was snowed up at a friend's house once for a week. Nothing could be pleasanter. I went for only one night, and could not get away till that very day se'nnight."

Mr. John Knightley looked as if he did not comprehend the pleasure, but said only, coolly,
"I cannot wish to be snowed up a week at Randalls."
At another time Emma might have been amused, but she was too much astonished now at Mr. Elton's spirits for other feelings. Harriet seemed quite forgotten in the expectation of a pleasant party.

-Emma (Vol. 1, Chapter 13)

Lark Rise to Candleford: Silent Night (3:26 -3:55)

 

Pride and Prejudice: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (4:36 - 5:01)

 

 

More Banners!

Hey everyone!
I made a couple of more banners. You can click on the banner for a larger picture with more detail. Enjoy!

The two banners above were suggested by Charity U of Photographer at Heart and Austenitis.

Poll Closed

The poll closed a couple of days ago. Here are the results:

To the question "Where do you usually watch your favorite period dramas?":

57% said DVD's

21% said Youtube

14% said PBS/Masterpiece Theater

7% said Other

0% said BBC/BBC America

Thank you everyone for voting! I'll leave the graph up at the sidebar for a while. A new poll is already up: "What is your favorite Jane Austen novel?" You may select more than one choice.

Review: Sense and Sensibility (Comic Book)

Hey everyone! I'm back and doing reviews again! Finals are finally over and I turned in everything that needed to be turned in. So, it's back to weekly reviews! I apologize for the week that I missed.

Also, for this review, I took pictures with my camera of some parts of the pages in this comic book. The pictures may look a little dark since flash whited out the area where the flash was directed. Also, since the pictures are very big, there are small thumbnails throughout the review. You may want to click on the pictures to get a better look at some of the artwork/dialogue. Now, on with the dialogue.

After getting Pride and Prejudice the comic book for Christmas one year, I was wondering if there was going to be another Jane Austen comic book, and one day I found out that Sense and Sensibility was going to be made into a comic book. I was very excited. One day after it came out, I was at Borders looking among the shelves of books and it occurred to me: would Borders have Sense and Sensbility the comic book on the shelves? So, off I went to the graphic novel section and within a minute I saw it displayed on the shelf; needless to say, I bought it that night and began reading it.

Synopsis

Cover Art

Taken from an earlier review I did of Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Sense and Sensibility follows the story of two sisters: sensible Elinor Dashwood and passionate Marianne Dashwood . When their father Mr. Henry Dashwood dies, his property, Norland, is passed to his son from his first marriage, John Dashwood . Before he died, Henry Dashwood made John promise to take care of his current wife and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret). John promises to take care of them and wants to give them some money, but he is persuaded by his wife, Fanny, not to. Meanwhile, the Dashwood women prepare to receive John and Fanny, and when they arrive, Fanny announces that her brother Edward Ferrars will be joining them. Edward arrives and him and Elinor form an attachment, which is broken off by Fanny.

This Marvel comic was written by Nancy Butler, and the illustrations were done by Sonny Liew.

The Dashwoods move into Barton
Cottage; notice Elinor's thought
bubble.

Characters

The characters are well expressed. You get a real sense of Marianne's sensibility through some of her scenes (for example. when she leaves Norland, she goes on in a lament over leaving it); although, it seemed that when she was supposed to be weeping, it would only last for a few frames and then you would just get a sad look on her face.

Elinor's thoughts were well presented in the comic. In the movie, you don't get to hear what she is thinking because obviously thoughts are never spoken out loud. Thanks to the thought bubbles, you get to know what Elinor is thinking, like in the novel where there are a couple of pages worth of Elinor thinking things through. This was quite well done.

Artwork

Lucy Steele and Elinor walking:
notice Elinor's bonnet.

The artwork isn't the best, but it's not the worst that I've seen. There is more of a cartoon feel to the artwork: there aren't as many colors to make images appear more 3D: shadow lines are sharper instead of gradual, so there is a big difference between lightly colored areas and darker colored areas.

What bothered me was whenever Elinor wore a bonnet, she looked practically bald! She is drawn with a far-back hairline, but it would have helped if there was more of a hint of her hair underneath the bonnet. Sometimes, there would be a slight bit of hair poking out through the side, but most of the time, it appears that she is bald. This could have been easily fixed.



The Dashwoods ask
Edward Ferrars how Mrs. Ferrars
is doing; here is an example of the
"cutesy style"



Something else was also a little unusual at certain frames of the comic book: Mrs. Jennings's double-head. I suppose it was to illustrate her personality as a busybody, but meanwhile there were a couple of frames where she has this double-head which looked a little odd. So, this double-head only appears a couple of times, but it does look a little odd.

The artwork goes back and forth between more cutesy drawings and more realistic drawings. For example, in one frame, everyone could look more cartoon with small bodies and big heads; then in the frames below that one, everyone will go back to their realistic proportions. I personally preferred the more realistic drawings to the cartoon ones, but overall, the artwork is okay.

Dialogue

The dialogue was not modernized: I like that. Most of the time, I don't really like it when people remake a classic work of literature, they feel that they have to modernize the language even if the language is not that hard to understand: sometimes it doesn't bother me if it is done well enough and doesn't take away the meaning of what was being said, but a lot of the time there is something lost in modernization. In Sense and Sensibility the comic book, I didn't find that problem. The language seemed close to what Austen had wrote for her characters. Of course, there would have to be parts of the dialogue paraphrased, but I think the dialogue was well done.

Comparisons
Warning: Spoilers Below

Marianne taking a walk
in damp grass: a scene
left out of recent adaptations.

I would have to say that this comic book is very close to the book. As much as I liked the 1995 movie of Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson, there were a couple of things that were left out: characters like Lady Middleton, the Middleton children, Anne Steele, and Mrs. Ferrars were entirely left out of the movie, along with scenes such as the dinner party with Mrs. Ferrars and Willoughby's confession scene. In this comic, those characters and scenes have been included.

Also, the movie (and from what I've heard, the 2008 miniseries), also added a scene of Marianne walking in the rain in her distress over Willoughby, which was not in the book. In the comic, you get a closer picture of what happened in the book: Marianne was walking in wet grass and caught a chill that lead to her fever. This comic does a good job staying faithful to the original story.

Overall: 5/5
I would highly recommend this comic. Of course, you should read the original novel, but this comic does the novel justice. It stays pretty close to the original work. You also get certain aspects of the novel in this comic that you might not get in recent adaptations.

Sense and Sensibility is available in the stores (I got mine at Borders) or online. It is 128 pages long. The rating on it is A (which, I believe, means "All Ages").

Here are some extra pictures.

Elinor invites Edward Ferrars to come visit them.

Mrs. Jennings, Lady Middleton, and the Dashwood girls
sitting in the parlor.

Colonel Brandon asks Elinor about Marianne

Marianne comes to her realization.

Lucy Steele tells Elinor a secret.

Colonel Brandon visits in London; notice
Mrs. Jenning's double-head.

Civil War Clothing Exibit

I went to a Civil War museum this weekend; currently on display were dresses from the Civil War Era. Of course, I had to take pictures! Here are a couple of the pictures.

Civil War Dress

Black Chenille Head Dress (1864 - 1865)

Lace Headpiece (1860s)

Cotton Cuffs (1860s)
"There is lace at stake!" Anyone get the reference?

"Jenny Lind" Hand Fan
(1860s)

Front: Velvet Spoon Bonnet (1862 - 1865)
Back: Lace Bonnet Veil (1860s)

These are just a couple of pictures. It was very interesting. I couldn't believe how small people were back then! The dress in the first picture was really short: I don't think it even reached five feet.

Edit: I added some pictures of the exhibit to the Elegance of Fashion Flickr account. There are some there that I didn't post here. Check it out!

Some Banners

Well, with my finals almost over and all my papers turned in, I had a little time to play around experimenting and creating banners. If you click on the picture, you will get a larger image. I only made three so far: Elinor Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility, Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, and Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Jane Austen!

235 years ago today, Jane Austen was born at the Steventon rectory in Hampshire, England. She would come to write six novels that are still well loved two hundred years later.

My favorite Jane Austen novel is Pride and Prejudice; what is yours?

Update: I added a new poll in honor of Jane Austen's Birthday. There are two polls running now: this new one, and the older one. You can still vote in the older one for a couple of more days.

Sewing - Dog Jackets

I did these jackets for my dogs a few years back. Though they have sustained multiple washings, they are still in pretty good shape.

A few years back, my mom noticed that during the winter and especially after my dogs got groomed, our one dog (who spends a lot of time looking out the window) was shivering. We had to do something about that, so she found a pattern and fabric at JoAnn Fabrics and asked me to sew them winter jackets. Pictured here are the second pair of jackets that I made (the first pair of jackets got old and were a little short along the back).

Ali, our male dog.

Ali on the look-out... and in warm comfort.

Coco, our female dog.

Coco sleeping in warm comfort.

So there are the jackets. I believe that the fabric is flannel; it has the blue plaid print on the outside and plain yellow on the inside. The straps run across the dog's chest and along the stomach and are secured with velcro.

Ali looking very nice and showing the monogram

On one of the chest straps, I embroidered a monogram on each of the jackets. Since both jackets are the same colors and since Coco is a little smaller than Ali, it made sense to put some sort of mark on them to tell the jackets apart.



Ali's Monogram



Coco's Monogram



Here are some close-ups of the monograms (you can click on the pictures for a bigger picture). I drew the monograms on the jackets then embroidered it before sewing the two inside/outside pieces together. Now we can tell the jackets apart when we put them on the dogs.

Not only do these jackets look good, but they also have the purpose of keeping the dogs warm. They really like the jackets: in fact, if one has their jacket on, the other one will look at you and wait for you to put their's on. Obviously these jackets are only for the winter time; once the warm weather comes, the jackets go into storage.