Cardigan Empire

Outfitting a Memorable Memorial Day: Swimsuits for All Figures

2012-05-25T02:21:00.002-07:00

As we pause to honor historical valour, we bravely step forward into the un-calendared start of summer. And what uniform could be more appropriate for this virginal seasonal tread than white. Parade this shade from optic to oatmeal and celebrate the surrender of winter's sullying sludge.

More Anthropologie...

In egalitarian fashion, please find a spread of swimsuits to flatter figures from straight to soft.

MIDDLE FIGURE

One-Piece Swimwear
Sandals

Boundaries and distraction-start with a strong center panel or high waisted bottom. Add some type of embellishment be it a pattern, blousing, ruffles, or ruching. Finish the set with a wedge sandal which adds height without looking overwhelmed by your center.

More Anthropologie...

LOWER FIGURE

One-Piece Swimwear
Pumps

A one shoulder angle draws attention above while a sandal sans leg truncating ankle strap offers the legs maximum longitude. For lower figure's embellishments always belong on top. For the bottom there are two leg options: A high cut legline will stretch a swimmer's skirt will shield.

More Norma Kamali...

HOURGLASS

One-Piece Swimwear
HourglaSss

Tie a bow, draw an outline, block it in color, but ensure that the waist of an hourglass is featured. Some supporting shirring or wrapping goes a long way in making sure your starring primary curves are not outshone by secondary or tertiary undulations.

More Marc by Marc Jacobs...

LINEAR

One-Piece Swimwear
Nail Polish

Flirt around the figure with ruffles and pretty particulars. Ruffles, feminine prints, and high necklines round out a boyish figure.

More DKNY...

UPPER FIGURE

One-Piece Swimwear
Sandals

First and always, check for underwire and adequate support for the lady eggs. Second, gain balance by broadening your hips against your bust and shoulders. Use the visual optics of narrowing lines, lower leglines, and hip centered details to build out your narrower bottom half.

More Marc by Marc Jacobs...

Whitney Port declares her own beauty tips:

It's Coming....

2012-05-20T22:07:00.001-07:00

(coco's anticipatory remarks)

Giveaways, How-To's, and the Bagley Master Closet Reveal
Cardigan Empire Closet-Palooza

levi's initial evaluation

Immediate Deliver your Mother's Day Gift, 30% Off

2012-05-13T13:56:00.002-07:00

Build a Box for your Gift Certificate

Your mother's collar may have been soiled with your sorrowed sobs. Her eyelids may have been wrinkled with dreams of your happiness. Her lap may have been stretched and softened to cradle your cultivation. These are a woman's badges of honor, medallions of her motherhood.

Women are born mothers. Motherhood doesn't ceremonially commence when a woman conceives a child. She can bear children in her heart long before she ever (if ever) bears them in her womb.

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Share a cherished fashion memory of your Mother and/or a bit of modern advice you wish she would implement.

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Use the code MOMMY30 this week to purchase a Mommy in your life a digitally delivered Cardigan Empire gift certificate for any fashion service at a generous 30% discount.

The Menace of Mother's Day

2012-05-10T08:52:00.003-07:00

My fetus-free womb used to convulse at the mention of Mother's Day. At my request, my Mister and I transformed the whole weekend into a celebration of infertility. A sushi banquet would be followed by a jetted hot tub and possible soft cheeses. But Sunday Morning my throat still tightened when they attempted to force a pitying carnation corsage into my fisted hands.

If you've held back similarly motivated tears or are struggling to complete your family in any way, perhaps you should read about Laurel.

A Search for Children

The Baby Wedding

Mother's Day 2008

Other Stuff

My Favorite Things

2012-05-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

my most clandestine thoughts here

PostPartum Mommy Makeover: Dressing for the Fourth Trimester

2012-04-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

the pearl you grew cell by cell over 40 long weeks has finally emerged

Postpartum is puberty‘s cousin. Both involve high doses of hormones, manic emotions, and awkward body fluctuations.

Amidst the sleep deprivation and oxytocin throes, remember this truth: you are a mother, and unequivocally a queen. Every scar on your body is an imprint of the life you have born. Wear each mark as a badge of honor.

Your pre-pregnancy trousers will not magically latch as you exit the hospital, but if you're lucky your baby will. And that tiny body should be your focus. Postpartum like pregnancy is a process, and one that can be relished, if given fair opportunity and appropriate costume.

THE FIRST 40 DAYS

Immediately after giving birth, I declare that all mothers have the the right to a 40 day spa like retreat with their newly born. Yet even during your span of sanctuary, you have to get dressed in clean clothes, everyday. A floral chemise and lightweight robe, yoga leggings paired with a cozy hoodie, select your lounge-wear with care. Well wishers are going to visit and you want to look presentable.

More Anthropologie...

BEYOND 40 DAYS

Tops(how to nurse in normal clothes)

The beauty of a button-down lies in its adaptability. Expose the serving saucers and enshroud the rest. It need not buttondown to hip, a handful of buttons on a henley is plenty.
A criss-cross wrap top not only leaves your core under the covers, it will also allow you to unveil a single teet at a time. Or opt for a draped cowlneck, the extra fabric cloaks you and your sweet suckling's business.
A knit's neckline may scoop, dive, or lunge but make sure it stretches to accomodate milk appointments. And you may desire to pair it with a nursing tank. Open neck jersey knits are especially graceful when ruched or ruffled as they cloak retreating remains of pregnancy.
Because a swing jacket is cut fuller and wider than your core, your center instantly looks smaller and flatter by comparison. A fintgertip-length hoodie cut straight or banded below the bust (at the empire) rather than along the hipline avoids the puffy snowman homage in favor of a long, lean silhouette.

More Anthropologie...

Skirts & Dresses:

Skirts are guileless creatures on the whole. An A-Line cut will simultaneously pardon and offer sequestered sanctuary to a soft center, an inflated thigh, a swollen bottom. Elastic waistbands are of particular use as they will unquestionably follow the expansion and contraction of your own figure.
Wrap dresses offer similar loyalties. As you abandon inches they can be tightened across your frame; they also outfit you as a gracious and efficient milkmaid.
Babies are clumsy creatures and sleep deprived mothers are equally messy, wash and wear is thus a requirement to avoid dry cleaning dependencies. Jersey dresses with veils of ruching, ruffles, and other embellishments will offer a vague yet vivacious outline.

More Julie Brown...

Pants:

When given a soft, delicious center, the waistband of denim should corset in the widest width with a mid-rise. If the waistband is too low, muffin tops results. Too high and you'll resemble a kangaroo.
Drawstring trousers allow you to adjust sizes sans tailor.

More Old Navy...

Unders:

Rather than repeat an entire lecture on nursing bras and their accouterments, I defer you to the following posts:

Nursing tank

Accessories

A lightweight scarf can be tied to camouflage bust and belly simultaneously.
A wide stretchy belt worn at your widest borders can corset in the remains of birth. Just don't cinch it in too tight.
Just because you've had a baby, doesn't mean you are one. Select a diaper bag with plenty of organization and sophistication.

More Petunia Pickle Bottom...

Don't be shy to add your experience in the comments. What's your favorite postpartum indulgence?

Top 10 Maternity Shops: How To Dress for the Third Trimester

2012-04-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

Approximate size at 40 weeks

First, the third trimester checklist, containing a complete wardrobe to fashion you through weeks twenty-seven through forty:

Second, an elite listing of ten maternity merchandisers at which to procure said items. After sifting through a deluge of poorly made, poorly designed maternity wear, these clothing offerings are an oasis in a quest to retain dignity during gestation.

ASOS: Next thing you know, ladies will be padding their bellies to conform flat figures to these fashions.

asos maternity

Isabella Oliver: Start swaddling your baby early in Isabella Oliver's, alluring yet elegant, luxury wrap dresses and tops

isabella oliver Maternity

TopShop: Pregnancy just found it's edge.

topshop Maternity

A Pea in the Pod: Pretties you would want to wear even if you weren't pregnant.

Boden: Cozy jersey + cheerful prints.

Boden maternity

Gilt : Premier online sample sale rotates limited collections of perfectly cut denim, butter soft jersey dresses, and more, up to 60% off.

Mommy Appelseed: Offers a blooming variety of my heart sung lilac matnerity line and more, yes much more.

eBay: Find exactly what you and womb want to wear for a fraction of the price. Create saved searches for your favorite luxury brands.

Bellydance Maternity: A prodigious selection of maternity clothing including premium denim and baby bestie brands like Olian Maternity.

Hatch: Transitions extraordinarily well, liquid silk and flowing cottons drape at two months then glide at nine months and beyond.

Be sure to append your favorite pregnancy fashion providers in the comments.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book can include your own pregnant styling rules of conduct and much more.

Exemplary Pregnancy Fashion

2012-04-20T16:14:00.003-07:00

Rockstar Diaries: pleated drawstring midi skirt with bust tucked blouse

bleubird; maxi dress

Its a Love Story: jersey knit wrap dress

Angela Hardison: extra long tunic, leggings (black beneath, bold above)

DayBook Blog long tunic, utilitarian jacket, stretchy straight skinnies

NieNie Dialogues: empire dress with cardigan

usthreebirds hip banded embellished knit with boyfriend jeans

How to Wear Regular Clothes During Pregnancy: The Second Trimester

2012-04-19T23:57:00.002-07:00

her approximate size following 25 weeks of gestation

Should you choose, it is possible to fashion a maternity-wear-free pregnancy. Here are some tips on how to do it.

ACQUISITION

First, let's be clear. Just because you're not buying maternity clothes, doesn't mean you won't have to find new clothes. New shapes and new sizes may be required. But often, you can find traditional clothing choices better tailored to your style and budget.

Next, try it on. Now more then ever it makes a difference how it drapes, where it hugs. You have far more curves to fill the garment than the angles of the hanger.

Finally, buy slowly. Glutton yourself on the intoxication of well fitting pretties because as it turns out you two may only have fleeting weeks to enjoy each other.

APPLICATION

Tops

Your expanding arched abdomen is a glorious line. And it is unmistakable physical evidence that you are very desirable to the opposite sex. Don't be afraid to outline it with a knit wrap top. But remember you are not a packaged sausage. If you can see any excessive details of your figure metamorphosis, it is not serving you.
Boo-belly-the unfortunate blocking of the pregnant upper body as a single awkward blob. Ensure you avoid this predicament with elastic and tie back empire bands, ensuring a clear definition of bust and belly
Peasant tops with hip banded waistbands ensure that baby never falls below the line of your blouse. Baby should never find herself exposed to the public before her birth debut. Long tunics can accomplish the same objective.
Finish any top off with an open closure cardigan. It accommodates the fickle fluctuations of your temperature, while lengthening the line of the figure. You can also experiment with tying oxford shirts or other thin layers right above your belly.

More Anthropologie...

Skirts & Dresses:

As your waistline has at least temporarily migrated north your waistband should follow suit. Belt your dresses at skirts at the narrow empire valley. Dresses in stretch ready knits can follow the fluctuations of your form to birth and beyond.
Don't be afraid to pull your skirt up and over your belly. An elastic or drawstring waist midi and maxi skirts offers simultaneous ventilation and modesty.
Wrap or tent dresses serve opposite preferences. Wraps will accentuate your sultry silhouette, while swingy tents offer flirty mystery. Both options usually work best when kept within a couple inches of the knee.

More Anthropologie...

Pants:

Leggings can be awful gossips. And the content of your panties as well your upper thigh viscosity should be protected private information. Keep these details undisclosed by wearing a thicker weave material. It should be closer to a pant than a stocking.
Dark, slim denim hides a number of confided secrets. Somewhere between jeggings and trouser legs is a straight-leg mean. A slim fit in a low rise can button below the northern bulge and offer architectural balance.
Foldover lounge pants are tender companions who welcome you into their rolled down support.

More Hard Tail...

Seasonal:

Don't believe the nine month myth. You are going to be pregnant for closer to 10 months, 8 weeks shy of a year. Thus part of that pregnancy is going to be in full bloom in either the winter or the summer. Be prepared.
Trenchcoats work because you can tie them, when buttons fail.
Constrained bladder + compromised balance = possible one piece swimming fiasco. Might I suggest a long torso two piece?

Accessories:

A mid to skinny belt doesn't need to be tight to create a definitive difference.
Fuller curves can carry bolder ornamentation. Bright baubles divert attention and redress an entire look.
Flats extend far beyond flip flops. Refuse athletic designed footwear in favor of riding boots, ballet slippers, fashion sandals, as the season demands.

While a strict non-maternity dress may not be appropriate for every figure, every figure can apply at least a handful of these maternity-free options. And please supplement your experience in the comments.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book can include your own pregnant styling rules of conduct and much more.

How to Dress to Hide Your Baby Bump: The First Trimester

2012-04-10T11:57:00.002-07:00

his approximate size at the conclusion of the first third

You don't want your pea-sized person and her plushly padded apartment to alert the public to her presence before you're prepared. Following is a checklist to cloak your secret or simply slim what is not a surprise.

ACQUISITION

First, harvest from your existing wardrobe. Buying new is a last resort. Save your budget for the fuller blooms of gestation. For now try all potential candidates on and create a mini closet from which you will recruit your ensembles. As you swell your closet candidates will wane, so try to trim any insufficient talent from the cloth pool at the weekly anniversary of your pregnancy.

Next, borrow from a friend, about one size larger than yourself. And although your husband's side of the closet may look tempting, be extremely discriminating. In order to succeed, he must share approximate borders with your own width, and you must cuff, tie, and/or thoughtfully pair each item for stylistic and architectural balance.

Finally, buy whatever key pieces you still lack. Try to consider items which will also serve you post partum when you'll be nursing and/or retracting.

APPLICATION

Dainty Unders

You're going to need a new bra. Before your tummy even promises protrusion, your lady eggs enlarge. And in all likelihood, your pregnancy bra may not survive the swells and strains of gestation. It's dangerous to pay more for a nursing bra that could expire before your due date, and may not even latch once la leche lands.
Long Tanks will prevent the exposure of your own flesh filled doughnut and can serve you all the way to the delivery room and beyond. Now, raise your right hand and promise me you will not pull its hem beyond the hipline and across the decline of your derrière. This enacts two tragedies, first it creates the illusion of two puppies fighting in a bag, as seen from the back, second it immediately widens your hips many inches.
Another tool to combat tummy creep and secure trousers without squishing your unborn child is a transition band. Pants plus band offers security sans a fastened button and zipper. But should necessity arrive before your belly band does, feel free to employ an old fashioned rubber band. Loop it around the button, through the hole, then back around the button.

More Freya...

Tops

Yeah:

Button-up blouses offer the right amount of structure and flexibility, effortlessly concealing the rising bun in your oven. Liberally sprinkle your belly muffin with prints which keep the eye moving, veiling abdominal variations.
Ruffles, ruching, and other embellishments, including peplums, tastefully disguise organic undulations as folds of fabric.
Straight up and down tunic blouses, which end generously below the bump line, feel architectural rather than suspicious.
Bright long sweaters and lightly hued boxy jackets layered over dark underpinnings enact a forcefield of mystery. Longer is leaner, so stretch and flatten your torso with layers that extend to at least the hipline

Neigh:

Future wishing empire blouses create a prematurely plump present.
Tucking in encircles your insecurities with added emphasis.
Stripes are visual measuring cues. That means the wider breadths of your buxom bosom and burgeoning belly will be enlarged and optically calculated.
It's not just your waistline that's blossoming. Be sure if you wear a oxford blouse minus peek-a-boo buttons. If closures gap from any angle, employ a safety pin or keep it unbuttoned and wear a tank underneath

More Lucky Brand...

Bottoms:

There are multiple smart ways to skin this cat.

First, buddy up with a friend one waist size larger than yourself.
Second, enlist afore mentioned belly band and/or rubber band to expand the waistband and usable life of your existing wardrobe.
If necessary invest in a minimalist lower body wardrobe with hopes of reusing in the "fourth trimester"

Skirts & Dresses:

Few silhouettes are more slimming than a uniform flow, shoulder to toe maxi dress. Opt for some mystery near the waist: a print, ruching, pleats..
Straight sheath dresses skim the entire silhouette avoiding cling around any new developments
A-line skirts and dresses actually make your waist appear proportionately when compared with the resulting flounce and flare below.

Skirts & Dresses

More Jax...

Accessories:

A lightweight scarf can be tied to camouflage bust and belly simultaneously.
A wide stretchy belt worn at your widest borders can corset in the beginnings of birth. Just don't cinch it in too tight.
Channel your inner celebrity-evading-paparazzi, by holding a statement purse in front of the baby-to-be as you stroll.

We'll continue to grow our pregnancy fashion knowledge throughout the week. Add any first trimester tips in the comments.

Procure your own empire constitution. Your personalized fashion look book can include your own pregnant styling rules of conduct and much more.

How to Dress for Pregnancy

2012-04-03T00:06:00.001-07:00

Tenley Clark-Pregnant P aperdolls

this week a catalog of tips for dressing from before to after.

for now, send requests via comments

What to Wear: Spring 2012 Trend Summary

2012-03-28T22:59:00.001-07:00

In short and summary,

Freshy Spring Trend 2012: Peplum

2012-03-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

Spring 2012 is definitely partial to peplums, the short little flounce attached to a fitted bodice. A natural mirror of both lower figures and hourglass shapes, adept at accommodating curvy posterior assets. Yet the peplum can also create shape for a linear figure, and add balanced flare to an upper figure. A peplum can even camouflage the soft undulations of a middle figure.

peplum passion: tuked peplum tank (anthropologie, similar) / 3/4 sleeve button tab top (old navy), orbit necklace (j.crew) / ag rosebud jeggings (gilt groupe, available here) / kerry sling back booties (sole society, similar)

Basically peplums are Pangaea.

Jason Wu, Spring 2012

Edgy Ethereal

Dear Mister Wu, please send me one of each, as well as a tube of the tangerine lipstick.

Badgley Mischka, Spring 2012

The Peplum Brigade

Cultivate your hourglass with any of these peplums:

More Asos...

Let Cardigan Empire fashion you for Spring. Freshen up with a complete Fashion Package: combining a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session

Freshy Spring Trend 2012: Bold Pattern

2012-03-22T21:18:00.001-07:00

kate spade's spring collection of florence broadhurst prints

Color blocking is still firmly entrenched in the retail barracks, but prints are waging a counter attack for closets this Spring 2012. At the avante garde is led by bold, brave prints in strong contrasts and large scale.

anna sui's twenties inspired prints

reachel bagley supporting pattern play. tippi sweater (j.crew) / daughters of the liberation go-getter pants (anthropologie, similar), kate spade pink dotz necklace (amazon) / leopard print shoes (banana republic, similar)

While the boldest of the bold may wear a single print from crown to heel, others can test the trend by adopting a fresh uniform of patterned trousers and solid blouse.

more ways to support the print-surrection.

More Asos...

Let Cardigan Empire fashion you for Spring. Freshen up with a complete Fashion Package: combining a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session

Freshy Spring Trend 2012: Pastels

2012-03-21T07:47:00.002-07:00

Louis Vuitton, see the show complete with models riding on white carousel horses

With easter season warming the eastern horizon, a sunrise of delicate hues have streaked their way across spring 2012 runways and unto merchandise racks. While the strict interpretation found in a bag of jordan almonds is available, I adored alice + olivia's parisian macaroom take, delicate pastel crusts with bold creamy fillings. It included tonal blends, mixing tints (colors mixed with white) with fully hued shades (colors mixed with black).

alice + olivia, see the show with models prancing along artificial grass under trees of shoes

levi and i channeling alice + olivia
reachel : clean ponte pencil dress (topshop) / anthropologie felted lei cardigan (ebay) / kate spade pink dotz necklace (amazon) / daniblack jacky peeptoe pumps (endless) /

unexpected color combinations abound this spring from violet and rust to baby blue and flame red.

cirro blouse (anthropologie) / no. 2 pencil skirt (jcrew) / leopard print skinny belt (asos) / pearl necklace (old-similar here) / waving grain pumps (anthropologie old)

if pastels don't suit your complexion, try pale tints on the bottom half as a trouser or skirt.

More AG Adriano Goldschmied...

Or if your southern half has enough presence without a spotlight, try a handbag or shoe.

More Topshop...

Let Cardigan Empire fashion you for Spring. Freshen up with a complete Fashion Package: combining a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session

Thirty-Three Celebrations

2012-03-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

Mister Bagley

I am giddy at the thought of celebrating every March 19th with you until we both spontaneously combust at age 92, you from too much cheese, me from too much stress.

My only regret is that I was unable to attend all your birthdays preceding our fated meeting. Luckily, we cloned you, and I can dress your tiny type up in boy frocks and snuggle you in miniature while we read Little Women together.

I adore you darling, really I do.

5 Steps to a Signature Style

2012-03-15T16:38:00.001-07:00

a truncated version of my previous signature style studies

in case you like overwritten ramblings

PART I ---- PART II

If your signature style analysis has uncovered some closet needs, check out La Redoute Women's Clothing. My personal rebranding efforts could benefit from slim frenchy trousers and a sweet peachy dress.

Click here if you're on a budget and looking for some new styles, at Macy's.

Define Your Signature Style: Part II

2012-03-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

to wear, to be.

The long awaited part II release of my style discovery compendium is now complete (for those who missed part i, click to rewind) the rest may browse on below.

step four. illuminate aspirational luminaries
No one can fill a frock like you can. Your distinct combination of bone structure, coloring, lifestyle, and charisma defies duplication. Yet you share fancies with others, and your unique aesthetic may benefit by borrowing a word or two from someone else's visual essay. Select between three to five individuals that inspire you stylistically and cite specific looks you feel incapsulate your aspiration. With your collection in a single frame of view, structure your fashion thesis identifying commonalities between individual cases (a process similar to your earlier personal closet analysis).

my style celebrities: michelle williams, emma stone, emma pillsbury, blair eadie of atlantic pacific

I recommend printing, clipping, and pinning a board of your style inspirations within your dressing area. This canvas can assist you in cross pollinating your existing inventory while simultaneously providing structure for a strategic shopping list.

fashion your own closet pinboard

step five. categorize

Stereotypes can actually help us move beyond generalized understandings. They provide a template upon which we can elaborate differentiating details. Rather than having to sketch every line of demarcation, you can pour talent and labor into fleshing out unique features rather than the underlying outline. Stereotyped categories save time which can then be dedicated to drilling into depths that may never have been imagined in a definition designed from scratch. So are you romantic, bohemian, traditional, modern, or dramatic? (Click this previously published summary for a review).

step six. add your own stamp
It might be the cuff of your trouser legs or the angle at which you tie your scarf. Whatever your method, consistently sign your look. Accessories are a dextrous tool with which to pen the necessary strokes. Whether you always wear the same delicate posts or rotate within your extensive collection of brooches, apply a touch of something distinctly you.

In the meantime, tell me about someone's style which inspires your envy and admiration.

Desire something deeper? Reserve a 60 minute virtual shopping session to compile a portfolio of uniquely personal ensembles. Rather than teetering between blasé and flagrant, relax knowing you will have an expert to offer informed opinions, creative outfitting advice, and savvy shopping experience. Sessions initiate with a signature style discovery interview.

Define Your Signature Style - Part I

2012-03-07T22:05:00.002-08:00

my closet all-stars

Having scripted and debugged my style twenty-twelve program, moral obligations compel me to release the vogue code for open source consumption. Feel free to copy, paste, and reformat the template for your personal wardrobing needs.

step one. identify your closet all stars
Following long, a dear friend is no more lost, a reunion looms in the next quarter-hour, which closet talent would you be most likely to summon? In other frames, imagine yourself European, where wearing the same smart frock days in succession did not an express a lack of options but rather brilliant wardrobing success. Which items would you queue for repeat? Identify five to ten items that quite unequivocally robe your external self with your internal essence.

Careful now, avoid flagging the purely nostalgic or aspirational. Those stone washed coveralls may have been your closet's Michael Jordan, but 1992 has long since set. Go with items you've worn and relished in the last month.

my trend terminology

step two. trend similarities
Are there categorical common threads running through the grouping? Carefully analyze colors, silhouettes, patterns, and fabric. Weave a usable language between the items. Wardrobes needs a shared culture and diction within which it may socialize. Yet be sure you've included complimentary as opposed to duplicative items. To construct a stylistic statement, you need metaphorical nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, not a colony of nearly identical blackish blouses.

a helpful list of terms to help you speak in clothing-ese

step three. weed and scrutinize stumbles
What we are NOT also defines us. Which garments of clothing never leave the hanger? Repeat the same process with dresser duds. Abhorrence may not characterize your relationship, but something in their cloth or zippers inspires aversion. Catalog your culls to reveal your indubitable inclinations.

Come back promptly for part II.

In the meantime, tell me about an all-star player and/or benchwarmer in your closet.

Signature Style Makeover Week: Smile

2012-02-29T16:15:00.000-08:00

A toddling run-in with the vacuum cleaner left my right canine cuspid a darker shade than the rest of my smile. Too-young-for-tact children have occasionally asked why my tooth is very old or if I just neglected to brush it. I affectionately call it hobo tooth. But following a two hours with my dentist's hands wedged in my mouth, my dental discoloration is no more.

Knowing that the new little toothlet's shade would be permanent, I made sure to brighten it's surrounding mouth members to their optimum sheen in advance. With Crest Professional White Strips I was able to sparkle my smile in just one use. If you're looking to buy Crest Professional White Strips, find them cheaper with this promotional code.

Now I am ready to wear Wen Shi's dazzle dyed new capsule collection. I want her to make me a slightly more demure version of this white wonder:

You can watch the rest of Wen Shi's Little White Wardrobe Runway plus highlights from the award winning night hosted by Crest 3D White & Gen Art below.

Don't die for more, answer your curiosity here

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Enact your smile transformation with Crest 3D White Intensive Professional Effects Whitestrips ($59.99). Turnaround visible results in just one use, as stains are removed from below the enamel surface. Wear strips for two hours, daily, for one week to enjoy the full transformation that would cost $500 in professional office treatments.

And I plan to keep my smile tidy with Crest 3D White Glamorous White Toothpaste. It's going to strengthen my weakened enamel and remove stains from my smile's nooks and crannies by foaming its proprietary micro-cleansing whiteners into spots I wished I flossed more conscientiously.

Some Reachel's Wander

2012-02-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

You can find the intimate corners of my mind and home at Kristen Duke Photography today.

Please join me, and leave a comment, so Kristen and her friends will think I'm really cool.

Signature Style Makeover Week: Hair

2012-02-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

My hair from meeting Andrew to present

I've courted copper, and flirted with blonde, but I consider myself a committed brunette. Yet my link to hue is far more fickled than my fierce loyalty to length. I can style everything from a pixie to a bob, but the expanse beyond the chin is uncharted territory. I'm a short hair girl, eternally, always.

Except for now. In response to the persuasions of a persistent husband, my hair now tickles my shoulders. I have to brush it out of the way when I put on a coat. And when I pull it into a pony, I actually have some sort of a tail.

Which is where it resides most of the time, in a high pony, commonly twisted into a tiny bun. My hair is fine, and although naturally curly, at this length I'm lucky to sustain a soft, flat wave.

In a mane induced milieu, I ran in for a professional consultation, with my stylist Leisel Decker, and received the following golden instructions following a trim and allover tint of brunette bordeaux.

And so I commence, how to add volume and curl to fine hair using a flat iron:

Step 1: Wash and condition the hair with a volume inducing product. Your shampoo and conditioner are critical in prepping your hair for styling.

Step 2: Apply a volumizing foam and power dry the hair with a blow dryer. Make sure you start drying without a brush, tousling sections in the opposite direction that they normally fall. You want your hair to be 80% dry before you actually start styling it. Round brushing sopping wet hair will increase your dry time, wear out your arms, and amplify breakage.

Step 3: Spritz the crown with a root boost. Then wield your round brush to finish drying the hair, focusing the direction of heat towards the ends of the hair.

Step 4: Apply a heat protectant spray and comb through the hair to minimize damage and breakage.

Step 5: Heat your flat iron to a low/medium temperate and begin building volume at the roots. Clasp the flat iron around the base of the hair shaft than pull up and away from the head.

Step 6: After boosting the crown, begin curling individual sections. The smaller the section of hair you take and the slower you move it through the hair, the tighter the curl will be. I wanted loose soft waves, so we worked through medium size sections, clamping the iron half way down the tendrils. Once clamped you twist the wrist, wind the hair around the iron, then slowly pull out and away from the head while rotating the iron.

My stylist exemplified this process using the Missiko Hana Titanium Ionic Flat Iron

I like that it offers a range of heat options, friction free plates, and a tangle free cord, particularly crucial for avoiding third degree encounters when your twisting hair into curls.

Find all the hair products mentioned above with these Amazon Promotional Codes and purchase them for a bargain!

I'm going to try all my makeover trips for a big reveal. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, what's your best hair styling tip?

Signature Style Makeover Week: Clothing

2012-02-23T15:53:00.004-08:00

I am a romantic, with every frill, ruffle, and bow attached. But with both feet firmly planted in my third decade, I'm ready to renounce "cute" in favor of a slightly more sophisticated "pretty."

a catalog of where I've been

And while I'm open to letting my pumps go nude, I cling to my narrative roots. I want storytelling to be a part of my dress and enchantment to underlie every garment I select.

So I began with a rigorous analysis of the signature style spectrum. Prisms split light into seven categories ranging from red to violet, I have dissected fashion into the following five flavors.

And whether a store or celebrity, most looks fall somewhere along this continuum.

True, purity can be luxurious: Missoni's bohemianism, Gucci's drama, Chanel's traditionalism, Valentino's romance. But I intend to blend. What I want is a style hybrid, a sophisticated breed made of my own natural selection.

As examples:

Bohemian + Modern = Tory Burch

tailored lines intersect natural motifs, sharp outlines blend with bohemian overtones

Dramatic + Romantic = Betsey Johnson

perpetually girly at an unrelenting party, a blushing bold

Modern + Romantic = Kate Spade

vivid feminity, neatly organized whimsy

Where does your style like-o-meter point? Or who's style do you most envy?

P.S. If you're looking for similar styles to J.Crew and Ann Taylor, try these coupons for Overstock.

Signature Style Makeover Week

2012-02-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

Just as one size may not flatter your figure for a lifetime, you may outgrow your initial signature style as well.

I am ready for a change. Stay tuned for this signature style transformation schedule:

Day 1: Clothes

Day 2: Smile/Cosmetics

Day 3: Hair

In the meantime, might I recommend this article by Real Simple on how to Re-energize your Signature Style? I'll be back with personal results tomorrow.

Designing Wedding Invitations

2012-02-19T16:41:00.000-08:00

At present I'm deliberating between these three designs for my sister-in-law's wedding announcements? Issue your vote in the comments. She wants something polished yet informal that feels fresh but timeless.

We plan on sending out a digital version to save money and the environment, but close friends and family will receive a paper copy because I'm still sentimental about mail and tangible presence.

In the meantime, click here if you're looking to design your own wedding invitations.