Shapes, Color, Sizes...Oh My!

 Top-bottom (Left, right) Sheath, Shift, Wrap, Empire, Full, A-Line

If you're like me, then you like to know the names of all things fashion.  It took some years and lots of shopping but I now speak the jargon and also understand the differences in styles and shapes of the clothes we love to wear.  

 

• WRAP: A cross-body dress that you wrap around your body, tie at the waist on the front or side, creating a V-shape neckline. Great for girls with lovely enviable cleavage! 

• A-LINE: Is exactly what it sounds like, looks like a capital "A" because it tapers out from the waist to the hem in straight A shape lines for a classic look.

• FULL: Think about the 50's poodle skirt, but in today's colors & textiles. 

• SHIFT: Also a retro vibe from the 60s, the shift is boxy mini dress, shapeless and feminine at the same time. Think Foxy Cleopatra in Goldmember, but with a modern twist. 
  

• EMPIRE: This may work for some flat bellied babes, hitting just below the bra line under your breast and tapers out to the hem, creating a very high waist and (on me) the appearance of a gut.

...and last but not least, my all time favorite silhouette-

• SHEATH: I love it because its figure-hugging, curve loving yumminess that shows off my womanly parts, even as I suffer from bread and pasta withdrawals.

  

  Lovely green jersey from Victoria's Secret with Colin Stuart Nude strappies

  
  

Luxe for Less

We ALL want to look cute, regardless of the economy.  Every fashion magazine I frequently ogle, now have pages-even whole sections dedicated to great luxe for less.  PeopleStyle.com for example, really breaks it all down for us in terms of comparing designer duds worn by the Hollywood elite vs local retail irresistible finds.  I feel that we are now inundated with new sites popping up every day tailored for budget-friendly gals like us.  Far be it from me to complain, but I gotta say that its getting so hard to keep the list updated.  My bookmarks are so overloaded that I now have to keep everything in separate folders-YIKES!  Too many clicks, but luckily they're alphabetized.  Lets face it; we all want to know "who its by" or "where'd ya get that?' especially this girl.  One time, I literally asked Google, my ever so reliable, all-knowing internet GOD, "...the necklace worn by Vera Fermiga in the movie Up In The Air", to a bevy of results of which I then forwarded to my not-so-familiar-with-these-things husband. Lo and behold, I was a very very happy girl that Christmas.  My eyes always have a way of wandering to the more expensive item when I am on the hunt, (don't you hate it when that happens?) but I sort of refuse to buy a silk top for $345 when I can find one just as cute for $99.  Not to mention the fact that I simply can't afford it.  For those that can, more power to ya.  Although I prefer the looks and styles by top designers, I must admit that its more fun to buy lots of cute stuff rather than buying one item for the same amount of money...sometimes.  I do revel in the moment when I find that one investment item, something that I know I can get good wear for a year or so, like my Boutique 9 pumps. I can embarrassingly spend hours and hours shopping online; researching, price-comparing, idea-guzzling, drooling, crying!  Suffice it to say, it ain't easy staying chic now a-days.  I not only have to watch my diet, fight my wrinkles, and update my roots, I also must stick to a shopping budget.  Thankfully, stores like Forever21, Urban Outfitters etc., have popped up to save my shopoholic a$$.  I can now be trendy in every season and get good wear on my carefully chosen items that I can mix and match year round.  Yay, me! oh and YOU too!!

Personal POV

Reference: People StyleWatch, "Everything Old Is New Again"

My philosophy on fashion is quite simple: do what you like! In this day and age, if we take a closer look around us, all things fashion has been morphed and reinvented. Right before our very eyes and in various forms, shapes, sizes; the evolution of fashion is fusion. From the food we eat and restaurants we frequent to music genres we like and our style of dress. I, for one, like to experiment with different flavors, colors, shapes; something of a new found energy I find myself in nowadays.  I don't go too far off kilter with my own sense of expression, but it’s thanks to my incomparable indecisiveness that I have room to indulge in the “new” and “fresh” looks. There was a time where I would simply walk away or, to some extreme, gawk at bold prints or bright neon colors. I had a penchant for wearing many different (but all the same) shades of beige, nudes or neutrals. I even went as far as padding myself on the back for staying away from the too-trendy looks (or so I thought), sticking to the classic elements any savvy gal's wardrobe would contain, convincing myself that I was marching to the beat of my own drummer. Who was I kidding? I secretly reveled in getting my hands on that special top that wasn't on the sale rack, new items for every new season. I could not, however, deactivate the magnet that would draw me to those blah hues. Recently, though, I realized that I was washing myself out, never adding any POP to my wardrobe. With age, (dare I say it) comes a certain wisdom and experience. A sort of f&*k it attitude, if you will. The audacity of wearing a pair of RED pants outdoors came not so long ago, accompanied by a grey hair and a few wrinkles to match. I can honestly say that I have been guilty of mixing and matching, especially lately. For instance, I am happiest when I pair hard with soft, like a leather motorcycle jacket, over a frilly dress or work attire with a pair of door-knocker earrings that we used to rock back in the day. It would be fair to say that I am fully aware of my limitations. Nevertheless, when I find myself searching for the perfect outfit, it can sometimes be a daunting task albeit my favorite thing to do. When people go as far as to compliment my choices, most of the time I go off into a tangent. I can go on forever about my passion; the how, what, why and where of my outfit of the day. I can almost hear the eye rolls and, you know what, it's what drives me even more to explore my inner motivations for my obsession with fashion. I sometimes think myself to sleep, going over in my head-"which top with which bottom" to the point of developing some temporary ringing on my ears, but then I bite my tongue and count jean fits (skinnies, boot cut, straight, high-waisted) and it’s off to lalaland I go-only to start my obsession all over again in the morning. Too many outfits, not enough time! Living in New York is definitely a perk, soaking in some major inspiration from the very same people that I stare at all day. It may be unhealthy to obsess over what a person wears but in the end, when I am flicking off all of those compliments from my shoulders like salt (for luck, of course) I can honestly say to myself in a tiny little voice in my head-"wow, this works!". What can be more gratifying than that?