← The Everyday Style School
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Have you ever ordered something online that you thought was really cute but when it arrived it just wasn't what you expected? Or have you ever had the vision of a perfect piece in your head and then struggled to find it? Today, I'm sharing one of the best ways to make finding what you're looking for and getting what you want a whole lot easier. Let's get started. Hello gorgeous. Welcome back to the Everyday Style School, the show that teaches you everything your mom never did about getting dressed. I'm your host, Jennifer Mackie. Mary, after 25 years of dressing women with real bodies, budgets and lives, I know great style isn't about following one size fits all advice. It's about learning what works for you. I want to tell you a little story. Way back in the day when I was shopping with clients three to four days a week and had two to three clients a day, I knew where everything in the mall was. Oh, you need a pair of petite dark wash boot cut jeans and a curvy fit. I've got the perfect ones at Loft. Or a button front shirt for a woman with a bigger bust. Try the perfect shirt at Ann Taylor. It was great because sometimes I would have clients with similar shapes or tastes and I would know exactly what they needed. Other times I learned from what didn't work. The pants that were terrible for my apple shaped clients were fabulous for my hourglasses. It made my job super easy and it made me really, really fast. But beyond knowing which stores to find things in, I was there so much that I knew where in the store everything was. That's how much I was shopping at that point. But every now and then I would have a few days off and I would come back in to find everything rearranged. A brand new floor set and not nothing was where I remembered it. And it really slowed me down. One of these times I was at Nordstrom and I knew the perfect top for my client who was just chilling in the fitting room waiting for me to bring her things to try on. But I just could not find this top. I was going crazy. So I told the sales associate, I'm looking for the Kaslon utility blouse that was hanging right here last week. She looked at me like she had no clue what I was talking about. So I elaborated. You know, it had a split V neck gathers at the shoulders, utility pockets on the chest, and this sweet woman who was probably new, I didn't know her yet, she set out to help me and she was picking up things like is this it? Nope, that's halogen. I'm looking for a Caslon blouse. How about this? Is this it? Nope, that's a knit top. I'm looking for a blouse. How about this? Is this it? No, that's a tie neck blouse. I'm looking for a split V neck. It became very obvious that she was just picking up random items, hoping she'd get lucky, which, you know, that wasn't going to happen. But it also became obvious that she couldn't help me because she didn't know some very basic clothing terms. And that's what we're talking about today. Becoming fluent in the language of clothing is one of the best things you can do to make style easier. But it's something that most women have probably never thought about. We know the basics, and maybe we pick up a term or two along the way. But without expanding your vocabulary, you're missing out on an important style fundamental. So here's what we're going to do in this episode. First, we're going to talk about why a strong vocabulary is important. Then we're going to talk about the key categories of clothing terms you should know, as well as a couple of roadblocks when it comes to expanding your vocabulary. Finally, we'll wrap up with how you can become more fluent in style. So let's start with why it's important to speak the language fluently. Obviously, if you're like the woman in my story helping people buy clothes, speaking the language is pretty important. But I am assuming that you don't fall into that category. So who cares, right? What difference does it make? Well, let me tell you, and I've got three good reasons. First, it makes shopping so much easier. This week I was reading a review of an item that said this. The title was Great Design with an exclamation point at the end. And the review said it's true to size and has a nice fit, it's flattering and the quality is great. But I only gave it three stars because I don't like wool. Well, that's funny, because the item is literally called Marino crew neck. What this tells me is that she probably didn't know what Marino is, that it is literally a type of wool. When you don't know what the words mean, you don't really know what you're getting. Now, one of two things happened. Either she kept that wool sweater and wasted her wardrobe building resources, which are her time, her money, and her closet space, and added another piece of not great clothing to her wardrobe, which makes style harder, or she returned it and it cost her time and money and effort, and maybe even added proof to her belief that online shopping is difficult and unpredictable and unreliable. That's a belief that keeps a lot of women from even making the effort. But I have to wonder, was that the Internet's fault or the website's fault or the top's fault? In this case, I'd say no, it was just a case of not speaking the language. Getting what you expect is one part of shopping, but the other side is finding what you want in the first place. I've said this before, but one of the greatest things about style and fashion in the time that we are living in is that anything you want or need is out there. And that is true. There are clothes to fit all bodies and all styles and all budgets. But you need to be able to find them. And as good as Google and AI are, you can't put in top that is made from that one fabric I like, or skirt like the one my friend wore to my birthday party, and find it. When you have the words to search for what you're looking for, getting the wardrobe you want gets a whole lot easier and a whole lot faster. I think this is an advantage of online shopping. It's difficult to search in store by word. Right. But that doesn't mean a strong vocabulary doesn't help you in traditional settings as well. The second reason it's important to speak the language is that it helps you communicate with other professionals. Many years ago, even before I started dressing women, my sister gave me a dress that didn't work for her. It had the potential to be phenomenal on me, but it needed a little bit of tailoring. I took it in and I was trying to explain what I wanted, which was, was leave the bottom half like it was, but just take in the top a little bit. And the tailor and I didn't speak each other's language, both English and clothing, which made communicating what I was looking for doubly difficult. Right? But what if I had been able to say, can you make this swing dress a little bit more a line? I probably wouldn't have picked up my dress a week later to find that it had been turned into more of a sheath dress. And I don't know, maybe that's not a thing that can even be done. I don't. I don't sew, I don't tailor, I don't have any ide. But I do know that my lack of technical words at that time didn't help anything, and it ended up ruining a dress that could have been great. The right words come in handy when you're shopping in stores too. I know my example of the sweet but clueless salesperson at Nordstrom didn't demonstrate that point very well, but in most cases you're going to do a whole lot better than if you just try to describe what you're looking for. Finally, having a strong style vocabulary makes you more confident in your style abilities have you ever traveled to a country where you don't speak the language? It is a very different experience than going to a place where you're fluent, you have more fun and feel like you can really immerse yourself in the culture versus having to stay on the fringes and only choose the safe options. It's the same with style. Speaking the language makes you feel like a style local. You are on the inside, and it even applies to things like trends. When you hear that palazzo jeans are trending or cone heels are dated, it's a whole lot easier to know if the things in your wardrobe are looking current when you know what those words mean. So hopefully you're seeing why having a good style vocabulary is important. So let's move on and talk about what you need to know. I hate to disappoint you, but I am not going to share all all the style words you should know. For years I have had women ask me to put together a guide of style words, but that guide already exists and it's called the Dictionary. Now the dictionary does include lots of other words. I get that you're going to have to weed through those, but in the time it would take you to look up a word in the Everyday Style Vocabulary guide, you can just google it. So I am not going to define style words to you for the next 12 hours. You're welcome. Instead, I'm just going to share eight categories of words that you should be on the lookout for and start to get to know as well as give you some examples so you can just get an idea of what we're talking about. I'm not going to go in depth on most of these. The first one, which is probably the biggest one, is basic clothing silhouettes. This is the overall outline or architecture of clothing and there are so many of them that I've broken them into subcategories. First, you've got skirts and dresses like chic, a line, fit and flare, pencil wrap, midi, maxi, swing tiered. You've got bottoms like wide leg, barrel leg, jogger, palazzo, mid rise, low rise, cropped capri, Bermuda tops like tunic, cropped, boxy blouse, shell, tank, popover tee. Layering pieces like bomber, trench, duster, boyfriend, longline, double breasted. And that's just a fraction of all the silhouette words that are out there. What's important to know about this is that pieces can be more than one. For example, you can have a pencil midi skirt that's two, or a cropped boxy popover shell that's four. Second is necklines. Necklines are so important to how your face, neck, shoulders, bust, and midsection look. So you should know the difference between crew, scoop, turtleneck, cowl, neck, V neck, split V neck. And those are just a few to get started. Number three is fits. We touched on this in the last episode when I said that one of the biggest mistake women make with fit is trying to fix fit with fit. Remember that confusing sentence? Yep. In that episode, we were focused on fit, meaning whether or not something is the proper size for you or rather than how close to the body it's supposed to sit. Right. This time, we're talking about that second fit. So here we are focused on words like bodycon, fitted, tailored, relaxed, oversized, and all of those things make a big difference in getting what you're expecting. Category number four is sleeve types. Every month in this style circle, we have a monthly focus. It's one of the ways that we break the huge topic of learning everything there is to know about style into manageable, easy to implement chunks and create some easy, intentional practice. Because, as we all know, learning without practicing doesn't actually do anything anyway. A couple of months ago, we were focusing on our shoulders, learning to dress our shoulders. And one of the most important aspects of dressing your shoulders, whether you want to create balance between your upper and lower halves or. Or simply maintain it, is choosing the right sleeve. Our members were shocked at the impact that this little detail has. So do yourself a favor and learn the difference between a vertical raglan dolman and drop shoulder sleeve. But don't stop there. Those are just where the sleeve is attached to the body of a garment. There's the sleeve shape itself, like cap, puff, bishop, bell, flutter, petal, and lots, lots more. Category number five is another big one, and that is fabrics. And going along with the actual fabric are finishes, which we're going to keep in category 5. Knowing what fabrics are, what they do, and what they feel like will help you avoid so many style missteps. And in my opinion, this is an area that we think we know a whole lot better than what we do. So let's get into it. Fabric is what the item is made of, like, linen, chiffon, silk, polyester, wool, ponte cotton, on and on and on and on and on. What gets a little bit tricky is that some of the words we think of as fabric words actually aren't fabrics. They're construction words. How the fabric is made, like twill. You can have a cotton twill or a silk twill. Those are going to feel different, but they're going to have the characteristic diagonal weaving pattern of twill. Satin is another one. Satin is actually a weave, not a fabric. You can have a silk satin or a polyester satin or even a cotton satin that you probably recognize better as sateen, like in sheets. You've probably seen that. And I know I told you I wasn't going to give you a list of all the words you need to know because there are just so many, but I am going to give you two. This is the basis of where fabric education starts. You need to know the difference in fabric between knits and wovens. Those are construction words. You can turn cotton into a knit fabric, and it's going to behave like a T shirt or a sweater or a sweatshirt. It's stretchier and a little less structured. Or you can turn it into a woven fabric and end up with something like oxford cloth or even canvas. Less stretch, more structure. For a million years, I have been saying knits cling and wovens glide. But if you don't know what that means, you're missing out on one of the easiest ways to dress your body shape. Best finishes are the way that a fabric is treated in the manufacturing process, like stone wash denim or acid wash denim. Guys remember that. Or things like garment dyeing versus yarn dyeing. You'll see things like brushed or sued fabrics, coated fabrics, enzyme washes. And these are all examples of how the fabrics are manipulated to create certain looks or feels or both. Number six is prints and patterns. And I know you know the difference between polka dots and stripes, but what about foulard? Do you know that one? Do you know the difference between Liberty florals and ditzy florals? Even plaid comes in a ton of varieties like houndstooth, windowpane, tartan, glen plaid, gingham. I remember shopping with a client once, and she told me she hated plaid. And it was fall, so there was a lot of it. So as I was pulling things for her to try on, I avoided all things plaid. However, when she met me in the fitting room with things she wanted to try on, she had an armload of plaid. And I said, wait, I Thought you hated plaid. And she goes, oh, this isn't plaid. Well, it was just not the plaid she thought of as plaid. And that's totally fine. But. But in my head, I was avoiding all plaids. We just weren't speaking the same language. Category number seven is an offshoot of number one, and that is accessory types and silhouettes. When you're talking about bags, you've got satchels, hobos, crossbodies, totes, clutches, bucket bags, top handles, shoulder bags, north, south versus east, west, and lots, lots, lots more. And we could be here all day with shoes, because not only do you have the general silhouette like a loafer, sneaker, flat, there are heel types, toe shapes, sole styles, and all the combinations of all those elements. Again, when it comes to jewelry, each item, like earrings or necklaces, has lots of different styles, like drop earrings, chandeliers, studs, or cuff bracelets, bangle bracelets, etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. You see why creating a guide is just not a practical thing to do, right? Finally, category number eight is design details. These are the adjustments made during or after the construction of a garment to change the way it looks or fits. Talking about words like gathering, ruching, draping, pleating, smocking, shearing, or construction words like godet, yoke, dart, and then there are decorative terms like applique or laser cut. As you can see, there are a million style words out there, but hopefully breaking them into these categories makes it a little bit more digestible than just trying to learn all the words. And really, what's more important than knowing all the words is being able to use the words to find what you want, which is what we talked about in the beginning. But even if you did learn all the words and you had the best style vocabulary in the world, there would still be a couple of challenges. And I want to talk about those briefly before we talk about how to boost your style vocabulary. The first challenge is that to retailers and influencers and brands, words can often be pretty meaningless. I know I just spent a whole bunch of time telling you how important words are, and I stand by that 100%. But the truth is, brands play fast and loose with definitions. Recently, I was looking at some shoes and something was called a moccasin, and I was like, really? Because that looks like a loafer to me. Moccasins, by definition, are made from one piece of leather, including the sole and the sides. Loafers, on the other hand, have a separate distinct sole and heel. Now, did I send the company. And actually, those are loafers, not moccasins email? No, because that's annoying for people to do and it's not going to change anything anyway, so I'm not going to waste my time. It's enough for me to know the difference. And besides, for me this is how you learn other words to incorporate in your searches. I would never have thought to search for loafers if I was really looking for moccasins or vice versa. But it does expand the search, so use it as a positive Some of the confusion comes from a lack of standard definition. Like how many inches is a crop top? I don't know, and I'm guessing ann Taylor and Forever21 probably don't agree on the definition either. So sometimes it's just subjective. And then finally some of the confusion comes from whether a brand is using a generic definition like cropped pant or a more specific term like ankle pants or capri pants. Sort of like an SAT question, right? All capri pants are cropped, but not all cropped pants are capris. Again, at least for me, these things aren't an issue. It's just more search terms to help you find what you're looking for. And I just don't waste my energy being mad that people aren't using the right correct definition. If you know what things are and you can use your knowledge to make style easier, that's all that matters. Don't waste energy on people not being as style savvy as you are now. The other challenge to style vocabulary is is a big deal, and that is knowing how to use the words to get what you want. Yes, you can know what a knit versus a woven is, and you can even know that knits cling and wovens glide. But if you don't know which one is better for your body, it's really not all that helpful. That is the theme that runs through every one of the eight categories we talked about. It doesn't matter if you know what every neckline or sleeve type or earring style is called if you don't know which ones are best for you or even which ones you like the best. Knowing the words without being able to use them in a practical way to make style easier and your results more successful is just useless knowledge. Having the knowledge of what you like and what you feel best in, along with having the knowledge of what those things are called, is really where the magic happens. I have this theory that women know what looks good on them. I have seen this happen thousands of times in mirrors. When a woman puts on something that looks nice her face just lights up and she steps a little bit closer to the mirror. She knows she looks good. That is not the problem. The problem is knowing why it looks good in the first place and knowing how to recreate it and find it. Without that information, you're looking at a lifetime of trial and error starting from scratch every time you shop or every time you get dressed. Which I'm guessing is how a lot of women, maybe even you, I don't know, approach style and it is hard and it is time consuming and it wastes money. Having the knowledge of what to look for and how to find it is how style becomes easy. But not only does knowing what to look for and how to find it save lots of time and money, but it keeps you from those self esteem spirals where you are convinced that nothing looks good on you and you're just not meant to be stylish and maybe you should just tell your friends that you're not feeling well and stay home in your sweatpants. Have you ever been there? I have, and those moments feel terrible to me. Avoiding those moments by knowing a few necklines that always look good or a couple of go to dress or pant silhouettes, that seems like a pretty good investment of your time. So where do you start? If you say, okay, I want to increase my vocabulary, where do we start? How do you learn the thousands of style words out there? First, you start by giving yourself credit for what you already know. No one listening to this show is starting from zero. I'm guessing you could picture a lot of the words that I gave you very quickly as examples in your mind, right? You know, I bet you know more from each of those eight categories than you even realize. So that's good. You're not starting from scratch. A good test of your knowledge, if you just want to see where you are, is to describe the pieces that you're putting on each day. How many terms can you name in the outfit that you're wearing right now? Can you name the silhouette, the fit, the fabric, the pattern, print, so on and so on and so on? The more terms you can use, the better your style vocabulary already is. Now if you're ready to improve it, an easy thing to do is when you're looking at clothes or accessories online, get in the habit of reading all the words in the title and description. And if you come across any word you don't know or a word you think you know but you're not 100% sure, look it up, put it in the old Google machine. It's nice because you're already there and you already have a visual right in front of you to make that connection. But if you really want to turn up the learning after you get that simple definition for something, do this. Google the difference between that new term and something similar that you already know. Here's a little example. A search for what are palazzo pants gives me this loose wide leg pants typically worn by women. Okay? But then I looked at what's the difference between palazzo pants and wide leg pants? And here's what it gave me. Palazzo pants are a specific type of wide leg pant defined by their extremely wide, flowing and dramatic cut, often with a lightweight drapey fabric that creates an elegant skirt like silhouette. In contrast, wide leg pants are a broader category of pants that flare out from the waist or hip, but can have a more controlled or varied width and maybe made of more structured fabric, creating less dramatic and more tailored look. Huh? That's a little bit more in depth, right? And it helps you use the information. Are you looking for something more tailored? Are you looking for something more dramatic? Now you know how to use the word to get what you want. There are a few other things you can do too. When you're shopping in stores, read the label and feel the fabric to make the connection between the two. If you're already pretty good at this, feel the item and see if you can guess the fabric content. This is a little game I play all the time and it reinforces my knowledge and makes it easier easier to envision the fabric when shopping online. Also, when you're in a store, challenge yourself to spot and name four different necklines or three different dress silhouettes. Being able to spot and name things in the wild is a lot more difficult than online because you don't have the words and pictures next to each other, but it is great practice. The reality is you're not going to sit down and read a style vocabulary guide or do style word flashcards. You are a busy woman and that's not on anyone's priority list. But expanding your vocabulary is incredibly helpful. So the trick is to just work it into things that you're already doing. If you're already on a store's website, just look up the words you don't know. If you're already at Target, Spot three Dress Styles don't make becoming more fluent in style a to do item that never gets to done, if you know what I mean. Foreign let's quickly recap and then wrap up with homework, shall we? Here's what we talked about speaking style fluently makes you more confident, saves you time and money, and helps you get the wardrobe you want with less struggle. There are a million and one words to know, but that doesn't mean you have to sit down and study like you're taking the style sats. Start with what you already know and look for ways to expand your vocabulary in the activities you're already doing. You can mentally describe the clothes you're putting on each day. You can read item names and descriptions when you're shopping online, looking up anything you're not 100% confident in. And then challenge yourself when you're in a store that sells clothes, especially with fabrics, to see what you can spot and name. But let go of the idea that these words have rigid definitions that everyone adheres to the same across the board. Rather than getting frustrated, look at it as an opportunity to expand your search words. And never forget that the magic of style vocabulary happens when you know what looks best on you so you know how to create it. Just knowing the words isn't all that helpful. So with that said, your homework for this episode is to do one of the vocabulary building exercises we just talked about. If you are pressed for time, just describe to yourself the clothes you're putting on in the morning. Try to hit at least four of the eight categories that we talked about for each item. If you're on a website, just read some descriptions. Try to find at least one term you don't know and look it up. Compare it to a similar word you do know. Or if you're in a store, challenge yourself to identify different silhouettes or just focus on feeling fabrics and reading content labels. In the next two weeks, try to add one or two words to your style vocabulary. You will have more confidence and be one step closer to making style easy. That's it for this episode of the Everyday Style School. Thank you for spending time with me today. If you are ready to make style easier and more fun and figure out what looks best on you so you really know what to search for, come join me in the Style Circle. It's where you'll get all of our classes, capsule guides and style tools, plus the support to actually use them. You can become a member today at your everyday style.com I will see you next time and until then, stay stylish.