Yayoi Kusama and the Colors of Optimism.

I'm guessing the botanists, elderly volunteers and groundskeepers at Fairchild Tropical Gardens don't know it, but they're cultivating Spring 2010.  No, not that kind of Spring Spring.  I mean the Fashion Spring.  When you do visit (you can be my guest member if you buy me lunch or a box of chocolates), it'll be hard to miss the psychedelic oevres of the sometimes orange-haired, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama and her compulsive, avant-garde polka dots and her colorful monster-like flowers and pumpkins (yes, flowers can be monstrous).  Kusama got it.  Right on the dot.  (Bwa ha ha.)   http://www.fairchildgarden.org/art-at-fairchild/Yayoi-Kusama-/   For those of you who aren't ready to part with the dark, edgy, metal studded, biker jacketed, strong-shouldered, acid hued, vampire obsessed of the 2009 80s revival, you're in luck.  Just keep the 80s in the back of your closet because they'll be back in 2029, maybe 2019 for a brief season if you're lucky... or maybe even tomorrow.  With retailers like H&M, Zara and even Target, trends are sucked in and purged faster than you can turn a page of Vogue.  The Wall Street Journal reported: "David Wolfe has been analyzing style trends for 41 years [...] Mr. Wolfe, creative director of the Doneger Group consultants, stood up in a room full of retail executives and told them: "There are no more trends. Everything is in style. (http://www.doneger.com/web/112119.htm)."

                                           http://www.fairchildgarden.org/art-at-fairchild/Yayoi-Kusama-/

And so, a question I love to ask for the non-fashion obsessed among us.  "So, who the heck cares? You want to wear a metal studded, polka dot, floral dress, go ahead!  And why am I reading this anyway? After all, everything is in style!"  Here's why.  No matter your fashion, you'll likely still buy into the trends that have been dictated by the elusive fashion and color forecasters.  Yes, they do really exist and have predicted what we will want to wear because they've decided that that's what we should want to wear even though we've become rebellious fashion wearers of late.  Turns out Kusama's flowers and pumpkins were perfectly hued, as orange was and still is big and Mimosa Yellow was the 'it' color.  Positive change, optimism, brightness, warmth, passion; yellow and orange.  It seems that the color people might actually know what we might need too, not just what we should want.  And so, you might consider wearing Turquoise (and Aurora and Tomato Puree) this Spring/Summer 2010.  "Turquoise transports us to an exciting, tropical paradise while offering a sense of protection and healing in stressful times (http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/pantone.aspx?pg=20706&ca=10)."  Does the whole print and polka dot thing make sense to you now?  Maybe the orderliness, yet innocence of the polka dots and the cheeriness and femininity of the prints are what we need to bring us out of Vampiric 2009.  You may have had some blood drained out of you, but Mimosa Yellow and Kusama's The Flowers that Bloom at Midnight were there all along reminding you that tropical paradise was within reach.  And if you still feel the need for some good ol' 80s armor, it looks like you may be able to protect yourself with the military inspired trend for Spring/Summer 2010.  Orange, yellow, turquoise, polka dots, military, patterns, pastoral, less is more, more is more... By the time you finished reading this, another trend just passed on to the fashion catacombs of New York, Paris and Milan.  Hopefully Yayoi Kusama and the Colors of Optimism will influence the decidedly boring achromatic trend in Fall 2010. 

Sasha Fierceness: Being Yourself

Have you heard of Sasha Fierce? Even if you aren’t so au courant with the pop music world, I bet you could guess. Three guesses. “All the single ladies”, “I’m a survivor”, “Destiny’s Child”. Yup, it’s Beyonce’s fabulous, confident, entertaining, powerful other self. In Allure magazine’s interview with Beyonce for February 2010, she confides: “Sasha Fierce is my alter ego, this other side of me that’s most animalistic and strong and fearless, and I have used this person to take over when I’m too scared or too shy… The thing that’s interesting is I don’t need Sasha Fierce anymore, because I’ve grown, and I’m now able to merge the two. I want people to see me. I want people to see who I am”. http://www.allure.com/ So, why does this matter to you? Do you really care that Beyonce has “found harmony in the contradictions”? I bet it matters more than you think. Think. Who is your Sasha Fierce? How many social masks do you put on every day? Even if you’re truly uber-confident , you probably put several on from the moment you wake up to greet your day. There’s the eager, go-get’em one that you put on at work to impress your boss or your clients even you want nothing more than to go back home and have a ‘me’ day. Or the one you put on when you really need a lazy, uninterested, unhelpful service person to help you out and you really are in a rush. Or the one you put on when you don’t know anyone in the room. What about the one when you do know people in the room, when you’re among other women?

And so, my sing-song is for all the ladies, single or not. Is your mask made of stone because you’re afraid to reveal yourself to a woman who isn’t as intelligent, well-connected, powerful or pretty as you? Is your mask painted with red stripes because you want her to understand that you are way more important than most people in the room? Is your mask a multi-colored coat because you want everyone to like you so you could add another notch on your Facebook page of popularity? Is yours wallpapered on the outside because you’re shy and you want to blend in, but spiky on the inside because you’re really angry no one notices you? So here’s my Beyonce-inspired anthem: I’m going to challenge all you women! Challenge all you women! All you women! No, I’m not going to ask you to rip off your masks to expose your raw face. Because I think a little Sasha Fierceness is a good thing and it can actually be really human, not so animalistic. It can make you feel more confident, feel more beautiful, feel stronger, and even act more kind. Just sheer that mask out a wee bit (the orangey line around your jaw is way too obvious!), allow your sisters to truly connect to you. You may be surprised at how fierce it makes you.

In Vogue

The Vogue Guide to Spring 2010 http://www.vogue.com/guide/S2010RTW/ highlights the trend of so-called 'personal dressing'.  Virginia Smith writes: "Put your own spin on Spring with stylishly mismatched layers of lace, sparkle and leggings".  I'm all for the mismatch, the layering, the lace, the sparkle and the leggings.  But all of them together?  Really?  Put the average woman in that eclectic mess and she'll look like she just went through a dumpster (or may even live) in the back alleys of Rodeo Drive, Madison Avenue, the Bal Harbour Shops.  Luckily, dumpster chic is not the only trend

Marc Jacobs 2010, from www.elle.com

for 2010.  But who cares, right?  Well, uh, lots of people.  Even if you're not an avid reader, watcher, breather, wearer, lover (but never eater!) of fashion, you're still heavily invested in the rag business.  You may be a season or two or five behind, but you've most likely given into a trend of sorts.  Yeah, you just can't help conforming one way or another.  But true personal style requires an understanding and appreciation for one's body, proportions and scale.  No one will refute that Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe were two of the greatest fashion icons of recent history.  They were born only a few years apart, yet they couldn't have been more different in their interpretation of style.  They both dressed with a critical awareness of their bodies.  They may not be your personal heroines but there is something to be said for their timeless relevance.  Women in vogue (but not necessarily in Vogue) possess a sense of themselves and express this through their own signature look.  You may scoff at the fashion of the moment, but never make the mistake of scorning style.  If you take the time to genuinely evaluate how you choose to clothe and adorn yourself, you will no longer waste so much precious time in front of your wardrobe and mirror.  Life, with all it's beauty is volatile and it's a wonderful thing to be assured that you can rely on your signature look.  Constant, invariable, steady, consistent, uniform.  There's something to be said for a uniform style, just like Marilyn with her constant curvy garments and Audrey with her gamine style.  They would have scoffed at the idea that personal dressing has anything at all to do with Spring 2010. Only once you have discovered your essential style can you then afford to adorn yourself with the modes of the moment, but just make sure don't pile them all on at once.

Bring on the Curves: a Musing

Naturally, I have to follow "Those Extra 5 lbs." with a little musing about our weight obsessed culture.  Even if you think you're counter-culture, from a different culture, above it, below it, you're still part of it.  Even if you ban t.v., magazines, internet, newspapers, walks on the beach, you're likely not going to completely avoid going to the grocery store or taking a stroll or a drive every now and then.  And so you'll see images of some beautiful, some not so beautiful models.  Beautiful or not, they're likely to be very thin, very airbrushed.  Blah blah blah.  BORING.  Yeah, I'm boring myself.  Look, most of us have seen the Dove videos  http://www.dove.us/#/features/videos/default.aspx[cp-documentid=7049579]/.  If you haven't check out 'Onslaught' during your next moment of procrastination.  (Note: reading this blog is not procrastination.)  We get it.  Or do we?  Well, let's speed this thing up a little.  Merle Ginsberg from fashionrules.com wrote: "V Magazine out of New York’s spread on large sized models in issue #63: “The Size Issue,” featuring five plus-size models. The spread is titled “Curves Ahead.” V63 does not hit newsstands until January 14, 2010 (http://fashionrules.com/tag/v-magazine/)".  Warning: link contains graphic images of less than thin models.  (And I'd like to bring attention to the phrasing "...spread on large...", love it!)  But V is really not that special.  Glamour, Vogue, Marie Claire, they've all done their 'special' spreads.   Just check out February's Glamour with model Crystal Renn of 'Hungry' fame. Oh, would you look at that!  I just contributed again to the 486 commercial messages you see everyday.  There's no getting away from it now. And if so, bring on the voluptuous, full, curved image.  Bring it on.  Go ahead, onslaught it.  It makes the fantasy created by planet fashion so much more tangible, that much more attainable.  But what's to attain? Won't those images make thin little girls everywhere feel bad about their bodies?  Eat gobs of peanut butter to attain unnatural levels of voluptuosity?  Force Dove to make another video? All facetiousness aside, I'm a big believer in encouraging women to embrace their bodies.  Curvy or not so curvy.  Thin or not so thin.  Embrace it, never disgrace it.

 (Image from models.com and V Magazine)

And so, at last, something practical.

Top 5 elements in dressing your voluptuous body!

1. Proportion - Wear garments and details that are proportioned in both scale and weight with your body. E.g. Narrower heels will emphasize a fuller calf, a narrow collar will make a plumper neck look even plumper, delicate jewelry will make a sturdier hand look hefty, etc. But a thicker heel will compliment an ample leg, a chunkier bracelet will look just right on a larger wrist. This also means - don't think that the excessively large sweatshirt is complimenting your body. Nope, it's not, not at all.

2. Line - let your curvy bits lead the line of your garments. Curved lines focus attention in a good way on a curved body part. Straight lines on a curved area will make it appear bigger and boxier. I.e. If you are busty, avoid overly starched looking shirts, wear ones with a little stretch. Tops that skim right over and around your bust will work best. If your hips are more generous, wear bottoms that glides over your hips (such as an a-line skirt) or softly drape around them.

3. Print - wear rounded, higher density patterns that are scaled to your body. If you are taller you can pull off a larger print and if you are petite, stick with smaller prints. Rounded patterns will compliment your curves, whereas angular prints will make those bits look wider. There goes those lines, and there goes your curves.

4. Fabric - wear silky, draping and soft fabrics on your softer areas. Avoid anything that has excessive bulk - it'll just make you look bulkier, but do wear fabric with some weight. That airy fairy chiffon? Just leave it for your airier sister.

5. Color - learn to manipulate color. Brighter, lighter hues will bring attention to your good bits and deeper hues will make those less than desirable areas appear to recede. And yeah, it's true, monochromatic hues do give you a leaner look (if that's your goal). But remember that monochromatic does NOT mean achromatic. I.e. enough with the excessive use of all black garments. This is life people, live a little!

Those Extra 5 lbs.

Ok, so maybe it's more like 7 lbs, 14, maybe even 20. Let's not get so detailed. The point is, your favorite pair of bottoms didn't shrink in the dryer. Remember? We talked about this. Your fave jeans takes 6 wears for it to feel comfortable again after a round in the dryer so you decided to hang dry even though they feel like a piece of cardboard for the first 3 wears. What was I saying? Oh, yeah... Those extra 5 lbs. Yup, that's why you had trouble buttoning your jeans this morning. So, what are you gonna do about it? You have a couple of choices. You could start trying on every single item in your closet only to realize that everything in your closet looks horrible on you and you couldn't possibly leave your room this morning because you will spend the next several hours torturing yourself by the light of day. Forget work, housework, kids, the phone - you have more important things at hand. And when did that extra dimple show up? Or you could rummage through the very back or bottom or top of your closet for the clothes you promised yourself never to wear again after you lost a few. You meant to give them away, but after they spent 8 months in the trunk of your car, your husband mistakenly dragged it in with the rest of the groceries. Sweating and sneezing you pull on what used to be your favorite top.  ACK!!!

It fits. NOoooooooo!!!! Instantly, you dissolve into tears because if it looks good, it means it fits and if it fits, it means.... Oh, stop with the melodrama. You could just bleach all your clothes, or scorch them with your iron or shrink them in your dryer until they're so small they'd fit the cabbage patch doll you had as a kid. But why bother with the traitors? You could just crawl into bed for the rest of the day and surround yourself with junk food. Oh, yeah, you got rid of that stuff. What about the baking chocolate - ok, so it's a little bitter on the bittersweet side of things - goes with the mood, right? Screeeeeeeeeeeeech. Get out of bed. Here's what you need to do................... (Oops, sorry for the break, I just got up to get some ice cream.)

Take a shower, all that sniveling needs to be washed away. You should get a nice smelling shower gel for such occasions. My preference is minty fresh stuff (Burt's Bees makes a really nice one). Put on your makeup if you wear any. Today is not a day to experiment with that new red lipstick (trust me, you have to be in the right frame of mind otherwise you'll end up in bed again). Put on your new favorite bra (see first post) and underwear that doesn't dig in anywhere. If you'll feel more comfortable wearing your Spanx, then go for it. Put on your old clothes. Yes, today is also not a day to squeeze yourself into anything that will poke (fun of) you all day, oh and yeah, the bleach stain really is noticeable. Put on a great pair of heels because..... HELLO? Oh, you were looking at yourself in the mirror. Not so bad, right? Yeah, heels really do come in handy sometimes. The camera may add on 10 lbs, but heels take away 5 and no one is taking your picture. And if they do, I'll threaten to put up many horrible photos of them on Facebook. A spritz of perfume, no more than 3 minutes in front of the entryway mirror and out you go. If you are a firm believer in retail therapy, take my suggestion and don't do any clothes shopping. Accessories and shoes - those are your options. You know, because no matter what - you could always find something in the those categories to make you feel a little better. Stand a little taller, smile a little harder. But most importantly, give a genuine compliment to a different person each day for the next week. Yeah, you got it. Sometimes, the best way to make yourself feel better is to make someone else feel good too, it's that ch-easy (oh, the pun!).

And if all else fails, get yourself some junk food.

Top 10 at your Favorite Discount Store

Whether or not you want to admit it, your wallet needs a little break. It's been gaining weight recently and it's not because of the extra bills you haven't been feeding it. It's because of all those receipts you've been stuffing it with. And while we're at it - do you really think you need that receipt from Starbucks for the Mocho Choco Latte Grande from 2007? I'm not telling you to stop your therapeutic retail madness, because I like to practice what I speaketh, and I do speaketh retail therapy. You just need to switch things up a little. The only plus side of this economy (but let's not get depressed about it) is that Neiman Marcus had a one day 20% discount on all Cosmetics, except Chanel a couple weeks ago (oops, sorry, I kept that to myself). Yes, I did write ALL Cosmetics, except Chanel - yeah, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier, Sisley and all kinds of cosmetic goodness was 20% cheaper. Usually means that I buy 20% more (you give a little, I give a little, even Steven). My point? Your wallet isn't the only one suffering from receipt stuffage. Neiman Marcus, Bloomindales, Saks Fifth Avenue - they've all got wallets screaming red tag for customers, but no one's buying. Window shopping? yup. Buying, regret, returning? Double Yup (hey, you! the one who goes exercising at the gym instead of at the mall - yeah, you with the sweatpants and the painted on abs - STOP judging and have a cookie). So, 20% cheaper for items that NEVER go on sale, 50 dollar gift card for spending 100, and a veteran saleslady who worked at Neiman's for 20 years who said she has never, and I mean nevah evah witnessed a sale sign

reflecting off the polished glass cosmetics counters of the Neiman's? You know what this means? Run to your closest Last Call because you know that you don't have to sift much to find those Louboutins, Manolos, Choos and Viviers. Yeah, I know that you had trouble finding a decent pair last year and the one pair you found you had to hide somewhere in the Men's department behind the bathrobes, waiting for Black Friday to give you a break. You! with the fake Louis Vitton purse (yeah, we all know it's fake) don't be such a snob - who cares if they're last season, Fakes were never and will never be in season, so there! Sorry about that, I got distracted. I was going to give you a top 10, right? So here goes:

1. Shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes. Suddenly Aldo seems expensive compared to the good deals you'd be getting at your favorite discount store. Oh, so it's 50 bucks more for a pair. You know what that means? Here's how you balance things out... cut back on Starbucks - they burn their coffee anyway and Dunkin Donuts is so much better.

2. Purses, Bags, Purses, Handbags, Pocketbooks, whatever you call them... Look for the 40% off the last ticketed price and another 20% off that, usually a good deal. But don't just buy because you got percentage happy. Buy because you reeeaaaaallly need that bag, purse, whatever.

3. Accessoriiiiieeessss. As in, sunglasses, hats, scarves, gloves, pins, hair stuff. Recent gloat? Most awesome pair of $400 Derek Lam polarized sunglasses for $25 at Loehmann's. Nope, it was the only pair, sorry!

4. Candles. Yeah, really, I'm serious. Decent candles are expensive when they're full price. And no, please don't try to suffocate me with that horrible candle you got at the dollar store. They lace those with arsenic, you know?

5. Baby Clothes. Want to be the favorite gift-giver who didn't cop out at The Gap? So, she probably knows you didn't spend the full $240 for that scrap of material for her newborn... but she'll never guess you got it for $11. And don't be tacky by taking off the sale tag and keeping the old, pricey version by mistake.

6. That skirt or pant that you just couldn't rationalize, but now that it's 75% off, well, uh, wouldn't you be making a huge financial mistake if you didn't buy it?

7. Perfume!! Seriously! Loads of scents off. (hee hee, I'm not usually that good with puns) And it's not like Canal Street where you suspect they may be filling the bottle with water or alcohol, or 'fake' perfume and you want to haggle but have a really hard time doing it because you're afraid the cops are gonna bust you too if you spend 5 more minutes there.

8. Dresses. Dressy Dresses. Day Dresses. Evening Dresses. And since they're so cheap, you can buy 2 for extra alteration material. (Another topic altogether, but a must mention over here too.)

9. Coats, jackets, outerwear. Where else can you find them on sale before December? Well, it may or may not be your fault that you gained 8 lbs last winter and didn't think to replace your coat because you'll lose the weight over the summer. Please. You're getting older and those lbs are getting comfy on you. The only problem is that your coat's not as comfy.

10. Something nice for your husband, friend, child, friend's child so you can justify all your new purchases and why you actually spent more money by saving more money.

An Ode to British Bras

I know, believe me! I've seen you, "subtly" adjusting your bra behind your oversize purse every 15 minutes. You, jogging with your arms "subtly" lending support to your 3 sports bras and your 5 year old under-wire bra, the one with the rips near the clips and the pit stains. You, the only one of your crew who never bothers with Victoria Secret and heads straight to Macy's or JC Penney for the bra you bought in those 2 "colors" for the past 7 years. (And yes, I also know that you were extremely excited when they came out with it in black last year.) I know because I was you until I was introduced to the most beautiful bra I will ever have owned. Beautiful, because IT FIT!!! And I had no idea what that meant, until the scary lady showed me (mostly scary because she told me I had to go up 3 cup sizes and down by one band size). Didn't ride up in back? Check. Wires rested against my chest bone? Check! No spillage? Check!!! I gladly plunked down the $125 plus tax for my beautiful, black with lace detail, Freya bra. My first non-boxed bra. I was pretty much in love. I immediately went home and after lovingly hand washing it (if you spent $125, you would too - and quite frankly, you should even if you only spent $30) I happily spent the next couple of hours googling away. Here's what I discovered. Figleaves.com, Bravissimo.com & Undercoverexperience.com. I've never visited England - but I guarantee if I had to list their top 10 attractions, Freya Lingerie would be in the top 5. I willingly spent my next couple of paychecks on those sights, collecting stunning bras in "real" colors and shapes and patterns! Plus, after realizing that the little lingerie store marked up the bra I purchased by more than double, I thought spending $60 for a gorgeous piece was pretty reasonable. (Yes, this is one reason that I never saved any money from my first job.) Well, you guessed it by now, I'm talking to those of you who would never dream of buying a padded bra and probably never even had a chance to wear a training bra! There may be some major glorification of "real" padding in pop culture and the media, but all glory is lost in the boxed bras aisles of Macy's. Nothing made me happier (ok, lots of things did, but I don't want to lose track here) when I discovered that Nordstroms and Saks 5th Avenue and Intimacy had discovered the Brits too. My point is, it's time you burnt your bras! (Well, the crummy ones, I'll let you keep your best one until you've made THE purchase!) No more [and I have to say (shout) this] granny bras!!! No more granny bras!!! Say hello to your new best friends and buy them something extra nice (you've been treating them really badly, and they want more than an apology).

Personal recommendations:

Visit one of the listed websites or stores for a demonstration on getting the right fit. Most women are wearing the wrong size. You probably need 2 sizes to accommodate you during your cycle. My personal favorites (if you can't tell, you didn't read my article) are the British companies (they even have sports bras). Your best bet is to spend about an hour or more getting properly sized and then trying on different styles (a seam here or there can really make a difference) and companies, cups and band sizes. Remember to try them on under your shirt as well to really get a proper look at the shape. And no, you are not going to find a $20 bra. But if you properly care for them and you don't wear the same one over and over, they should last you one to two years. And that's a pretty good lifespan for a bra. So throw your shoulders back (ok, no, not that far) and walk proud.

www.figleaves.com

www.bravissimo.com

www.undercoverexperience.com

www.myintimacy.com

www.saks.com

www.nordstroms.com