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Fashion No-No’s for Any Body Shape

No one person’s body is the exact same as someone else’s despite what we see on television. Clothes will naturally hand differently and look differently on each individual person. Here are some ideas to keep in mind when shopping for clothes that a woman of any shape or size should stay away from.

The best advice that any woman can get is to know what your trouble areas are and what areas to play up. Just because you are well-endowed doesn’t exactly mean you need them spilling out to draw the eye to that area if your middle is a little larger. In some cases this may accentuate your middle. The point is to know your bodies good and bad areas before you buy the clothes.

Stay away from horizontal stripes. Even if you are very slim horizontal stripes can make your body look wider in spots you may not want to accentuate. Perhaps not through your middle but maybe through your shoulders and this can make the body proportions look off. If you are a larger woman the horizontal stripes are a no-no. Your body’s widest areas will look wider.

Biking in the Little Black Dress 

Image by richardmasoner via Flickr

If you want to keep updated in fashion, consider the new Direct TV packages that offer a good amount of fashion-related channels and shows where you can do research from. Every woman has the standard black dress or pant suit in their closet, if not these two items then at least some stand-by black outfit. This is a must-have in any woman’s closet. The trick here is to break up the color. An all-black outfit is boring on any woman. Take the little black dress for example; you can pair this with colored pumps and matching bag or shawl.

 

Filed Under: Apparel, Designer Influence, General Tagged With: , ,

Top 3 Summer Fashion Trends

Staying atop of the greatest summer fashion trends can be challenging. However, some of the most top trends are simple things that most people already have in their wardrobe.

Floral Tops

Floral tops can be worn long sleeved, short sleeved in the form of a tee-shirt, or even as tanks. Florals can also be worn in men’s fashion in short sleeved button-ups. These nice shirts can be worn with shorts and a nice pair of gladiator sandals, or boat shoes for men or even tucked into a denim skirt for women. Floral tops are flirty, yet casual, creating a polished look that is comfortable and chic. They are just one of the latest fashion pieces for this summer.

Sleeveless Vests

Whether for men or women, sleeveless vests are one of the most popular trend items for summer 2011. Paired over a simple cotton tank or a banded tube top, these tops are trendy, comfortable and sophisticated. This trend piece is inexpensive and classic; it can be used in nearly any fashion season of the year, not just summer.

Lace tops

While only for women, lace tops are nice shirts that can be dressed down with leggings or shorts, or more fancy when tucked into a pencil skirt. Also, the type of shoes and accessories you wear with the lace top (most lace tops don’t need much jewelry with them) will determine the look that you portray while wearing your lace top.

While these are just 3 of this summer’s trends, there are countless others that may fit your individual style better. Finding trends that stay true to yourself is important. Happy shopping!

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Making a Statement

Making a fashion statement is a dangerous proposition, and must be done properly in order to avoid public scrutiny. There are so many ideas that are available on how to mix up colors, patterns, and fabrics in order to have an original look. Much of what there is is seen through the media, on television, or through celebrity influence. Proof of this is on nearly every magazine cover in the newsstand’s today.

Fashion: Sartorial Opiate or Shamanistic Magic? 

Image by Earthworm via Flickr

Elements That Stand Alone

There are many designers who are trying to incorporate color into their design scheme, but some are not able to make that leap between color and hideous. However, there are clothing lines that offer pieces that are original, colorful, and trendy without sacrificing quality and pride. Coogi pants are brightly designed through use of gold threading, colorful weaving, and embroidery to make every pair of pants unique, bright, and fashionable.

Labels are important to notice as well. High-end designers have been able to become highly recognized through popular trends, price and affordability, as well as through variety, such as seasonal wear and accessories. It is also important for designers to be mindful of the media, as they can make or break a new designer before they have even really begun to move in full swing.

Media Darlings

The media is responsible for much of what the public sees and hears regarding popular trends. This can also be said of those styles that have been scrapped to the waste basket, remember hammer pants? Making a positive impression on the media will go a long way to solidifying a reputation with the public.

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Taking Care of Your Car

In our modern world, vehicles are essential, and therefore require maintenance. A car must be well cared for, inside and out, and keeping a car in good condition can help it last or preserve its retail value if you wish to sell it later on. The most important components of a car that are mandatory to its running properly are the engine, battery, gasoline, oil, and breaks. These constituents must be frequently checked on in order for your car to function properly. The best method of caring for these components is a brief check whenever you are ready to drive your car, and periodical checkups with mechanics to ensure that all is running how it should.

However, don’t spend so much time maintaining the workings of your car that you neglect the exterior. The outside appearance of a car is often what most determines its value in the car market. If your car needs upkeep, consider car refinancing to save some money and use it to keep the car in optimal condition.

Frequent car washes are important because they can prevent rust and abrasion from caked-on driving dust. Also remember to vacuum the interior. Some car owners even brush the fabric on their seats to keep it looking new. If you frequently park your car outside, consider a wax to shield it from damaging UV rays. People remember sun block for their own skin, but often neglect the paint jobs on their car—don’t forget it works the same way and can prevent premature fading!

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Engagement Rings: Does “Cut” Mean the Stone is Actually Supposed to be Able to Cut Something?

No, it doesn’t, although it is still a popular belief that a true diamond will scratch or cut glass. Don’t try this, however, because doing this can damage the stone. “Cut” actually refers to the proportions of any gemstone, not just a diamond. They include the depth and width of the stone, as well as the appearance of all of the gemstone’s surfaces (these are also referred to as “facets.)

Depth and Width

These are exactly what the words suggest—how deep the stone is and how wide it is. You want the depth and width to be in as equal proportions as possible, so that one doesn’t overshadow the other. In other words, engagement rings with stones that have very shallow depths but aren’t very wide are not going to be as attractive as those where the depth and width complement each other.

Facets

Again, this is a fancy name for the surfaces of the stone. Gemstones used in engagement rings or other pieces of jewelry should have a symmetrical appearance on their surfaces. They should not be “lopsided” or be so jarringly different that this is immediately evident.

In addition, gemstones used in engagement rings should be free of nicks, chips, or scratches, especially on the crown (the top part of the stone.) Any of these flaws means that poor workmanship was used in the cutting, polishing, and setting of the stones, and may also indicate that the stone itself is of very poor quality.

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Does Indian Fashion Have the Capacity to Across the Globe?

India is known for its unique and expressive clothing with rich colors, shapes, tapestries and exotic design. Indian female clothing such as Sari, the long single piece garment worn around the body, Salwar Kameez, the two piece clothing to cover upper and lower body is almost universally recognized. But outside India, it is worn mostly by the Indian and Indianized diaspora.

These East Indian oriented dresses are not worn at all in vast regions like China, Europe, Americas and Africa and have not been accepted as a day to day clothing style in these regions.

Indian fashion designers have spread their wings across the globe and many famous names such as Saloni Lodha have tried to introduce Indian colors and shapes by fusing them with Western style clothing. Fusion themes have worked better than startlingly exotic and purely Indian clothing which might look odd and even goofy in a Western setting.

Designers like Saloni Lodha have worked for top fashion conglomerates and her work has been prominently depicted in fashion magazines such as Vogue.

Western dresses have a rich variety of colors, shapes and designs, and Indian colors and fashion sense have made them even richer. It is almost certain that as Indian Subcontinent’s population rapidly multiplies, and the region becomes more prosperous, fashion designers of Indian extraction will introduce and impose their fashion sense and talented designs on conventional Western clothing and this might transform the way the World wears its clothes.

At a very minimum, there could be a fusion fashion style which could emerge from Western and Indian fashion designers working together to bring elements of Eastern and Western style in harmony and combining them into one.

Saloni Lodha who works in Europe, is a good example of this emerging fusion. As the portfolio and leverage of such International designers becomes more accepted and common place, we might see a more universal style of clothing, some changes in traditional Western clothing, particularly in color combinations that might enrich the global fashion sense.

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How Cultures Can Influence Fashion

The degree of cultural diversity across the globe is simply mind boggling and this rich tapestry of cultures has allowed different styles of clothing to flourish during many centuries.

Fashion in clothing continues to evolve depending upon how the culture of a particular region, nation or civilization evolves. Evolution of fashion also depends upon cross cultural interactions and the relative influence each culture has over shaping the tastes, values, artistic input from other cultures.

Due to last two centuries of Western dominance, the fashion and clothing preferences in large regions of China, India, South East Asia, Middle-East, Africa have evolved to a degree where western style clothing has become almost universal in its appeal and presence.

One only has to travel around the globe to realize that Western style male trousers, shirts, neck ties, as well as women’s clothing such as dresses, mini-skirts, trousers, and shoes are almost universal in their presence and appeal.  In regions where the native cultures have a strong identity, like India, China and Middle-east, the traditional Eastern dresses still have mass appeal and presence. The eastern and western clothing style now co-exist harmoniously and people often change their clothing from traditional to Western on a day to day basis.

The hippie culture in North America and Europe during the 60s and 70s bought many East Indian fashions such as “Kurta”, a long upper body garment imprinted with religious names and symbols, but it did not find a mass market appeal. High profile celebrities, such as Steve Jobs and Beatles went to Indian Himalayas and the banks of Ganges River to seek enlightenment. When they came back to America or Europe, they wore Indian clothing frequently and to a certain extent it did permeate the fashion culture of Western societies but this fashion did not take root and consequently it whithered away.

So there are times when fashions change with respect to cultural influences, but during other times they may not take root, despite cultural movements and celebrity endorsements.

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