test: do you have what it takes to be a stylist?

What do you think about those images?
I'm sure that other than just liking/disliking those girls outfits, you find them stylish.
I'd love you to try a little exercise.
Try to give a title to each one of those looks. then try to write a few lines to describe it. specify why it's cool. be creative.
Then stop and read the rest of this post.





How was it?
I'm sure that even being more stylish than those girls, you got in trouble when it came to describe other people style, and expecially to define why something cool is cool, right?

Read now the professional work...........
(all this comes from trendstop.com, check them out, they are great)

boat print explorer

Barcelona Street Style

With long locks, short socks and an adventurous undertone, this is all about matching girly one piece dressing with masculine accessories for a look that references the Forties and Seventies in a very current way. The button-through white cotton dress is as virginal as the schoolgirl hair and socks, and its naïve boat print harks back to Seventies illustrations. Contrasted with this is a more grown up, and testosterone-fuelled combo of safari accessories. Distressed flats (note the contrast saddle) and wound-round belt perfectly match the squashy leather of the Indiana Jones messenger bag, while the brown felt Stetson completes the manly references. All in, a superb example of beefing up one piece dressing with statement accessories, and note the rolled sleeves, referencing a very “now” male style. 

 
eveningwear sport

Barcelona Street Style

The thoroughly modern maven of fashion picks and mixes her references and that’s what’s happening here. The Lagerfeld goth lace is a girly counterpoint to the Hepburn silhouetted silky blue pants, while the stacked jute-rimmed shoes look manly enough to balance the Hurts-like side parting, worn 80s style with glossy black shades and a deep cherry lipstick. All of which adds up to an impressive gathering of hero pieces that balances out while challenging gender stereotypes. More prosaically, the eye is drawn instantly to that dramatic color pop on the orange bag, but is just evidence of how considered this look is. The orange “pops” out so expertly because of the grayed blue of the trousers it sits next to, in a forerunner of the blues and tans that will prove so essential this winter.

tribal luxe

Barcelona Street Style

The two drivers of tribal looks are texture and pattern. And so, even if it is not a new look (and it never is), it is always ripe for spirited individualism. Few examples can be as spirited as this, with its dominant, near ceremonial neckline and the ill matched (not quite clashing) animal print pants. The colors are key to rewriting the tribalism, with historical woad blue, natural coral pink, Roman gold and feathers rounding up thousands of years and miles of ethnography. But note that the whole experience is bookended by an unpretentious wave of hair and simple crossover sandals keeping the balance for that shock of color to explode round the neckline.

 grecian tennis goddess

Barcelona Street Style

Elegance! You can’t buy it you know, but this Euro traveller seems to be utterly capable of distilling it. The purity of the white separates is vintage silky sportswear and when tapped into the Seventies with the oversized burnt sundown lenses and the dramatically teased hairline, it creates a knockout combination. The oversized squashy leather bag is clearly being used to functional effect but balances with the whites, while the strappy shoes echo the blanched purity for a classical Grecian undertone that is only this easy to pull off if your calves are divine. At least we can admire that bow pendant… 

fifties-eighties' preppy boy

Stockholm Street Style

Close your eyes and listen to the round-up: straw hat, quiffed hair, shades, vest, chinos, leather valise and an arm smothered in tattoos. Admit it, if you didn’t know better, you’d be picturing a fella at a festival, right? That’s just how androgynous this summer’s fashion got. So it is no leap to note this dresser’s boyish look. But it’s more than that, it’s also deeply vintage and despite the tomboy overtones, it retains a candyish softness. The hopsack waist, neutral colors and pastel striped jersey strike a gentle note that belies that armful of ink and the summer white sandals create an almost demure effect that ushers a girly sense through that masculine veil

 Are your titles/outfits descriptions/explanations/creativity any similar to the trendstop reports?
If so, congrats, you have a very keen eye for fashion, a great technical knowledge, and you are very creative! You'll probably become a good stylist!

If your work was instead more "flat"or featureless, don't worry, this is normal, you are still developing,  and consider this was a comparison with the best out there!

But I hope this taught you something.
Expecially that:
- COOL is about knowing all the mainstream trends, and being able to deconstruct and reincorporate them to get a completely new, pleasing result
- COOL is nothing if you can't
spot it
decode it
understand it
re-edit it
communicate it using technical vocabulary
re-produce it
be inspired by it 

I suggest you to:
learn about fashion nomenclature 
learn the basics of fashion history
search throught the style icons from the past until now
hit the streets
flip trough magazines
consult style blogs
photograph displays windows
search for trend reports
and everytime you see something COOL, don't just say "wow, that's cool", but store that file and write a paragraph about it, as you did today.
In a few time your eye will develop, you'll spot new styles quickly, you'll be able to decode and communicate everything you'll see.
More importantly, you'll be inspired by what you see, and by recognising style clusters, you'll be able to recluster them to identify new style trends and be ahead of what you currently see.
There's no school teaching it. but the beauty of it,  is that same time the school is everywere. it' s just YOU,  LOOKING other than just WATCHING as you did until now.