Friday, February 18, 2011

"Pure Jeanius" - styling tips...

"Pure Jeanius"

Illustration by me!
 Lets face it, finding a "good" pair of jeans is worth its weight in gold, but not such an easy task for most of us.  Jeans are one of our "wardrobe staples" and need to be shopped for properly.  Knowing what suits your body shape is vital in finding the perfect pair, stick to what suits you and don't just follow fads.

Skinny jeans are on their way out as the 70's revival is bringing back wide legged, flared and palazzo pant styled bottoms, but these don't suit all body shapes.  There are three things to consider when buying jeans: fit (how they sit on the body), shape (what shape the jeans are) and wash (colour and finish).  Here are a few tips to help you find the perfect pair of jeans for your body shape:


Triangle/Pear  

Hips are the widest part of your body and you tend to carry most weight on your butt and thighs.  Look for a dark wash or black boot cut jean as this can appear slimming, the boot cut creates balance with the hips.  Straight legged jeans elongate the legs, again, choose a darker wash.  Avoid jeans with flap pockets on the hips as this can draw attention to your hips making them look larger, as can tapered and skinny jeans. 

Hourglass

How lucky!  You have proportional top and bottom halves with a tidy waist in the middle.  Most styles suit this shape, skinny is a good fit for figures that are proportional, as are all of the above.



Rectangle (straight)

You have a straight figure that lacks curves.  Shape creation is they key for this body type, you can do that by either going for boot cut or flares which will create shape at the ankle or by going for a skinny jean which will give shape at the hips.


Petite

If you are 5ft 3" or less you are usually better off looking for a petite size range in order to get a proportionally better fit.  Those of us that are vertically challenged need to avoid turn ups and cuffs as this can make our legs look even shorter.



Things to consider when "jeans shopping"...

- Try and work out your body shape (I will do another post on body shapes) and dress accordingly.  Hide your flaws and dress your assets!

- Make sure your butt crack doesn't pop out when you sit down, always bend down or sit down in the fitting room to check for comfort and fit.  Avoid low slung jeans.

- Low slung jeans do nothing for those of us with "muffin tops"  so always try to shop for a mid or high rise fit ( this should help the butt crack situation too!)

- Darker washes are more slimming and look smarter.

- Lighter, faded jeans give a more casual look.

- It's worth investing the money in jeans that fit well and flatter our body shape.



Boot Cut - Petite, Rectangle, Triangle, Hourglass 

  
Flare - Triangle, Hourglass, Rectangle


Skinny - Rectangle, Hourglass


Straight - Triangle, Hourglass, Petite


  

Reckon I'll be checking out a few pairs like these quite soon!  



Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Valentino









I am simply loving this new ad campaign from Valentino, I just had to share it...

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Manbags are go...

My husband so needs a manbag, I always end up with his wallet, keys and phone in my bag when we go out, it puts the straps of my bag under too much strain!!  It's socially acceptable in Italy for men to have manbags and I must say they look very chic (not at all "girly" as my husband  might think).  In the early 90's some men used to carry messenger bags but unfortunately that phase seemed to disappear.

How delighted was I to read  that Mulberry will be releasing a range of modern day manbags that will be flexible and masculine.  Other labels such as Brioni, Tom Ford and Zegna have also recognised the emerging market for mens accessories.  I can't be the only woman fed up of carrying her husbands essentials in her bag, can I?

"Ted" manbag by Mulberry

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Accessories...




 I began thinking about accessories the other day, about how I wanted to show some of the cool pieces around at the moment. It's not just clothes that put me in my "fairytale trance", accessories do it too.  Accessories can make or break an outfit and are a cheap way of breathing new life into your image. 

My mind began to wander back to the past to the time when I was about 8yrs old.  I remembered a tin my mum used to have, she used to keep her "special" jewellry inside it and keep it at the top of her wardrobe.  I remembered the feeling of excitement of when I was allowed to look through the tin and try on the jewellry. I felt like a princess, they were special moments.  I still get that feeling when I see certain pieces of jewellry nowadays. 

I drifted back to the present day and thought of how MY daughter likes to have a riffle through my jewellry "drawer" (not tin!), I see her face all dreamy, like a magpie that has spotted the silver, and I hope, just hope, that she remembers that dreamy feeling when she's all grown up...

"glittering prize"




Saturday, February 5, 2011

A bit of gossip for the weekend...

Tom Ford is going to London Fashion Week to show his second womenswear collection. However, according to his spokesman, it will only be a small presentation for international monthly magazines.
Watch this space...



Jefferson Hack, founder of Dazed and Confused, will be coming to Melbourne in March for LMFF.  He will be speaking at the Business Seminar and the Herald Sun Marketing Breakfast. Keep an eye on http://www.blog.lmff.com.au/  for more info.




Tali Lennox, 17 year old model and daughter of singer Annie Lennox, is new the face of cult Swedish label Acne. Appearing in the pre fall 2011 campaign, she was photographed personally by its creative director and founder Jonny Johansson.




Carine Roitfeld, former editor in chief at French Vogue (!) hosted an event celebrating Gucci's renovation of their Rue Royale flagship store in Paris.  Emanuelle Alt has now officially taken over the reigns at French Vogue, but what we all want to know is what will Carine do next - I'm sure she's got plenty up her super stylish sleeve... 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Rainbow Magic...

Colour blocking was everywhere on the runway in the Spring 2011 shows.  Regardless of the elements and principles of design, colour was pretty consistent throughout...the future's bright, you gotta wear shades! 








Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Wedges

Following on from the 70's ad's, I thought I'd show some of today's 70's inspired shoes.

Wedges