Fashion and Beauty Tips - The Modern Look

Sleek silhouettes. Bold, clean color. A century after modernism first stripped away the unessential, fashion is paring down again.

O, The Oprah Magazine | From the January 2011 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

At Ease

This dress segues from a knit top half into elaborate, randomly draped layers of silk georgette. Though it's a natural choice for a party, you're just as likely to reach for it in place of jeans and a T-shirt on weekends. The off-white color invites standout accessories: a black silicon and silver-plated lariat necklace , patent leather belt, white-gold-plated bracelet, and supple leather ballet flats.

Take a closer look:

Construction is a style element all its own. Workmanship is completely hidden (buttons disappear into a placket, zippers run alongside seams) or overtly exposed (seams appear to be inside out).
Silhouettes are either starkly linear (with an abundance of geometric shapes) or organic (flowing, lavishly draped).
The palette is mostly neutral (black, white, tan, silver), with splashes of strong, deliberate color.
Materials are high-tech and futuristic (often shiny and synthetic) or natural and barely processed (cotton, leather).
Stripes are about as much pattern as you're going to find. They look more graphic (exaggeratedly wide or narrow) than nautical.
Asymmetry is a hallmark—the hem of a dress, the cut of a neckline.

Dress, Max Azria, $338. Necklace, Noritamy. Belt, Meredith Wendell. Bracelet, Replica for Jennifer Miller Jewelry. Ballet flats, Yosi Samra.