Blind Bargains

Fashion Sense with Jywanza: Just the Basics


In my last column, I showed you how to find inexpensive clothes for a good price. Now, I will discuss two basic fashion guidelines and one basic thing we all should know about our skin.

Socks

There aren’t many rules when it comes to socks but there are a surprising number of people out there breaking them every day. What color socks are you wearing while you are reading this? If you said white, I hope you just finished working out, about to work out or do some other athletic activity. Please don’t wear white socks. When wearing dress pants or casual pants, apart from jeans, the general rule is to match your socks to your pants. The reason for this is because when you have to take your shoes off or sit down and your socks are exposed, socks that coordinate with your pants make your outfit appear more fluid. If you are a bolder dresser (and I am not), you can match your socks to something else in your outfit such as your belt, shirt or pocket square. What about jeans? I usually wear black or gray socks with jeans. One last note about socks. Please make sure your socks match and don’t have holes.

Shoes and Belts

The general rule is you should always match your shoes with your belt. Black is pretty easy. If you are wearing black shoes, you should wear a black belt. Brown shoes are more difficult to match with your belt. There are so many different shades of brown and matching browns are difficult. You don't have to match your browns exactly so long as the shades aren't jarringly different. Ultimately, it comes down to the shoes you are wearing rather than the outfit. Dress shoes require a dress belt. If the shoes are casual, the belt you wear should coordinate rather than match.

Skin Types

Determining your skin type is very crucial because different skin types require different product formulations. A product formulated for a person with dry skin wouldn’t be effective for a person with oily skin. People forget that your skin is your largest organ and everything can influence skin type including: diet, Hormones, stress, smoking, skin Disorders, medications, climate, pollution, skin products you use, etc. The more you know about everything that affects skin type, the more you will be able to help your skin finally look and feel as good as possible. To determined your skin type, wash your face with a gentle cleanser (please don’t use the same soap you wash the rest of your body with) then wait two hours to see what your skin does without additional products. Once you do that, read to determine your basic skin type.

Conclusion

Were those guidelines difficult to follow? Not at all!! Was that painful? Of course not!! I hope you are starting to realize that there isn’t really much to this. There is no magical power involved. The only thing that is involved is effort. If you want to read more content, please check out . I would love to know what you think. If you have any questions or any topics you would like me to cover, I can be reached at jywanza@howtobedashing.com. If you have any comments, please drop your thoughts into the comments section below

Category: Articles
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Robin Wednesday, 01-Apr-2015 5:29 PM ET:

the author asks “Was that painful?” and in all candor I must answer slightly and here’s why. this column leaves me with more questions about its intended target audience than its actual topic; and I’m not sure that is good as that isn’t its purpose. Is it targeted at men, women, adults or children? I don’t so much take issue with that which is asserted rather how it is presented. It isn’t the portrait rather the framework in which it’s couched. Re: Socks: Firstly it is asserted that there aren’t many rules about them but then those that are presented are cited in such a ways as to make them seem hard and fast and written in stone. It seems to me that few laws of fashion are written in stone and those rules which do exist like other forms of law are only as good as the one interpreting them. Since the Sock topic was covered in brief with a few others and didn’t explore the differences in style between men and women, the fact that women often wear more colorful seasonal socks for instance whereas men might not the admonitions “please don’t wear white socks” and “One last note about socks. Please make sure your socks match and don’t have holes...” distracted me from the rest of the more cogent points made therein. Do adults actually have to be admonished to make sure socks match and do not have holes? I am not sure what the intended target audience is but it seems to me that an adult audience could benefit from the wisdom found here without such distracting turns of phrase. As an aside I went to school with a sighted girl who never one day wore matching socks throughout our time at university. When asked if she was making some sort of fashion statement she said no she was just too lazy to match them. Perhaps not appropriate for the corporate world but always gave me a chuckle to encounter such a free spirited answer from a visually oriented person. Here’s to the ever fluid, changing and up for interpretation rules of fashion such that they are. and with that I’ll leave all in peace and return to quiet lurkdom.


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Jywanza Maye is a savvy shopper born and raised in New York City. His friends regularly come to him seeking advice about beauty products and where to find the latest clothing deals. He graduated Magna Cum La from Baruch College with a degree in Business Administration. He is a tea enthusiast and an avid reader.


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