Six keywords about elegance that women should know

For me, transforming ordinary women into elegant women - if you allow me to use an understatement - is my life mission. Are you ready? Are you willing to play a flower girl transformation game like in the movie starring Audrey Hepburn? If you still have confidence in me, please listen to me share some practical tips. You can definitely show your best self through your own elegance.

■ Luxury

The word luxury evokes pleasant experiences and comfortable experiences, even if its meaning has been weakened today. Today, even sausages at a cocktail party or dishwashing detergent may be indiscriminately labeled as "luxury."

The word can be understood as extravagant, expensive, exquisite, wasteful - whatever the meaning, it satisfies our eyes, ears and imagination. How people feel about it is completely subjective. Just as everyone has different understandings of happiness, people also have different views on luxury. The luxury in the eyes of a homeless person is to avoid the cold and keep warm in the subway, while the luxury in the eyes of an art collector is to own a coveted original Picasso. Perhaps, in essence, luxury comes from comparing the minimum living standard of one group with that of another. For most women, luxury is something that others don’t have.

It is easy for us to get used to the luxury we define, but it is difficult for us to bear the loss of luxury. Those thriving industries often take advantage of people's desire for luxury goods, carefully cultivate people's habits for luxury goods, and convince large numbers of people through advertising that they can afford luxury goods. Dior found a lucrative way to do this by advertising its lipstick with the slogan: "At least you'll have Dior on your lips."

For an elegant woman, the more luxurious her life is, the more low-key and elegant she appears. After experiencing more and more limited-edition luxury goods, you will eventually reach a point where no one can see your extravagance except yourself.

■ Simple and elegant

Simplicity is a kind of carefully refined good taste, which is often synonymous with elegance. Before 8 o'clock every night, what you should pursue is "simplicity and elegance". However, simplicity is by no means the same as monotony and boredom. A simple, latest-model black suit can still be called "plain and elegant"; a bright red coat that was popular five years ago will only make you drown in the crowd.

A woman who dresses simply and elegantly will attract the attention of passers-by, who will notice that every detail of her clothing is perfectly harmonious. As for the dull women, they are forgotten at a glance.

Simplicity and elegance are the pinnacle of wearable art. To reach this level, she needs to have remarkable talent or grow up in an elegant atmosphere, otherwise she must spend more time on this aspect later in life. This level of perfection cannot be achieved by paying a famous fashion designer a large sum of money. In fact, you might actually end up doing the opposite if you do that. Successful designers often seek eye-catching effects, so they always use unusual color combinations or create eye-catching images.

Truly successful people don't feel the need to attract extra attention from others. Perhaps this is why many very wealthy and famous women are dressing more conservatively. If your income cannot afford clothes from big brands, then you should cultivate your own simple and elegant style. There's nothing more vulgar than a poorly made, yet unconventional piece of clothing.

■ Chic

Casual refinement creates chic. Compared with elegance, chic is more difficult to learn and requires more intelligence and wisdom. It is a gift that some people are born with, sometimes without even knowing they have it. Chic is something that can only be appreciated by people with a certain level of cultural accomplishment. In addition, they must have the leisure time to focus on improving their appearance and aspire to join a certain elite group - such people may be called "appearance aristocrats." Chic is a gift from God and has nothing to do with being beautiful or rich. It is doomed in infancy.

The best way to describe this quality is to give examples - the Kennedys were chic, but the Trumans were not; the late Princess Diana was chic, but Princess Margaret was not; Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo were both chic, but Rita Hayworth and Elizabeth Taylor were not.

The first step to improving your chic taste is to realize that you are not naturally chic. You can entrust your body shape, hair style, makeup, behavior and clothing to experienced professionals. At least you need to know what type you are: sporty and casual style, or the lolita sophisticated style. Study fashion magazines. Try to find a real-life role model who is in your league and who is considered chic and elegant; analyze her style and behavior carefully and try to learn from her. This may not be the perfect way to learn chic, but it's the best way I know.

Besides, if you realize that you are not chic, you are already halfway there, because the worst possible scenario is that the woman has no idea what chic is.

■ Quality

"Quality" often becomes synonymous with "expensive". Although this principle is generally true, it is not always true, and it is even less so in today's technologically advanced society. Once upon a time, customers completely turned their noses up at materials containing man-made fibers; but now, all women know the magical advantages of man-made fibers, and the previous fabric quality standards have been adjusted accordingly. Second, many elegant outerwear pieces are now made from fabrics that were once used for utilitarian workwear, such as mattress linen, blue denim, and cotton. It can be said that the design of modern clothing is more important than the fabric of the clothes. People's requirements for clothing quality have changed from durability to elegance and comfort.

Only a very small number of women can afford to pay the high cost of ensuring that every piece of clothing in their wardrobe is of high quality. But no matter how tight your budget is, you can at least buy some basic luxuries - preferably items that are quality investments that serve as long-term investments, which are often another form of savings. Take the obvious: a tailored suit, or a classic, exquisite leather handbag, an Hermès clutch that will last you ten years! There are also other high-quality accessories that can add to the quality of the entire outfit. for example:

. A cute umbrella (if you are not the type who always loses your umbrella)

. A cashmere sweater

Finally, if you can only afford one piece of clothing at the best fashion store in town, make it a coat. Not only can coats be worn in the most occasions, but everyone can also see their high-end labels.

■ Budget and cost-effectiveness

Unless you're a Hollywood starlet who can afford a designer's entire collection, it's best to develop a clear clothing budget and a long-term wardrobe plan. With careful coordination, good taste, and self-control, you can dress glamorously on a limited budget. Below is a basic and complete clothing series.

□ Autumn and winter clothes

. A bright-colored coat, such as red

. A shirt that matches the jacket

A sweater in a complementary color to the jacket, such as beige or brown

. A black skirt

. A black sweater

. A silk shirt with a nice collar, either black or white

. A pair of black strapless high heels

. A pair of brown outdoor flat shoes

. A black leather handbag

. A pearl necklace

With these, you can handle work and dating with ease.

□ Spring and summer clothes

. A lightweight wool suit, grey or navy

. Two blouses: one dark and one bright solid color, such as lemon yellow, teal, or pink

. Two skirts in the same fabric as the blouse above, so that they can be matched into a two-piece outfit, which can be a perfect outfit for summer vacations.

If you have a nice figure, you have the following options for summer vacation wear:

. A pair of bright colored pants

. A pair of navy blue shorts

. Two jersey cotton tops: one should be low-cut, but both should be in a stylish hue

. A natural unbleached straw handbag

. A pair of linen loafers, the same color as the pants

. A pair of strappy flat sandals

The clothes should last at least two years, and the shoes should always look brand new and flawless.

The above are the most basic conditions for dressing elegantly. If you want to achieve the ideal state, of course you need to add a lot of things. The first thing to consider is a little black dress. Don't worry, these items can all be purchased and added to your basic clothing collection.

Every new addition can work wonders if it’s paired with care. Simply adding a belt, a necklace, or even a pair of earrings can give last year's outfit a whole new look. If you're still saving for an exquisite dress and shoes, this method can be a good way to save money first. A woman will never lose her elegance because she dresses simply; on the contrary, a woman often looks ungraceful because of too many fancy decorations, poor clothing matching, or simply not dressing according to the occasion.

Let’s talk about cost-effectiveness. When buying clothes, it can be hard to tell whether you’re getting a good deal, because the number on the price tag doesn’t necessarily represent the value of the item.

If you want to understand how much a piece of clothing really costs you, spread the price you paid out over the number of times you wear it, and give it generous points for the pleasure, confidence, and grace it brings you. If you buy a piece of clothing at half price and only wear it once, it is a complete waste; but if you spend nearly six times the price on a tailor-made suit and feel confident enough to wear it for eight months for several years, it is also a great deal!

It's hard to find ironclad rules for how to get the best deal on clothes for women. But from my personal experience, falling in love with a piece of clothing at first sight will help you make a successful judgment more than thinking about it. Whenever I buy clothes rationally, I rarely wear them; on the contrary, those that I buy impulsively may seem foolish at the time, but in fact, they are worth the money after being worn many times.

Written at the end:

While elegance encompasses so many aspects—manners, conversation, decoration, and other aspects of the art of living—only the aspect of personal coordination and its relation to fashion will be considered here. However, a truly elegant woman should naturally pay attention to every aspect. A woman who speaks in a loud voice or walks in a duck-like gait can easily ruin a carefully crafted beautiful image. However, the connotation of elegance is too broad to be explained in one article.