Tutorial Hijab Ala Paris

Outfit Styling

 ( (Photo by Mark Iantosca)

Only £2.00 for a Pair of Quality 80 Denier Tights

Ways to use rich, dark colours.

Karlie Kloss in tartan for U.S. Vogue

I'm the one that prefer navy blue or dark grey/charcoal as the basic hue, rather than black, to highlight bright colors and bring out the outfit's best details.

The navy blue or charcoal grey looks more elegant than black.. since black looks "too dark". Especially in my country's sunny, shiny tropical climate, wearing black seems "not suit to the environment" because of its "darkness" against the bright sunrays, and its nature to absorb the heat.. And, while bright colors paired with black, they will look too garish..

Black, also, is too "usual", not something "surprising" for an outfit.. so black is just not my pick.. ;) The navy blue or charcoal seems to be a better choice.

As for in my everyday life, in the day time, in this tropical country, when there are no special occasions or events, I usually go for white, grey, beige, pastel colors, blue jeans, for the basic hue; bright colors for the accessories; and I keep the black and dark leather brown for my shoes and handbag.. ;)
How about you, Lovelies?

Another fabulous dark color is deep brown/dark chocolate. Pair this color with pink for the classic color combination..

Victoria Beckham, sporting dark chocolate with gradation of pink.

or, with purple for more edgy look..

Dark chocolate sweater, light pink belt, purple tights.

• If you pair more than two contrast colors for your outfit, keep the accessories, like shoes, necklace, or handbag, in other neutral/earth tone colours. This, will help to tone down the contrast look and erase 'the image of too matchy-matchy thing' off from the look.. And I'm not a fan of "rainbow" look either.. ;)

I was browsing over my folders and files, and found this image of fabulously-looking Muslimah. I can not recall where the picture was from and when it was being photographed.

One thing that I remembered that I really adored her style, and.. when I found it just now, it still amplifies the current trend...

She rocked that "un-usual" cut of the shirt-dress and complimented her headscarf with a big statement brooch... then, smartly toned down all the garish 'black and white outfit' with a pair of 'one of this season's trends'... the nude shoes!

The shoes also break down the 'too matchy-matchy' colours from this look.

The style is simple.. but fabulous!

FashFaith Blog's style inspiration.

  Style Tips:

1. Try to add a big statement brooch onto your headscarf's wrap. It can be pinned on the side of your face just below your ears (like the look above), or at the back of your neck, on your shoulder, or above your inner hijab besides the forehead.

Or simply wear the inner hijab with a "brooch" attached like this... ^_^

It will unexpectedly boost up your look!

2. Don't be afraid to pull off some "un-usual" tops, it might be an asymmetrical-cut long shirt, awkward prints or designs, etc. You'd never know when it comes fit to your style. Or, with a right twist (for example by adding a belt or vest over it), it possibly makes you looking fabulous! 

3. Go for a perfect nude shoes! Find a pair ones that matches your own skin tone, especially pick the pump-type shoes. They will go with almost everything!


Have a wonderful days!

Good Day, Lovelies!  How is your day?

This past week has been a hectic one for me. Busy with my two sick sons (but now they have fully recovered), busy with my relatives who visited our house, and busy with neighbours whom I gave a hand to in regards to the wedding event they held in their house (here in my area, after the Eid, usually many people got married).

And, it is a common thing or a tradition we do here, in my village, that when a neighbour held an event in their house, such as a wedding ceremony, an "aqiqah/qurban" for welcoming new-born baby, a funeral, "pengajian" (a Qur'an recitation), etc., all the surrounding neighbours must "give a hand" as long as they could to the 'event-holder'ed family/neighbour (the host) in preparing the event. It is called "rewang" in Javanese language, means "to help, or helpful to each other".

During all of these, I still could manage my time to visit my blog and search the web. So, these are what I found during the past week.. Not many, yet interesting and inspiring, thus I would love to share with you.


“Try to have fun with what you wear, but rotate in some classics.” - Jennifer Tilly
(read here for more style tips from her).

A great fashion advice from the founders of Visual Therapy, Joe Lupo and Jesse Garza:
"On the Couch with Visual Therapy's Joe Lupo and Jesse Garza"
In this article, Joe Lupo and Jesse Garza, define the difference between STYLE and FASHION, and why you need to define your own style. Find out also what their shopping advice on fashion and trend-tips for this Fall/Winter.

Great style tips by Kristina J., the guest writer on ClothedMuch:
"How to Style Your Maxi for Cooler Weather"

(Click the title to read.)


Quotations:
My favorite quotes of the day:

"The minute you stop making mistakes is the minute you stop learning." – Miley Cyrus

"You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt


All of these tips and quotes really inspired me and have made my day...

Just a little story from me:
Recently, finally I've been mastering a car-driving skill (hmm.. not really a real Master definitely.. hehe.. and pleeeeeaaaase... don't laugh at me, okay?). Yes, I just had a skill and a gut to drive a car. For my age, perhaps this is too late, and for that, I feel very embarrassed.

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

But, on the other hand, this is really a big achievement for me, and I'm proud of myself, because I thought I would never ever could drive a car.

Before, I was too scared and did not have a bravery to do that. I was hit by a motorcycle when I was a little girl, and my leg broke because of it. After that experience, even crossing the streets was so fearful for me. Now, it's different. It is amazing how we change...

So, when I found those two quotes, I realized how 'true' the quotes are.. That is exactly what I have been struggling on... to try to do things that I think I can not do and do my best to not become discouraged or dishearten if, during the learning process, I do mistakes.

Psst.. and here is another thing that I think I cannot do but I wish I can do it well... It's speaking in front of public.. haha :)


Okay then... Hope you enjoy all I shared with you as much as I do.
Have a wonderful days, Lovelies!

Over the week, I often found interesting, inspiring, and useful fashion tips and quotes. So, I launch this category to sum up all the fashion's "knowledge" I stumbled upon all week round, either it's from online or offline source.

Today's style tips weekly roundup are:

1. Wear a simple plain dress with colorful accessories (inspired by Giuliana Rancic look, but I forget when and where).





2. Wear the classic little black dress (LBD) with pearls necklace and a red lipstick, for a quick fabulous formal outfit (inspiration: ClothedMuch).

Clothed Much.com: Little Black Dress (LBD)

Style tips for hijabi: Wear the black dress in maxi cut (ankle-grazed and long-sleeved dress); Or, wear a little black dress with black pants and cardi.


3. From the London Fashion Week's streetstyle and from New York Fashion Week's trends (September 2011): Mix the sleek silk with textured knits.

DVF: Sleek silk with textured knits.  (from NYFW trends)

4. Pattern mixing for beginners (style tips from Jae of NoMoreMomJeans.com).



I love this style tips. It is a useful basic guide in fashion. I have shared the article a while back ago on my Facebook page and Twitter, but I would love to also share this fashion tips here on my style blog.

Read this 'useful and worthed-to-try' style tips from Jae here if you want to be a fashion savvy and look up-to-date.. ;)


Hope those tips will inspire you more. See you on the next Style Tips Round up!

Image: Digital Version / Getty Images

In the past few weeks, I started to organize my closet by color. I tried that kind of closet organization because I've ever read in one blog that organize your closet based on color will make your work to find and styling clothes much more easier.

Before this, I organized my closet by the clothes' type (pants, shirts, blouses). Note that I have a small closet.. :)

After few weeks trying to implement it, these are things I found as the results:
1.  I can found the scarf I need, that match my outfit's color, really easy and super quick.
2.  If, for example, I am in the mood for 'blue' in one particular day, I can find the clothes and the matching scarf in that colour easily.

(Point 1 and 2 above used to be hard for me with my previous 'organized-by-type' closet organization.)

3.  Building outfit based on color mixes alone, sometimes was challenging and fun at the same time.

On the other hand,
4.  I must struggle to find where is the wardrobe piece (based on its type) I want to wear (as a note: my clothes are folded on the cupboard's shelves). It is difficult to find which one is my button-down shirt, which top is my top with long sleeves, which piece is my short-sleeves tee, which one is my vest, which one is my cardigan? I can not distinguish them because I put those wardrobe pieces together according to their color: white with white; black with black, blue with blue, pink with pink, etc; no matter what type of clothes they are.

(Perhaps, I should've hung them up with the hangers instead of having them folded.. )


But, if I put them together according to my previous closet organization, which is by the type of clothes (button-down shirt with button-down shirt, cardigan with cardigan, blouse with blouse, vest with vest, long-sleeved top with long-sleeved top, sleeveless with sleeveless, tee with tee, etc.); either applied to my scarves' organization (rectangle pashmina with rectangle pashmina, square scarves with square scarves, Al-amira type hijab with Al-amira type, etc.), I found that it is not easy to find the color of wardrobe piece or scarf I need to wear at that time to match the color of the outfit I already picked/worn.

As a Muslim women who wear hijab, it also needs double effort in the outfit styling, as we also wear headscarves. We need, not only to mix-and-match our clothes, but we also need to match (or, in some cases, it would be better to "clash" ^_^) our headscarf with the outfit we wear.

As for shoes, bags, and accessories, I already keep them organized, not by any particular distinguish-ment, I just display them line-by-line in an open cupboard's shelves or racks, and (this is important for me) keep them easy-to-be-seen. It nearly looks like this:

Image via Alkemie

All pieces should be easy-to-look-at for my eyes, because if not, I will forget if I am having them.. :)

Particularly for jewelries and belts, I hang them up with a clothes-hanging tools on my bedroom's wall.

And, as for hijab pins and brooches, I put them in the jewel box.

In regards to my problem on closet organization above, I have been just wondering and googling what is the best solution for my closet organization's problem, and I stumbled upon alreadypretty.com blog and found this well-organized closet picture that might be the best solution for me:

Image via Alkemie

So, it would be better for me to start organizing my closet like this:

1. Keep things organized by garment-type or by application, and then
2. Put them in order by color: from light hue, dark hue, to full-prints.
3. Hang the clothes by hangers, so you can see the garment's design and details easily when you want to wear a particular piece without open up their folding.

According to AlreadyPretty Blog, there are several ways to sort your wardrobe:

• by the garment type
• by occasion
• by application
• by frequency of use
• and, by color. 

You can read the details about it here, and in my opinion, sorting out the clothing by application along with ordering them by color is the one that is most useful to hijabi.


How about you, Lovelies? How do you organize your closet? Do you have advices, suggestions, or ideas on how to organize our wardrobe, especially for a small closet.. ;) Please share with us what works for you..