wearing my favorite things

I am a big believer in buying what you love and wearing what you love — as often as you can! Skinny jeans? They are a no-brainer for me. It’s a shape that suits my shape and the base for many of my casual outfits.

But once I leave my comfort zone, I get nervous about trying new things. Sound familiar? This half leather/half knit taupe jacket by Per Se was a splurge for me. I tried it on, loved it, but it was a “new” color for me. I have clients who wear this color and have for years. It’s their “skinny jeans” no-brainer equivalent!

Here’s the back story: I cut off my long locks and headed toward my natural hair color a few months ago. I discovered a BIG change in my color palette and I’m still adjusting. That red hair I used to have wouldn’t have liked the yummy neutral shade of this jacket. But as time went on and I got more comfortable with my natural hair color I wanted to find the shades that supported it. This jacket offered me a new neutral to work with. I was shopping with my Bellas at the Carlisle trunk show (which also carries Per Se) and they encouraged me to go for it.

More back story: earlier in the winter I had purchased the taupe/cement colored boots by Paul Green. They seemed like a great neutral to wear with shades of gray as well as my jeans.

Within days I opened the box that had the Per Se jacket in it and it took me about a minute to realize that the boots and the jacket were a perfect pairing. I started to see a Beauty Bundle coming together!

In early spring, I found this handbag on the sale table at Nordstrom: large scale polka dots printed on a textured faux croc leather by Marc Jacobs. The colors were taupey-gray. Now I had three things that blended well in my new neutral. They wanted to play together-the jacket, the boots, and the bag. And before my eyes, a Beauty Bundle was born. I could take this bundle and pair it with jeans, a skirt, a trouser, even a dress and it would pull the whole outfit together. That’s the beauty of a Beauty Bundle. When you find three or more things that love each other and like to travel together as a team, that bundle can support many different outfits in your lifestyle.

In the outfit above, the cement colored ruched tee (by Etcetera) and my layers of silver textured chains were already in my closet. I put them with the Beauty Bundle and my jeans and I’m good to go.

And where do I go in this outfit? To the movies, to the Sonoma Square with Russ for coffee or lunch on the weekends, to a closet shopping appointment with a casual client, to lunch with girlfriends, and this summer, I’ll wear it in San Francisco when it’s freezing in July!

I like to name my Beauty Bundles. Do you have ideas for a name for this one? Do you have the makings of a Beauty Bundle in your closet? Please share!

Heaven sent foot relief

It always happens at the worst time. You go on a trip and you’re wearing your super cute summer sandals and they seemed comfortable at home but now you’re giving them the real test. After sixty minutes you start to feel a rub — on the baby toe, at the base of the big toe, or maybe on your heel. Comfort turns to discomfort quickly when you’re walking on cobblestones or just down long corridors in conference rooms.

I found a solution last week when I picked up a box of Dr. Scholl’s Blister Treatment adhesive bandages. I call them bandages because that’s the easiest way to think of them. But what I love about these is that they are oval and wrap around any area of your toes or foot and they’re clear. I actually had one of those rubs that showed up after an hour or two and I put one of these on and was instantly relieved. My rub was near my baby toe and the bandage went over the toe but because it is clear, my hot pink toenail color showed through. You could barely tell anything was there.

I’m going to be wearing sandals a lot this week at my annual conference and I packed a few of them in my suitcase — just in case. I want to look cute in my sandals but I want to feel great at the same time.

Tell me what you do for your precious feet! Do you have some solutions we should all know about? Please share!

Lace with lacy necklace is so fine!

Lace is a current hot trend. Maybe you knew that or maybe you just love it and it’s a classic item in your wardrobe. I spotted this combo yesterday and just had to share it with you. This is a lace top with cap sleeves and this long necklace that adorns it is multi layers of fine chain in a delicate knot at the end. It was paired with a cotton jean jacket in olive green.

I just adore the mix of these two textures. They seem so right together — like bread and butter or peanut butter and chocolate. The lace is pretty on its own but when you add the chain necklace with the small round beads that repeat the circles in the lace, you just can’t help but love it even more!

I don’t know if I’d have thought to put this exact necklace with this lace top but when something is “right” it’s great to study it and understand why it’s working. For me, the textures are similar and friendly with each other and layering them together adds more interest to the outfit. My eye is drawn to it.

Two is better than one. Having two things with similar texture – one on top of the other – turns something that was good into something that’s much better! I also think the contrast in colors between the top and the necklace adds a certain tension that makes it pop as well.

Any ideas from you about why this works? Is this something you could wear?

Signs of outfits worn!

It’s spring update time and I’m spending time in my client’s closets getting them ready for the new season.

Our bible is the wardrobe binder. Every wardrobe binder is filled with charts like these that have outfits I can 100% guarantee are fabulous on my client because we’ve created them in her closet. All the details of each outfit goes on a chart. These charts then go into their binder so they never have to think or say, “I don’t have anything to wear!” They have dozens of things to wear and they’re all documented in their wardrobe binders

I ADORED finding this page in Sue’s binder last week. She explained the coffee stain this way: “I make my morning coffee and then I open up my binder and figure out what I’m going to wear that day. And, well, you can guess what happened, but I wasn’t going to take the chart out. I rely on these, obviously.”

The condition of the charts doesn’t matter. Using them is what’s important and I can see how much she uses hers! A well-worn wardrobe chart means she’s really wearing her clothes. But if you want to save yours from possible coffee spills, you can do what I do and slip each chart into a plastic sleeve protector.

(Wondering where to find these charts for yourself? Click on the Tips & Teasers page. If you have bad handwriting like I do, you can use the fillable ones you’ll find there and make yours neat and tidy!)

Enjoy!

My dot bag loves hanging out with more dots.

I’m crazy for dots! And although I don’t wear them much in clothing, I couldn’t resist this bag. It’s become my spring go-to bag. It cheers every outfit up even if I’m still wearing cashmere on chilly spring days.

It came with me to “the girl and the fig” restaurant in the Sonoma Square. There’s nothing more fun than sitting at the bar having a Virgin Pimm’s followed by a yummy spring salad. It’s just so delightful!

The stranger sitting next to me was admiring our food choices and we struck up a friendly conversation. I mean really — you can’t wear dots and not be a friendly person, can you?

Turtleneck: friend or foe?

Unless you’re twenty years old, a turtleneck may not be your friend. I was working with a client in her closet last week. We were getting her ready for winter. She pulled out a stack of turtlenecks and was maybe just a little bit surprised when I suggested she try them on for me.

This client has a 34-year-old daughter so we can guess at her age, right? Turtleneck #1 went over her head.

“Off it goes and in the giveaway pile,” I said.

“Really?” she said.

“Yup, take a look in the mirror. See how this turtleneck is groping your neck inappropriately?” I replied.

And then she saw what I saw. Her neck was looking 75% more wrinkled in the turtleneck than it had in the crew neck sweater she’d had on earlier.

The first time I ever noticed this fashion injustice was probably a dozen years ago. Diane Keaton, my fashion idol for mixing classic pieces with eclectic ones, was appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She had on a full circle skirt that would be totally in style today. On top she wore a fine-knit turtleneck. What wasn’t fine about it was that the neck of the shirt was just clinging to her neck for dear life and every time she moved in her expressive way, that neckline just grabbed and twisted at the looser skin on her neck. That turtleneck should have been arrested for misrepresentation.

Okay, yes, Diane Keaton’s skin on her neck was looser than say the skin on her arms but gosh, that turtleneck was totally distorting her good looks. So I am a bit sensitive to this fact for both my clients and myself. You might say I have turtleneck radar!

This weekend I spent some post-turkey holiday time finding peace in my closet. There’s nothing like doing a little purging in there that makes me feel 10 pounds lighter and letting go of things that no longer serve me is oh-so-calming. I tried on my two remaining turtlenecks to see if they’d somehow gotten tighter since the last time I wore them. They are staying but they’re definitely on probation.

Is it time to try on your turtlenecks to see if they are making you look great or not? You know, if you have to toss them, you can always create your own turtleneck effect by wearing a scarf around your neck — loosely. Now that’s a good look!

Creating perfect fit

With two days before Thanksgiving here in the States, it’s hard to imagine having a problem with pants falling down. It might not be a problem by Friday, right? But here’s the deal. I have these great leggings that are cut like jeans. They are in in Ponte knit, so very comfortable. They’re cut just below the waistline. I like to wear longer tops over the leggings (Rule #1 for wearing leggings in the first place!) and I often want to belt that longer top.

What I’ve done in the past is belt the legging so it won’t slip down using a slim belt that has a very flat buckle. Then I add the top and then add an additional belt over the top for fit and fashion purposes. So I’m wearing two belts while people are only viewing one.

I was reaching for those leggings and planning to wear a fancy top with it for work last week. I decided to try something new to address my fit issue, like maybe get a big diaper pin to hold in the center back of the pant so it would stay on my hips and I wouldn’t have to double belt my outfit. But then, the fashion fairy that lives in my house whispered in my ear, “Brenda, don’t you have a fashion fix for that in your wardrobe kit?”

‘Always listen to the fashion fairy’ is my motto so I went to my wardrobe kit supply box (a hat box, actually) in my office and opened it. In no time, I was ripping through the packaging to try out my Hollywood Hip Hugger, the no-buckle, no-bulk, no front belt!

I bet I’ve had that fashion fix in my wardrobe supply hat box for years! I was so excited about it! I slipped it through the center back belt loop, attached the ends to the neighboring belt loops and the fit was fabulous! With an extra bounce in my step (and no worries about my pants falling down) I skipped off to work.

While I was in my client’s closet, I was making new outfits for her and guess what? She was having the same problem! I had her in a corduroy pant and the back was gaping. “These just seem to want to fall down,” she said.

Of course, I did what any fashion consultant would do. I reached behind my back, undid my no-front belt, and put it on her pants. She was amazed and delighted just like I’d been! I left it with her and couldn’t wait to get back home and reattach the spare one I knew was in the hat box.

So if this is a problem you have, this is the solution! Check it out at HollywoodFashionTape.com or order it on Amazon. No more pants falling down for me or you!

Happy Thanksgiving!