DCUM; dress me like a rich woman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you so very much for all the wonderful tips ladies! I am seriously impressed with all the great suggestions. Question for highlights; can I get highlights if I have dark hair? Right now I just wear my hair down and its uncolored since I am told I have beautiful black hair.

Could you recommend any nice ballet flats for me? Bags? Sunglasses?

Don't highlight your beautiful black hair. Please don't do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? What's the point? If you're not actually rich, you're blowing money for nothing. Your shallow-ass new friends will soon sniff out that you're not One of Them and dump your maxed-out-credit-card butt.

Do something useful with your life. Jeez.

Our nanny , who is not rich, "looks" rich. She is trim with great skin and hair. She wears basic clothes from the Gap. She has a good eye for quality so she buys shoes and bags at places like tj Max's that look expensive. She's South American. More often than not she looks like the employer and I look like the employee!

NP here. And yet she is a nanny and works for you. See what PP means? What does it matter how she looks? She's not going to become someone's trophy wife, even if she looks put together.

I agree with PP that OP needs to do something with her life that's not copying rich people. Pathetic.

Just to be the voice of dissent -- Elin Nordegren, former nanny, now worth $100 million from her settlement w/Tiger Woods. Gavin Rossdale, dating the nanny. Ben Affleck, putting the nanny up at Chateau Marmont during his split with Jennifer Garner. Some nannies move up!

[Anonymous]

Good Morning Everyone!

Thank you so much for your very thoughtful replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to post to this little non-sense thread of mine!

As a clarification, I am not looking to emulate "rich women" in the sense that I want to be seen for what I am not. I'm not looking to "trick" people into believing I'm a certain way. I just really quite like that put together, clean, well cut presentation certain women in DC have and it seems to be a more regular sight in the wealthy neighborhoods I mentioned. If you care to know, I am not super rich but I am not "poor" either. I want a look that exudes class and good taste. Why? The answer is pretty obvious isn't it? People treat you better, also I feel as if that look is more me rather than the frumpy dont care look I have been sporting for the past few years.

For example I just envision myself wearing my long black hair down and sleek and frizz-free. I'm wearing a grey wool well-fitted sheath dress along with low heeled black leather pumps. My makeup is minimal to bare and I'm wearing small diamond studs in my ears.

That's the kind of understated, no fuss but high quality elegance I am going for.

Thanks so much again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want to learn to dress like the attractive young women in NW DC, McLean, Bethesda or Potomac. I know they're all very thin, have nice highlights wear expensive bags and shoes. If you are one of these women, give me tips!

Best tip: get a proper education, and a proper job.

The rest just follows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good Morning Everyone!

Thank you so much for your very thoughtful replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to post to this little non-sense thread of mine!

As a clarification, I am not looking to emulate "rich women" in the sense that I want to be seen for what I am not. I'm not looking to "trick" people into believing I'm a certain way. I just really quite like that put together, clean, well cut presentation certain women in DC have and it seems to be a more regular sight in the wealthy neighborhoods I mentioned. If you care to know, I am not super rich but I am not "poor" either. I want a look that exudes class and good taste. Why? The answer is pretty obvious isn't it? People treat you better, also I feel as if that look is more me rather than the frumpy dont care look I have been sporting for the past few years.

For example I just envision myself wearing my long black hair down and sleek and frizz-free. I'm wearing a grey wool well-fitted sheath dress along with low heeled black leather pumps. My makeup is minimal to bare and I'm wearing small diamond studs in my ears.

That's the kind of understated, no fuss but high quality elegance I am going for.

Thanks so much again!

That sounds nice. But I'd caution you about wearing wool in DC in July....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to learn to dress like the attractive young women in NW DC, McLean, Bethesda or Potomac. I know they're all very thin, have nice highlights wear expensive bags and shoes. If you are one of these women, give me tips!

Best tip: get a proper education, and a proper job.

The rest just follows.

This is OP.

Great idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good Morning Everyone!

Thank you so much for your very thoughtful replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to post to this little non-sense thread of mine!

As a clarification, I am not looking to emulate "rich women" in the sense that I want to be seen for what I am not. I'm not looking to "trick" people into believing I'm a certain way. I just really quite like that put together, clean, well cut presentation certain women in DC have and it seems to be a more regular sight in the wealthy neighborhoods I mentioned. If you care to know, I am not super rich but I am not "poor" either. I want a look that exudes class and good taste. Why? The answer is pretty obvious isn't it? People treat you better, also I feel as if that look is more me rather than the frumpy dont care look I have been sporting for the past few years.

For example I just envision myself wearing my long black hair down and sleek and frizz-free. I'm wearing a grey wool well-fitted sheath dress along with low heeled black leather pumps. My makeup is minimal to bare and I'm wearing small diamond studs in my ears.

That's the kind of understated, no fuss but high quality elegance I am going for.

Thanks so much again!

Cute look. You won't find that in Potomac (where I live). Many here have been "new money" for several generations (I believe that would be somewhere between new and old, yet they still behave "new"). Conspicuous consumption is common. I notice this, because I often feel I don't fit in. The River Falls/Avenel crowd may look different, but in the rest of Potomac, you see a lot of very long hair (the length you see in high school students), large LV monogram bags, yoga capris all day. Some are very thin, some are not. Sometimes long painted fingernails. It's a very Long Island aesthetic. Other Potomac women have diverse senses of style, and you really can't generalize.

I'm starting to see more Lilly, but only since the store moved into Montgomery mall - before then, no one wore it here.

If you want to look put together, just find your own style and do it. I love the hypothetical wool sheath you describe, but where are you wearing it? If it's a good fit for your job, then just buy that dress. But if you work in a casual office, or you are a SAHM, or you are a surgeon, or... it's really only practical for date night, and you probably can't dress that way for a typical Tuesday.

[Anonymous]

Get the book "What Would Jackie Do?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know who has an incredible wardrobe? President Meyer on VEEP. She always looks phenomenal. Dress like she does.

I agree with this. Her collection of sheath dresses is incredible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you so very much for all the wonderful tips ladies! I am seriously impressed with all the great suggestions. Question for highlights; can I get highlights if I have dark hair? Right now I just wear my hair down and its uncolored since I am told I have beautiful black hair.

Could you recommend any nice ballet flats for me? Bags? Sunglasses?

Don't highlight your beautiful black hair. Please don't do that.

My hair is a pretty dark brown but definitely not close to black and it looks best without highlights, really dark hair stands out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you so very much for all the wonderful tips ladies! I am seriously impressed with all the great suggestions. Question for highlights; can I get highlights if I have dark hair? Right now I just wear my hair down and its uncolored since I am told I have beautiful black hair.

Could you recommend any nice ballet flats for me? Bags? Sunglasses?

Don't highlight your beautiful black hair. Please don't do that.

My hair is a pretty dark brown but definitely not close to black and it looks best without highlights, really dark hair stands out.

+1

The pale dishwater blonde looks awful, especially into your 40's.

[Anonymous]

Given OP's latest post, which describes more fully what she meant and why she's looking for help, I would recommend trying out some of the salespeople at Nordstrom. I don't know if it's all sales help, but honestly the ones I encounter there are more like personal shoppers. They ask you what you are looking for/need and wham they go pull options and they've always been very helpful in recommending classic, elegant pieces that I'm not sure I ever would have picked out myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know who has an incredible wardrobe? President Meyer on VEEP. She always looks phenomenal. Dress like she does.

I agree with this. Her collection of sheath dresses is incredible.

Totally agree, but they are uber-luxury and expensive. I spent way too much time once googling her wardrobe and every dress was high-end designer, like Narciso Rodriguez, Armani, Burberry, V Beckham. She looks amazing, I wish I could dress like that! Plus she's in terrific shape.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you don't necessarily mean "rich woman", you know. You really want to look like a certain kind of fashion savvy woman.

The three wealthiest women I know do not look like what you imagine. One spends all her time with her horses, and she has a sensible graying bob and perpetual sunburn, plus dirty boots ALL THE TIME; she doesn't care what anyone thinks about her appearance. The second is an "old money" academic who is a little overweight, and who dresses in an "old" New England well-scrubbed way, with dark colors and a giant battered diaper bag that she's used as a purse for the past decade. The third is a writer who really does scrub up well when she is forced into human contact, though on her own terms: she dresses like a really elegant Victorian boy; the rest of the time, she hangs out alone in a pair of giant gray sweatpants that she's had since college. All three of these women are so wealthy that they can afford to do whatever they want all day, every day, and never worry about money. I think when you have the kind of wealth they do, you don't even need to strive to "look rich" anymore.

That whole uniform look you mention is not really "rich", just really wealthy in a suburban kind of way.

When you are really wealthy you don't have to impress anyone. Often you just want to play it down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? What's the point? If you're not actually rich, you're blowing money for nothing. Your shallow-ass new friends will soon sniff out that you're not One of Them and dump your maxed-out-credit-card butt.

Do something useful with your life. Jeez.

Our nanny , who is not rich, "looks" rich. She is trim with great skin and hair. She wears basic clothes from the Gap. She has a good eye for quality so she buys shoes and bags at places like tj Max's that look expensive. She's South American. More often than not she looks like the employer and I look like the employee!

I lived in Argentina. Everyone looks great all the time, it is mandatory. The standard is so different than US in terms of what is considered presentable and ok to wear in public.

When we lived in S America, we could always tell the Americans by how schlubby and unstylish they were. Also the American women did not carry themselves well compared to the S American and European women. Lots of fleece.

Its a trade off, many women in Latin America also hate the machismo culture that still pervades and we can't pretend that women dress a certain way totally independently from the culture in which they were raised.

+1

I'd rather look frumpy 100% of the time than live in the hellhole of culture that is most of South America.