A couple of weeks ago, Istarted making my collage for 2012. I reached for my recent picks that were waiting in my folder. But for good measure, I went through a couple more magazines – not fashion magazines, though. Why? I like to save that kind of collage project, one that’s just focused on fashion, for spring and fall, the big fashion seasons of the year. For now I’m just interested in broad themes for the year. I’ll start the fashion collage in March.

I have an 18” X 24” artist’s pad that I use to group my images on a page. I lay the pad on a worktable, pull out the glue stick and scissors, start trimming images and arrange the pieces according to my whims. I like to stay open and curious as to how it will look in the end and just enjoy the process.

I may not understand all parts of it when I do it but I know that time will reveal more. That’s why we trust this process, right?

The Modern Edge section

Keeping an eye on what makes something modern

Here’s one corner of my collage. There’s so much I love about this image. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a foyer to a shop in New York City that sells accessories. But I loved the title, “Modern Edge.” I always want to look modern and I counsel a lot of women about how to look modern as they age. I love seeing this theme holding center court for 2012.

Being modern doesn’t have to mean indulging in trendy looks that are worn best by 20-year-olds. We can be modern and age appropriate at the same time. I think being modern is sometimes about taking a chance with a color or an accessory. I can’t wait to explore what it will mean in 2012.

The softer side of 2012

Bring on the femininity!

I’m not sure how this image will move me this year but I really loved the feeling I got from it. It has sensuality to it. I loved the casualness of the white jean (and the great fit!) and the total femininity of the sheer loose top with sleeves. Am I ready to express more femininity in my style? Maybe! And with the spring trends getting ready to bloom, this could be a lot of fun!

The words that I glued near the top resonate with me too. Relaxed Glamour. That could be my fashion theme for the year! And “Simple Luxuries” could refer to careful shopping, looking for that one great necklace, scarf, watch or handbag that works with everything and adds quality to any outfit.

Working with a buddy

The last few months, I’ve enjoyed having an assistant with me on shopping trips and closet appointments with my clients. My assistant does the heavy lifting (clothes racks and bags of weeded out items being recycled), the charting of outfits (her handwriting is better than mine), the running around for other sizes during a shopping trip – things like that. Who is she? She’s my daughter Erin.

When I came across this image (it’s an ad for watches) of what looks like a mother and daughter, I was smitten. When I found the phrase We complete your look, I saw the future! Erin and I so enjoy working together and get so excited about fashion and all things style. Having an assistant seems like a great new adventure in 2012. It makes me so happy to see this in my collage.

So my dear friends, what are your ideas for your year? I hope you’ll leave some comments as I’d love to hear all about it! Together this just might be our best year ever!

From Kathy: “Brenda, I have a tip for you! I found these incredible tights with a sock built in, they’re called Bootights and I bought them at Nordstrom on Market Street. OMG, from top to bottom the best fitting and most comfortable tights ever. The sock part is pure genius. Just thought I’d share.”

From Christine on creating a wish list for family members: “As for lists – brilliant idea! I started having a birthday/Christmas list a few years ago when my children asked me what I wanted. I know they wanted to give me something I’d particularly enjoy and so I made a list – it started with a chocolate bar and ended with an overseas trip. It had everything else in between. I knew something would fit their budget, I knew I would enjoy receiving anything from the list, and the list was long enough that whatever I received, it would still be a surprise. Its been so successful that nearly everyone in my family has a similar wish list and its turned out to be a real fun thing!”

And Sally adds three fabulous tips for the holidays and beyond: 1. If you don’t have time or extra cash to shop for a whole new outfit for the holidays, at least find a new top or jacket that will work with your older skirts/pants. A lacy jacket, a vibrant silk blouse, a sinfully rich sweater…I’m inspired already!

2. Learn about and start replacing the lightbulbs and flourescent tubes in your house with “full spectrum” (not “sunlight”) bulbs and tubes. This full-spectrum light can have very beneficial effects on your seratonin levels in the dark winter months, and they help you to see true colors better all year round. If you put them near your reading chair and in your kitchen, you’ll get subtle yet powerful benefits from extended exposure; in your closet, you’ll be able to see the difference between navy and black socks!

3. Buy a flattering full-length mirror for yourself. Even among very inexpensive mirrors, there are great differences in the proportions of the reflection. My current favorite cost only $16.99, but it makes me feel like a million dollars every day because it lengthens and slims the image I see right before I leave the house. Granted, I am shocked when I see a more accurate reflection in another mirror elsewhere, but by then, I am already holding myself well and smiling at the world anyway.

Thank you for sharing!!! Are there more out there? Please feel free to leave comments here for everyone to enjoy!!

Happy Mid-December.

I think we need more than 7 ideas, don’t you? So try these additional ones.

8. Go to your calendar right now and schedule 5 invigorating workouts between now and the end of the year. It’s good for the soul to sweat away the guilt of holiday indulgences.

9a. On the other hand, pull out that favorite sugar cookie recipe, get some food dye, and make those red and green snowflake cookies. Nothing like the smell of fresh cookies to get you in the holiday spirit.

9b. Share the spirit: share those cookies with your co-workers, neighbors, postman or postwoman, alterations person, your manicurist and hairstylist. You get the idea.

10. Have an important party to go to? Splurge and go to your hairstylist and let him or her give you that updo or blowout that will make you feel so confident when you make your grand entrance.

11. Pull out nostalgic jewelry, handbags or maybe even fur pieces that have been handed down to you by loving relatives. It’s wonderful to keep their memories in the holiday mix and you’ll look and feel great too.

12. Pick a one-word mantra and start using it when you feel stressed out while spending 10 minutes in an idling car waiting for an available parking place. How about this fine list of possible words:

• peace
• prosperity
• grace
• simplicity
• resilience
• beauty
• delight

I recently heard a brain expert/author explain how focusing on a word actually makes us take on that quality. So maybe mother was right: choose your words wisely!

Let’s keep the list going! What are your “chill” ideas for December … or any-old-time? I welcome your comments!

It’s an absolutely fascinating movie about the paparazzi but also the media that drives their actions — which is basically hanging out and stalking stars in order to get the “money” shot. They are paid anywhere from $500 to thousands for pictures of the stars doing things ordinary or tawdry (more money for the tawdry stuff!).

In the film, you see and hear the clamor to get as close to a full-body shot as they can so the magazines like Us and People magazine can show us the details of what the stars are wearing. You know those sections in the mags where they show the stars doing things “just like” normal folks? Shopping, eating, pushing strollers. And then of course, I’ve seen the sections called “Get the Look” so we can get a scarf like theirs, a bag like theirs or jeans like theirs.

Yikes! It’s such a whirlwind and I have to say, I’m entertained by those magazines myself. I love fashion. I love seeing how editors break the looks down. Do you?

Some stars go along with the paparazzi, feeling they have families to feed as well. Others hate it. This is particularly interesting as the film focuses on a 14-year-old paparazzi who becomes a bit famous himself.

It’s a fascinating look at media. An NYU professor, Thomas de Zengotita, was interviewed a lot and I intend to get his book called Mediated.

Would LOVE your thoughts on the matter!

But first I’ll brag a bit. I did a darn good job of planning my trip to Australia and New Zealand. I packed for basically three seasons and while we enjoyed 90 degree (F.) weather in Sydney, the day we left Queenstown, New Zealand, I was driving to the airport with snow coming down! I used the layers, the woolens, as well as the rain gear and the sheer fabrics. The outfits all worked out. Everything about the trip exceeded my expectations.

So what embarrasses me? How poorly I planned for the re-entry! I knew I was in trouble when on November 10th, I was at my table doing my morning writing like I do every single day when I absolutely went into a panic. “Oh my gosh, Russ’ birthday is on the 12th and I haven’t even given it a thought! I need to plan a party or at least make dinner reservations,” I said to myself while Russ was sleeping peacefully at the other end of the house.

I only admitted it to him two days later — that I had worked myself into a frenzy about his birthday on the 12th — only to realize that his birthday is not November 12th. It is March 12th, just like every year. But for those few minutes on the 10th, I was sure I’d blown it.

“What made me think your birthday was November 12th?” I asked him shaking my head.

“Brenda, it’s just mental fatigue. I have it too,” he confessed.

With the ease of travel these days — the mere fact that you can get on a plan in San Francisco in autumn and 15 hours later be in Sydney, Australia in springtime — it’s easy to think that it’s just all so easy.

But it still must take something out of you to do all of that zipping around. I have confessed my bumpy re-entry to only a few people. It seems like a problem one doesn’t speak about.

But knowing that returning home has been a bit challenging, I think I’ll have a re-entry remedy plan in place for next time

Here’s what I’d put on my list:
1. Schedule a massage for two days after landing.
2. Go for a long walks in nature every single day, rain or shine, to get grounded again.
3. Spend time neatening up my closet. That’s always so mentally soothing to me.
4. Prepare good food immediately. There’s nothing more pathetic than opening the fridge and seeing nothing … or something … that’s orange, red or purple and it’s not supposed to be. One colleague of mine has food arranged to be delivered to her house by a catering service upon their return. Smart!
5. Lower my expectations. Plan to do less — much less — and accomplish less –much less — for the following 3 to 6 days depending on how long the trip was or how far away I was.

Sometimes the best part of returning from a trip away is the musing that comes afterwards. I like to sort out the things I learned, think about the beautiful images I saw and relish the trip before jumping right back into the swing of things.

What do you do to take care of yourself in the aftermath of travel?

1. A black leather mini skirt — even if they’re “in” you shouldn’t be in one. Your age on your driver’s license may not match your mental age. If it’s “mini” anything, let the driver’s license number be your guide.

2. Black fishnet stockings that are designed to look ripped. But go ahead and buy the fine knit ones!

3. Black over the knee boots — they’ll go on sale in a couple of weeks. Hold off!

4. Black nail polish. I love it but it’s been overdone.

5. Another pair of black pants — unless they really are in a category that hasn’t been covered already!

If you made it through the throngs of shoppers and came away with some great purchases, good for you! Tell us what you found!

1. Lilacs. To see them twice this year was awesome. First in Sonoma this spring, then in Queenstown, New Zealand at the beginning of November. My heart sings!

Queenstown lilacs

2. Trees. They are endlessly entertaining.

Under a giant sycamore

3. Young people having fun with fashion.

young fashionistas

4. Older people having fun with fashion. This is a woman I introduced myself to in a restaurant in Sydney, Australia. She was so distinguished, wearing a slim black dress, with bracelets and a scarf. I told her how beautiful she was and she said, “Really? I thought maybe I’d worn too many accessories today.”

mature fashionista

5. Russ and how he moves his body. He makes me laugh!

Russ and mime

6. Being present with my parents as they celebrated their 60th anniversary this summer.

Mom and Dad with 60 years of marriage under their belts

7. Colleagues. Fellow image consultants all over the world are passionate people who just want to serve the planet by creating more beauty.

New Zealand image consultants rock!

8. Writers.

9. Comics. They write and perform and I saw one of the best in Marin last week — Brian Regan. So inspiring and talented!

10. The three Cs — coffee, chocolate, and cornbread.

11. Good people … like you. Long ago when I was sad to be leaving my buddies on the Central Coast and moving to Marin County, a friend said, “Don’t worry, Brenda. There are good people everywhere.” She was right!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you care to, share your list too!

And in the Tips & Teasers newsletter I showed you how I pack for a trip.

Remember this? It was step one: Collect potential outfits, try them on, see what makes the cut.

Brenda's pretend "Chanel" suit is a finalist!

Then, step two was to put plastic wrap (recycled drycleaning bag) over the whole outfit for protection.

Remember, all parts of the outfit are on the hanger.

Yellow suit gets protection for long journey

Then the suit, hanger and all, gets folded into the suitcase.

"Don't be afraid, little yellow suit. It's only 15 hours to Sydney!"

“And then what happened?” you may ask.

Well, I pulled out the suit, no wrinkles at all, slipped into it and wore it at the AICI conference in Sydney.

Brenda and Imogen Lamport at the conference

See those smiling faces? When you don’t have your clothes to worry about, you get to enjoy your friends effortlessly.

A good time was had by all.

These are Jane’s words and her 5 tips:

I’ve enjoyed your books, tips and teasers for several years now.  Having once had an international career involving multi-stage trips that often started in Geneva and ended in the African bush, I have a few ideas for you to think about, incorporate as you wish. Some are more standard fare, most are geared towards traveling VERY light.

1. If there’s a chance you may be driving somewhere through the “outback” or some other form of “bush”, take a longish, flowing SKIRT.  It will serve as your privacy curtain when you need to pee en route by the road with nary an outhouse, never mind a bush…to squat by. Much easier than having to deal with pants while your traveling companions wait.

2. Always take a pair of shoes you can walk in.  Even if you never have to wear them. The #1 piece of “security” advice I was given once by personnel of Operation Lifeline Sudan (the humanitarian air lift operation into southern Sudan years ago) was to wear walking shoes whenever you boarded the small planes, so that in the not too unlikely event that you might have to crash land, you were prepared to start walking.

3. If you are going someplace that may involve walking about in sandals in dry and dusty areas, take a pumice stone for your heels.  If you are going to a hot, damp tropical area, take anti-fungal cream.  While living in the African bush someone once brought me a bar of beautifully fragrant french-milled soap.  It’s been almost 3 decades since the ”spit” baths taken with it-and remains a vivid and delightful memory.

4. For the Geneva side of things, one basic black skirt, solid jewel toned tops (all knits/no iron) of simple and classic lines that formed the background for a collection of memorable scarves, from silk to thick woven wool wraps…depending on the season there… and jewelry……Everything in one small carry-on bag, always…..and everything coordinated to “mix and match”…

5. One more ”bush” fashion must, in my experience…at least one large cotton scarf that can be wrapped about ones hair if riding through wind, dust, sun in an open vehicle….it doesn’t do much for the hair underneath when you take it off (the advantage of long hair tied in a bun) but it saves you from the damage one such drive can wreak on your hair. Even if you have a hat on, the scarf is a must…and (you’d have a flat head of hair anyway).

Awesome tips, Jane! Thanks so much for sharing!

Anybody else care to share? Add comments to this blog post. I love it!

It’s so funny because one person’s favorite is on the top of another person’s worst dressed list.

I was enthralled by Sofia Vergara in her red gown designed by Vera Wang. The way the designer wrapped fabric, twisted and arranged it to follow the amazing curves of Sofia’s body was pure genius. Many people may wish for a body like that but I know dressing lots of curves has its challenges. Vera Wang adorned those curves masterfully. It was just right.

In a structured white gown by Giorgio Armani, Julianna Marguiles was at the top of some lists for best dressed. Although it wouldn’t have been on my best dressed list, it was a great study in a completely different kind of design. The bodice had its own definition — which had basically nothing to do with her body and its shape. The dress called the shots. Of course, her body shape lent itself to this display of talent. You couldn’t have put that dress on a curvy body and gotten the same results.

Can you imagine how fun it must be to have masters of design creating something for you to wear to a special event? Of course, the stakes are high. Here we are talking about best and worst afterall!

What dresses stood out for you — whether in a good way or a bad way?