A couple of weeks ago I was featured on MSN's site in this piece, alongside a handful of other fabulous style mavens. While a couple of the gals I was featured with are great friends already, I was delighted to see some new faces and get acquainted with some other sites that I had yet to be introduced to. Kelly's site, Alterations Needed, was one of them. I enjoyed her site so much, in fact, that I asked her to be our next Her Style contributor. At just 4'11", Kelly is a pro when it comes to dressing for your body type and is full of great style advice. Keep reading and see for yourself...
How would you describe your personal style?
Right now I'd call my style tomboy-prep (which basically means lots of dress shirts, J.Crew and penny loafers) , but I'm really curious to play with more traditional menswear. I've been buying a lot of ties and pocket squares lately.
How has your personal style evolved over the years? What things have influenced that?
I've really embraced my tomboy roots as my style evolves, and my closet is moving more towards the masculine with every season. A few years ago, I remember feeling really out of touch with what women's wear retailers were offering, and feeling really uninspired. Sometime around 2008, I discovered The Sartorialist, and spent days digging through his archives of impeccably dressed men in Milan and Pitti Uomo. Everything about the tailoring, fabrics, colors, and panache of menswear really strikes a chord with me, and after four years of loving menswear from afar, it's dawned on me that I can play with those items too. Discovering women like Janie Cai and Esther Quek who play with menswear but still retain their femininity have been big catalysts in inspiring me to explore that realm.
Do you find that your work influences your style or vice versa?
I've always worked in very casual work environments (biotech and internet startups), so I've never really had to worry about a dress code at work. If anything, dressing so casually made me wish for a stuffy office so I could wear cute little trousers. As a result, I was usually the most over-dressed person at work.
I like my clothes with a little bit of humor thrown in, so I'm loving the opulent menswear inspired pieces like velvet smoking slippers, tuxedo blazers, and pocket squares in whimsy prints. If something about my outfit makes me laugh, that's a major win.
Megan says
I canNOT believe Kelly is 4'11 she looks 5'11! Excited to check out her blog!
Feven & Helena says
love 'the look' and '5 under 25' -- who doesn't love a great deal. xoxo
p.s. we passed this story along to our bff who is 4'11 -- she found 'alterations needed' to be "a perfect fit!"
Jen says
I am so glad to hear that! I have a couple of close friends who are very petite as well and thought of them immediately when I saw Kelly's blog!