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The Best Moments from Michelle Obama’s Inauguration Day Fashions

22 Jan

So, there was all sorts of buzz and speculation yesterday regarding what and whom Michelle Obama would wear to the Inauguration ceremony, the luncheon, and all the way through to the evening’s Inaugural Ball.    There were two looks that I totally  loved…..

Michelle Obama in Thom Browne Coat

The first is this fabulous navy blue Thom Browne coat, inspired by men’s neckties (according to Browne.)  I adore the cut of this coat, the patterned material, and the gorgeous tailoring.  According to CNN, she mixed “high and low” fashion by wearing J. Crew gloves and embellished belt.

Um, hate to tell you CNN, but for some of us, J. Crew ain’t necessarily within our regular fashion budgets. I’d hardly call it “low” fashion.  Personally, I’d reserve that comment for Wal-Mart or some other lowbrow cheap, un-chic, mass market retailers.  “Low fashion” aside, it’s still a great fashion turn to match this navy patterned coat with purple gloves (purple is turning into one of my favorite go-to colors.)

The CNN piece though sums up Michelle Obama’s role as a fashion and style icon, and how we women feel about her:

“As a style icon, she has the ability to inspire the public in an accessible way that one-wear red carpet fashion doesn’t come close to approximating.”

We’re not necessarily going to rush out and buy Thom Browne, because we can’t afford it, but the cut is classic and if we really and truly wanted something like it, we’d learn to sew and make it for ourselves.  Or have someone help us make it. A lot of Michelle’s style is easy for most of us to imitate–classic cuts done in on-trend colors with stylish accessories are what I believe makes most of her fashion choices some of the best of any First Lady.  (personally, I do the cardigan thing a la Michelle quite often.  it works for me.)

The second is her gorgeous red Inaugural Ball gown….once again designed by Jason Wu

Inaugural gown by Jason Wu

Red chiffon in a halter style.  Red sends a number of signals: optimism and power are first to come to mind.  In Chinese culture, red stands for good health, wealth, and happiness. The cut and style of the gown, once again, is one that many women could wear–it’s not too body-conscious nor too Hollywood glamour (much like her one-shoulder white dress from the first Inauguration.)

I wish that Wu’s collection for Target had been sized more for women than for juniors…..

Overall, it’s great to see that we have a First Lady who understands that fashion coupled with personal style conveys a message to others about who we are and how we feel about ourselves, as much as signaling our social class or status.   More of us should pay attention to the idea that our clothes are powerful signifiers and pay more attention to them.

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Trend Alert: Why Rich New Yorkers love the “do it yourself” aestheic of the Rough-Luxe trend….

10 Jan
Français : Escarpin ouvert "peep toe"...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just for laughs, some priceless quotes from an  article on ” Brooklyn scruff”  a.k.a the  “Rough-Luxe” trend in the New York Observer

“The other day, an older man, the kind who wouldn’t be caught dead with Chanel because that’s too nouveau-riche for him—old-school, real true Upper East Side—was name-dropping a restaurant on Smith Street. . .I was amazed that Brooklyn was even part of his universe.”–Jonathan Butler, founder of Brownstoner.com and the Brooklyn Flea Market, who grew up on the Upper East Side and said he went to Brooklyn “maybe five times” before he was 21.

“None of my clients want Christian Louboutin shoes anymore, because the Kardashians are clomping around in them at breakfast.”–Jesse Garza, co-founder of luxury lifestyle consultancy Visual Therapy, quoted in the same article.

If these guys want to get real nouveau-crunchy, they should come up to Easthampton, and other points Western Mass.  We could teach them a thing or two, I’m sure….

H/T to this post on the “Rough-Luxe” trend at Fashionista

Coming Soon: Karl Lagerfeld does Dallas!

9 Jan

According to this post today at Racked.com, Karl Lagerfeld announced at the WWD CEO Summit that the design inspiration for his next Fall collection is Dallas (as in Texas.)

“There has to be some magical surrounding. That’s why I went to Scotland to this castle where Mary Stuart was born, and it was quite a magical moment. To do the opposite, next time, in a year, I will go to Dallas. You know why? First of all, I love Texas. I love Texans. There’s another reason.”

Anyone who is the least familiar with Lagerfeld (the man) and his work for Chanel knows that he’s all about telling a story.  And he tells such wonderful stories!  The best thing about his stories is that the women are ageless, timeless, almost eternal.  With that kind of sensibility, many of Lagerfeld’s styles transcend chronological age and are appropriate for so many different women.  All one needs to do is to imagine oneself in one of his stories (personally, I have no problem doing just that!)

Here are six looks from his Scotland (December, 2012) collection that I can most certainly imagine myself–even with my proportions–wearing (with a tweak here and there….) on a freezing cold day in NYC or even Easthampton….

Lagerfeld was recently interviewed by WWD’s Bridget Foley and revealed (again) what keeps him inspired as well as a peek into his creative process.  What I find, and love the most, is that he is curious about the world around him, is always investigating the world, and that, I’m sure, feeds is boundless storytelling abilities.  When the work of so many other designers seems uninspired and self-indulgent, Lagerfeld at 80-something manages to continually dazzle and make my fashion imagination fly.

To me, the thing that keeps any of us interested in fashion (and style) is not just the fun, but the storytelling.  If you have no story to tell, about yourself or who you imagine yourself to be at any moment, clothing will be nothing more than a bunch of rags you put on your back to shield you from the cold or heat.  Whether we want to or not, when others see us, our clothing tells a story about us, so why not help others to see a wonderful story about who we are? (well, maybe that’s just me….)

 

H/T to “And Now the Entire Chanel Scotland Collection in All Its Tartan Glory

Corsets, and Girdles, and Shapewear…Oh My! Five Considerations When Buying Shapewear

19 Dec
Thank goodness we don't have to wear these things anymore!

Thank goodness we don’t have to wear these things anymore!

Ohboy…well, it’s that time of year again…when we’ve got to pull on the ole shapewear (or is that shape-where?) and head out to our holiday parties.  This is also the time of year when women make horrible decisions regarding shapewear, think about buying corsets for shapewear, or have no idea what to buy and purchase something that’s far more girdle-like than what they really need.  So, here’s some simple tips for purchasing the right kind of shapewear (trust me, I’ve been doing this thing since the 80′s…..)

1.  Corsets that you find at the mall will not help you.  Do yourself, and the poor person who works in the store, a big, big favor and do not insist that you need a “corset” to hold in your “love-handles.”  Most corsets sold in malls are commonly referred to as “fashion corsets” because the boning in them is made of plastic, not the steel that a good, custom-made corset will have in it.  Oh, and don’t let anyone fool you into buying a steel-boned corset that is NOT custom-made for your body.  Any kind of boning, steel or plastic, that is pulled tightly to shape, and is not cut and measured to your body, could end up on a nerve meridian and cause numbing of the fingers or legs.  Not fun.

2.  Waist cinchers are great!  But there are different kinds….  Waist cinchers can really give you that hourglass figure you’re looking for–but if they have boning, you might be able to see the boning through your dress.  So make sure your dress is heavy enough to hide a waist-cincher with bones (and usually hooks too.)  If you are purchasing a boned waist-cincher, make sure that you have to pull it super tight.  Boned waist cinchers do their job *only* when they are really tight.  Otherwise they will roll down.  The exact opposite is true for non-boned waist cinchers–if these are too tight, they will roll down.  That, however is not the case with all shapewear.

3.  If it rolls down, or up,  it’s not for you.    Depending on the kind of material in the shapewear, and where the biggest piece of elastic is placed, rolling up or down could mean that it’s either too big or too small.  Try a different size.

4.  One-piece does not mean it’s going to fix everything.  I’ve tried a number of one-piece shapewear disasters over the years, and this is what I’ve found:  one piece garments can make some things worse and fix nothing at all.  I’ve had ones to flatten my stomach which also flattened my butt, or ones meant to lift my breasts that lifted my butt and flattened my breasts.  Pick an area that you think needs the most shaping (usually it’s that “tummy bulge” ) and pick your shapewear accordingly.  Oh, and those one-piece slip things that allow you to wear your own bra?  My experience: horrid!  I felt like I was wearing a hobble skirt, for one thing (and yes, I did have trouble going up and down the stairs because of it.)   For another, the straps were too short and caused the garment to ride high into my armpits, thus showing whenever I moved my arms away from my body, and it wanted to squish my breasts and bra forward (for some reason) causing the underwire in my bra to dig in.  A godawful experience, and I wonder why I still have the stupid thing….

5.  Make sure you can go to the bathroom!  When I bought my latest pair of shapewear–a high-waisted panty style garment (not the kind with the long legs to shape my thighs, I don’t need that) from Flexees–I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were hooks in the crotch area.  This means I do not have to struggle pulling the thing up and down when (not if) I have to go to the bathroom.  As most of you who’ve struggled with shapewear know, once the thing is up over your waist, squashing down that back-fat, if you have to pull the whole thing  down to pee, you will never get it adequately over your back fat for the rest of the evening.   Some older styles of one-piece or high waist girdles used to have either a split crotch, snaps, or hooks.  The split-crotch was the worst.  I don’t think I have to elaborate on that one….  Oh, and don’t worry about pantyhose.  Wear thigh highs.  By now you should know how to put a pair of those on and have them stay up.

So, there you have it.  Keep these five considerations in mind, and you should have no problem with your holiday shapewear doing what it’s supposed to do:  make you look beautiful!

Looking for the perfect designer cocktail dress? Try MissesDressy.com!

12 Dec

Around this time of year, every magazine says, “of course you have to have that perfect cocktail dress.”   And every year I wonder “what the heck constitutes a cocktail dress?”   It’s not just wondering what makes a cocktail dress, but where can I find one that suits my body as well as my particular taste (which sometimes has nothing to do with what’s at the mall.)   That’s when I discovered MissesDressy.com’s cocktail dresses*.

When I explored the site, I was amazed by the selection!  Not to mention that I got a quick education on the varieties

my personal favorite from Tadash Shoji collection

my personal favorite from Tadash Shoji collection–in that perfect Pantone Color 17-5641 for 2013!

of cocktail dresses.  Everything from short-short, low back, and jewel-encrusted to the simple “little black dress.”   Dresses by some of the biggest designers, including Tadashi Shoji, who designed the dress Octavia Spencer wore to the 2012 Oscars (you can even purchase a version of it on the site) and Jovani, whose dresses are worn by Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, and other hot, young celebs.   Each dress page features a size chart unique to that designer, and size conversion charts for both U.K. and European sizing.  You’ll be surprised the size ranges for some of the designers. There’s a video on each page as well, that demonstrates exactly how to take your measurements–always a good thing if you’re going to order online.

So, how do you know that you’re getting the right dress from the designer and not a knockoff?   On each page, you will seeauthorized dealer seal this gold symbol that says “Authorized Dealer.”  Click on the seal and you will find out how MissesDressy.com became a genuine Authorized Dealer for their incredible collection.

gorgeous! Jovani mermaid style gown for prom

gorgeous! Jovani mermaid style gown for prom

Oh, and while you’re checking for cocktail dresses, you might want to take a look at the Prom Dresses–including up-to-the-minute 2013 dresses– for anyone you might know who’ll be going to the prom this year.

MissesDressy.com has a call-in number if you’d like to order by phone, as well as online chat customer service.  They accept payment through PayPal, and payment is verified and secured through PayPal.  Many styles are available for immediate shipping–otherwise feel free to ask when your dress will arrive.  You can follow them also on Facebook and Twitter, and read their blog.

*this is a sponsored post for MissesDressy.com

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