Curses, foiled again!

I know I’ve mentioned I’ve been trying to get some sequins into my wardrobe for several seasons now.  I finally psyched myself to up actually purchase the Gryphon lovely at top (with a fabulous 25% discount code thanks to Retail Me Not!) last week.  And after all that?   Turns out it doesn’t work on me in the size I ordered. ARGH!  After two seasons?  What to do? Order it in an XS and hope it will fit across my shoulders?  Get something else entirely?  I still haven’t figured that out, but I came across a few possibilities that I thought I’d share with you. More sequins after the jump!

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The, uh, "classic" leather mini?

Okay, it’s $600, and I suspect there’s an age limit on having an excuse to buy a leather miniskirt, but this is without a doubt the classiest hot little biker skirt I’ve ever seen.  I love the studded beltsl  If I thought I could get away with wearing it on a regular basis?  Maybe I should ask the boy…

Country tweed from Nanette Lepore.

I give in.  The fashion machine has won.  While I’m normally one of the people who refuses to even contemplate buying clothing for a season that is months away (who wants airy eyelet dresses in February?), my eye has officially moved on to fall fashion. The weather is hot and sticky, and I am far from done with the summer produce.  But still, jackets are starting to look cute to me again, and the texture of flannels and tweeds is starting to look rich and appealing again. Don’t get me wrong — I don’t want to WEAR any of it yet, and I really need to spend at least one solid day in a pool somewhere before the end of September.  But I have to admit, the wool is starting to call me.  Luckily, the stores, physical and online, are starting to fill up with distinctive pieces in tweed, plaid, and wool flannels.  Here are some of the pieces I most want to pet this fall.

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The perfect summer jacket from Trina Turk.

Welcome to summer!  Wedding season is in full swing.  We’ve covered wedding fashion outdoors, in the church, at the beach, so hopefully you have your eye on the dresses you’ll be wearing at this summer’s ceremonies, but what we haven’t covered yet is, well, the cover-up!  Yes, it’d be great if your dress covered all the bases by itself, but let’s be realistic.  Sometimes weddings will take you in and out of the sun, the wind, and the air conditioning, and you’ll find yourself in need of some help for climate and modesty control.  This is particularly true if the reception is going to be outdoors or in tents and the ceremony is in a church or the ceremony is outdoors and the reception venue is heavily airconditioned.  A pashmina is always a safe choice, but if you’re looking to go a little farther afield, here are some ideas for cute cover-ups that are totally wedding-appropriate.

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A breezy, beachy blue from Laila Azhar!

We’re almost to June, the biggest wedding month of the year, so it’s time to take another pass at wedding guest fashion.  While there are a few rules that are consistently safe for any wedding (don’t flash too much skin, don’t wear white), we all know that there are as many different kinds of wedding venues and dress codes as people can come up with.  (Star Trek wedding, anyone?)  Today we’ll tackle the beach wedding.

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Perfect for casual wear with ladylike ruffles! From Nanette Lepore.

I know I’ve mentioned my devoted avoidance of pants during the summer months in connection with dresses.  One of my favorite things about the warm weather, though, is the chance to wear skirts.  I know, skirts are totally doable during winter months, but honestly, I’m seldom hard-core enough to wear skirts even with tights if it’s below freezing outside.  I may be a Northerner, but I’m also a terrible wuss.

I’ve just started to break out my skirt wardrobe for the season.  I definitely have my share of flirty prints, but my workhorse skirts for the summer are always the solid-colored ones that I can wear with any top that comes to hand.  That said, though, I love a skirt with a little embellishment, be it ruffles, zippers, or bows.  Practical and versatile doesn’t need to mean boring.  This season the designers have a lot of great options that can be dressed up but that would also be perfect for casual wear.  I am LOVING the Nanette Lepore option above, but more of my favorites follow after the jump.

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Pink is a color that is, shall we say, challenging for me.  I can manage a dusty rose or a bright cherry, but straight-up pinks are really best confined to my pedicure.  That said, though, pink has a soft summery charm that has a special appeal in those first days when the weather turns warm.  Here’s a gallery of beguiling pink tops to romance the beginning of summer with, from cherry to salmon.

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Also in black, white, and oceanic!

Today we’re up to stage three of Betsy’s spring wardrobe update.  The next item Betsy asked for is coverups to go over dresses.  I’m sure you’re all familiar with the problem.  Yes, the summer months are coming and it’s going to get hot.  Unfortunately, plenty of offices seem to be air conditioned to a temperature suitable only to penguins or particularly hot-blooded men in suits. (They measured the temperature in my boss’s office at one of my former jobs and it registered at, no joke, 53 degrees Fahrenheit.  This is not, in my opinion, “room temperature.”)  This leaves most women and many men with the choice between either freezing in your office or sweltering once you step outside, particularly if your commute involves an AC-less subway platform or a car that’s been baking in the sun for eight hours.  Throw in the occasional movie theater and, if you’re lucky, cool evenings at the beach, and having a cute cover-up for your warm-weather dresses is a definite must.

For an office like Betsy’s, cardigans or blazers and other casual jackets are the easiest way to go. Yes, pashminas are great, but if you’re at the office, getting stuff out of drawers, attending meetings, and generally going about your business, wraps just aren’t practical.  Today we’ll focus on cardigans — they’re easy to roll and stuff in a biggish handbag, and in the right color, can be hugely versatile.

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LOVE the print! Uh, could you add straps to that?

But hopefully you can!  Consider this my tribute (from afar) to the strapless dress.  I’m broad in the shoulder and less busty than Lily, so dresses that are strapless or close to it (I mean you, minimalist spaghetti strap) make me look like a linebacker.   While I admit I have been forced into strapless dresses for various weddings (you know who you are), those dresses just aren’t something I have ever voluntarily bought since reaching adulthood and coming to the realization that not all clothes are flattering.  That’s all right.  I’ve got legs, and most of the time I’m fine with avoiding the strapless and rocking the short skirt instead.  We’ve all got our good points, right?

My comfort level with the short skirt, however, does not prevent me from occasionally coming across a strapless dress and recognizing that, gosh, that’d be hot if I were a totally different person.  So, ladies, here are my latest sightings — may they do you more good than they do me!

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I’m sure I’m not the only woman interested in fashion who has worked in a conservative office environment.  Have any of you noticed the peculiar dearth of fashion guidance on the subject of what we can wear to to work? Certain websites and magazines who shall remain nameless (*cough*Lucky!*cough*) are continually proffering “office appropriate” outfits, but really?  Those outfits might be office appropriate if you’re 22 and work at a fashion magazine, but not so much if you work in an accounting office or at a Fortune 500 company.

That’s really a shame, because “conservative” does not have to mean boring.  Even those of us who know we shouldn’t be wearing 4″ peeptoe heels and bare shoulders in to the office have options. Now, if you’re an attorney and are going to court, you know perfectly well you need to wear a suit, and it probably needs to not have ruffles and certainly needs to not be pink.  I’m not talking about those kinds of situations.  Sometimes, yes, you need to be boring.  (Although for those situations, I recommend checking out Theory, J. Crew, or Banana Republic.  They offer suits with a cut much more modern than the average suit you’re likely to find in your local Macy’s or Filene’s.)  For the regular day in the office, on the other hand, the vast majority of us can get a little more interesting without crossing the line of appropriate business attire.  Yes, actual appropriate business attire, wearable by women over 25.

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