"Smokes and Mirrors" to Create the Illusion of Height

Last night, my bestie Kit Kat and my new friend Te, went to hang out at the Americana at Brand in Glendale and the Galleria. Such an outing required me to dress up in what is now one of my favorite looks, a look that I finally got to pull off and a look that incorporated pieces from all the places that I frequent for clothes. Although others were dressed up in more traditional colors, I stayed true to myself by deviating away from the reds and greens and invoking the "Ice Prince" look by gravitating towards tints of blue and gray. Here, I am wearing a low-rise, slim-fit trousers from H&M, an extra slim-fit 1MX blue button-down from Express, a gray 1" width skinny suspenders by Levis, and a gray slim necktie from axcess with black leather derby shoes by Nunn Bush.

What I love about this look is that I took seemingly simple pieces and styled the "heck" out of it, essentially, in the words of Joe Zee, creative director of Elle Magazine, used "smokes and mirrors" to create the desired illusion of adding height to my diminutive stature. I loved the low-rise pants because it forced me to stand up straight, improving my posture and gait. They also elongated the torso, again adding illusion that I was longer. The suspenders did two things. For one, it created a vertical line accentuating the height. It also, by rule, which I am tempted to break one of these days, precluded the use of a belt. Using a belt would have created a focal point around the waist area, and therefore preventing the seemingly continuous body. By not wearing a belt, I did not divide the upper and lower halves of my body. Moral of the story: I made my clothes work for me!