I had fun scrolling my Instagram feed this weekend where I came across my friend’s account, Suzanne Dekyvere (@airofdistinction). She’s a stylist who lives in Melbourne, Australia. And she’s a trusted friend. We live continents apart so we don’t have many chances to see each other in person. Each time we do, it’s sweeter and sweeter.
I’ve written about Suzanne before. Here’s a post on the anatomy of her style expression and here is a post with pics of Suzanne the last time I saw her, which was in Sonoma at our Monthly Marketing Bundle Retreat. (I write content for image consultants for their marketing and getting together with members of that program is one of the things we do in the MMBs.)
Suzanne was one of the instructors at the MMB Retreat. She gave a master class on styling and how to break the rules. We couldn’t wait to see what she wore every day.
Style expression is in the details
Style is so personal. You don’t need to break the rules in order to have great style. And what’s breaking the rules for one person is the starting point for another.
Suzanne expresses herself with zeal. When I saw her Insta post about her version of a Saturday jean outfit, I was just delighted. On her Instagram feed, she explains how she puts together her outfits.
Here’s how she talks about her Saturday jean outfit.
Putting together my weekend jean outfit
After hanging out in my pajamas and robe for more than a few hours this weekend, I got dressed and Russ and I went out to enjoy an afternoon in Glen Ellen at Les Pascals, a French bakery.
It was a pretty simple outfit: jeans, white shirt, jacket, accessories.
Then the fun started. I was enjoying my ham and cheese sandwich when a leaf landed next to the leaf pin I was wearing. Now, what are the chances of that? Before I could say anything, Russ said, “Wait, you need a picture of that!”
When I got home I was still thinking about Suzanne and her daring (to me) style. I decided to make a collage of her weekend jean outfit next to mine and post it on Facebook.
When I put our outfits side by side, I had one of those inner chuckles one has over delightful coincidences.
There was Suzanne in her jeans, me in mine. She’s wearing a lapeled jacket. So am I. She’s accessorized her outfit with bracelets (me too). She’s wearing a hat, I’m wearing a scarf. She’s wearing her tartan booties (a favorite of hers) and I’m wearing my patent leather AGL taupe oxfords (a favorite of mine).
We’re quite different but our outfits have similarities. Was I influenced by her picture when I got dressed? Maybe. But more likely I chose pieces that I love wearing just like Suzanne does.
Here’s what I love
I love jewelry with nature themes. The leaf in my pin is a great example. I love the nature print in my chiffon scarf. I love a white shirt and I picked this J.Crew one because it has a snap, crackle pop sound when I move in it. It’s a really crisp, snappy cotton. I find comfort in that sound.
I love that cropped gray double-breasted linen jacket. It feels so good on. I want to wear it every day of the week right now.
I like how things look, feel, and sound.
Style influencers on Instagram
So there you have my little bit of weekend fashion fun. If I did indeed create my outfit as a result of looking at Suzanne’s Instagram, that’s a good thing. It makes me want to intentionally try to copy looks I like on others.
This weekend wear diddy started out as a Facebook post but I just had to fill in some details. I hope you had some fashion fun this weekend! Will you let us know?
XO
6 Comments
Anon
September 16, 2019 at 4:28 pmI sense a leaf brooch bundle. Right?
Brenda
September 17, 2019 at 4:18 pmIndeed! I like it!
Kathy
September 18, 2019 at 3:48 amInspiration is so important to keeping myself out of a rut. Instagram, Pinterest and people watching are my sources. It’s still very warm here so dressing is interesting. Weekends I usually dress down my skirts from M-F. Love the nature inspired jewelry and the one Mother Nature added to your lapel.
Brenda
September 20, 2019 at 5:58 pmYes, Mother Nature was very generous to me that day! I love all the ways we can glean inspiration now. It’s not just coming from fashion magazines!
MaureenC
September 18, 2019 at 10:12 amThis juxtaposition was thought provoking in two ways, the first, it’s always interesting to see what two people do with a similar ensemble and how their personalities are represented. The second thought was about costume as opposed to clothing. I see a number of style bloggers who wear what I would consider a costume (the people who are inspired by Iris Apfel for instance) and to my eye your friend has a foot in that world. I enjoy seeing your outfits because they seem to be really well thought through and carefully chosen clothing which gets attention rather than screaming for attention. I love bright colours so that’s not the issue and this isn’t a value judgement simply an observation from the other side of the pond!
Brenda
September 20, 2019 at 5:57 pmThanks, Maureen, for your comment. The thing about style is it’s so personal. What I see more from having visited my colleagues in Australia is that they have a whole other take on fashion that I feel is regional. When we have conferences and consultants gather from all over the world, I see it in what they wear. Different countries or parts of the world use fashion in a different way. What may look like costume could be very authentic to them. I mention this only because my friend Suzanne thinks her outfits through very carefully. She sews clothes, makes accessories, and chooses her pieces carefully. While I can admire other people’s style, I am content to keep working on defining my own. A client of mine gave me Iris Apfel’s book and I’m enjoying it now. Again, her eye is so very different from mine but there are bits and pieces of things that I can glean from her view of fashion. We’re all so different! I appreciate that your comment wasn’t a value judgment, simply an observation. I hope you don’t mind me adding comments to your comments! And I guess that’s what really was fun about writing this post–realizing that there were elements that we shared, we just did it differently. Cheers!