Looking Expensive?

“Looking expensive” has become one of the latest mottos in the personal styling industry. From simple clients, all the way to personal stylists, everyone’s expectations revolve around giving that “expensive” look to an outfit and getting that “wow” effect that makes everybody’s heads turn. Yet, as it so happens, experts and non-experts, most often, have different views about the term in question.

Ask a brand fanatic potential client about the concept, and they will tell you that the value of an outfit is proportional to the amount of the branded items composing it. Ask a tight budget client-to-be about the value of “ an expensive look” and some of them will cast the wish of being able to afford pricy clothes.

Experts, on the other hand, are trying to put some sense into all this hysteria. Brand hunting is not by a long shot the answer to “looking expensive”. On the contrary! It is the killer of it! The eye gets so tired to look here and there, observing all the statement pieces of an outfit, that the mind loses sight of the essential and eventually the message fails to be sent.

Imagine Audrey Hapburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Then, imagine her in the street on an occasional grocery shopping day. She would look amazing either way because it is not the brand she is wearing, it is the attitude and that “savoire faire” in terms of creating the appropriate outfit that puts the icing on the cake.

Creating the expensive look is not a matter of piling overpriced statement pieces one on top of the other. It is choosing ONE catchy item, an iconic brand, if your budget allows it, and building your outfit around it, integrating lower key, but flattering pieces that adjust to your body shape, style and personality. Garnish it with what experts call ATTITUDE, and you are in for that expensive look everyone is craving for. Always remember that “less is more” and you can always have that 5 star look if you keep it simple and down to earth.