It’s the best kind of spring blizzard: white on white.  In these tough economic times, it is nice to know one can be in style without leaving your closet.  Who doesn’t have a white t-shirt?  I delved into my stash to recreate some looks that caught my eye for spring.

Sweet, slouchy and casual.  This look is easy and comfortable with fabrics that drape and flow.  Garment construction is key-it’s got to be soft and easy-no lab coats.  This combination pairs a draped neck tank top and loose knit draped-front sweater with wide leg linen-cotton blend pants.  Add a touch of brown leather or some other warm neutral to break up the white, but don’t add black as it will toughen things up.

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Spring style this year is busy and all over the place with lots of embellishments, heavy texture, bold graphics and loud florals.  First up this season:  florals and lace, two things not found in my closet.  In order to profile these trends, I headed to my favorite place, Labels Consignment Shop.

Previously, this image from The Sartorialist website had caught my eye:  Wild leafy floral print in two color palettes, green-cobalt-navy and aqua-red with retro ankle strap heels.  The reason this beautiful combination works so well is the simplicity of the garments themselves and the tonal similarity of the color palettes.

Check out what I found at Labels…

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My husband’s batty grandma has a ton of costume jewelry, much of it stored in old, dirty cardboard boxes along with mouse poop.  Once in awhile she gives us some; jewelry with poop.  A large percentage of the jewelry is puka shell necklaces from Hawaii but there have been a few noteworthy pieces over the years.  These necklaces come to me on knotted, rotten silk cord, tangled and neglected.

The beauty of these old strings of glass beads is breathtaking.  Shawna, my friend and business partner, is also a jewelry maker and has vast knowledge of bead history.    She told me where of the beads came from; some from Japan in the 1950s and some from Italy.  After dismantling and gentle cleansing, Shawna restrung them for me with spacers.  They are now entirely wearable and absolutely stunning.
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Ruth showed up for her consultation in the standard Bellingham Saturday uniform. I must say that the red of her fleece was perfect for her, blue-based and bright, not a muddy washed out orangey red, her jeans fit her perfectly and her Keenes were actually cute and completely appropriate for the wet and cold, so I couldn’t be too critical. (Still though, zzzzz…)

We discovered that Ruth is a summer in coloring with silver white hair, ice-blue eyes and pink undertones in her skin. And hiding under that fleece was a smoking hot, long-waist hourglass figure. The difference between a classic hourglass and a long-waist one is, obviously, the length of torso. Classic hourglasses are always short-waisted. Structured tops and jackets are required to define the narrow waist otherwise the breasts appear to sit directly atop the hips. The long-waist hourglass figure is a stretched out version with more real estate available. The waist is easier to define and they have more options for clothing types and belts, etc. Read more …

Meet Sarah:  50-something, vivacious, outgoing, friendly and funny.  And looking for work, as so many are.

Sarah came to me with a clear need:  to look modern, current and professional while job-hunting.  We met at Labels, where I had prepared for her consultation with garments designed to flatter her hourglass figure.  Just as I was about to deliver my reassurances designed to calm the nerves associated with changing clothes in front of a stranger, I turned around and Sarah had whipped her clothes off and was ready to get started. As a self-professed child of the 60s, she was just not shy.  Great!  We jumped right in.

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The winter gloom has settled in with bare trees and drizzle.  There is a hypnotic pull toward piles of fleece, wool socks and colors no brighter than the landscape. How to keep the spirits up after days of socked-in cloudy skies?  Color, that’s how!  Color elicits emotion, uplifts the spirit and, as an added bonus, brightens our complexions.   It is an easy thing to throw on a colored t-shirt with your favorite jeans, however, creating interesting combinations with depth and soul requires the use of three colors.  The addition of a third brings harmony and cohesion.  This is true whether you are putting together clothing or couch cushions.

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Have you ever searched Google images for something completely innocent and been given pictures of debauchery?  I am tempted to bleach my eyeballs after what I have just seen while seeking pictures for this column.  It was my intention to show you, with visual examples, how important proportion is when choosing shoes.

Words shall have to suffice.

Let’s talk about my sisters.  In shape, they could not be more different.  One (let’s call her Sue) is a teeny-tiny bony little thing.  Her limbs are slender, her frame is narrow; she is just very petite, with no thickness about her.  The other one (let’s call her Kay) is also very small, but with shape:  her bottom half is larger than her top half, sporting a stunningly feminine booty and thigh curve.   She has a perfect bust, too, and a tiny waist.   They are both about 5’3.

Sue and Kay cannot wear the same shoes and here’s why:

Sue looks great in ballet flats, slender sandals and strappy, delicate heels.   These shoes are in proportion to her frame.  There is no jarring difference between her leg line and the shoe; it flows.  The delicate shoe structure also corresponds to the types of clothing that suit her body, such as soft, flowy fabrics and slender silhouettes.  She used to wear these clunky loafer things that looked exactly like baked potatoes.  I always wanted to slap a dollop of sour cream on those babies.  The loafers didn’t work because they were too thick for her foot and leg, and thus, the rest of her.   Disproportion interrupts.  She is probably mad now (sorry, Sue).

Kay wears chunky heels, usually with some platform, and wedge sandals.  Slightly thicker heels are in keeping with her leg line.  The heel gets her heel up off the floor, lengthening the leg.  A flat of any kind would widen her beam.  The A-line skirts and wider leg pants that fit her so well would swallow up any kind of delicate shoe.  Kay’s footwear has got to stand up to the clothing, not disappear beneath it, as well as support her frame.

• When choosing shoes, consider your overall frame, the size of your rear and the thickness of your legs.

• Women of stature need sturdy shoes.  If your weight flattens out your shoe and breaks down the sides, you need sturdier footwear.

• Kitten heels are for skinny women.

• Thick-bodied women look great in curvy, feminine peep-toes.

• Worn-out shoes go in the garbage!

NEVER ask your computer to show you a picture of a large rear in skinny heels.

Oh No She Didn’t by Clinton Kelly

A review

There is a reason why Clinton Kelly is famous and deserves to be.  As anyone who watches What Not To Wear knows, he is articulate, compassionate without being a pushover, sensitive, intelligent, style-savvy and HILARIOUS.  Smart funny, quick-witted funny, snarky but not mean funny, you know, all the best kinds.    And that is why his new book is so great; he writes the way he speaks.  This is an author who has truly found his own voice.  Not by accident, by the way, the man has a masters in journalism.

Oh No She Didn’t is a collection of one page essays regarding style mistakes and how to avoid them.  All of the obvious ones are here:  Too Much Cleavage At Work, The Mom Jean, Holiday Sweaters, etc., along with less obvious topics such as Kooky Embroidery, Head To Toe Trend Ho and The Little Nubbin In The Boat.  (oh, please read it-page 172).  There is even a chapter just for the Pacific Northwest called Polar Fleece Addiction.

The layout of the book itself is absolutely inspired, with a combination of text, handwritten comments, illustrations and wild photos.  The creative design team must have had a hoot putting it all together.  The end result is the only style book any normal woman in America will ever need.  Every relevant topic is addressed, every cringe-worthy style mistake walking every street, eviscerated.

Style books by celebrities are a dime a dozen and I don’t bother with most, although one can’t blame them for taking their ride on the money train.  If you aren’t inclined to actually pay for Kelly’s book, at least borrow it from someone.  Not from me, though.  Oh No She Didn’t is a pleasure to read, laugh-out-loud funny, right on the money and a great way to spend an evening.

An excerpt from Low Boobies, page 23:

1…2…3…4… Get your boobies off the floor!

5…6…7…8… Now’s the time to elevate!