Fashion and Beauty with Poetess Vinny: How to Attract That Special Someone [by Virginia Valenzuela]

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but I know that many of you are still aching to grab the attention of that special someone, the person who will support you, challenge you, and ultimately, change your life forever. So if you are looking to impress that agent you’ve been emailing back and forth with for months, that editor who loves your work but hasn’t found a place for it yet, or if there’s simply a writer in your life whom you’d like to befriend, here are some tips for you!

Tip#1: Give the appearance of having everything under control.

Agents and editors are a unique bunch because so many of their relationships involve people and projects that they are interested in working with, and we all know that in the 21st century, people need to be as marketable as their products are. Which is not to say that the disheveled recluse type is out of style; it’s just that it tends to ward off potential connections who are looking for something and someone they can count on, and at the end of the day, aren’t we both just trying to make a little money for all the hard work we’ve put into our art?

1. Give yourself a fresh look by applying something cool to the face for 5 minutes before your morning routine. The cooling sensation brings down redness and puffiness and adds a few hours of sleep to your skin and blood vessels. Try a Gel Eye Mask ($10) for passive relaxation or a Rose Quartz Facial Roller ($20) for a little more fun.

2. Try some concealer, guys and gals! It’s a great way to brighten your eyes, which are in fact, the windows to the soul. Products to try include MAC Pro Longwear ($25) and Tarte's Shape Tape ($27). If you are in between shades, choose the lighter one, but try to match your skin tone as closely as possible. Dab three dots under each eye, and then blend down and outward.

3. Before heading out to the event where you might see your special someone, make sure that your clothing is free of wrinkles and pet hair. If you’ve read my column you’ve heard me say it before, but these little details really do make a difference, and looking well-put-together in this way does wonders on the subconscious minds of others.

 

Tip#2: Choose an outfit that treads the line between tradition and modern fashion.

Are you one of those writers who wears one of two colors of blazers to work most days, or one who wears all black, or one who just throws things together and hopes for the best? I’ve been there too, and luckily, this occasion does not call for a costume. Stick to your usual ‘look’ since that is the person you are selling, and the worst feeling in the (fashion) world is realize that you’ve been crafting a personal style that does not resonate with you. The trick to being simple and stylish?

1. Keep the color scheme of your outfit relatively limited, and have at least 3 pieces that are the same color (Example: watch, belt, and bag are all black; or, pants, blazer, and an accessory are all navy blue). If you have a patterned shirt or blazer or pant, keep that as the centerpiece by playing down everything else. That way, you can look fabulous while managing the risk of your outfit creating a sensory overload.

2. Add one thing that is slightly off. A pocket square, a pair of fun socks, statement shoes, a bracelet, a brooch, anything that provides you with a tiny bit of artistic flare. Not only do these function as a place to start conversation, but they also make the statement that, as articulate as you are, there are still a few things that shall remain an enigma (and more importantly, memorable!) like why you thought a jeweled evil eye bracelet would go well with champagne. 

 

Tip#3: It’s kind of corny, but, just be yourself.

Because at the end of the day, it is your writing that speaks the most about you, and that, more than anything, is the part of you that will survive the test of time much more than the outfit you wore to a reading that your desired agent invited you to perform at. Still, the point is to find as many ways to get your work out there as possible, to go to readings, to give lectures and talks, and to make your mark on others in a meaningful way, the same way our beloved writers have marked us. 

Writing is about communication, and so is fashion, so tie your tie, zip your boot, powder your nose, and make a statement that is purely you!

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Got a question? Comment below! And for more work from Poetess Vinny, follow her blog, Vinny the Snail.

Comments

[Kent Johnson]

Closely related: Dispatches from the Poetry Wars has its own Poetry Fashion Editor, the renowned Louis Zukofsky scholar Mark Scroggins, who also happens to be, many would agree, THE best-dressed man in the U.S. poetry world. Even straight guys swoon when they see him walk by. He has, so far, written two hotly popular fashion reports for Dispatches (La Derniere Mode [Poetique]), one last February from the Louisville Conference on 20th Century Literature, and one last April, from the AWP. Take a look. There are pictures galore at the links below of stunningly dressed and styled poets. Mark will soon be writing his third report for us from the 2020 Louisville conference. And sharing pics, too, of course, from the cutting-edges of poetic fashion.
https://www.dispatchespoetrywars.com/commentary/la-derniere-mode-poetique-numero-1/
https://www.dispatchespoetrywars.com/la-derniere-mode-poetique/la-derniere-mode-poetique-numero-2/

[The Best American Poetry]

Great piece. -- DL

[Kent Johnson]

Question for Poetess Vinny. You say,

>>Add one thing that is slightly off. A pocket square, a pair of fun socks, statement shoes, a bracelet, a brooch, anything that provides you with a tiny bit of artistic flare. Not only do these function as a place to start conversation, but they also make the statement that, as articulate as you are, there are still a few things that shall remain an enigma...<<

So I'm hung up on the word "articulate." What if one is an intelligent writer but is not verbally articulate? I am not the only writer whose tongue can turn into a dollop of sour cream in social situations. I have mortified myself plenty of times, trying to talk to other poets and having only four-legged animal sounds come out. This has even happened to me a couple of times at readings, one where I literally started to make barking sounds at the podium and then went over to a divan against the wall and laid down like the young Leon Trotsky in 1903 and wept in my mortification. There were over a hundred people there and this was a reading my Alma Mater put on for me, all my still-living former professors were there. Would something that is "slightly off" still be recommended for someone like moi, who is more of a lampshade on the head type than an "enigma"? In fact, I find your blanket association of "articulateness" with all poets somewhat excluding. What about poets who are, say, as socially inept as a cheese log? Any fashion recommendations for them? Because pocket squares don't necessarily cut it.

[The Best American Poetry]

No one ever accused you of being inarticulate, Kent. But aren't you de-contextualizing the column wildly in defense of, what, persons "as socially inept as a cheese log"? The position devalues the aesthetic and exalts "social ineptness." To put it another way, wouldn't you agree, looking around you, that people need all the help they can get to look like adults, and attractive ones at that? DL

[The Best American Poetry]

Thanks for spreading the news on Mark Scroggins -- and for the picture of Lord Byron in pirate dress-up when you click on the first of these two links. DL

[Kent Johnson]

David, not only do my social skills utterly fail me. My attempts at tongue-in-cheek self-mockery utterly fail, too. That's OK. Who cares. Though by the way, that story about the young Trotsky is true. It happened at a cell meeting of the Russian Social Democratic Party sometime before the 1905 uprising. He was so upset he'd blown a speech that he collapsed on a couch and sobbed uncontrollably. And all the comrades loved him for it, apparently. Also, by the way, that is not a "pirate" get-up that Byron sports; it's Lord B. in Greek guerrilla drag, before he went off and died. Handsome dude, eh?