Fabulously Cheeky

I must admit it – I love spagetti strap tops, especially the ones with a little bit of lace at the top. Maybe it is because it reminds me of the leotards I used when I went to ballet classes in my early twenties, or maybe it is because they look so good under a jacket. I don’t know. I just know that I’m not ready to let go of spagetti strap tops yet.

However, I absolutely hate the contraption that most of them have inside – the dreaded “bra top”! These things are obviously made for teenagers with tiny little breasts that don’t even need a bra. There is no support in this extra fabric and elastic, it just makes the shirt tight and uncomfortable and difficult to put on. And, the worst thing about this straight jacket device is that if you can actually manage to get into it, it has a tendency to pull itself down and push your breasts up over the top, so you keep having to yank on it at regular intervals to prevent your bra from showing. Annoying to say at the least!!!

Recently, I just had enough! I was determined to do major surgery on the lot, and went looking for my scissors! I turned the shirt inside out and cut through the elastic all the way up to the edge, and then I carefully followed the edge all the way around. And wow! A comfortable spagetti strap shirt that actually stays put!!! And, such a simple solution to put an end to my suffering! I was thrilled!

I am so happy I didn’t have to throw them all away! And the best thing about getting rid of the inner workings of the shirt was that it no longer squishes me flat!

A word of caution, though, about how long you can allow yourself to show cleavage: If the cleavage ends up in vertical wrinkles at the top, you are unfortunately better off with a less revealing style. If, however, your cleavage is still wrinkle free, go for it girl!!! Just get rid of the inner teenage modifications, and it will fit just fine…

Tags: fashion tips

In our menopausal process of becoming goddesses, curves are needed, and our old wardrobe may not look right any more. Therefore, the clothing has to change as the body changes. Say goodbye to skimpy tops and belly showing. Say goodbye to miniskirts and fish net tights. But, this doesn’t mean that we can’t dress nicely. We just have to look for different types of clothes.

If your body starts looking like an hourglass, don’t try to hide it behind baggy, unshapely clothing. Think of your new curves as an assett, something that it is worth accentuating! So, how do you accentuate an hourglass figure?

Think fitted! Tailored jackets, figure skimming pencil skirts and fitted t-shirts, blouses or sweaters. This works much better than covering your body from the tip of your breasts to the sides of your hips with a long, baggy, boxy t-shirt. It looks much better if you dress in fitted clothing that follows your curves.

And, one more essential – a belt at the smallest part of the hourglass! This is important! It will flatter your figure more than anything.

If your smallest part is under your bust, choose empire or babydoll styles which accentuates this part. If your smallest part is at the waist, try a skinny belt with a beautiful buckle. If you are long wasted, a wider belt is nice.

I love the way it looks when you wear a longish fitted t-shirt with a belt at the waste! So don’t hide your curves – find new ways to show them off!

Tags: hourglass figure

Don’t you love Christmas? Staying up too late, watching movies too much, eating and drinking too much, hanging out with friends – it is like living in neverland where there is no tomorrow! However, this kind of gluttony does take its toll, especially on your waistline! So, when deciding what to wear, keep your increasing curves in mind.

Increasing curves doesn’t mean boxy, unshapely clothing – that will only make you look boxy and unshapely. No, it is better to enhance the curves you have got. If you don’t have a small waist line, chances are that the area under your bust still has some definition (at least if you use a good, supportive bra). If that is the case, empire waist and babydoll styles in the right colors can be very flattering. This style accentuates your smallest part and also shows off curvy breasts without drawing attention to a curvy waist as well.

Another style that is excellent at hiding a few bulges is ruched tops, especially if the ruching is on a diagonal, or if it goes across the belly.
Also, think longer tunic tops, very soft, loose sweaters that drape without clinging, and check out chicos and travelknits on ebay. These two companies make clothing out of material that doesn’t cling or wrinkle, and this type of clothing can easily hide a few extra pounds caused by Christmas indulgence in too many goodies.

Also, make sure the fabrics are correct for winter. Think Merino wool, silk and cashmere, velvet and velour. Stay warm, eat, drink and be merry. Celebrate the return of the sun, and whatever else you feel like celebrating. Happy holidays!

Tags: Christmas

I went through my closet the other day and tried on different tops to see what was worth keeping. All the tops had different sleeve length, so I really got to see the effect of it. At some point, I came across a sweater with 3/4 sleeves. I have always loved 3/4 sleeves, simply because they don’t get into everything you do. They are a bit out of the way, which is nice, but as a fashion statement, does it work?

I took a look in the mirror, and it didn’t look flattering at all. The sleeves stopped at the widest part of my hips and created two horizontal lines which basically added another 8″ to my hip measure.
And, who in their right mind, would want another 8″ added to their hips???

So, I tried another sweater with long sleeves, and what a difference that made. The hips went back to their normal size. Then I pulled the sleeves up to the elbow. That worked, too. It made the hips look slimmer with bare arms next to them. So, 1/2 sleeves work, while 3/4 sleeves don’t.

Then I tried a t-shirt with short sleeves. Short sleeves make horizontal lines right at your bust line. This is good if your bust is small, or your shoulders are narrow, or if your body shape is like a pear. By making your upper body look wider, it will balance out bigger hips. However, if your bust is large, stay away from short sleeves. With a large bust, you are better off with either a tank top, 1/2 sleeves or long sleeves.

So, I decided to get rid of my 3/4 sleeve sweater. Even though I like that length of sleeves, it makes my hips look dumpy unless I pull the sleeves up to my elbow. So, whoever came up with the idea of cropped sleeves, must have gone to the same school as the ones who came up with the idea of cropped pants. Now, I won’t even get started on how I feel about cropped pants. I’ll save it for another post…

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Tags: sleeve lengths

Have you ever wondered what earring shapes that flatters the shape of your face? I just came across another awesome article about this issue. Click the LINK to find out more.

Please visit my website for Green Cosmetics

Tags: earring shape

Tapered pants are “in” at the moment. They are fitted all the way through the hips, down the thighs and right into the shoes. In my opinion, these creations should be totally prohibited from use on anyone who can’t honestly say that they look good in tights. The only way you can justify wearing such a thing is if you pair it with a loose tunic top and a snazzy pair of high heals. If not, don’t even look at those things!

Tapered fitted pants create an upside down pyramid with the ankles at the tip and the hips and butt at the top. Unless you have the tiniest of butt and hips, it will basically make you look huge where you would rather want to skim a few inches. And, not only that! If, below the upside down tip of the pyramid, you are wearing birkenstocks or sneakers, you’ll look like you are related to Donald Duck – your feet will look like boats! This is why these kinds of pants MUST be paired with high heals or tall boots if you insist on wearing them.

Needless to say, anyone who doesn’t want to look like a fashion mistake, especially if you are of mature age with a less than ideal size of wiggly bits, should highly consider a different style of pants.

To balance large or curvy hips, it is way more flattering to wear pants that fit around the hips, and then fall losely through the legs. One of my favorite type of pants are palazzo pants, which drape like a skirt and balance the hips nicely. You don’t even have to wear them with heals, comfortable flats work great.

So, unless you are planning fancy date and feel comfortable wearing 4″ heals, do yourself a favor and get rid of your pencil pants! Some things just aren’t meant to be worn on a daily basis…

Tags: fashion tips, pencil pants, tapered pants

Did you know that something like 65% of women use the wrong size bra?
40 or so years ago, my grandmother had a bra boutique where women could go and get fitted for the correct size bra. They got measured first, and they learned how to put it on properly. You aren’t just supposed to stick your arms into the straps and close it in the back. After you have put it on, you have to make sure the breasts are lifted into the cups properly by putting your hand inside the bra and giving each breast a lift.

So, how can you tell if you are wearing the right size bra? There are many tell tale signs. First, lift your arms up and see if the horizontal band is cutting into your sides. If it is, then you need a larger size band. If parts of your breast are showing below the horizontal band, then you need a smaller size band.

The cup size is more complicated. If the tip of your bust hangs lower than the middle of your forearm, you need more support.

If there is space inside your cups, you need a smaller cup size.

If the underwires don’t touch your breast bone, your cups are too small.

If the underwires poke into your sides, you need a larger size horizontal band. For example, I can fit into a 34 C, but the cups are too close together. I get a much nicer fit if I use a 36 B. So, if you have to change the band size, go down a cup size if your band size is bigger, and you’ll end up with the same size bra, just more comfortable.

If your breasts hang over the top of your bra, like muffins, you need a bigger cup size. Muffin breasts look horrible under t-shirts!

And, if you love those nasty bandeau bras, make sure they don’t flatten the breasts at the edge of the bra. Bandeau bras look nasty, too, especially under skimpy cotton tops. A better alternative is to go with a nicely shaped strapless bra that has enough support built in that it doesn’t have to flatten your chest to stay up.

Just remember, nothing ruins your look more than a badly fitted bra!

These days, it is becoming more and more common to shop on the internet. One of the main internet merchants is Ebay. The biggest problem with this is obvious – we can’t try anything on, and we may not even be able to return the item if it doesn’t fit. All we can do is look at a picture of the garment, and then hope that it will look good when it arrives.

This isn’t really a problem. With my new system for figuring out what kinds of colors that look best on you, you’ll know exactly what you can and can’t wear. To see my numeric system for what colors to wear, please CLICK HERE.

Once you figure out if you look best in brights, muted or pastels, you need to know what is the most flattering length of the garments. You can learn about how to find your vertical body type HERE.

And last, but not least, you need to know what your style is (CLICK HERE to find out).

Once you know what your ideal colors are, and what length your clothing has to be, and you have a solid grasp on what style you belong to, you simply can’t go wrong, even when you buy on Ebay.

If you know that you are short waisted and need tops that are 25″ long, or longer, don’t even look at fancy tops that are only 21″ long. You already know that they’ll end up in the back of your closet. If, however, you find a top that is the right length, put it into watch, or buy it.

The same applies to the colors – if you know that you look best in muted colors, don’t even look at brights or pastels. They will simply wash you out and make you look very pale and unwell. If muted is your thing, only look at clothes in muted colors, and forget everything else. Yes, I know, temptation is there, but if you want to be a successful shopper on the net, self-discipline is a must!

And last, but not least, remember what your STYLE is! If you are a romantic type, search for flowers, frills, lace and Laura Ashley. If you are a dramatic type, don’t even go there. You need bold patterns and dramatic shapes. If you are a classic type, look for clothing under “career” on Ebay, and you’ll find simple tops that fit under your suit jackets. Sensual types, think cashmere, angora, silk and velvet, sexy, sexy… Casual types, go for button up shirts, pleated skirts and cardigan sets, but please, please, stay away from cropped pants – they shorten your legs, which is not flattering, unless you have very long legs! Plaids are good for your type, though. Innovative types should search for “boho”, “hippy”, “fairy”, “goth” or “renaissance”, and find all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff that most people wouldn’t even consider wearing. Did I forget anyone? I hope not!

Anyway, my point is, that if you know what colors you should wear, what your body type is, and what your style is, there need not be any more worries when you shop online. These are the secrets to successful shopping, even though you can’t try things on. Since you already know, ahead of time, exactly what to buy, you won’t be disappointed when your garments arrive. With my simple systems for figuring out what you need, you simply can’t go wrong!
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Tags: find vertical body type, what colors look best, what is my style

The fashion makers have spoken again, this spring we are supposed to wear bright green, blues, metallics, animal prints and neutrals. Very tempting, I must admit, but here is where we have to enforce some self-discipline! First of all, we have to know which color category we belong to, and also what kinds of clothes that look good on our particular body shape. (If you don’t know what color category you belong to, CLICK HERE to learn more about my new system for determining what colors to wear.)

Can you wear a tubedress with tiger stripes with your coloring and figure, or not? If the honest answer is NOT, then look for a dress that is more flattering for your body type, or a dress that fits your coloring better.

Knowing what colors that look good on you gives you a great advantage: If you want something blue, you will know if you have to look for clothing in pastel blue, medium muted blue, dark muted blue or bright. If you look best in pastels, just stay away from brights and muted. If you don’t, you’ll end up with something that not only looks unflattering on, but it will end up in the back of your closet where all the other odds and ends live.

Do you know why you have nothing to wear? It is either because nothing fits together (different color categories), or it is the wrong shape for your body type, or even the wrong color for that part of the body.

So, before you run off shopping, go through your closets. Eliminate first all the colors that you can’t or shouldn’t wear. If there is anything left in your closet by the time you have eliminated the wrong colors, try on the rest of the stuff. Is it long enough? Does it fit right? Is it tight enough in the right places? Do you have the right kinds of skirts and pants for your type of figure? Do your tops have flattering necklines? Get rid of everything that doesn’t work. Then, take out a pad and pen and write a list of what you need (and tick off the things you already have).

Wardrobe necessities
1) A couple of flattering skirts and pants in neutral colors that will match everything else in your closet. Good neutral colors are black, white, camel/tan, brown, olive, khaki, cream, gray and navy. Just keep in mind whether your figure requires dark or light colors on the bottom. (Yes, all wardrobes need some neutral colors just to tie things together.)

2) Tops should definitely be within your best color category, since the color is close to your face. Buy tops that match the neutral colors of your skirts and pants.

3) Jackets also have to be flattering colors. They should also match your pants and skirts, and make sure they are the right length and shape for your figure.

4) Accessories are an expression of who you are, dramatic, romantic, classic, casual, innovative, sensual, so keep that in mind…

5) Good underwear – yes, it matters. It makes your clothes fit nicer.

6) New makeup for spring, have fun!!!

If you buy a few good base items that match everything that you have in your drawers, you can have an almost unlimited amount of outfits to choose from, even with a fairly small sized wardrobe. This is the most economical way to shop.
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Tags: Fashion, What are my best colors to wear