by Kathy Witt
Special to AllThingsCruise
I don’t know about you, but I feel my clothes closet constantly mocks me. While the available real estate is stuffed with tops, bottoms, shoes and accessories, there’s never anything to wear; more specifically, there’s never seems to be anything I can pull together to wear for specific occasions, including traveling.
So when O, The Oprah Magazine creative director and style guru Adam Glassman took the stage for a “Love That!” style presentation aboard Holland America’s ms Eurodam to discuss the essential pieces that everyone needs in their closet, I grabbed a seat to get his tips, tricks and secrets.
“It’s all about personalization,” Adam said about styling yourself.
“We love the real woman,” he continued, noting that O, The Oprah Magazine shows women of all ages and sizes within the pages of its magazines. “Everybody deserves to feel alive and beautiful in their clothes.”
With that positive affirmation setting the tone for the presentation, Adam proceeded to take 10 items and create 30 unique and fabulous looks. The wardrobe pieces were all by Chico’s, which sponsored the O Shop during this O, The Oprah Magazine Adventure of Your Life Cruise and will sponsor the shop for four additional such sailings as well as for Holland America’s 300 North America departures from August through December, 2018.
Adam’s 10 trends pieces, pulled from Chico’s array of dresses, jackets, tops, crops, loungewear and sweaters, included these wardrobe essentials: black leggings; a “go anywhere” dress; cardigan set; a matched set; “bum around” maxi dress; denim jacket; shorts; white pants; jogging pants set; and sweater.
While our fellow cruise passengers modeled the 30 looks, Adam shared some of the styling philosophy he puts into practice at O, The Oprah Magazine:
- Think about the color palette of your 10 pieces; everything should work together.
- Every now and then it’s good to be matchy-matchy.
- You can wear white jeans all year long. Adam’s insider tip: Find a pair that can be thrown in the washing machine.
- Get a pair of nude shoes that is close to your skin tone; they lengthen you from the toes up.
- Every woman should have a pair of kitten heels in her wardrobe; it never goes out of style.
- The type of shoe that goes with everything? The wedge. It’s comfy and can be worn with jeans or a dress. Adam’s insider tip: Buy a metallic wedge – it works day to evening.
- Find pants that fit (and make sure they fit the waist first), then buy them in several colors; these are your go-to pants.
- You can wear a denim jacket with (gasp!) jeans – it’s completely acceptable now.
The July 15 cruise was the first of several special cruises with Holland America Line and O, The Oprah Magazine. Four additional Adventure of Your Life cruises with Oprah’s SuperSoul 100 Members will set sail. (Fitness evangelist and motivational coach Angela Davis, bestselling author and Momastery.com founder Glennon Doyle and singer/songwriter and storyteller India.Arie were aboard the July 15 cruise.) Others will be announced as we get closer to these departure dates:
- November 29, 2017 – 11-day Southern Caribbean Wayfarer roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale on ms Koningsdam.
- March 3, 2018 – 7-day Tropical Caribbean roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale on ms Nieuw Amsterdam.
- August 11, 2018 – 7-day Alaska roundtrip from Seattle on ms Eurodam.
- October 28, 2018 – 7-day Eastern Caribbean roundtrip Fort Lauderdale on ms Nieuw Amsterdam.
In addition, more than 300 Holland America Line cruises sailing from North America from August 2017 through 2018 will offer a variety of engaging activities developed with the O, The Oprah Magazine editors and designed to nourish body and soul.
Photos by Kathy Witt
Kathy Witt
Kathy has loved cruising ever since taking her first one while working as the creative writer for a travel agency in Cincinnati – her first “grown-up” job. She has been writing about cruises ever since. An award-winning lifestyle and travel writer who’s terrified of flying, she nonetheless clocks thousands of air miles every year because there are so many destinations to see and stories to tell.
Kathy has a degree in English Literature and completed coursework at graduate school but never finished because she got a contract to write 18 children’s storybooks for Malaysia’s ESL program. (She did finish those.)
She writes for numerous outlets, including magazines, newspapers and newswires, and has written several books, including Atlanta: A Photographic Portrait and The Secret of the Belles, which led to her getting invited as a guest author to the 70th anniversary re-premiere of the movie, “Gone With the Wind,” and meeting and hanging out with cast members Ann Rutherford, Cammie King Conlon, Mickey Kuhn and Patrick Curtis. She is currently at work on her next book, Secret Cincinnati.
A member of Midwest Travel Journalists Association, Kathy volunteers as the organization’s sites director and was previously MTJA’s newsletter editor.
Heidi, Editor-In-Chief
