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Average Woman Looks at Spring 2012 Trends: Florals

8 Mar

Let me start by saying that, even as a kid, I don’t think florals were my fashion “thing.”   Now, they’re *really* not my thing.  So, I had a bit of a panic attack when I heard that florals were one of the big trends for Spring 2012….

Turns out that I’m not the only one who has some trouble with the whole florals thing.  According to a recent reader’s poll survey published in the March issue of InStyle magazine, only 17 percent of readers were looking forward to this spring trend (that means 83 percent are less than enthusiastic about florals.)

So, what can one do about all those florals?  Well, there’s always the option to totally ignore the trend.  But if you’re in the process of updating your wardrobe, or need new sizes, there are ways to bring florals into your wardrobe without looking like you’re attending a 1980′s British garden party…..

One way is to look at the color and placement of the floral pattern.  I love this look from White House/Black Market

The pattern is simple black and white, which starts out more dense at the top; and I love the way the pattern trails off asymmetrically.  This is the kind of dress that could be spruced up for a special occasion with pearls and heels or mixed into daily wardrobe with simple or sporty accessories.

Another White House/Black Market piece that I particularly love is this floral pencil skirt:

I love the way the pattern hugs the body of the skirt, but does not overwhelm it. The colors are subtle, giving it a retro look.  I like too, the way the white breaks up the pattern.  If it were all over, well, I’d feel like I had a big floral butt–not something I’d be all that happy with showing off.   However, I would be very interested to try this skirt on to see just how the pattern works on my particular body. Pencil skirts are usually flattering,  but even a flattering cut can go wrong if the pattern doesn’t work for one’s figure (as in horizontal stripes.  a total “oh no!” for my shape.)

Overall, one has to know one’s figure in order to know whether a floral will work for her or not.  Some women may look fantastic in flowing exotic floral prints, while others might look best in a pair of pants with a small or even crazy-big floral print.  If you’re unsure, I’d recommend not something floral all-over but rather one piece that fits well.  If you find you can’t be all that objective about a trend, and buy clothes usually because you simply *love* the trend, then have a good friend tell you if the piece you’ve chosen works for you or not.  Your trendy ego might be a little bruised, but it’s better to have an honest opinion than look like a trendy hot mess.

New York Fashion Week rolls on with full slate of video simulcasts, apps, and more

10 Feb

Sorry for being a bit remiss in posting about New York Fashion Week.  My intention was to actually go to NYC for a

Nicki Minaj and Anna Wintour size up a collection at Fashion Week

couple of days and do something like an outsider report (naturally, as I have no invites, so I would definitely be “outside.”)  Given the vicissitudes of my current lack of fortune, travel was well-nigh impossible.  So like a lot of y’all I’m watching from a distance (most frustratingly unfortunately.)

Lots of shows will be simulcast on iPad or on the good ole Internet.  Here’s the New York Times Schedule for the week, listing some of the bigger shows.

Style.com will be simulcasting Jason Wu’s show today at 1p.m  I’ll be very interested to see what Wu has for Fall 2012, esp. since his collection for Target of which I was rather under-whelmed.

Most of Target’s capsule collections are geared towards the very young and very thin.  :-\   Which leaves the rest of us with their usual blah basics.

Vogue also has its own coverage, as does Women’s Wear Daily.  I’m keeping a particular eye on the Ready to Wear collections, which are closest to what we might see in the stores for Fall.

There are also a bunch of apps for iPad and Android, tie ins with Facebook, etc., etc.  It’s pretty much media overload for anyone who isn’t attending Fashion Week.

But there’s nothing like actually being there, and actually getting a bit of swag from here and there, or taking advantage of other little things that might be offered to The Great Uninvited.

Oh, well, maybe I’ll be there for the next one….

(photo h-t Mercedes Benz Fashion Week)

Luxury Flash Sale sites fall victim to consumer boredom

2 Feb

Really now. . . how many L.A.M.B. purses, seasonless Hugo Boss dresses, and gourmet cheeses can anyone afford these days?  Apparently, not too many….

no, this is not today's gourmet cheese offering from Gilt Group, but oh, if it was! ;)

BetaBeat reports that several luxury flash sale sites have sustained substantial layoffs in the past few months, including Gilt  Group, the American imitator of Ventee-Privee.  The article gives a heads-up on what’s what at many of the top, and not so top, flash sale sites.  Are they retail flashes in the proverbial pan, or will they have staying power over the long haul of our recessionary times??

Honestly, I signed up for Gilt, Hautelook (owned by Nordstroms), Ideeli, and several others in order to see what was under the hood, so to say.  And here’s my take: they’re boring.  Item offered on a continual basis are handbags, shoes, shoes and handbags.  Maybe some jewelry, maybe some cute underwear (perhaps not in my size.)  There may even be clothing from time to time, but the really good items sell out quickly–or there aren’t any good items to begin with.

The thing is, shopping, for me anyway, is a way to satiate that old hunter-gatherer instinct.  There’s something incredibly satisfying about getting out of the house to go hunting and gathering–so much more funthan pointing and clicking.  Sure, I can send something back if it turns out not to be what I want, but I’d rather make that decision before an item gets into my home.  Once an item crosses the threshold, I don’t want to concern myself with packing it up and sending it back, even if the return shipping fees are paid.

The appeal of luxury flash sale sites must be to the suburban McMansion owner who works long hours, lives off credit cards, and believes that status is conferred on those whose wardrobes are branded with big names.   Because, honestly, in small towns we don’t really care about status brands.  And in big cities, status brands are, literally, just around the next corner.

If you really feel the need…

As our economy shifts, the suburban McMansion owner may no longer have the spare credit rating to own a litter of  L.A.M.B. handbags,  let alone care about the status conferred by private vineyard wines and artisanal cheeses.

So, who knows what the long-range is for these sites–some may last, and some may fold.  But since I really enjoy the tactile sensation and hurly burly of hunter-gatherer shopping, I think I’ll spend more time at the malls and outlets and ditch my “memberships” to these sites.  That certainly will cut down on my daily spam intake for sure.

ShoeDazzle.com Update: 3 Reasons why I haven’t ordered yet

28 Dec

I joined ShoeDazzle.com back in May, and have yet to place an order.   There are 2 reasons for this and most of them came to me well before the rumors of a Kardashian sweat shop in China and child labor cropped up.

First, consider the $39.95 price.   After over six months of reviewing a variety of styles, most of the shoe materials are “man-made.”   When photos of products are enlarged to view them better, the quality of the workmanship appears to be comparable to a $24.95 pair of shoes from Payless.

Second, many of the heels are either incredibly high or incredibly frumpy.  It’s not that I’m such an “old lady” that I don’t wear high-heeled platforms.  In fact, I have several pairs of well-made, high quality platform shoes with 4.5 inch heels.  I’m not about to risk my ankles to a pair of high, high heels when the surface workmanship doesn’t appear to be all that stellar. And order a lower heeled shoe?  Have you seen them?  Many of the lower-heel styles look like they came from the back of my closet–in the 1980s.  I will make an exception for the flats, some of which are rather cute, but the site does not offer a view of the interior of the shoes.  With flats, I like to see how they are stitched and what the insoles looks like.  I may, however, take a chance with a pair of flats.

Third, many of the styles are downright ugly or appear more than once under different names.  Just look at Rika and Mayci.  Same shoe, different material. 

I’m less than impressed…..

As for other products on the ShoeDazzle.com site, well, the one purse that I thought I might like to order, a small evening bag with a skull clasp that resembled this Alexander McQueen skull clasp bag sold out in no time flat.  All the other styles of bags and jewelry have left me feeling, well, kind of flat.  Not anything I would necessarily carry nor wear.

Bottom line:  I’m not all that thrilled with ShoeDazzle.com, and my expectations for its products are not real high.  That being the case, perhaps I won’t be too disappointed.  Except perhaps by the price.

Flash Sale Overload!

17 Jun

Another Flash Sale site? Oh, no Tish, I just can't handle looking at another pair of Louboutins!

This morning, as I was updating my Facebook status, an ad appeared for another one of those Flash Sale sites..

For those of you who don’t know what that is, a flash sale site is a website that offers special deals on designer clothing, home furnishings, travel packages, etc. for limited time periods.  Many of the flash sale sites are for members only, while all you need is an email addy and password for others.  Sales can last from several days to several hours.  With some sites you can earn points towards purchases for signing up friends.  Examples of flash sale sites that I belong to are ideeli, Gilt Group, and Haute Look.

Not that I’ve ever made a purchase on any of them.   I find that for me, a dedicated frugalista, these sites function as look books, where I make mental notes on designers, cuts, colors and fabrics–which then makes it easier to find that unique, on-trend look when I hit some of my favorite shops.

I guess, too, the other thing I don’t like about flash sale sites is that it’s difficult for me to buy something as, say, a $270 Hugo Boss dress, because I would like to try it on first.  As an Average Woman, my size ranges anywhere from a 12 on a good day, to a 16 on a badly cut designer day (if I can find a 16, that is.)  Not knowing the cut of a particular designer’s clothing or shoes, nor how the dress will look,  causes me to hesitate before making a costly, disappointing, online ordering mistake.

All I can think of is the *great* Michael Kors dress I found in Macy’s, on sale, that looked fantastic on the mannequin, and utterly dreadful on me.  Not to mention that Kors’ extra-large was (happily, though) too large for me.   Could you have imagined how I would have felt if I’d ordered it online?  I would have had to stare at my disappointment for several days (or in my case, several months) before I returned it.  And then the hassle of waiting for the credit to appear back on my account…ugh!

I guess if you know the way a particular designer’s clothes fit,  or if you’re ridiculously model thin, the whole return thing isn’t a big concern….

The bigger question though, is do we need another flash sale site?  Maybe the folks who set it up think so, but the flash sale strategy is usually aimed at young female consumers with an unquenchable thirst for FASHION.

I’m not sure how long, nor how many sites, a strategy like that can support.

As usual, it will be interesting to see what happens to all these flash sale sites in a few years.  For now, I’m suffering from flash sale site overload.

Curvy cover girls grace June Vogue Italia

6 Jun

I was super shocked to see these gorgeous pics of real, curvy women from the June 2011 Vogue Italia shot by photographer Steven Meisel. . .

Lately (in the U.S. anyway) “curvy” has become synonymous with extremely overweight. While that may make women who are extremely overweight feel good about their figures, it ends up giving many of us who are actually curvy a bit  of a complex about being curvy.  I can certainly empathize with extremely overweight women –to a degree–but I also feel really, really peeved that we have this either/or thing in our world: either you are skinny and fashionable, or curvy and grossly overweight. This either/or malarkey does nothing for those of us who are somewhere in between no breasted boyish bodies and over-fed overweight bodies.  Here’s one of the shots so you can see what I mean:

most men think this woman's sexy. so, why doesn't the fashion industry?

And check out this slide show on the Vogue Italia site to see some of the controversy that’s been stirred up.

(hat tip to Fashion Gone Rogue )

ShoeDazzle.com Update…

24 May

I’ve decided to wait to see what ShoeDazzle.com recommends for me for the month of June. There were some great styles for May, but thought I might give it a month or two–or wait for something that really strikes me–before I place an order. When I do, you’ll hear about it!

Trying ShoeDazzle.com on for size

29 Apr

Never thought I’d see the day when I’d be interested in joining a site started by Kim Kardashian.   But bring to my attention that the site has something to do with shoes and you’ve got my attention.   Thus, I decided to sign up for ShoeDazzle.com….

ShoeDazzle functions a bit like Google’s Boutiques.com, where you take a “fashion survey” to help discover your style.  Once you discover this, there is a recommendation engine that will cull information on the types of shoes, bags, and jewelry that correspond to your personal style.  The style questions flow quickly, are easy to answer, and fun.  Here’s a screen shot asking for my thoughts on which designers, makeup, and brands I either use already or like the best

click your pick!

The age range goes from 18 to 45, with a category for 46+ (hmmm….curious…is 46 the age we cease to care about fashion?) with size ranges going from 0 to 18+ .  I was happy to see 14-16 in the same range, as this is where I usually land, with the larger size on the top–I’m one of those “top heavy” or “chesty” women.

Once I’ve done this, ShoeDazzle’s stylists should recommend, on a monthly basis,  shoes, bags, and jewelry that I might care to purchase.  I can purchase these through ShoeDazzle for $39.95.

How did I turn out?  Well, according to the ShoeDazzle survey, I’m Refined-Cultured-Classic, with colors navy, gray, cream and camel.  It’s not too far off, actually, as I find myself going in that direction as I’ve gotten older (with the occasional fashionista punch in shoes or some other kind of accessory.)  Here’s my Results page:

Classic and Cultured!

I can always re-style, too, just in case I decide that I can dress like Gwen Stefani and not look like an aged Wednesday Addams ;-)

There are more perks to using the site–such as earning points on purchases and for recommending friends–so I have more to explore here….

The first group of items offered are definitely the types of shoes and accessories I would pick out to try on–red Ralph Lauren pumps, Janine military inspired platforms, a great  Bizen quilted faux leather bag with a chain handle.  Quite frankly, if I were indeed looking to buy new shoes, I might buy a pair of the ones suggested.  However, right now, I’m looking for only one item to complete my summer wardrobe–a khaki pencil skirt–and,well, maybe a pair of red peep toe pumps as I seem to have “outgrown” my favorite pair.  Strange how, for some of us, our feet tend to grow out like our waistlines!

I’ll be keeping an eye on what ShoeDazzle recommends for me each month, and looking forward to my first purchase.