A blog about elevating your personal style
Let LOVE rule this Valentine’s Day and celebrate your loved ones, or yourself, with something a little different from the norm this year. It’s always wonderful to receive flowers and chocolates, but here are some Valentine’s Day gift ideas to knock the socks off of your beloved (or to treat yourself with!):
I admit it. I’m an Anglophile. I’m a sucker for a British accent. I love The Tudors (between Phillipa Gregory and Wikipedia, there’s not much I don’t know about King Henry VIII); Are You Being Served, Keeping Up Appearances, As Time Goes By, Rosemary and Thyme, and just about anything on Masterpiece Theater are always on my DVR; I rarely make it to the movies, but I just saw The Young Victoria; and I’m totally smitten with many of the London High Street shops. And believe it or not, one of my new favorite stores really is TopShop – great value for money, definitely on trend and just so British it makes my heart flutter. And then of course there’s the online store As Seen On Screen a.k.a. ASOS whose mission is to provide John Q. Public with clothes similar to the styles seen on celebrities. (They just added a line called Curve for plus-size women which is pretty fab).
Strolling down Lincoln Road last weekend in Miami, I stumbled upon another great British find – AllSaints Spitafields. Apparently, I missed their boutique in Bloomies; I’m not mad that I’m late to the party though. The fantastic opera coat on display when I walked in the door took my breath away. As I weaved my way through the racks, I swooned over a few dresses, sweaters, jackets and leggings.
AllSaints is high-end high street Brit brand known for its sophisticated cuts, edgy yet pared-down aesthetics and muted tones. Definitely hip, decidedly downtown – my kind of store! Imagine my elation when I read that AllSaints Spitafields will be opening in SoHo in April. If April can’t get here fast enough for you and if you’re not in Miami or Los Angeles, check out their online store. And for a peek at what’s to come, check out one self-proclaimed global shopper’s review of one of their London outposts at Haute World.
To go from Hit Or Miss to Glamazon, you gotta love just about everything in your closet. May sound strange, but it’s true. To get to this point, you’ve go to figure out what your personal style is, plain and simple. Here’s the thing about personal style – it’s just that, personal. To get to the point where you love everything in your closet and the way it looks on you, you’ve got to do some work. It’s worth the time and effort, but it will take some time and effort.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Glamour Goddesses come in all shapes and sizes. Sara Jessica Parker is Glamazon, but dont get it twisted, so is your colleague who is always well-put together and polished or the mom at drop-off who looks like she stepped out of a JCrew catalogue or right off of the page of the NYTimes SundayStyles. A Glamour Goddess isn’t defined as someone whose exploits are chronicled on Page 6 (although, she may very well be); she’s simply someone who wears her clothes confidently. This is easy for her to do because she loves everything in her closet; now getting dressed in the mornings or for an evening out on the town is easy. She injects her personal style by choosing jewelry, handbags, scarves, totebags, shoes and belts that take her basic underlying wardrobe from classic to chic.
The Glamour Goddess in you is dying to come out, take the time this year to help her emerge! I know Jada would . . .
My niece turned 3 last week and like any budding fashionista, she squealed with delight when she opened her birthday gifts and found the latest playground styles in the heavy gift boxes. When I asked her if she was going to wear her “I Am 3″ t-shirt to school the next day, she looked me in the eye and said, “No, I’m going to wear one of the gifts my family gave me.” I kid you not. The next morning, she negotiated her outfit with her mother with a level of skill that I haven’t seen since my high school days when my mother and I tap danced around what I wanted to wear and what she thought was appropriate. It was so refreshing to watch this little person assert her style preferences without regard for rules, fashion edicts or fear of breaking some esoteric fashion rule (granted she has people with pretty good tasting buying her clothes, but so does Suri Cruise and I’d bet good money she’s got something to say about what she puts on daily too). The lesson to be learned here is to trust your gut. Jada’s exuberance over her new clothes and her confidence in her clothing choices are a reminder to us all that clothes are supposed to be a fun expression of one’s self.
Think back to the days when the hardest thing you had to do on a weekly basis was to climb the rope in gym class or possibly get hit during dodge ball. You definitely had a favorite outfit, pair of shoes or an accessory that you were fiercely proud of – it made you feel invincible. Channel the confidence of your inner child as you re-assess your wardrobe and think about the new you for the new year. Answer the following questions with child-like honesty as you go through your drawers and closets:
These questions are intended to help you take stock as the new year begins. If you love your clothes; you’re a Glamour Goddess and we’re all trying to be like you! If you’re a bit Hit Or Miss, vacillating between good outfit days and bad, take solace in the fact that you’re not alone. What will help you ascend the style ladder from Hit Or Miss to Glamour Goddess is taking the time to figure out what your personal style is and then doing what needs to be done to get to that next level. More on this next week for those of you who are feeling a bit Hit Or Miss (post comments if you have questions and I will do my best to address them in next week’s posting). And if you answered “NO” to more than 5 of the questions above, consider hiring someone to help you take things up a notch. There should be no shame in your game – when you look good, you feel good, you’ll walk taller, smile more and have greater confidence whether you are out for a night on the town or going to work.
Rome wasn’t built in a day and your wardrobe won’t be either, but with patience, some great sales and me by your side you will be dressing like a Glamazon in no time!
You thought this posting was going to be about the fashion trends for 2010, jeggings perhaps? We’ll get to those later on this year . . . With the beginning of the new year comes the opportunity to start fresh. Staying on top of appointments, lunch and dinner dates, not to mention vacation time should be relatively easy with all of the computerized calendars out there now – OutLook, iGoogle, My Yahoo! and all of the others I’m not familiar with – right? Well, if you’re like me with a laptop, a Blackberry and now an iTouch you have no excuse for missing an appointment or showing up late for an important meeting.
I’m happy to report that 2009 was a great year for me, but it was definitely a hectic one. Historically, I’m a paperwhore and typically I’ve managed my life from my home datebook in tandem with my portable one (yes, I’m a little anal) but like I said 2009 was a bit hectic and I began to rely on whichever electronic device was most handy. The beginning of my end. It was great to type an appointment in, it wasn’t so great to have my device ring at me shortly before the appointment I’d completely forgotten about because I failed to mentally note it. Instead of going in one ear and out the other, it got typed in and then mentally deleted. After a few of these mis-haps it dawned on me that while we’re in the midst of the information age, and I gladly tote around all of these cool gadgets with their bells and whistles, I’m a paper person at heart. I need to open my planner each morning and see what my day looks like in my own handwriting. So, to kick-off the new year, I have refills for my desk datebook and my portable one. I know, I want to be environmentally responsible, but I also want to be on time! Come join me on the wild side.
Tell me – are you paper or electronic?
Kalyn is a true New York fashionista and she has an extraordinary ability to assess what will be most flattering on you within minutes of a meeting. Whether you are male or female, slim or full-figured, Kalyn can bring out your best assets.