Posts Tagged ‘fashion’

Gal-Vanize Your Wardrobe on a Budget

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

frontofflowerTo be Gal-Vanized means to be strong and beautiful, soft and powerful. One of the most natural and feminine ways to express power is with a flower. You can Gal-Vanize your wardrobe for just a few bucks and have fun doing it.

A simple silk flower with a hair clip or steel pin back glued to it will immediately add a sense of vibrancy to your look. Wearing vibrant colors and flowers will make you feel brighter. You will also notice that it makes a great conversation starter.

backofclipI simply gathered a few different types of silk flowers then got out my glue gun and added pin backs and hair clips. I can instantly add any of these flowers to my lapel or my hair and immediately transform my look.

Books for Knitting and Crochet

Customer Reviews and Ratings on Full Bust and Full Figure Bras and Swimsuits at Big Girls Bras

Photo Retoucher: The Ultimate Illusionist

Friday, May 29th, 2009

New York Times.com featured an article titled ‘Smile and Say No Photoshop’ in the Fashion and Style section this week.

According to the article, “More often than not, images have been altered — historically with painstaking tricks of lighting and exposure and, more recently, with retouching software that can make celebrities and models look thinner, taller, unblemished, with brighter eyes and whiter teeth. Seemingly perfect. Advances in digital photography have made it so easy to manipulate photographs that cover models often resemble weirdly synthesized creatures or, as the photographer Peter Lindbergh described them this week, “objects from Mars.”” >>>Read more at New York Times.com

Apple iTunes

While you’re there, be sure to check out the video opinion piece, Sex, Lies and Photoshop, why magazines should let readers know if images have been retouched by Jesse Epstein, the director of Wet Dreams and False Images. Here is the trailer for her movie:

Recession-Proof Fashion Tips

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

Sheri Zampelli on Recession-Proof Fashion TipsOne of the ways the economy is affecting me is that I haven’t been able to do much clothes shopping lately. Yet, fashion is an important part of my life and clothes make me feel good. So, over the years I’ve developed ways to feed my fashion fix in good times and bad. Here are four ways to make your wardrobe recession proof:

*Make the old new
*Find a wardrobe that’s “you”
*Maintain your size
*Accessorize

Make the old new
The pictures in this post demonstrate two recession-proof tips. One is make the old new, the other is accessorize.

I bought a this two-piece tank and blouse set years ago but I never liked the tank. I love to embellish my clothes and give them a little bit of pizazz. Close up of beads and sewing for recession-proof wardrobe ideasSo, I cut up the tank top and took a few of the flowers off. I then sewed these cut-outs onto my blouse and embellished them with beads.

Most of the beads in this picture come from a pair of earrings I got free at Warehouse 1333 during some kind of art show. The earrings were too heavy for my ears so I cut them up and used them on this blouse instead.

Books for Knitting and Crochet

Maintain Your Weight
I don’t have to tell you, buying a whole new wardrobe just because you put on 20 lbs will cut a hole in your budget. If you’ve been dieting, you’ve probably lost and gained the same 20 lbs over and over again. I got off the diet rollercoaster years ago and now I wear the same size year after year. Because of that, I can easily follow recession proof tip #2: Find a wardrobe that’s you.

(To find out more about how I maintain the same size year after year with ease, go to donateyourweight.com).

Find a wardrobe that’s “you”
Finding a wardrobe that’s “you” will save a ton of money in the long run. It will also make it easier to get dressed everyday. Pink has become my signature color. (And even though I wore pink before there was a Pink Magazine, I like the way they describe the power of pink on their website if you want to check it out).

Pretty much every item in my closet is pink, has pink in it or is in the “pink family” (red, maroon, purple, peach, salmon, watermelon, etc.) I also have classic pieces like black pants, black skirts, white dress-shirts and jeans. Since all of my clothes are in the same color scheme, I can literally walk in my closet blindfolded and choose an outfit that matches. In fact, a bonus recession-proof tip is to find a brand new combination of your old clothes. If you always wear your pink sweater with the black pants, try putting a white blouse underneath it or a hot pink scarf over it, etc.

Accessorize
I’ll close the article with the fourth and final tip: accessorize. You will be surprised how far your wardrobe will go with some accessories like belts, bracelets, necklaces, broaches and scarves. You can turn a pair of jeans and a t-shirt into a fashion statement just by putting on a scarf or a hat. People will say “I don’t have time to dress nice like you” and you’ll get a smirk on your face because all you did was wrap a scarf around your neck and throw on a hat! Underneath it all you’ve got on some comfy jeans and a t-shirt. How hard is that?

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Women’s Magazines That Make You Feel Good

Sunday, September 21st, 2008

I boycotted all fashion magazines in 2006. I even refuse to leaf through one while I’m sitting at the salon or waiting in a doctor’s office. If you want to know why, see the article I wrote.

Just because I don’t like the agenda of most fashion magazines doesn’t mean I stopped liking clothes, colorful pictures and interesting stories. I was doing some browsing around at magazines.com about current magazines and here’s what I discovered:

Oprah Magazine is now on sale for only $18.00 which is a 66% savings from cover price. I know Oprah is a safe bet when it comes to providing content that inspires and empowers but I wanted to see what else was available.

I discovered a few titles that sounded like they were off the beaten path of your typical women’s magazine and that made me kinda happy.

Take for example Hybrid Mom. I’m not sure why they had to limit it to mom’s. Several of my child-free friends would likely be down with a magazine that describes itself like this (replace the word mom with woman/people): “Moms across the nation are redefining themselves everyday. They are part: mom, business woman, spouse, volunteer, community worker, teacher and entrepreneur…completely a Hybrid Mom. An Incredible magazine for today’s mom.” Hybrid Mom does indeed sound quite different from Better Homes and Gardens or Woman’s Day.

Pink magazine is one that pounced on right after my fashion magazine boycott began. I love their overall mission statement and the reason they decided to call their magazine Pink. I even subscribed for a year. But to me, reading that magazine was only slightly less defeating than looking at fashion magazines.

I did take away one quote from business owner Kathleen Plate that I enjoyed, “People think success only begins at $1 million and working crazy hours. But running a business is completely doable. This is a consumer driven society. People are dying to buy something, who why not from you?” Plate supposedly works 8 hours a day and takes off 6 weeks a year. I think she’s got the right idea.

Other than that I felt like this: if women’s magazines make you think you’re too fat, too old or don’t have enough money, Pink magazine makes you feel like unless you’re a millionaire or a corporate executive, you don’t really have a “career”.

Positively Green is “the magazine for today’s woman who is interested in living a greener, healthier life without sacrificing comfort or style. With a focus on solutions, we feature today’s eco products, how-to tips and celebrity interviews in the areas of fashion, beauty, food and much more.” That sounds pretty positive.

Do you subscribe to a magazine or blog for women that makes you feel better about yourself once you’ve reached the back cover? If so, please do tell.