Body shape, proportion, line, color – along with its season and temperature – and the particularities of a wardrobe are all factors in the challenge of putting together an outfit.
They are also topics in a new fashion styling class being introduced by part-time El Camino College fashion professor Shirley Warren.
Fashion 48, or fashion styling, is a hands-on, two-credit class where students learn how to dress themselves and others by harmonizing design principles with personal attributes.
“When you understand your body image and just your overall personal appearance, it really does build confidence … If you’re confident, then you’re confident to walk into a job interview,” Warren said. “I always say dressing is your personal calling card.”
The class, which has three prerequisite fashion courses, was previously offered in prior semesters but cancelled or turned into an independent study course due to having less than 16-18 enrolled students.
Warren said students will learn how to apply design elements to dressing as well as analyze individual body types and color seasons, which are color palettes suited to a person’s own complexion, eye and hair color.
“it could be such a great class for students at El Camino, not only in the fashion department, but anybody, whatever field they chose to go into, because I try to make it as personalized as possible,” Warren said.
Clothing and capsule wardrobe purchasing, planning and maintenance are also topics in the class, which emphasizes fashion’s role in creating a personal image.
Warren, who is also a part-time fashion professor at Soochow University in Suzhou, China, and a professor emeritus of fashion design and merchandising at California State University, Northridge, also teaches Fashion 27, fashion merchandising, at ECC.
The Union asked students on campus about their personal approaches to fashion.
Nursing major Amanda Szeliga, 24, said she considers her body type when looking for clothing.
“I try to stay comfortable as much as possible but still try to find pieces that I like, that speak to me,” Szeliga said.
Szeliga said her signature is wearing wide-leg jeans with every outfit, and finds inspiration from street style influencers on Instagram and TikTok.
ECC student Jonathan Samuels, who studies computer engineering, said he has been following a styling rule he learned while in high school to limit outfits to just three colors.
“If I put any ounce of effort into my look for that day, I’m going to obey that commandment,” Samuels, 33, said.
Samuels said he changes his overall style every two to three years and currently wears street style-inspired outfits for school, but previously dressed more formally in dress shirts and jeans.
He said people should care about fashion because it can represent political commentary on the state of society.
“We should care because with fashion and new trends you know we have a chance to make a statement politically as a collective-like organism, like as a human species, as a generation,” he said.
is just a manifestation of your mental state, and if you’re closed off to others, you’re not going to dress attractive,” Samuels, 33, said. (Nikki Yunker | The Union)” align=”aligncenter” id=”attachment_4014714″ width=”600″]
is just a manifestation of your mental state, and if you’re closed off to others, you’re not going to dress attractive,” Samuels, 33, said. (Nikki Yunker | The Union)” align=”aligncenter” id=”attachment_4014712″ width=”600″]
Styling Q&A with El Camino College fashion professor Shirley Warren
Edited for length and clarity
The Union: What would be your biggest piece of advice for students who want to elevate their style?
Warren: Well, first of all, your style is constantly evolving. … You know, what you wore last year, you’re not going to wear again this year. … So, I would say experimentation. See what you own and play with it. Experiment with it … but know your body type. Know what works well for your body. And then I would also say always have that go-to look, okay? That one thing that you’re always comfortable in because that’s the one thing you’re going to go to often.
And in doing so, try to develop something that’s a signature piece that you can call your own. It could be the way you wear your hair. It could be earrings that were given to you. It could be a color that you like. It could be a print that you like.
It could be a certain style that you like, but that becomes your signature. That’s what people know you for. … So, try to develop your signature style and just experiment, okay, until you’re comfortable because, again, your style is constantly evolving and changing.
The Union: Why should students care about their style?
Warren: You should care, you know, and the reason why you should care is because your style is your calling card. Your look is your calling card. Be it good, bad, or indifferent, people still judge us based on how we’re dressed. And when people see you, they kind of sum you up.
So, if you’re meeting with friends or you’re going on a job interview or you’re trying to get into a certain industry, people are going to base that on how you dress. You don’t have to be dressed in the latest trends. You don’t have to be dressed in the most expensive things, but is it clean? Is it put together? Do you feel good in it? All of that shows.
But the most important thing is to try to have confidence, no matter what your style is. Confidently wear it. If you’re confident about it, others are going to be confident about it and about you as well.
The Union: How can students grow their confidence and become more confident in dressing overall?
Warren: Feel good about what you’re wearing. Experiment. You know, play at home in your closet. Have a style party with your friends. You know, bring certain pieces over and try them on for your friends. See what they think, okay? See how you feel. You know, maybe wearing skinny jeans is not your thing, but maybe a baggy, fuller cut jean is your thing.
Wear that. People can tell when you’re not comfortable or not confident. So to be confident, just feel good first and foremost in your own skin. Okay? And then secondly, feel good about what you’re wearing. And like I said, just play, experiment, get into your closet, pull things out, understand why you’re wearing it or why you’re not wearing it. But just know who you are as an individual. That’s the most confident thing you have.
And always, always wear a beautiful smile.
The Union: How do you find your style?
Warren: There are like several fashion personalities. There’s a dramatic personality, there’s a romantic personality, there’s a classic personality, there’s a sporty personality, and there’s a natural personality. So, everybody has a fashion personality. But we always borrow from others, you know, when we need to. But we always come back to what we know. … sometimes when we borrow, we’re not comfortable in other people’s fashion personality. So we always come back to what we know. But just be confident in who you are. And just know what you love and like.
The Union: Thrifting is very popular. What do you think people should look for when they’re buying certain items of clothing?
Warren: Quality. Always look for quality. Because, you know, thrifting really got big during the pandemic. You know, I had students who would go in and they would just like, “Oh, I found this piece.” And it was a basic piece, but they knew how to upcycle. In other words, you’re taking that basic thrift piece and you’re making it your own. I mean, if it’s a pant, you may want to cuff it, you know, cut it at a certain point, make it a crop pant, but just know that you found quality. Look at the seams, look at the zippers, okay? Check it for stains. Check it for, you know, anything that you think could be wrong. Okay? But sometimes when you go to thrift stores, you can find that one quality piece that’s going to last you forever. … So, you know, become familiar with designer names. If you see a garment and it looks really good and you look at the label, if you’re not familiar with it, Google that name, see when it was made. Find out who the designer was, where that designer’s from because if it’s a quality piece, it’s going to withstand the test of time. So, when you’re thrifting, look for quality and then look for trends.
The Union: What is one thing that people don’t know about styling?
Warren: I would probably say there’s really no trick to styling. People think that you have to know certain things to style. The only thing you have to do is know your body, know what your personality is, and know what you really love and then know how to put it together. You know, that’s the trick. Just knowing how to put it together. I’ve been teaching styling for a long time and I always say just again, I keep saying just be confident in who you are and knowing how to put it together. Then the question comes like how do I know how to put it together? You know, what do I do first? What do I do? Well, you can take my class … I teach my styling class in the spring.
But it’s just about looking at the pieces together and just trying to figure out what actually works for you. … Does that shirt go with those pants or that skirt? Are the colors clashing? Is it too many prints? Is it too bold a color? So, once again, kind of like knowing what your personal coloring is, also your color season, your color temperature, knowing what you can and cannot wear. And I always say you can wear any color you want, any color. It just depends on the tones, tints, and shades of that color. Some colors can be a little bit too strong for us, and some colors can overpower us. So, we want to make sure people see us first and not the color. So, again, just kind of try to develop your style by experimenting, you know, and you experiment by knowing what works for you. And the only way you can do that is just play. Just play, play with your style.