Life changes, your personal style doesn’t have to

As life changes, so does your wardrobe, but not your style... Making these transitions can be difficult and stressful. There’s the transition from “recent college grad” wardrobe to “working in corporate America” wardrobe. There’s, my personal favorite (I'm being a bit sarcastic), transitioning from “no baby” wardrobe, to “pregnant” wardrobe, to “returning to work after maternity leave” wardrobe. One of the biggest concerns that I hear from my clients is that now that they are a- (fill in the blank- mom, retired, SAHM, etc) they will have to change how they dress and this tends to make them feel overwhelmed and not themselves. To that, I always tell my clients to stay calm and know that even though life changes, their personal style doesn't have to. If you're a SAHM and consider yourself trendy, you don’t have to trade in your skinny jeans for “Mom Jeans”. If your style is traditional, you don’t have to switch out your button down shirts for casual t-shirts just because you have decided to work from home versus an office setting. Sure, there will be some adjustments to how you dress, but you don't have to change your style.

Here are some tips to how to stay true to your personal style while adjusting to many of life’s changes.

The Right Fit- Make sure you stay true to your personal style, but also make sure your clothes fit properly. Something I figured out the hard way- your body will change overtime... Gaining weight, losing weight- it happens... I realized that my mid 30’s, post baby body was not that of my mid 20’s single gal body. I looked at all my cute (yet now tight fitting) low cut ruffle tops from Forever 21 and thought I should just give up and turn them in for moo moos… But, I loved my cute ruffly tops. So instead, I reassessed my body shape / size and shopped for items that still suited my personal style, but now reflected my lifestyle and size. So, I moved away from the size 4, tailored fit chiffon ruffle blouse to the size 6 cotton (with a bit of spandex) ruffle blouse. 

Mix and Match- Every life change doesn’t mean you have to clean out your entire closet and start over with a new wardrobe. You can still wear your favorite pieces that reflect your personal style (but make sure they fit, see the above point). If you decide to quit Corporate America and start a business, while working from home, you can still incorporate the suits you love in your everyday wardrobe. Sure, maybe you’ll go a bit more casual, but suit blazers can pretty much work with almost anything. A navy blazer with a button down shirt and jeans will look great, whether you’re working at your home office desk or even in a coffee shop.

While the constant is knowing that life changes, the good thing is YOU (and your Jimmy Choo’s) don’t have to change with it…

Want a second opinion on what works for your personal style? Contact me and, together, we can figure out a wardrobe that works for you. 

Fashionable Fanny Packs ie- Best Mama Bag ever!

No longer referred to as "fanny pack", but instead, the belt bag, hip pack, waist pack, waist pouch, etc., is now my new favorite accessory. I tried so hard to avoid the dreaded fanny pack that I totally overlooked the cool fanny pack alternatives. The belt bag (there are so many names, we'll just call it belt bag for now) is my fashionable bag savior (cue - Angels singing).

A little history so you can fully appreciate my joy for the belt bag. Pre-Mama I was running around town with my fashionable clutches, wristlets and totes, I was in the fashion industry after all... Fast forward to becoming a Mama, my bag of choice- ENORMOUS diaper bag, not very fashionable. Hop to the "potty trained daughter" stage- One day,in my desperation to go back to my fashionable purse days, I dug out my Coach wristlet and went to the park. I leaned in to catch my daughter as she came swooshing down the slide, and I bopped her on the head (not very hard of course) with my wristlet... After the 3rd time this happened, I decided it was time to put the wristlet back in my closet.... Giant step forward to "Mama of a kindergartner" stage- At this point I'm feeling good, because I'm starting to use my very fashionable cross body purse. I was out with my daughter, and she fell while riding her bike. I bent down to help her up and... yup, I bopped her with my cross body purse. The cross body purse went back to the closet.

Present Day- Walking around town, toting a bag that, lets say is not very suitable to house my sweet Prada wallet... and I see it- The Belt Bag!!! (This is when the angels started singing in my head). I immediately ran in the store and bought my Michael Kors Belt Bag (pictured below).

Michael kors- macys

MICHAEL Michael Kors Belt, Lock Charm Belt Bag- macys.com

Prepping to blog about my amazing find, I stopped to view the Tory Burch Spring 2014 show at New York Fashion Week (streaming live) and what do I see?? A BELT BAG!!! (pictured below). I shrieked, I danced and I dubbed myself the coolest, most fashionable Mama.

Tory Burch 2014

Tory Burch- Spring 2014 Fashion Show (NY Fashion Week)

I think belt bags are great for so many reasons- 1) Uber fashionable- I can wear it without having to lose my sense of style ; 2) You can wear the belt bag with anything!! A dress, a suit to work, jeans, anything! 3) Perfect for Mamas- Three words- Hands Free Bag ; 4) Perfect for non-Mamas- Three words- Hands Free Bag... However, wear your belt bag with caution. They are best used for small items like your license, a couple of credit cards, some cash and quite possibly your phone. Do not over stuff the belt bag, once you do, it won't look pretty... There are various sizes and price points available in belt bags. Find the one that best suites your needs and start parading around your cool "fanny pack". Oh, I've been eying this prAna one as well :)

Prana hip pack- zappos

Prana The Little Seed Hip Pack- zappos.com

The Best Father's Day Gift Idea

Father's Day is right around the corner and I always struggle with what to get. A tie? A shirt? A Book? A gift card? A "Best Daddy" T-Shirt?? I don't know...

Same old ideas for Father's Day Gifts

Well, last week I had an epiffany. One morning I woke up suffering from the worst allergies (I don't like Spring) and decided to call it a "sick day", and curled back in bed. I glanced over at my husband getting ready for work and noticed that he was wearing the SAME black suit, with the SAME white shirt, and BORING tie. Then, I glanced at the closet and noticed it was full of great shirts, ties and suits. I screamed, asked sweetly, "Why don't you ever wear that check shirt?" He huffed, lovingly said, "I don't have anything that matches it". I thought- yes and you do, you just don't know how to put the outfit together. And Viola!! My idea for the BEST FATHER'S DAY GIFT popped into my head. I'll mix and match his clothes for him so that I don't have to see him wear the same outfit over and over so that he can easily choose, and wear, a perfectly paired outfit. He left, I popped an antihistamine and decongestant, and sprung into action. I had 5 suits, 9 shirts and 16 ties to work with. I came up with 200+ outfits. My husband came home from work and exclaimed (he really did exclaim), "This is the Best Father's Day Gift!".

So, I pass this great gift idea on to you, my friends... Now, did it take some time to do? Yes... Are there things I could have done to make it go faster, or at least a little easier? Yes... Here are some tips on the "how tos" to create the "Best Father's Day Gift".

How to Create the "Clothing Catalog":

1) Let Technology be your friend!- Had I thought about this earlier I probably would have kept my husband's phone and downloaded one of the many apps out there. I've used StyleBook before and it's been easy to use. While I think it most likely would've taken the same amount of time to take the pictures, the difference would be that he now would have a digital catalog of all the items he owns, and can access the pictures anywhere, anytime and even add / delete pictures.

Use an App!

2) Make it a Family Affair- The more people there are to do the work, the faster it will go. It's a great kid-friendly Father's Day project. Depending on what is age appropriate for your little one, you can have them count the clothes, name the colors, sort the ties and shirts, work with you on matching colors and even be your little gopher by having to find and get "the green tie" or "blue shirt".

Get the kiddos involved!

"How To" Create the Outfits:

1) Pattern to Solid Ratio- If the man in your life is P.Diddy, Johnny Depp or an uber cool guy, having 3 patterns, meaning a pattern suit, pattern shirt and pattern tie, will work. Or, if he's comfortable with it, then go for it! But, if he's in the middle or even more conservative usually 0 to 2 patterns work fine. Feeling a bit conservative? Go for 3 solids. Want to step it up a bit? Go for 2 solids and a pattern. Taking it up, but not quite the P.Diddy level? Go for 1 solid and 2 patterns.

Solid Suit, Solid Tie, Pattern Shirt- 1 Pattern, 2 Solids

Pattern Pinstripe Suit, Pattern Tie, Solid Shirt-               2 Pattern, 1 Solid

2) Color / Pattern Match- I'll admit that putting together men's clothing can be a bit intimidating with all the various patterns, colors etc. Easiest thing is to find a common core color in both items and match those. For example, if you have a thin blue stripe shirt and a blue and pink stripe tie, the core color is blue and they match up with each other. But, also be careful with the pattern. You do not want to just stick two core colors together, think of the scale of the patterns and make sure they work together.

How not to color match

How NOT to color match- Even though there are blues here, the patterns do not match

How TO color match- Purple in each and the patterns compliment each other

Anyone have other ideas on how to mix and match suits? I'd love to hear them. Wishing all a Happy Father's Day!

This season's winner of the ugly shoe- Wedge Sneakers

They pop up here and there, always rearing their strange heads. You try and look the other way, but it won't escape you, and the next thing you know you are at the shoe store spending ridiculous amounts of money on the ugly, trendy shoe, you swore you would never buy... We've all been there, some more (ahem..) than others, but we all find ourselves purchasing either Uggs, Birkenstock sandals, Teva sandals, Five Finger Shoes, Crocs, etc etc. This season, the Wedge Sneaker slips into the #1 spot for the ugly trendy shoe we MUST have. We have to thank designer Isabel Marant for bringing this to the forefront. She showed her "Willow Leather and Suede Sneaker" at her Sp 13 show last year, and it sold out instantaneously, and I said "uh oh"... And there it was again, shown for F 13 and, yup, I said "uh oh" again...

Isabel Marant Willow Leather and Suede Sneaker. marantfanshop.com

But, like its predecessors, I went from "yuck!" to cozying up to the idea of wearing the ugly wedge sneaker. After all, with the wedge, concealed or not, it gives height as compared to a regular sneaker. For us petite people, that's worth it!!! So, I've decided to bring you to my dark side as well. If you're looking at the sneaker and saying "this trend is for juniors only" or "what the heck am I supposed to wear those with?" Well, I'm here to say, it's a trend for all ages and you really can wear them with ALMOST anything.

First and foremost, because of the bulkiness of wedge sneakers they should be worn with narrow bottoms, so stick to skinny jeans, leggings, narrow ankle pants or skimmers. Short to mid length skirts and shorts are good too. Here are some ideas-

Believe it or not, you can go "classic" with the wedge sneaker. Pair it with skinny jeans and a trench coat for an early spring look.

Madden Girl Shoes, Hickory Wedge Sneakers- macys.com ; 1969 Curvy Skinny Jeans- gap.com ; Merona Womens Trench Coat- target.com ; Stripe Scoopneck Tee- usa.tommy.com

Meeting friends for Sunday Brunch? Pair wedge sneakers with skimmer jeans and a fabulous tote for a casual summer look.

Wedge sneakers 3

Unlisted Shoes, Of-fence Wedge Sneakers- macys.com ; 1969 Legging Skimmer Jeans- gap.com ; Womens Drop Shoulder Jersey Top- oldnavy.com ; MICHAEL Michael Kors- Jet Set Signature tote- nordstrom.com

Want to embrace your edgy side? Pair wedge sneakers with black leggings or skinny leather pants, a rock and roll tee and a biker jacket.

Wedge sneakers 1

Target Shayenne High Top Grey- target.com ; 1969 Legging Jeans- gap.com ; “Rock” Graphic Cut Off tee- nordstrom.com ; Studded Faux Leather Biker Jacket- nordstrom.com

Do you yah! or nay! the wedge sneaker...

Flowers in Bloom, under the snow...

I was hoping that today would actually be sunny and mild tempratures as the weather people were predicting on the East Coast. A hint of spring in the air would have been perfect as I talk about the floral trend for Spring 2013, right? Well, instead, looks like we got a sneak attack from old man winter and woke up to SNOW!! Ugh... I really need to have a conversation with a certain groundhog... Anyway, I'm officially done with this winter, and figure it's about time we move on and talk about spring's biggest trends. I'm so excited for this spring- the prints, the colors, the sillouettes and, of course, the shoes!!

Let's start with florals. There are so many fun ways to wear floral prints. Dresses are the most obvious choice, but the floral dresses for this spring are far from the "Laura Asley" dresses of the past. They are fun, modern and even sexy. Layer a floral dress with a button down shirt or wear a blazer over one for a cool spring work look.

Click on images below for style info.

For me, floral pants = fun. There are so many ways to wear floral pants, you can dress them down and yes, you can even dress them up. I like to go the casual route and floral pants are my go to for weekend wear, that is when it starts warming up... Pair floral pants with a casual tee, some ballet flats and a fun necklace.

Click on images below for style info.

I know there are a lot of skeptics out there when it comes to florals. I sometimes hear, "florals are way too girly". To that I always say, there are many ways to wear floral prints. You can even make floral prints "edgey". Pair a floral top with a moto jacket, cage sandals and fabulous envelope clutch for a night on the town.

Click on images below for style info.

What are some of your favorite ways to wear floral prints?