Mountain Ash,
I so agree about proportion-- gotta take the whole body into consideration. our signature style sounds very dramatic. I have a look, but don't know if I'd call it "signature." That sounds very special.

Dancer, I always like reading your tips, even though I'm not always sure I can make them work for me.

Dancer, I think I mostly wear dark and saturated rich colors, like teal, red, purple, chocolate, magenta, chartreuse (I guess that's sort of light, but it's more bright than light). I wear jeans a lot -- blue jeans, and also black, brown, and cords). And skirts just at or below the knee. A few years ago I found some mid-calf length skirts of really nice nubby fabric that I loved. And I wear dangly earring a lot, that I buy at craft shows from local craftspeople. I also have pendants I love, but don't like to wear them with earrings -- I think the earrings brighten up my face, but with necklaces it seems too overpowering. And sweaters, especially cardigans, with interesting buttons -- I have a new sweater that's a sort of turquoise and brown mix, with a zipper (a double zipper, with two "zips" on it). I like tops that are mostly fitted, like with darts. I don't like boxy-looking clothes, but ones that fit well...so I wish I knew a decent seamstress!

I used to make _all_ my own clothes. When I was a teenager, I made clothes out of curtains, tablecloths, bedspreads, sheets, and even cut up the full skirts from my mom's old dresses and made them into mini-dresses) using my own designs and patterns. When I lived in Italy, I had two friends who wanted us to start a shop together and make and sell "American" clothes but it didn't materialize (no pun intended!) In Italy, I used to make purses, hats, vests and even ottomons out of leather.

But then it got to be more expensive to sew (and knit -- I used to love to knit and crochet too) than to buy clothes...I haven't found any good seamstresses around here. The last one I sent to was very untalented and pretty much ruined a few of my clothes. I think more than anything, I like interesting fabric. In the past few years we've seen more linen, for example.