Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fashion. Show all posts
Friday, March 02, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Your local library is a good place to find fashion-advice-for-women, discover how to choose figure-flattering clothes, learn about style categories and all about chic. Attendance at the nation's estimated 122,566 libraries is sharply up during these recessionary times.
But I'm guessing that most fashionistas don't jump at a chance to shop there.
True style is about more than snagging the latest bargains. An important first step in looking like a superstar is figuring out what looks best on you.
This is especially true for the over-50 woman. A fashion misstep that is naively cute on a young woman can be a fashion disaster for us.
Your local library is a good place to find fashion advice for women because:
- Biographies of chic women and clothing designers can help you discover a style that is uniquely yours.
- Much of the best fashion photography is not available online.
- You'll save money by borrowing books, rather than buying them. Many libraries subscribe to women's magazines that now cost $7 and up at the news stand.
- Books show how to systematically develop a wardrobe and buy figure-flattering clothes; magazines offers only a pastiche of new things to buy with little information about how you can weave these purchases into a look that is right for you.
Monday, May 24, 2010
A Nice White Blouse Is a Versatile Addition to Any Wardrobe
A white blouse is a versatile wardrobe essential worth every penny you pay for it.
Today's fabric blends ensure that a white blouse will look fresh and wrinkle-free throughout the day and evening.
A dash of Spandex or Dacron is the key. I can't wait until more the stain-resistant and even self-cleaning textiles become common.
It's tempting to believe large clothing hides figure flaws, but this is not the case. Tuck in a white blouse for a trim, professional look.
This means making sure the tails are long enough to stay in and short enough not to bulk up under the skirt or slacks.
An exception to the not-too-large rule is the Big Shirt or poet's shirt. These are cut full in the body and have long tails. They are meant to be worn outside of slacks and may serve as a jacket.
The shoulder seam should fit at the rounded edge of your shoulder, no matter how full the body. This will avoid sleeves that are too long.
Here are some more tips for fitting and buying a white blouse -- more than one -- as a versatile wardrobe purchase.
Today's fabric blends ensure that a white blouse will look fresh and wrinkle-free throughout the day and evening.
A dash of Spandex or Dacron is the key. I can't wait until more the stain-resistant and even self-cleaning textiles become common.
It's tempting to believe large clothing hides figure flaws, but this is not the case. Tuck in a white blouse for a trim, professional look.
This means making sure the tails are long enough to stay in and short enough not to bulk up under the skirt or slacks.
An exception to the not-too-large rule is the Big Shirt or poet's shirt. These are cut full in the body and have long tails. They are meant to be worn outside of slacks and may serve as a jacket.
The shoulder seam should fit at the rounded edge of your shoulder, no matter how full the body. This will avoid sleeves that are too long.
Here are some more tips for fitting and buying a white blouse -- more than one -- as a versatile wardrobe purchase.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Knowing Your Style Is Step One in Basic Wardrobe Planning
Identifying your personal style is recommended for basic-wardrobe-planning.
Two books I’ve recently read that take this approach are Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style
and The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style
.
The Lucky Guide (Kim France, Andrea Linnett) is skewed young. The book is lavishly illustrated with photos.
There are two useful features.
Each section profiles a young woman who illustrates that fashion type. Some of her favorite pieces also are photographed.
Secondly, each section includes a feature that shows how one foundational wardrobe item may be used in versatile ways – such as transitioning through the seasons, or being teamed up for professional or party wear.
Tim Gunn’s Guide to Quality, Taste, and Style, written with Kate Maloney, is wittier and delves more deeply into what makes a woman chic.
Gunn, for example, lectures readers about the importance of posture.
The line drawings that serve as illustrations are a charming reminder of vintage illustrations from the 1920s through 1950s. They cannot compete with the usefulness of good, color photos, though.
Written like the academic Gunn fundamentally is, the chapter on fashion style types first defines the difference between a fashion icon and a mentor.
Gunn advises against slavishly copying a fashion icon and adapting fashion to one’s one figure and lifestyle.
My complaint with both books is that they focus too much of styles that are popular on the East or West coast. Suburban style and a professional look for older women get left out of these mixes. Scroll down to see table comparison.
Two books I’ve recently read that take this approach are Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style
and The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style.
The Lucky Guide (Kim France, Andrea Linnett) is skewed young. The book is lavishly illustrated with photos.
There are two useful features.
Each section profiles a young woman who illustrates that fashion type. Some of her favorite pieces also are photographed.
Secondly, each section includes a feature that shows how one foundational wardrobe item may be used in versatile ways – such as transitioning through the seasons, or being teamed up for professional or party wear.
Tim Gunn’s Guide to Quality, Taste, and Style, written with Kate Maloney, is wittier and delves more deeply into what makes a woman chic.
Gunn, for example, lectures readers about the importance of posture.
The line drawings that serve as illustrations are a charming reminder of vintage illustrations from the 1920s through 1950s. They cannot compete with the usefulness of good, color photos, though.
Written like the academic Gunn fundamentally is, the chapter on fashion style types first defines the difference between a fashion icon and a mentor.
Gunn advises against slavishly copying a fashion icon and adapting fashion to one’s one figure and lifestyle.
My complaint with both books is that they focus too much of styles that are popular on the East or West coast. Suburban style and a professional look for older women get left out of these mixes. Scroll down to see table comparison.
| LUCKY GUIDE | TIM GUNN GUIDE |
| Euro Chic (Catherine Deneuve) | Les Francaises (Deneuve) |
| The Bombshell (Sophia Loren) | The Siren (Angelina Jolie) |
| American Classic (Katherine Hepburn) | Masculin/Feminin (Hepburn) |
| Gamine (Sofia Cuppola) | Les Gamines (Cuppola) |
| California Casual(Farrah Fawcett)bi-coastal opposites? | The Risk Takers(Sarah Jessica Parker) |
| Rock and Roll (Patti Smith | The Rockers (Smith) |
| Bohemian (Stevie Nicks); Arty/Slick (Donna Karan) | The Bohemians (Donna Karan) |
| Posh Electic (Debutantes who may someday become doyennes) | Les Doyennes (Haute couture fashion leaders; a look too mature for Lucky readers |
| Mod (the youthful equivalent of?) | Italian & Complicated (Fellini’s women) |
| Nothing equivalent | Power Brokers (Oprah) |
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Basic Wardrobe Planning Is Easy as S-O-S
Basic wardrobe planning has turned out to be one of my most-hit articles at e-zines.
Managing my own website has challenged me to develop many new skills. Watching traffic statistics is one of them.
Writing for a few hundred site guests a day is a big change from writing for hundreds of thousands of newspaper readers when I was a reporter.
I had a lot of freedom, but the one topic that was always taboo was fashion. Fashion editors were very territorial about not sharing that domain with a features reporter.
There is a lot of free help for any woman who wants an image makeover. My article mentions some excellent basic-wardrobe-planning information on the Internet.
I also have some favorite books. The public library is a great place to browse for ideas on how to change your personal style.
It's really not that hard to put together a practical, budget-conscious, and flattering wardrobe -- once you understand basic-wardrobe-planning.
Managing my own website has challenged me to develop many new skills. Watching traffic statistics is one of them.
Writing for a few hundred site guests a day is a big change from writing for hundreds of thousands of newspaper readers when I was a reporter.
I had a lot of freedom, but the one topic that was always taboo was fashion. Fashion editors were very territorial about not sharing that domain with a features reporter.
There is a lot of free help for any woman who wants an image makeover. My article mentions some excellent basic-wardrobe-planning information on the Internet.
I also have some favorite books. The public library is a great place to browse for ideas on how to change your personal style.
It's really not that hard to put together a practical, budget-conscious, and flattering wardrobe -- once you understand basic-wardrobe-planning.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Night Illusions and The Dawn of Reality
Things that look brilliant or scary at two in the morning often don’t survive in the light of day. Have you ever awoken with a cold sweat, worried about a loved one’s health or your own survival – physical, financial, or emotional? Have you ever had a plan that seemed inspired during those quiet, dead hours and became quite ordinary after the sun rose?
This weekend, I discovered that my little website, Fashion After 50, has quietly been earning a few pennies from Google Adsense over the past few months. Indeed, even this blog followed only by a few dear fellow blog-hers and friends, may have had some click-throughs.
That $7.12 seemed like a fortune. For three days, I visited my Adsense account obsessively. I watched the affiliate marketing earnings mushroom to over $8.50. Watching seven dollars turn to eight-and-a-half, nickel-by-nickel and dime-by-dime, makes watching ice form look downright exciting.
I’ve worked throughout the weekend to revise pages, practice code to wrap copy around ads, and experiment with layout. I’ve updated and added new articles. I worked until nearly 3 a.m., and I was on fire with hope that I could turn Fashion After 50 into a place visitors love for finding fashion for older women.
Then I looked at the Alexa rankings for Fashion After 50. Alexa is the Supreme Court of online website rankings, wrecking sought-after judgments about who is in the coveted top 100,000.
I know that a little bitty affiliate marketing website with less one hundred visitors was not in the top tier. I just wanted to take a peek anyway.
The average time spent at Fashion After 50 by a guest is a half-minute. Thirty seconds!
Some things look so much better when it’s dark outside – like a Christmas tree trimmed with lights and ornaments that glitter and shine. Others look worse, like a darkened alley hiding threat, violence, and decay. Day dawns. The Christmas tree is merely a dying pine that needs water. The alley is simply a bleak cement space that needs cleaning and care. Illusions, for better or for worse, melt away.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
The Politics of Fashion: This Ordinary Gal is Galled by Cindy McCain's RNC Bling
The politics of fashion is not an appropriate topic for Fashion After 50.com, I've decided. But I am one very ordinary gal who was galled at the ostentatious show of bling by Cindy McCain at the Republican National Convention.
Vanity Fair editors estimated that McCain's designer shirtdress ensemble on the first night would ring the cash register at an eye-popping $313,000, according to Melanie Coffee for the Associated Press.
I cannot a house that expensive -- even wit a 30-year mortgage. Remove the diamond earrings, the dress, shoes, watch, and accessories would total around $20K. Geez, I couldn't even buy a luxury car for that paltry sum.
Reporters cover the candidates' wives as if they are engaged in a fashion throw-down. Michelle Obama favors Chicago designer Maria Pinto. You'll find lots of photos of Obama in Pinto styles at The Black Snob blog. CNN commentators (Sept. 5 morning news) said the pricetag for Obama's dress for the closing night credits at the Democratic National Convention was $1,250. Have these people heard of T.J. Maxx? Beall's Outlets? I think not.
Amanda Fortini's article, "The Semiotics of Convention Fashion," suggests an intellectual treatment of the topic for The New Republic. Fortini does not seem to fully understand the concept of semiotics. The article is packed full of fashion details, but the cultural analysis is missing.
If you want to understand the semiotics of style, read propeller.com. Real people understand how really silly spending this kind of money on fashion is, when young people are dying in strange lands, families are losing their homes in America, and the economy is in crisis.
Perhaps no writer was more incisive about the relationship between economics and culture than Roland Barthes in the landmark volume, Myth Today (1972). Umberto Eco eviscerates American cultural pretensions in Travels in Hyperreality (1985), continuing the great tradition of the semiotics of culture from an economic perspective. Propeller readers understand this analytical approach: it is the semiotics of real life.
Most papers are hedging their bets in the fashion throwdown. The New York Post, for example, compares Cindy McCain's flashy, high-end fashion statements with the classic, easy glamor of Michelle Obama. The language allows for the styles to be evaluated as separate but equal. The United Kingdom's Guardian qualifies both as polished dressers ready to be a stylish First Lady.
Project Runway judge Tim Gunn had no trouble taking a strong position. He observes that Obama seems comfortable in her clothing and has some snarky things to say about McCain.
Even though my interest in the politics of fashion of presidental candidates' wives is recent, as early as February, Bean at alternet.org asked, "Why Are Blogs Evaluating What Political Wives Wear?" The question is, of course, essentially contradictory: discussing the question adds to the buzz about First Lady wannabe wardrobes.
There are even paper doll books that allow us to dress the senators McCain, Obama, and their wives, according to Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times writer. McCain in his undies? Thanks but no thanks, I said.
Vanity Fair editors estimated that McCain's designer shirtdress ensemble on the first night would ring the cash register at an eye-popping $313,000, according to Melanie Coffee for the Associated Press.
I cannot a house that expensive -- even wit a 30-year mortgage. Remove the diamond earrings, the dress, shoes, watch, and accessories would total around $20K. Geez, I couldn't even buy a luxury car for that paltry sum.
Reporters cover the candidates' wives as if they are engaged in a fashion throw-down. Michelle Obama favors Chicago designer Maria Pinto. You'll find lots of photos of Obama in Pinto styles at The Black Snob blog. CNN commentators (Sept. 5 morning news) said the pricetag for Obama's dress for the closing night credits at the Democratic National Convention was $1,250. Have these people heard of T.J. Maxx? Beall's Outlets? I think not.
Amanda Fortini's article, "The Semiotics of Convention Fashion," suggests an intellectual treatment of the topic for The New Republic. Fortini does not seem to fully understand the concept of semiotics. The article is packed full of fashion details, but the cultural analysis is missing.
If you want to understand the semiotics of style, read propeller.com. Real people understand how really silly spending this kind of money on fashion is, when young people are dying in strange lands, families are losing their homes in America, and the economy is in crisis.
Perhaps no writer was more incisive about the relationship between economics and culture than Roland Barthes in the landmark volume, Myth Today (1972). Umberto Eco eviscerates American cultural pretensions in Travels in Hyperreality (1985), continuing the great tradition of the semiotics of culture from an economic perspective. Propeller readers understand this analytical approach: it is the semiotics of real life.
Most papers are hedging their bets in the fashion throwdown. The New York Post, for example, compares Cindy McCain's flashy, high-end fashion statements with the classic, easy glamor of Michelle Obama. The language allows for the styles to be evaluated as separate but equal. The United Kingdom's Guardian qualifies both as polished dressers ready to be a stylish First Lady.
Project Runway judge Tim Gunn had no trouble taking a strong position. He observes that Obama seems comfortable in her clothing and has some snarky things to say about McCain.
Even though my interest in the politics of fashion of presidental candidates' wives is recent, as early as February, Bean at alternet.org asked, "Why Are Blogs Evaluating What Political Wives Wear?" The question is, of course, essentially contradictory: discussing the question adds to the buzz about First Lady wannabe wardrobes.
There are even paper doll books that allow us to dress the senators McCain, Obama, and their wives, according to Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times writer. McCain in his undies? Thanks but no thanks, I said.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Wicked Wit Skewers Fugly Fashion at Snarky Blog
Go Fug Yourself is a snarky blog about celebrity fashion. It is so wrong to enjoy something so mean.
Fug means frightfully ugly, according to the blog's FAQs – but Wikipedia confirms my suspicion the “f” stands for an unsavory four-letter street word. The blog is so well-known and influential that it has its own entry. There’s something for my aspirations – an entry about ordinaryordinary in wiki.
Fug is a "self-inflicted” condition that characterizes “pretty people with money to spare and little sense how to spend it,” the blog explains. One must, of course, possess sufficient celebrity so that paparazzi are standing by to document one’s fashion faux pas.
Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan write Go Fug Yourself. I don’t know why I read it. Perhaps because silly togs are a fitting target in our celebrobsessed culture. Withering wit is an art in itself, as proved by Oscar Wilde.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
What Would Jackie Do? Presents Hints for Living with Courage, Discipline, Balance -- and Great Style
Long before J-Lo became a pop culture icon of the snappy abbreviated moniker, Jackie O was pursued by the paparazzi, celebrated by mass media, and obsessed over by fans. What Would Jackie Do? distills the fabulous femme’s life into a guidebook for living life with courage, discipline, and balance.
Shelly Branch and Sue Callaway have given me renewed respect for this former First Lady whose brilliant husband, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was famously assassinated with her by his side in an auto parade in Dallas, Texas. The authors state that Jackie Kennedy made sure that her young children – then six and three – slept in their familiar White House bedrooms that night, not at the homes of relatives. Kennedy was convinced the children needed the stability of familiar bedrooms in their lives. Later, she recreated these bedrooms for the children in her Fifth Avenue apartment. Unbelievably in these days when a million dollars buys a 500-square-foot studio apartment in Manhattan, that purchase cost her $200,000.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was a strict but loving mother, according to Branch and Callaway. It was refreshing to read about a wealthy society woman of JBKO’s stature who was so engaged with her children. Memorable anecdotes are Jackie sending John Jr. for counseling when he started sowing too many wild oats, JBKO seen on Manhattan streets with Caroline laughing and sharing secretively like gal pals, and Jackie indulging her grandchildren with a sledding trip to Central Park not long before her untimely death at age 63 from cancer.
JBKO practiced balance in her inner and outer lives. A lifelong practitioner of yoga, she investigated the Eastern and alternative healing therapies that were in vogue for much of her life. But, Branch and Callaway note, she never went overboard about anything that could endanger her life.
Her homes also illustrated her emphasis on balance. She loved beautiful things, but she created environments (with the help of many famous designers) in which her children and friends could feel at home. Priceless treasures were displayed so casually that a visitor might not notice at first glance that the art was by world-famous masters.
Yet, above all, Jackie is remembered for her fabulous sense of style. Her over-sized dark black sunglasses are iconic. They remain a wardrobe staple for which I will pay almost any price. Her little shifts were copied throughout the sixties and seventies; her pillbox hats were immortalized in a Bob Dylan song. She was always impeccably dressed.
She made culture a part of White House life when she hosted internationally famous musicians, dancers, and writers with the President during their all-too-brief White House years. Her restoration of that historic landmark has been nearly undone by subsequent administrations, report the authors. Jackie and an elite committee put time and research into to getting the details right.
What Would Jackie Do? is written in short information bytes that make this the perfect book for waiting room reading. The breezy style is seasoned with memorable short anecdotes. The authors, editors for national magazines, have done their research. They know what they are doing when it comes to capturing and sustaining reader attention. Tuck this one in your bag for those times when you unexpectedly get stuck with time on your hands. The seconds will speed past as quickly as those fatal moments in Dallas that changed the world.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Bad Newscasting
A new low for standards for television journalists was reached yesterday when a CNN anchor blithely admitted to a weather reporter, out in hurricane Flossie, that he didn’t know how to pronounce the name of the Hawaiian town from where the report was coming. I can hardly imagine Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Huntley or Brinkley, or any of the venerable newsmen of the past admitting – on camera – that he hadn’t done his homework. I can’t even imagine as a newspaper reporter of far lesser renown having gone out on an assignment without doing my homework.
Another egregious instance was when the Palm Beach Post, in the late 1990s, assigned a reporter to the fashion beat with no background in fashion – a deficiency she joked about in her columns. In a letter to an editor, I complained about how hard it is to teach young journalism students to do research when this is the role model they get. I also pointed out that the Post serves Palm Beach and Wellington, two of the most fashionable locales in the United States. Its readers contribute to a multi-billion-dollar fashion industry. Finally, I asked if the paper would dare send someone with no knowledge of football to report on a game and publish a lame article about how the reporter noticed that there were a bunch of guys tossing a funny-shaped ball around and bumping into each other – and that’s about all he could tell us about it.
The fashion reporter wasn’t on the beat for long, but the lame CNN reporters, with their pretty hair and superficial questions, have been around far too long.
Dan Rather, onetime CBS anchor, rails against the “dumbing down and tarting up of the news.” Pundits have been bemoaning the poor state of network and cable news, but it doesn’t do any good.
Another egregious instance was when the Palm Beach Post, in the late 1990s, assigned a reporter to the fashion beat with no background in fashion – a deficiency she joked about in her columns. In a letter to an editor, I complained about how hard it is to teach young journalism students to do research when this is the role model they get. I also pointed out that the Post serves Palm Beach and Wellington, two of the most fashionable locales in the United States. Its readers contribute to a multi-billion-dollar fashion industry. Finally, I asked if the paper would dare send someone with no knowledge of football to report on a game and publish a lame article about how the reporter noticed that there were a bunch of guys tossing a funny-shaped ball around and bumping into each other – and that’s about all he could tell us about it.
The fashion reporter wasn’t on the beat for long, but the lame CNN reporters, with their pretty hair and superficial questions, have been around far too long.
Dan Rather, onetime CBS anchor, rails against the “dumbing down and tarting up of the news.” Pundits have been bemoaning the poor state of network and cable news, but it doesn’t do any good.
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