Ideally, I want Lydia Tár’s wardrobe or to look like a liberated 1930s heiress. But I need to be realistic
As winter (black elastic-waisted trousers, four motheaten jumpers) gives way to spring (khaki trousers, two jumpers), the harsh April light forces me to confront the truth: I’m in aesthetic freefall. In search of a solution that isn’t capitulating to the “miracle” trousers that stalk me around the internet, I came across this bold statement on the website Refinery 29: “Just three words stand between you and figuring out personal style,” . What are they? “Move to Iona”? “Vast lottery win”? “Lydia Tár’s wardrobe”? (You’d need the former for the latter; I couldn’t even afford her pencils.)
Actually, the “three-word method”, devised by stylist Allison Bornstein, involves thinking up, yes, three words to describe your style. Then you can “ask yourself if you feel like you embody (ideally) all three of your words” when you get dressed and “interrogate whether it aligns with one of your words” when you are considering buying something.
