Amy Smilovic’s Style Guide: Tibictionary I
Have you ever put together an outfit of pieces you really liked but then there’s just something, one element – invisible to you – that is off and the whole outfit just doesn’t work? This is me on the daily, even now, but I chanced upon Amy Smilovic talking about fashion stuff like style, no-nos, CP (creative pragmatism – key element in this article) and more. She has enlightened, maybe more like scratching the surface of why sometimes outfits just don’t work and you don’t like what you have out together.
It all began when she coined the style creative pragmatist and it really resonated with me. I’ve always thought of my style as eclectic yet I find that I live in jeans almost 70% of the time. Most times when I reach for a pair of jeans, I feel like the most basic version of me, if I style it with a statement something, could be the top, earring or shoes, I felt ‘elevated’ in a sense. Like what I’m wearing is no longer basic because there’s a twist to it. This is where my yardstick for what to buy came to be.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good statement dress, but that is not my everyday vibe. I needed a guiding hand of sorts so I stopped buying pieces that bore an expiry date when I got sick of them. Doesn’t really jive with the whole sustainable/conscious buying gig we’re trying to uphold.
So long story short, she has several ‘principles’, I use principles very loosely because Amy reiterates (and I agree), that you should always wear what makes you feel good, even if it goes against her advice, if it makes you feel good, that is all there is to it. You wear clothes that make you feel good, you do good. Let’s dive into several style/buying tips she talks about frequently.
CMC
Chill. Modern. Chic. This is a great guideline for me, solely because I am constantly drawn to the outrageous, the most colourful and the most in-your-face pieces. It fits my vibe sure, but will I necessarily know how to style it down to an acceptable level of attention-seeking for my comfort? No, it’s so difficult if you have a wardrobe full of statement pieces, so when I put together an outfit and it feels off, I reflect on which elements are out of this pyramid rubric. Et Voila, the outfit feels good again.
One, Ton, None
This is gold, you wanna know why? Because I love colour and I always feel like when I inject a certain amount of colour it goes off. This theory is tried and tested, because now when I have something loud I match it with white/black/neutral tones and I feel great. So the theory is if you want colour, it should come in these proportions. With 1 piece in colour, the whole outfit in colour (Amy/Tibi also has a great eye for interesting colour palettes, look to their Instagram/Website for inspo) and lastly no colour at all. There’s no in-between, like the one time I matched a bright orange sweater with white pants but I went to put on a pair of gold loafers and I felt off the whole day. Whereas the previous time I wore those 2 pieces I matched them with black slides and they were perfect.
PDW/12 MOer
This principle is mainly teaching you to buy pieces that span multiple facets of your life and perhaps all seasons. PDW is Play, Dinner, Work. They are pieces from your wardrobe that can bring you to work, maybe dinner after and you can still style on the weekends for that play element.
12Moer is 12-monthers, where the pieces can be worn through all 4 seasons, either through layering or using them as accessories. My favourite hack of hers so far is using a light sweater which you could possible wear to the office in summer as a scarf during spring/fall. Another of her hack is actually wearing heeled sandals during fall. She’d style them with thicker socks or stockings. Which surprising works well with a workwear wardrobe.
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