Fashion as an Artform
Must-haves, Trends & Creative Ideas
Monday, May 20, 2024 is International Tea Day. I sipped a cup of Matcha Green Tea, as I meditated on my day.
Around noon, I walked to the community mailbox to get my mail. I noticed a fancy white BVLGARI envelope, with white designer label letters embossed on the cover of the front side. It looks professional and fancy. I opened it to notice the Summer 2024 magazine issue of California Style & Culture magazine with a postcard invitation for the new BVLGARI Boutique, located inside South Coast Plaza. BVLGARI sells luxury high-end watches, jewelry, purses, eyewear, and perfume.
On the front of the postcard, actresses Zendaya and Anne Hathaway model BVLGARI jewelry. I guess they wanted ordinary looking actresses to model their expensive merchandise. The front of the magazine showcases Kiernan Shipka modeling a French Chic Chanel outfit in yellow, black, and white with Chanel jewelry. I browsed through the magazine to pick out my must-haves for this summer. I chose timelessly classic items that I already own, enabling me to work them into a Summer 2024 fashionably current outfit.
My 20 Must-Haves for Summer 2024
- Statement Earrings--they are usually huge and clunky, but fun and unconventional.
- Bucket Purse--this cute small purse looks like a drawstring bag with a strap.
- Bucket Hat--this hat was inspired by an African diaspora. They are created in various material, whether for casual and leisure activities or for a dressy and fashionable outfit. Other names for it include fisherman's hat, Irish country hat, and session hat. It tends to have a short and downward-sloping brim to provide shade when under the sun.
- Sunglasses are important requirement for sunny weather or just to look cool, even during cloudy and cold weather. They come in various shapes, sizes and colors. It really depends on preference because everyone has their own personal style. And, many people nowadays have prescription eyewear, which makes prescription sunglasses even more important and useful.
- Quilted Purse with chain strap is a classic purse, mostly iconized by Chanel. But, now, many designers are creating their own version with their own name on it because it looks classic and elegant.
- Vertical-striped button-down shirts was inspired by men's pinstriped shirts. French women turned it into a classic staple, worn with a denim pants or white pants, as well as a pearl necklace, in the Gamin style.
- White button-down shirt and shirt dress are another classic staples, which can easily be worn in many different ways to create different outfits for a minimalist wardrobe.
- Mary-Jane shoes is another timeless classic. I have worn Mary-Janes since I was a kid, whether flat, with kitten heels, or high heels.
- Espadrille Platforms are casual and comfortable shoes, worn mostly during spring and summer. For some reason, these shoes remind me of beachwear or coastal strolls.
- LV Capucines Purse is a simple and elegant LV purse.
- Tweed Purse is another purse that was iconized by Chanel. But, now, many designers have created their own version.
- Denim clothes and accessories will always be timeless classics because denim can be worn with any color. But it is mostly worn during casual activities and events because they are comfortable and practical.
- Light Moccasins look similar to loafers or slippers. They are comfortable and casual, perfect for everyday events.
- Hobo Purse is mostly worn as a trendy tote bag, filled with daily requirements, as women travel to different destinations to do their daily errands and tasks. They are usually filled with so many items, which makes women carrying them appear similar to hoarding hobos. Hence, the name Hobo Bag.
- Fancy Scarf is an accessory used to dress up a simple outfit. It is perfect for minimalistic women who own few timeless classic pieces that can be worn in many ways to create many different outfits.
- Slides and Mules are comfortable flats that look like sandals or slippers. Some are casual, while others are trendy and fashionable.
- Beach Bag and Fold Tote Bag are large casual purses, which are similar to Hobo bags, used at different casual social activities.
- Neckties are nowadays worn more by women to make a fashion statement, whether for business environment, French Gamin style, political statement, or just worn creatively, similar to a scarf, to change a simple outfit.
- Sparkling gemmed jewelry that glistens and gleams in the bright summer sunshine are perfect for outdoor summer parties as well as summer weddings.
- Gloves add a little glamour and drama to an elegant outfit.
Hollywood Glamour with a French Twist
Hollywood Glamour now has a French chic style in black and white, with an accent on red lips and nails as well as gemmed accessories. Pillbox hats with fishnet veil, Fascinator hats with fishnet veil, wide-brim hat adorned with a fancy scarf, fancy black lace gloves and hosiery all add to the French Chic look. Gloves and tights are added for a Hollywood Glamour twist. The Gamin style of white button-down shirt, black pants, and a loosely-worn necktie looks chic with a fedora, newsboy hat or beret as well as maybe a trench coat. Such classic clothes and accessories are minimalistic and simple. But the added Hollywood Glamour twist gives this simple style some drama from a nostalgic era of romance and adventure.
Modern and Sophisticated Western
Cozy oversized sweater with denim pants and boots is another option for those casual and comfortable environments. This summer, modernize western clothes and accessories with trendy pieces to create a sophisticated and fashionable outfit. Make it fun, unique, and creative to turn your western outfit into a modern masterpiece. It is no longer about cowboys and Indians. Western Fashions are more about artistic sophistication and style. Even if you live in the city, bring the cozy country to your town with western clothes and accessories. Other trendy western must-haves include:
- Cowgirl or cowboy boots
- Cowgirl or cowboy hat
- Puffer vests
- Fringe blazers
- Short and flowy western print dresses with small floral print
- Pearl-snap shirts
- Denim jacket
- Large Western buckle belt
- Bandana worn as a hair scarf or headband
- Two or more denim-on-denim pieces in an outfit involve creatively mixing denim pieces with different shades, texture, and styles.
Moreover, many art museums and art galleries provide creative ideas and inspiration via variety of artists' styles. Some of such artists are late fashion designers being showcased for their iconic styles over the past years. Such designers have become icons because of their timeless classic styles. This summer, Yves Saint Laurent's fashion collection will be displayed at the OCMA.
Yves Saint Laurent Exhibition at OCMA
Across the street from South Coast Plaza, the OCMA will display Yves Saint Laurent fashion designs from his haute couture days to his Paris Fashion House, which take place from 1963 to 2001. This Saint Laurent: Line and Expression Exhibition will display his pen and pencil fashion sketches as well as colorful combinations and photographs of his clothing and accessories. Born in Algeria, he often escaped, twice a year, to his Marrakech home, to work on his fashion collection in complete isolation. This exhibition will be displayed this summer, from June 29th to October 27th at the OCMA.
Do-It-Yourself Ideas
- A new way to relax and get in shape includes body sculpting massage and face sculpting massage via lymphatic drainage, which can also relieve bloating symptoms.
- It is still fashionable to add a cute accessory on a purse, such as stylish keychain, designer ribbon, a designer chain, or a chain with charms. Be creative and customize your own purse accessory. Michaels, Joann, and Hobby Lobby sell various do-it-yourself ideas and needed items that help people create their own customized masterpiece purse décor.
- Decorate a denim jacket with colorful gems, iron-on patches, pins, and/or embroidery. Such do-it-yourself projects enable people to express their individualistic style creatively, but still creating a fashionable, fun, and individualistic outfit. During the early 1990s, I decorated a $21 Clothestime denim jacket with various colorful gems, studs, iron-on patches, pins, and keychains to give an ordinary denim jacket a personality makeover. This jacket is now uniquely me because it expresses my personal identity and personality.
