Splendid Labor Day Reads
From the Splendicity community, comes this week’s best in beauty, fashion and shopping.
SHOPPING
With the economy in bad shape, NY Spender is looking for new ways to save, from coupons clipping to smaller perfume bottles.
Shopalicious shares the scoop on surfer-cool Toms Shoes latest release: the ultra stylin’ wrap boot!
Style…a work in progress finds some haute couture inspiration in the high street when she tells us that Coco joins the Crew.
ShopDiary reviews Bond No. 9 New York’s latest fragrance, Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue.
Shoe Blitz adores the purple and black L.A.M.B. Miyagi.
Glamour Gift Guide suggests the gorgeous Marc Jacobs Ostrich Stam Satchel.
BEAUTY
Krizia from Beauty Match boldly states: Why I will NEVER gain weight
Viva Woman shares with you the beauty benefits of drinking milk.
Beauty Secrets Revealed shares a Hot Oil Hair Treatment Recipe For Dry, Damaged & Frizzy Hair
Beauty and Fashion Tech looks at a number of powder sunscreens, so now you can reapply sunscreen without ruining your makeup!
Beauty Blogging Junkie has partnered with Three Custom Color to provide 25 readers with TCC’s new Watercolours for Cheeks in Wallflower, a dewy beige. Click here for more info on how to enter.
Beauty Bento Box shares her thoughts on a recent experiment with the Nivea Visage DNAge Cell Renewal Eye Cream.
FASHION
Petite Fashionista knows that you have to feel your best, to look your best! Join Christa and the readers of PF as they do a 5 day RESET to have more energy and fit into their “skinny” jeans!
Her Accessories is looking at the horsey side of things with her top picks for equestrian-themed accessories.
Just A Formality loves these silk sandals from Oscar de la Renta - perfect for a formal event.
The Space Between My Peers is blogging her own comeback! Check out the before pictures and offer your suggestions.
Tops 2 Bottoms features one of the trends for Fall fashion, Checks and Plaids.
Happy Labor Day!
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Fashion Lab On Location: Blending vs Contrasting Shoes
What a wonderful surprise! Taking a surprise day of vacation, my hero agreed to accompany me to the Nordstrom rack to look for shoes and take pictures on location. He even bought coffee. 
More about my fall wardrobe needs later, but I should mention that foremost on my mind today was needing walking shoes. Over the last week or two, I’ve been very disciplined to get out and walk nearly every day and I’m noticing the strength in my back returning (some of you may remember I experienced a very serious back injury this past January). Lately I’ve been wearing sandals, but that won’t continue forever …
The first picture is from my before pictures post. Noting that my legs are shorter than my torso, Imogen suggested a shoe that blends with the color of my trousers. Which I don’t dispute. However, shopping being the experience that it is, having a wardrobe full of the right things is often easier said than done. Grumble. Out of the three pictured, plus several others, nothing better than my old blue ones materialized.
But all was not lost! I have tried, with no real success, several trenches during the run of this blog. Do you like this one? (Unfortunately, the picture of the front was no good. But the look on my daughter’s face when I tried it on for her was very promising. The collar is wide, with softened points which my husband says go with the lines of my face. Not the lines in my face. LOL)
And is this the kind of hair cut y’all were thinking? This lady was as kind as could be to allow me to take her picture. And so pretty! Most interesting, though, was her story: she just recently cut her hair and is really loving it. Before that, all she was able to do with it was wear it in ponytail!
Anyway, keep leaving me your input and suggestions. And keep us posted on what you’re up to. Remember, this week we are talking about weight loss and physical fitness. How’s that fitting into your life?
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Beth Before
My sister and I last Thanksgiving.
Here’s the link to her “before” post: This is what 43 looks like. Recently she also posted a book review of Staging Your Comeback
Hair today, which she thinks is too square and I think is too golden. Before we started all this, I emailed Christopher with my suggestion that she take her hair back to it’s original dark brown. He agreed that would be more “gorgeous and sensational” and suggested she had about 20 minutes left to do it. 
For background, other posts she’s pictured in around here:
Her last known natural hair color, in a cut I remember thinking at the time was stunningly cute and stylish for a young mom. 
And, to the right, another look that she calls “something in between”.
In my view, my sister has always super photogenic and fabulous. Pop over, take a look at her pictures, and share your suggestions.
And be thinking about joining us in blogging our comebacks!
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Blogging My Own Comeback: The Before Pictures
After the input started coming in on this post, I mentioned to my husband that I had never in my life before thought a moment about needing to correct for having a long face, to which he replied that when he looked at these pictures, they didn’t look to him like my face. I have since adjusted the sizing.
We all hate the typical “makeover mugshot” before photos, right?
So I tried to smile for these and pose as naturally as possible. I’m wearing normal daily makeup. I’m not going to be taking modeling classes between now and the end of this project, and all the photos will be taken by one family member or another. These are my reading glasses.
I forgot my jewelry. Normally, there’s a rather unique anniversary ring keeping my wedding band company. And I haven’t had a manicure or a pedicure for several weeks (more about that week after next according the Comeback Calendar). Neither can I see well enough to pluck my eyebrows properly.
Today’s weight: 133 lbs. (Better than I was expecting.)
This is the moment for honesty. Do you have suggestions?
(Just for fun: Christopher Hopkins’ Makeover Gallery and Good Housekeeping Look Five Years Younger Makeovers.)
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Teen Style Tuesday: Boyfriend Cardigans
If your legs are long in relation to your body, this trend will be easy for you! For versatility, try a boyfriend cardigan worn open in a color that blends with your hair (or face). Click on any of the pictures for more info, pricing and other colors available.
Are you sporting this fall trend?
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Modesty in Living Color
Updated from August 2006.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
2 Corinthians 10:5, New American Standard Bible
Recently I ran across a blog discussion of Biblical modesty where the question of the appropriateness of dressing in bright colors was raised. (After pondering the topic overnight, I am unable to find the exact post to link to. I think it was somewhere over here.)
The concept of Biblical modesty as prescribed in 1 Timothy 2:9 and elsewhere is to be orderly and not draw undue attention to oneself.
How does this relate to the colors one chooses to wear?
- Color is one of the most notable aspects of any outfit. Any outfit which is markedly different from what people in the culture around us are accustomed to seeing is going to draw attention to itself.
- The face should be the focal point of every outfit. Color is a tool to accomplish that purpose.
- Conversely, color which doesn’t support your natural coloring, or worse - clashes with it, draws unwelcome attention to itself. (People muttering to themselves or their neighbor, “she’d sure be pretty if she’d wear better colors”.)
- Above all, color selection should support your personality and make you feel like yourself.
Some of my previous posts on finding and combining your personal colors:
Find Your Colors
Combining Colors
Combining Cool and Warm Colors
Posts about my own use of color:
Previous posts on color theory:
Characteristics of a Color
My Mental Color Wheel
More Fashion Color Resources available at The Runway Scoop.
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Fashion Lab: 30 Foot Rule
When viewed from across the street, what do you look like? (Not, “how do you look”, but what do you look like you are?)
The 30 foot rule is used in theatre. Costumes, props, and set pieces need merely to look like what you want them to look like from 30 feet.
A few months back we noticed our neighbor’s son (in his early 20s) would show up from time to time with a girlfriend. Except with her frosted hair and wide middle, we kept wondering if it was his girlfriend or her mother. Now we know she has a reason for a belly. With her hair in a youthful color, her figure might have said “mother-to-be” from 30 feet, rather than “middle-age”.
Motivating me to embark on a midlife image transformation was the realization that, when I’m driving around town, I do not look like what I am. I attract way too much attention from men close to the age of my own sons. It’d be funny if it weren’t so embarrassing.
Since I’m not going to change the car (for frugal reasons we have decided to drive scruffy cars until the nest is empty), what will identify me as between 35 and 45? Now, I’m afraid, depending on whether my hair strikes you as blonde or gray, I could be anywhere between 25 and 65!
In my sunglasses, skinny bootcuts, Converse, and various coats, what do I look like to you? What else do these (almost) 30 foot pictures reveal? I’ll leave a couple of my own observations in comments.
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Would You Use an Image Consultant?
As long as we’re all about making ourselves over, Imogen asks:
I’m interested to know what makes you decide to make a change, take control of your image and do something?
I’m actually very interested, not just because of my job, but also because I’m being interviewed for a magazine next week about this topic. Would you ever consider using an image consultant to help you with your transformation? I’d love any feedback on the following questions - from your points of view:
- Who benefits most from an image consultant (age, line of work, emotional state, stage of career etc.)
- The value of an image makeover
These are some of the questions I’m being asked.
Let’s help her out.
From the gut, here’s my intial reaction to the idea of using an Image Consultant: I’m afraid an Image Consultant in Spokane would be … hinky, for lack of a better word. A Mary Kay lady. A glorified something salesperson. A hair stylist trying to beef up her business.
But, realistically, a properly trained Image Consultant could be a better investment than getting your advice from your hairdresser, who is depending on keeping you in services for her income.
What are your thoughts?
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Blogging My Own Comeback
In celebration (???) of my upcoming 45th birthday, I have a notion to stage my own comeback of sorts. Of course, I am referring to Christopher Hopkins’ fabulous book (which I highly recommend you purchase if you are over 39, or maybe even if your mom is over 39), Staging Your Comeback
Sort of a DIY makeover, I plan to address topics like:
- a hairstyle change
- scheduled maintenance
- physical fitness
- my lifelong struggle with nailbiting
- and, of course, lots of what to wear!
Would anybody like to join me? Either for fun or for linkage.
Besides turning 45, here are some other times to consider taking a fresh look at your image:
- when entering the work-force, either after high school or after college
- about 7 years later, when all those clothes begin to look really dated
- after your second (or any other number) baby
- when your kids leave home
- a career change, actual or desired
Anyone besides me feeling adventurous?
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Teen Style Tuesday: Charlotte Russe
Every now and again, I feel guilty because my thoughts are so self-centered. Like on Tuesdays, when I’m supposed to be thinking of teen clothing. Says who? Well, says me. I like routine.
And my routine for Mondays is to hit Value Village first thing in the morning, usually accompanied by one or more teens. This week I tried on a jacket by Charlotte Russe. (Although it was a nice cotton/spandex fabric, great fit, and super cute styling, I didn’t buy it because is wasn’t one of my colors.)
Anyway, because we agree that online shopping is a frugal move these days (did I tell you I figured out a round trip to Walmart costs me $5 in gas?), I wanted to link you to Charlotte Russe.
Because now not only is online shopping frugal, it’s social with Charlotte Russe’s Shop Together application. Plus, if you buy something through my link, they’ll pay me for it!
Make your next visit interactive. Visit the Fashion Lounge at Charlotte Russe and check out what’s new. (And play with their outfit builder, which is where I got the picture of the safari dress over the bermuda shorts.)
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