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7 Tips for a Varga inspired outfit

We are working our way towards the silly season where parties are non-stop and the champagne never seems to stop flowing. If you like me and you buy a new dress for each party you go to, it starts to become slightly expensive especially when you probably are never going to wear the dress again. Here are some tips on how you can recycle last year’s dresses without looking like the same girl twice, here’s how you get the Varga Look!

1. Wear high heeled shoes, that you can walk in

We have all seen this too many times to count. The poor girl in shoes as high as the ceiling and she’s falling all over when she finally gets up to go to the Little Girls Room. Wear high heels that you can walk in. If you are a little uneasy on a pair of shoes and you know you are going to a party, change them. We all know that high heels were invented by men, but women wear them. Don’t kill yourself all evening in an uncomfortable pair of shoes, people can see it all over your face.

       2.  Make-up Appropriate

Many girls don’t know this, but your make-up does say a lot about who you are. Put a little effort into your make-up for night events. Try out false eyelashes even. But be careful not to look like a drag-queen. When it comes to make-up there is a fine line between too much and just right. I usually follow a few simple rules

• If it’s a night function  I add a little more blush and a darker lipstick or lipgloss
• If it’s a daytime function, I go for a more natural looking face. Less bass, less blush and a nude lip.

Remember being beautiful is being true to you, so if you are not too phased by putting on make-up and all you can gather the strength to do is apply mascara, then do it. It’s better than nothing. 

3. Beware the stretch, the tight and the transparent

There are so many things a girls needs to be worried about when getting dressed, I’m sure men don’t realise the effort we go through when getting dressed for a party. Beware of the 3 things that your outfit might be. Don’t wear last year’s stretch pants. Just don’t.

Be aware of the tight dress. No one is going to tell you that your dress is too tight because that suggests that  you have put on weight. When you put the dress on, take a looong deep look at yourself in the mirror, if you feel like a stuffed sausage, you probably look like one too. Many women like living in denial, saying “I’m still the same size as I was last year” be honest with yourself before you walk out the door.

And the most important and my worst fear, beware of the transparent dress. It might not look transparent but add the bright lights and BAM we can all she right through your dress. I have made a generic petticoat I like to wear under my more transparent dresses. Get your dressmaker to make one, or if you are talented enough, make one yourself. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just some protection against the transparency of your dress.

4. Use trims, making something old look like something new

The best way to re-use your outfit from last year is to accessorize it! Try it with a different pair of shoes, a statement necklace or bracelet. Why not add a jacket, a belt even a hat. Adding little things to a dress with ensure that you always look fresh and up to date with the Fashion trends.

5    5. Shop around

Shop around, the words we all love to hear. But yes, go shop around. You’ll always be able to find a dress on sale somewhere or a dress similar to the one you want for half the price at a ‘no-name’ brand store. I love shopping for bargains, I always feel so proud of myself for not spending too much money, and if you are on a budget, you can’t afford not to shop around. I tip that I will share with you, at the end of the summer season in March, I go around buying dresses on sale, I keep the tags, so I remember that I haven’t worn it yet. And when the summer time rolls again and it’s time for the parties I have a new and wide selection of dresses to reach into and just wear-and-go.

      6.Buy a dress, not shoes

If you are going to buy something new, buy a dress. Buying a pair of shoes that might look cute is great, but when you buy a dress you are DRESSED, you are ready to go. Best spend your money on a full outfit then having to buy a blouse to know match the new shoes. 

      7. Wear it with confidence

Your most valuable asset is your confidence. Everyone notices a woman who walks into a room and is wearing it. Keep your head held high, arms at your sides and not crossed over your body, and stand up straight. Supermodels aren't really as tall as they look; they just walk with a straight back. Okay, so that’s not entirely true but walking with a straight does give the illusion of being taller.

Most of all do what you want to do. Feel comfortable and confident. If you don’t it’ll show from your facial expressions, your body language even the way you interact with the crowd. I hope this is helps all the women out there who are getting ready for the Silly SeasonJ 

Alberto Vargas (1896-1980)

Born 9 February 1896 in Peru, Alberto Vargas was the son of a renowned photographer, Max Vargas, who had taught him how to use an airbrush by the time he was thirteen. In 1911 Vargas' first “encounter” with America happened at about noon on Broadway and Fourteenth Street, when he was suddenly surrounded by a lunchtime crowd of smartly dressed office workers.

Mesmerized by their grace, sophistication, and beauty the young artist decided he would spend his life glorifying the American Girl. Alberto Vargas' first job was drawing fashion illustrations (mostly in watercolour and pen and ink) for the Adelson Hat Company and Butterick Patterns. Eventually turning to freelance commercial illustration, he was painting in a store window in May 1919 when he was asked by a representative of the Ziegfeld Follies to show his work the next day to Mr Ziegfeld. Within twenty-four hours, Vargas found himself commissioned to paint twelve watercolour portraits of the leading stars of the 1919 Ziegfeld Follies for the lobby of the New Amsterdam 

Varga Girl

A more modern approach to Varga's Work

Vargas' first calendar jobs were two pastel glamour pin-ups executed for Joseph C. Hoover and Sons between 1937 and 1939. He became an American citizen in 1939, the same year that he received an invitation from Esquire magazine to visit with publisher David Smart in  Chicago to discuss the possibility of working together. Agreeing to drop the "s" from his last name in all his work for the magazine, he had his first painting published in the October 1940 issue. Two months later, Esquire introduced the first Varga Girl calendar, which sold better than any other published up to that time.

Over the next five years, Vargas became known worldwide, and his work, both in the monthly magazine and the yearly calendar, was eagerly awaited. Although he had a full schedule of work for Esquire during the war years, he often, accommodated special requests from soldiers to paint mascot pin- ups. Esquire also allowed Vargas to do a series of patriotic pin-ups for

William Randolph Hearst's American Weekly magazine, the only other magazine work permitted him during the Esquire years.