Choose Your Dress

                                                      by Glutnix,  flikcr.com

 Merry Christmas everyone!  It's the day after Christmas.  Already!  As I get older,Christmas just sneaks up on me even faster, and I cannot believe that Christmas is gone for 2009.  I think I'd better start buying presents from January 2010 and put them away for 2010 Christmas season...  Got a surprise for my birthday.  The flu.  The day before I thought I had allergies.  Luckily, the flu was 70% gone by Christmas day so I could celebrate with my  family.  Hope your day was much better! 

I declare 2010 the year of the dress.  That's because I would like to start wearing them.   I wear skirts, and it's usually to go to church.  Skirt and blouse.  Mix and match.  Various combinations.   Simplicity is to throw on a dress, voila.  Add a belt, jewelry, shoe or boot, sweater, jacket, shrug (pick one or two please, not all).  I was visiting a church one Sunday, and was looking at the clothing women were wearing, and saw there was a need for distinctive but understated dresses.

What is (or is going to be) the SK Clothes dress style and silhouette for 2010?  Well, I like knee length, short or 3/4 sleeves dresses with a straight or subtle A-line skirt and a semi-fitted bodice.  Details of some kind are a must, whether willowy ruffles, a few sharp pleats,  buttons,  or gathers.

I have two questions for you women out there.  Choose your dress for the occasion.  I don't mind if you let me know as well.  What dress would you choose to wear to:

1.  A New Year's Eve Concert?

 

                     

               Oneworld, www.google.com                                    www.amazon.com 

2.   To dinner with friends?

   London Times, www.eBay.com                       Kathy Robertson, www.google.com 

I'll let you know my answer next week.   Enjoy the rest of the Christmas season with family and friends!

Til next blog!

Ideal Winter Coat

On Monday, I went shopping for a few things.  Took the transit.  People watched.  Maybe I wasn't having a great winter last year, and noticed only black winter coats, or maybe this year more women like myself want to wear more color for the winter season.  All I know is I was pleased with the amount of color women in particular were wearing as outer wear.

The older women get first prize for wearing winter coats of color.  Quilted and padded nylon coats are still  the particular coats of choice, and I saw medium green, blue, red, purple(not a common color ) coats on women over 40 years of age.  I have to add that my coat is a purplish-blue for this winter season.  For the past how many years I've been wearing a beige winter coat made of a polyester/nylon fabric with padding.  An A+ for the mature women!  The younger women still tend to stick to blacks and dark browns.   Coats with hoods trimmed with fake fur, zippered fronts, and waist or hip lengths are still the favorites.

A color choice that I'm warming up to is the white winter coat or jacket.  When I saw women wearing that color as outer wear a few winters ago, I was not a fan.  This year, I like the look.  It's most attractive when there isn't too much snow on the ground and the outdoors is just colorless.  The white coats just give a brightness and a clean touch to the grey scenery. 
  
The future for winter coats?  I think future popular coat styles will soon be made of a fake suede-type fabric, padded, with detailed trims and faux fur, and the popular lengths will be mid-thigh, knee length and calf length.  We need to cover up more for the cold winters we're experiencing more often.  

Check www.zuki.com for some beautifully crafted winter coats.  The prices for these coats most likely would take several life times for many of us to purchase just one, but the colors and designs are beautiful.
  
white hip-length coat with hood - www.himfr.com
white suede-look mid-thigh coat - www.fashion-era.com

Liven Your Look with Beaded Jewelry

The women in my family don't wear much jewelry, and I follow the same rule.  I don't know why that is.  The late bloomer that I am is just beginning to wear rings and learning that jewelry can add just the right completion to an outfit.

by Catherinett Rings Steampunk, www.flickr.com 

                                                
Two years ago, I bought beads to keep my daughter busy during the summer.  She had a problem concerning attaching clasps, so I took out a library book on beaded jewelry to get the answer.  In doing that, I started making beaded jewelry myself.  My daughter and I have sold quite a few pieces of our designs.  Now I have an appreciation of the art of handmade jewelry.  We're on hiatus right now.  I'm focusing on clothes.

by SDCDeaCer , www.flickr.com  

                                             
Jewelry (and I've just started wearing rings ) are a wonderful addition to an oufit.  If the clothing worn is a  crew-neck t-shirt and a pair of pants, a necklace can add quite a bit of interest to the look.  A simple dress can be spruced up with a pretty pair of earrings.  Jewelry can add an air of sophistication, whimsy, romance, or what ever it is you're trying to portray, to an outfit. 


Women don't have to spend large amounts on jewelry.  I have a particular interest in beaded jewelry because it's affordable and comes in all shades and colors.  If you're the creative type, borrow a beaded jewelry book from the library, buy beads on sale, and create your own!  It's a lot of fun.

www.lplusbjewelry.com 

                                                          
For those of you that want to buy rather than make-it-yourself, check out www.bijouxdefantaisie.com and www.lplusbjewelry.com.  Bijoux promotes Canadian jewelry designers, some of whom use gemstones and metal as well as beads.  L Plus B Jewelry designs unique and beautiful pieces from understated to sophisticated, bursting with color.

Till next blog!

Hats, Hats, Hats!

I have to talk briefly about hats this week.  Hats are one of those accessories I love to see on others but hardly wore myself.   I just started wearing hats more often during the winter of 2008 - 2009.  Why was that?  Because I had started making my own fabric hats out of need.  

My head seems to be a little bit larger than the average woman (or so the department stores want me to think).  Any time I shopped for a hat, my size was never found.  What I ended up with was a hat that would attempt to cut off my circulation and had to be forcibly stretched to fit my head.  And so I decided not to wear a hat unless it was absolutley necessary.  Well, I need to wear more hats this 2009 - 2010 winter season, for my bad hair days and to add more style to my look.

Did you know that September is National Fall Hat Month?   I've never heard of this before so it must be quite new (as in just began a year or two ago).  The fourth week of September is National Fall Hat Week.  People are encouraged to wear felt or fabric hats as fall begins.  No doubt this is to promote the hat industry.  I'm sorry I was ignorant of the celebration.  Won't miss it next year.

The styles of hats that are favorites for fall/winter 2009 - 2010 are the fedora, the cloche and the military hat.   These are simple styles, as seen above, that many women can wear.  Simplicity, overall, seems to win every time when it comes to regular lifestyles.  For me, originality combined with simple lines is a plus.

While looking at hat websites, I viewed some very elaborate hat designs that look like art work, and the costs reflect this.   A very confident woman who loves attention and excellent craftmanship would be the ideal customer to purchase such hats.  I would love to buy one, and display it in a glass case proudly for my guests to admire.   

Till next blog!

golden elaborate straw hat - www.ransomsboutique.com

lilac military hat - www.nextag.com

black fedora hat - www.nextag.com

grey cloche hat - www.harlemsheaven.com