The Chic Black Look at Lincoln Center:

Transcript

Hi, I'm Jennifer Chan for Typef.com and welcome to this edition of Style on the Street, New York. Today, we're at Lincoln Center right in the mix of New York Fashion Week where industry insiders gather not only to preview next season's hottest trends but also to show off their impeccable style and flawless fashion expertise. This statuesque woman made all black look anything but boring. We had to stop her and find out more figure flattering tricks. What's your name? Althea Harper. And where do you live? I live in New York. And how would you describe your personal style. I would say that my personal style is kind of a mix of sexy, chic and a little bit downtown, kind of combining all that together. Perfect, now walk me through your outfit today. Where did you get everything from? They're all my designs so yeah, they're all in my show from yesterday and basically what this is is kind of a gauze silk mix that has an accordion pleat. So I just like it because it's really comfortable, it's loose, it's easy like you're wearing a T-shirt but in a luxury fabric. You know I can kind of take it anywhere and then my pants are just high waisted with a little bit of a drape but they're fitted. So I like these because even though they're kind of like a loose slouchy pant with the fabric and how they're cut, they still fit my body in a way that I think, you know, they don't make my butt look super baggy or like you know, they still kind of like show off the legs so. What about your accessories, your bracelets, your ring and your shoes? You know I'm pretty much minimalistic with the accessories. I'm really just in general, as you can tell kind of with my clothes so I just keep my wedding ring on and it's aquamarine because I always just like blue and it's not even my birthstone but I just thought it was kind of a different thing than a diamond and then I just have these sort of bracelets that I picked up at an event a while ago that's just one of those things that you put them on and then have kind of just kept them on but I think they just kind of give it a nice look and then they pretty much go with everything. I was in a dress last night and had a, you know, it gave a little bit of edge to it and then just the nude booties. I love nude shoes because I think they elongate the legs and I like kind of, I didn't want to go all black so, still keeping in in with the basics but mixing, throwing it up a little bit. Totally I love your style. As a designer you probably have a lot of options as to what you can wear. What's your favorite go to item in your closet? You know, I would probably say a blazer just because it's one of those things that you can throw on like if you're wearing, like as a designer in my studio, I like discussing them in jeans and T shirt, like because it's really just you know, about working and I'm running around in a garment a strap where it's either like 900 degrees or like negative 900 degrees so I'm just kind of running around. But I feel like if I have a like a nice well cut blazer in a great fabric I can just throw it on. If I'm running late, you know, toss up my hair in a bun and still look fairly chic for when I'm going out. Definitely, what's your favorite trick for flattering your figure? I would say really learning your proportions and also knowing kind of what it is that you want to enhance. So like for me I always try to do something that kind of shows off my waist because I have a bigger bust and bigger hips so I can look bigger if I don't kind of show my smallest part and I think that you know, the same goes for other people like if your legs are your best feature, make sure you play them up or whatever it could be. Also like learning your proportions, you know, I personally think that like a tea length looks the best on me because I'm tall but you know it might kind of drown someone out who is a bit shorter or it's your leg proportions. I think it's just learning about your proportion, like a skirt that looks good on my Mom can make her legs look amazing and I put it on me and it makes them look horrible. So it's really just finding that length, trying on some different skirts and seeing you know, or shorts and just seeing where it hits you. What's your style challenge and how do you overcome it? You know, I think my style challenge would be, like I was saying I feel like I'm a bit of a curvier woman so I feel like I want to show off my waist and I want to wear fitted clothing but I don't want to walk around in like Irva Lojay dresses all the time or always, you don't want to be wearing such fitted things. So really finding a way to get that kind of like easy sort of style and loose relaxed kind of fit but still maintaining my, being able to show off my figure and making sure that I don't just look bigger and just kind of, I think those styles can always look cute on people who are so tiny but if you do, are a bit more curvy you want to show off that you have a figure but you don't always want to be stuck in those super tight clothing. Definitely, I love all your tips. Tell me three words that describes your personal style. I would say it would have to be chic, sexy and a little bit edgy. Thanks so much Althea. Thanks so much for joining me with this edition of Style on the Street, New York. Don't forget to check back for more seasons and more cities on Typef.com.