Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Holiday Style

Tips that help transform you from office chic to nighttime glam.The holiday season is hectic enough, without the added pressure of having to look fabulous. All the family dinners, office parties, and special events are enough to put even the most style savvy fashionista off her eggnog. You don’t have to spend a fortune on a holiday wardrobe- just follow these tips and tricks to get you through the season. Cheers!

Corporate Glam

If your dress code at work is super conservative, make your suit do double duty- wear a well fitted, excellently cut suit with a simple white button down shirt for work, and change into a velvet bustier, sparkly shell, or silk blouse before you leave the office. Just leave your suit jacket open to show off your sexy attire. Tuxedo style looks are big this holiday season. Look for a tuxedo style jacket and a lace-trimmed shirt for an elegant party look.

Fabulous Separates

Look for some glamorous pieces that can fit easily into your current wardrobe. Try wearing a sparkly cami underneath your work jacket or blazer- at the party ditch your blazer and show off some glitz. For an understated evening look, invest in some luxe fabrics like silk tops, lace trimmed shirts, or pants with details like sequins. Pair these with the work wear you already have like slim fitting black turtlenecks, pencil skirts, or well-cut black trousers. Keep the glitter to one item only- we want your personality to shine, not just the clothes.

Party denim

With more and more work places introducing a casual dress code, it can be hard to figure out what the boundaries are. Bottom line: no matter the dress code, you still need to look appropriate both at work and at play. Denim can help on both fronts- dark denim with a straight leg is always a good option and goes easily from day to night. Pair it with a sexy top and switch your basic black pumps for something a little strappy for evening. Black boots with a high, thin heel are classic; they go with everything from jeans to dresses.

Accessorize your look

Accessories are a simple, and easy way to instantly change your look. Give instant glam to your work looks by adding some sparkly accessories, like earrings, and a great necklace. Try wearing a metallic or rhinestone belt with your black pants, or throw on a beaded shrug to instantly bring some glitz to your office attire. Leave your bulky work tote bag in your car or at the office, and carry a beaded clutch to the party instead.

Use these tips to save your sanity and your wallet, and look fabulous for the holidays!

By Erica Salyi-Pannozzo writer for Think Fashion, an online source for all your fashion tips, celebrity news and shopping queries.

Friday, September 28, 2007

How to Buy Vintage: Infuse Your Wardrobe With Blasts From The Past!

Styling Tips:

1. To make the right kind of fashion statement, limit your vintage pieces to ONE per outfit. Use your vintage pieces to add flair to more contemporary clothing staples like a pair of black pants, a simple top, or a flattering dress.

2. Use your jeans! A flat front, lower rise, boot-cut jean goes with everything, including any of your fabulous vintage finds.

3. Avoid overdoing it with accessories. Keep it simple and let your vintage pieces be the focus of your outfit.

What to buy

Locating those great vintage pieces that are going to blend beautifully into your current wardrobe, takes a lot of time and patience. You may have to visit several stores before you find that perfect piece. Keep your eyes open for some key items:

1. Romantic, feminine looking blouses in sheer fabrics, and ruffle or lace details.

2. Silky camisole-style tops in a colors that flatter your skin tone.

3. Jackets and coats with simple cuts and solid colors like grey, black, navy, and camel. Single breasted styles flatter most figures; look out for interesting details like ornate buttons.

4. Classic cardigan sweaters can easily be incorporated into your wardrobe as interesting toppers for dresses, tanks, and camisoles. Look for great vintage patterns and buttons.

5. Anything with embroidery is worth checking out.

6. Be on the look out for evening dresses in chiffon, silk, or brocade fabrics.

7. You can get some fabulous deals on shoes, bags, and other accessories in vintage stores.

Shopping tips

Look for quality

Make sure you examine the garment before you buy; most stores have a very strict no return policy, so if you buy a damaged item, you’re stuck with it. Look for broken seams and stains; if you find any, the garment is not worth it. Small problems like missing buttons and broken zippers can be repaired, so don’t discount a great find over small details.

Shop around

Vintage stores replenish their inventory pretty regularly, so visit them often to check out their new stock. Try to be friendly with the staff. They may be willing to contact you when they get a bunch of new arrivals.

Try on

Always try clothes on, because sizes vary by designer and time period.

Written by Erica Salyi, fashion journalist for Think Fashion, a new online fashion magazine featuring top designers, celebrity news, hot fashion tips.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erica_Salyi

Tips and Tricks To Help De-Clutter Your Closet

Hangers

Throw away those vile metal hangers, they make your clothes lose their shape over time. Instead use wooden hangers for normal garments like button down shirts, and padded hangers for delicate tops with skinny straps. For pants and skirts invest in some hangers that have clips, so that clothes are secure.

Use a double rod system

To maximize your closet space and double the amount of clothes it can hold, invest in a second rod that can be affixed below the original one. This means you can hang shorter garments on the bottom rod and longer ones on the top, with room for storage containers underneath.

Baskets

Buy some attractive and very useful baskets for easy storage for your purses and bags. This will keep them all organized in one place so you can located them quickly as needed. The baskets can be stored on the floor underneath your clothes or on the top shelf.

Buy some stacking shelves

These clear plastic drawers are great tools and can fit neatly into a corner of your closet. This is wear you can store items like socks, underwear, belts, and scarves and other accessories. Lighter weight knits can also be stored in these drawers. NEVER hang knits- they will lose their shape over time. If you have special knits like cashmere, use acid free tissue to line each garment.

Be creative

To give your closet a colorful look, buy some decorative boxes in bright patterns or motifs that you enjoy. Use large boxes to store your very heavy knits, and use hatboxes to store your lingerie. When bought in various sizes the hatboxes can be easily stacked on top of each other and stored on the top shelf.

Hooks

Hooks are another way to help organize things like belts and ties. You can also use them to hang the bags you use most often for easy accessibility.

Storing your clothes

When putting your clothes into your newly organized closet, try to divide your closet into different zones. Put dresses all together, and do the same for your coats, pants, shirts etc. Group clothes by color, for easy visibility, and if you are extremely picky, you can organize your clothes by season as well. If you store your clothes away each season, make sure they are clean. Stains will set and spread over time. Also, don’t store wool or silk garments in airtight containers- they need to breathe.

Jewelry

For your jewelry and small accessories, there are several options. You can use drawer dividers that settle into an existing drawer and organize your pieces by type, or you can use small labeled boxes that fit into a larger box that can be stored in your closet. Hooks would be a good place to hang longer necklaces like beads. Expensive rings and necklaces should be kept in their original jewelry boxes to protect them. These can then be stored in your dividers.

Shoes

Shoes can be stored in clear shoe drawers, or in hanging shoe racks. An inexpensive option: keep your shoes stored in the original shoe boxes, stacked neatly on your top shelf. Label each shoe box with a brief description of the shoe ie: pointy toed pumps-black or brown tweed kitten heels. If you have the time, take a Polaroid of each shoe and attached it to the appropriate box. These options will help you locate your shoes quickly, and ensure that your outfits always look put- together.

How To Find Pants That Fit and Flatter

Finding that perfect pair of pants that not only fits well, but also flatters your body, can be fashion’s equivalent of the Holy Grail. With so many cuts, styles, lengths, fabrics, and fits out there, it’s no wonder that most women find themselves overwhelmed when they go shopping for pants. Read on for some tips on how to narrow down your search for your perfect pair.

Long Legs

Look for classic cuts and styles like a classic trouser or men’s-style pant. You can pull off cuffed styles, and look great in cropped pants that will give your legs a long, lean, line. Try to avoid straight skinny styles- they will make you look lanky.

Short Legs

Try on pants that have a streamlined design. Look for styles that have a straight leg or a boot cut- your goal is to have a long uninterrupted line from hip to toe. Avoid styles that sit too high on the waist, a lower waist will help lengthen the leg. Tip: wear pointy toed shoes with pants that end at the instep- this will help your leg look longer. Make sure your hem isn’t too short; it will visually shorten the appearance of your leg. Cropped pants, pleats, and wide silhouettes should be avoided.

Thick Waist

Search for pants with a waistline that hits just below your bellybutton. If the waistline is too high, it will create bulges, too low and your waist will hand over the material. Avoid pants with extra volume at the bottom like cuffed styles, and extra wide legs.

Large Hips

Try to find pants that are fuller through the thighs and pants that fall straight from the hips to camouflage heavier thighs. Low-rise cuts sit directly on your hips and draw attention to that area, so they must be avoided at all costs.

Petite

Check out low-rise, boot-cut styles and experiment with different textures, patterns, and colors.
Plus Size
Look for straight-cut, slightly flared pants in darker colors. To achieve an overall slimming look, choose one color head to toe like black. This will lengthen your body visually and make you look taller and slimmer.

Trends

Skinny Jeans

Skinny jeans look best on long legs tucked into boots, but girls with heavier thighs can wear them too. Pair skinny jeans with a longer tunic or sweater dress to hide any lumps and bumps.

Wide Leg Trousers

These look best on boyish figures, but they can also help balance out large hips. Wear them cuffed or uncuffed.

Shorts

Shorts can be surprisingly flattering- you just have to find a great cut and length. Hems that hit just above the knee are extremely flattering and for a work appropriate look, try on trouser shorts.

Capris

Wide legged capris will create a long, lean line, and skinnier styles flatter taller, slim styles. Avoid capris if you legs are short, they will make the leg seem even shorter.

By Erica Salyi-Pannozzo, Fashion Writer for Think Fashion, an online shopping portal featuring celebrity news, top fashion tips, and all of the hottest designers like Louis Vuitton!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erica_Salyi

How To Dress Rich: Avoid Cheap And Go for Chic

Look for quality

You don’t have to break the bank to buy quality garments. Just look for items within your price range that have excellent cuts and classic colors. Tip: when looking to buy a quality coat, make sure the inner lining is well constructed- if this finishing element is well made, you can rest assured that the rest of the garment is too.

Avoid looking like a fashion victim

One crucial element to dressing chic is to avoid looking like a walking billboard. More than one initial display of a designer name in one outfit makes you a fashion victim. Prominently displayed logos- real or knock-off, look cheesy and cheap. If you want to emulate a celebrity, think Gwyneth Paltrow, not Paris Hilton.

Pay attention to details

Looking chic doesn’t have to be really expensive. Cheaper fabrics look more expensive if they are ironed. Change a cheap cardigan by replacing ugly plastic buttons with mother-of- pearl ones. Dressing chic is all about focusing on the details that make a garment stand out.
Pick clothes that flatter:Chic clothes never bunch, hang, sag, or constrict your breathing. They should graze over your silhouette, highlighting and enhancing your figure. If it doesn’t flatter your figure, leave it on the rack. If it doesn’t fit well, it will NEVER look good.

Focus on fabrics

There are lots of options for beautiful fabrics, even if you are on a budget. Rule of thumb: stick with fibers that can be found in nature. With proper maintenance they will keep their shape and wear beautifully. Keep an eye out for sales to get great deals on cashmere sweaters, and gorgeous silk tops for evening looks.

Update your shoe wardrobe

A great pair of shoes really finishes an outfit, so make sure you appropriate footwear. A pair of black pumps is a staple that you can’t live without- they work great with a suit for work or with dark denim and a sparkly top for evening. Some other great shoes to invest in: a pair of classic boots, an open toed pump, and flirty flats. A great pair of strappy sandals for evening, and a stack- heeled boot for walking in should round out your shoe wardrobe.

Invest in classic pieces

If you are going to hand over your hard earned dollars for an expensive designer piece, make sure it’s a classic that will transcend trends and last more than one season. Think Manolo Blahnik, Chanel, Ferragamo for shoes, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes for bags; Dior shades.

It’s all about the attitude

Whether your outfit cost 100 dollars or 1,000 dollars, the trick to looking you spent a fortune is all in how you wear those duds. Focus on good taste, confidence, elegance, and maintain an air of mystery, and no matter what you wear, you will always have what the French call a certain, je ne sais quois.

By Erica Salyi-Pannozzo, Assistant Editor of Think Fashion.com, an online shopping portal featuring over 60 designers including Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Roberto Cavalli. Article Source: Free Articles from http://www.ArticleSphere.com

Five Wardrobe Essentials Every Girl Should Own

In every woman's closet, there should be a few key pieces that provide the foundation upon which great outfits are built. These items carry you from season to season, and will always be in style. The only rule for these items is that they must fit well, be in excellent condition, and be the best you can afford. If you follow these rules, you will always look your best.

Little Black Dress

This is a classic! The little black dress is the workhorse in your closet. It can go from day to night with a few changes of accessories, and will look chic at any event. For work, pair the LBD with a belted cardigan and closed toed pumps. For evening, up the glam factor, and add strappy sandals and a sparkly clutch.

Classic Pump

This shoe can go with everything. Buy this shoe in neutral colors that go with everything, like black and camel. The pump can be worn with a well cut suit for the ultimate work look, or with the LBD at night for special occasions. Pointy toe pumps also look chic and stylish with dark denim jeans in skinny or slightly flared silhouettes, and they also work well with most skirt shapes and lengths.

The Suit

The basic three piece suit with jacket, skirt, and trousers should be the foundation of your wardrobe. You can wear the suit with jacket and skirt and a crisp white button down shirt for work, or team the trousers with the jacket and a sparkly cami for evening. Break up the pieces of the suit to make different outfit combinations. Pair the blazer with jeans and a tee, or the skirt with a silky top and a killer pair of high heeled shoes. The possibilities are endless. Choose a well cut suit that flatters your figure. Try to stick with neutral colors like black and grey- they will go with anything.

A Great Cardigan

This piece is a great way to add a bit of interest to your outfits. Be creative with the way you use the cardigan. Choose colorful cropped styles to layer over dresses; pair a belted cardigan with jeans for a casual, but stylish look.

Great Fitting Jeans

No one can be without a great pair of jeans. Trends in denim come and go, but a jean in a dark, uniform wash with boot cut legs will always be in style.

By Fashion Journalist Erica Salyi-Pannozzo, assistant fashion editor for Think Fashion.