Style and Clothing

With winter apparently coming to an end and spring is just around the corner it seems we are ever nearing that time of year when our social calendars start to busy up due to evening events or weddings which we have been invited to.  These events, for some reason, always seem to throw many women and leave them feeling anxious about what they should wear and whether they will appear over dressed in comparison to everyone else or under dressed, both of which generally result in the lady in question feeling uncomfortable in what she is wearing for the entirety of the event.

However, although this is an all too common problem it shouldn’t be.  There is no reason for women to feel like this; rather they should just be confident in themselves and their wardrobe choices.  In general women at events don’t stick out because of their choice of formal or evening wear.  Rather they stand out because of their confidence; this is generally draws attention to them.

Although it is clear that the majority of women will not achieve this confidence over night, it is something that needs to be acquired over time so in the meantime here are a few tips to help you with these dreaded events.

If you are unsure as to what to wear and you are unsure as the dress code of the occasion then the best type of evening wear to opt for is the old faithful, little black dress.  This never fails to add a note of sophistication and the beauty of this particular style of dress is that you can dress it up or down.  If you are worried that your particular ensemble may perhaps be a little too formal then why not add a delicate cardigan or shrug to cover up with and take the formal edge off the dress.  What’s more the good thing about wearing cardigans is that not only do they keep the cold at bay but they can also be removed when you arrive at the event and find that in fact it is more formal and a cover up is no longer required.

Hopefully your confidence will increase over time and you will feel brave enough to move away from the LBD and be more adventurous and what’s more have confidence that the outfit you have chosen will strike the right cord.

It is essential for the sake of your children’s well being to periodically check their shoes and make sure what they’re wearing is still fitting properly. Children’s feet grow at extreme rates until they hit their teens, however a lot of the time unless your child complains that they are uncomfortable, you may not know when it’s time for a new pair of shoes.

In saying this many of you may be left with questions on how to check a child shoe. Firstly, it is a good idea to look for particularly worn areas, or stressed seams. A lot of parents are very aware that their children’s feet grow in length but are less aware of the fact that the width rapidly changes too. If the sides are bulging or wearing out more quickly than the rest of the shoe, then they may not be wide enough. Toes that bend upwards are also a sign of shoes that don’t fit properly, and worn out toes or heels can also mean it’s time for a new pair of shoes.

Have your children’s feet measured when buying shoes, after all what might seem comfortable to them for a minute or two in the store is very different from what will be comfortable after a day of playing. It is important to note that feet should be measured while standing, and always have both feet measured. More often than not, one foot is usually larger than the other. Therefore you should buy shoes to accommodate the largest of the two feet, what is more there should be a bit of room between the edge of the shoe toe and the edge of your child’s toes, approximately a half inch.

A lot of the time, we are very tempted to buy children’s school shoes that are a touch bigger, as we tend do think our child will grow into the shoes and therefore they will last longer and we save a little money in the process. Nevertheless, shoes and kids trainers are not quite the same as clothing. No matter how tempting, you should not buy any of you child’s shoes any more than one size too large for them.  If shoes are too big, they will cause your child to potentially trip when walking, fall when playing or even develop more serious foot problems and deformities in the future.

Tyra Banks has announced that she will be launching a new modelling competition, nothing surprising there considering that the model turned television presenter fronts the “America’s Next Top Model” show.  However what is surprising about this particular competition is that not only is it open only to teenagers but it is only open to plus sized teenagers.

Tyra claims that she feels that she need to challenge the negative associations many people have with plus sized models and further challenge the public and fashion industry’s view as to what constitutes beauty.  She says she thinks it is important that teenage girls have a healthy role model to aspire to.  Moreover Tyra believes that teenagers are the most impressionable members of society and as such it is important that they are not inundated with images of stereotypical beauty.

Furthermore Ms Banks claims that this particular model search will be the first ever “fiercely real” search for teenage models.  Tyra made the announcement about the new modelling competition on her talk show, “The Tyra Show” on Monday.  She says that the any girl between the age of 13 and 19 is welcome to enter the competition.  However, nothing is ever that simple and there is of course stipulations which entrant most fulfil.  Firstly they must comply with the obligatory height restrictions, every entrant must be between 5 feet 9 inches and 6 foot 1 inch.  What’s more they must also be between a dress size 12 and 20.  These are of course American sizes so all girls must be between a British size 16 and 24 to be eligible for the competition.

All finalists for the competition will be announced on Tyra’s talk show on March 2^nd, whilst the winner of the competition will be announced the next day.  Much like the winner of America’s Next Top Model the winner of the Fiercely Real Teen Model Search will be given a modelling contract for a year.  What’s more they will also be featured in a spread in one of the top magazines.

So with such a prize on offer Tyra may well be successful in her quest to challenge the views of people who believe all models should be a size zero.  What’s more it is probable that she will inspire many plus sized women and teenage girls.  Perhaps the competition will highlight to these women that fashion is not exclusive that thin people and that rather plus size fashion does exist and should be embraced.

There is little doubt that Tyra Banks will be inundated with entries to this latest modelling competition so all that remains is to wait patiently until 2^nd March to see the finalists be unveiled.

This year at the Golden Globes awards, our favourite celebrities were forced to face an unpleasant downpour. Nevertheless, like true professionals they all managed not to disappoint and upheld there picture perfect pouts and poised poses.

The ‘look’ that resounded throughout the evening was beautiful berry lips, elegantly undone up-dos and stunning floor length gowns. As a result, we saw a stunning sea of beauties most with lightweight, fresh, modern makeup, over the top statement wedding cake inspired gowns and fabulous free falling hair styles. One of our favourites has to be award-winner Sandra Bullock. Ms Bullock decided to take a risk and go for a striking purple, the gown itself was bright yet sheer with bandaged bodice designed by Bottega Veneta, while her hair was kept soft, with free falling wavy. Result: simply effortless!

Another favourite was Emily Blunt. Ms Blunt was dressed in a sugar pink chiffon creation designed by Dolce & Gabbana. Emily’s hair was in immaculate condition, left simple with fear falling curls.  Although, the icing on this particular cake was in fact her assortment of stunning silver diamond jewellery and clutch bag accessory:

Keeping with that dichotomy, neutral-toned gowns were quite popular this year at the golden globes, with sprinkles of gorgeous jewel tones. Most stars steered away from the LBD, and took a chance, like Ms Bullock herself on a splash of colour. Stars like Kristen Bell, Kate Hudson and Anna Paquin swapped fussy party hair for styles that were more elegant and effortless, helping to dress down over the top gowns and picture perfect make-up.

Now we all know who designed the beautiful outfit but the question that remains is what hair care products and make-up is used for glamorous events such as these?

Firstly, I’d never wear pearls. I’m not a huge jewellery person, and I don’t like the idea of wearing the irritants of dead oysters. I’m vegetarian, and to me wearing something from a killed creature is more strange than eating the creature. I don’t even like the concept of fake pearls.

Natural pearls occur when an oyster accidentally sucks a grain of sand or similar into it’s shell. Sand is sharp on the bare flesh of an oyster, so it does all it can to smooth the itch. It covers the sand grain with what it covers the inside of it’s shell – mother of pearl. It builds up layers of mother of pearl around the sand grain, until someone comes along, tears it open, and pulls out the pearl.

To an oyster, a cultured pearl is exactly the same, but to the humans harvesting the pearls, it is a lot easier to deal with. The humans intentionally put an irritant inside the oysters, then come along later to remove the pearls. This means that fewer oysters are killed for the same number of pearls, as a greater proportion of oysters will be irritated and produce them.

A formal shirt is a smart well tailored longs-sleeved shirt that you could wear to the office, to a social or business function, and it will be worn under a suit and with a tie. A dress shirt is designed more for evening wear, or a very special occasion. It is usually worn under a dark evening suit.

A dress shirt will nearly always be plain white with a stiff collar and cuffs. Some dress shirts have frilled decorative edges at the front. They can be made from pure cotton or silk or a mixed fabric, but always of good quality. A dress shirt is often worn with a pair of cufflinks. It should be worn with a tie or a bow tie.

Sometimes an invitation for a social gathering will specify ‘black tie’, and it would be advisable to wear a dress shirt for such an occasion. A good dress shirt can be worn at cocktail parties, formal dances, formal dinners, balls, big parties, weddings, christenings, award ceremonies, film premiers and other big events which require gentlemen to wear ‘black tie’ fashion.

Pearl jewellery is definitely not very old fashioned, pearls are timeless, from necklace, to bracelet, to ear-rings every girl should have them in their jewellery box.

Pearls can be fashioned in so many ways, I have worn a necklace wrapped around my wrist and attached a pearl brooch as a pendant to a necklace. It is how jewellery is worn that makes it work. Remember Princess Diana wearing a necklace as a headband.

Cultured and natural pearls are cousins, I am sure you can tell the difference but I think you need to know your pearls, for most of us the difference is that we can afford one more easily than we can afford the other.

You might not choose to wear a single row of beads to college but then again, why not? The colour and feel of pearls is unlike anything else and we all have memories of favourite relatives wearing them. They were my something old and my something borrowed on my wedding day, a smile for every pearl!

I happen to work in one of those wonderful offices where the air conditioning is more tempremental than a supermodel. It works fantastically in the winter, to keep things so chilly you could store milk in the filing cabinet, but under the summer sun it gets overloaded and decides to stop working altogether. So the topic of summer office clothing is close to my heart.

Unfortunately, there isn’t too much leeway in the standard of attire in my role, and so a suit and tie is still mandatory even in summer, but a few simple strategies help us all to cope.

The first is to have a couple of good-quality summer suits, with a lighter fabric. The downside to these is they often wear out quickly, but the sacrifice is worth it to prevent heatstroke in the office! The next is to leave your jackets and ties at work. One of the most difficult parts of the day is the journey to work, often in a pressure-cooker tube, train or bus, and being able to travel in shirtsleeves is a big plus. Finally, a little bit of common sense from the managers means that unless we have a client meeting, we can leave those jackets on the back of the chair and roll up our sleeves for the rest of the day. Besides wearing shorts, it’s about the best you can do.

The main pieces in every womens wardrobe for the office should be the basic pieces, With these you can then add accessories and different things to make them fit for the occasion and create different looks from day to day.

• The first piece that every women should have is a classic pencil skirt. These are simple and can be worn in many ways, worn with a blouse can be an instant step to looking smart and sophisticated. Pencil skirts can be made more glamourous by adding a belt around the waist and wearing a shirt tucked in.
• A good pair of statement shoes is another essential. This will help to pull an outfit together and can make it. A good pair of heels will make the women feel more glamourous and this will be reflected in the way she walks.
• The final essential in office wear is a smart jacket. It should fit properly and fit the womens figure perfectly. This adds essential smartness and can look powerful in the office. A smart jacket can complete an outfit and will help to insert a sense of authority to the outfit.

It seems that recently pearls have fallen out of favour with the trend-setters, but not with those for whom the latest fashion does not push out the classics. Pearl jewellery has its very own place amongst the elegant and ladylike. Pearls never truly become old-fashioned; they just ‘hibernate’ for a while until the perfect occasion to wear them presents itself and then, nothing else will do.

I own pearl earrings and a long string of pearls which I wear with many dressy outfits, as well as a three-string necklace that I wore for my wedding and which I wear occasionally with a really ‘best’ dress. I love the softness and opalescence of a pearl as well as its smoothness. It has a silky look that adapts so well to the colour it is worn with. A long pearl necklace can look great if knotted about two thirds of the way down the string, giving it a ‘flapper girl’ look which is fantastic when worn with a proper ‘tea-dance’ dress.

A natural pearl is one that starts life when a parasite enters a shell, causing a substance called ‘nacre’ to coat it; the resulting build-up of the nacre forms the pearl. A cultured pearl starts life outside the shell; a tiny man-made bead is placed inside the shell and the nacre is allowed to build up until it is removed around six months later.