Winter Dressing Tips

Mr. Mickey picked me up to take me out to dinner just as it started to snow.

I apologize for the indoor pictures again. The lighting is dismal.

I wore a necklace I made using rose quartz and a chunky silver chain tied like a scarf. I like to wear it to give me a V neckline in winter with warm tops with a higher neck. Since I have a round face, I like to wear a V whenever possible to elongate it. 

My outfit's base includes a column of black in a Chico's tee with Talbots side zip pants from last year. If you cannot wear black near your face, try navy, dark brown, or dark gray, which also work as great bases. The boots are by Nine West. 

Now on to the jacket! I was thrilled to find this one on the sale rack at Chico's for about a fourth of its original price. Score! The knit material is almost like a burnout velvet in a deep sapphire blue and black. It has a swing style with a waterfall front that works so well over a simple slim base. When I tried it on in the store, the lady who helped me looked at it as if she had never seen it before. I read between the lines, "Why didn't I see that?" I love it when I try something on, and I know immediately that it is me. 

I am sure you have noticed a pattern in my cold-weather dressing. I start with a slim fitting solid color top and bottom, then add an interesting jacket, scarf, or another accessory to give it a little pizzazz. This base is slim-fitting or body-skimming because I never want to add bulk underneath the jacket, but a slim fitting first layer also helps keep me warm.

Wearing a top and bottom in the same color with a contrasting color or patterned jacket is known as column dressing. It helps you to look taller and thinner for several reasons. There is no horizontal break on your body. The vertical breaks from an open jacket show only a portion of your body, making you look longer and leaner.

Minimalism

The style shows for 2014 are showing a return to the minimalism of the nineties.

It's all part of the fashion cycle. We are draped in layers of jewelry, scarves, and lots of colors for a few years. Eventually, we get tired of it all and go back to navy, black, gray, and white with straightforward lines and minimal accessories. I have always embraced a certain amount of minimalism in my personal style.

  

I feel most comfortable in clean lines and solid colors with only one or maybe two bold accessories. It seems a lot of you also gravitate to minimalist looks. My Polyvore sets have been viewed more than four and a half million times!

I created this necklace as a special order this week and posted it on Facebook. The responses I received included offers to create for stores and hundreds of people asking how much. This is an effortless pendant necklace style on only one strand with two simple beads and caps as part of the strand. It is timeless and regal looking. I can imagine the President of a company wearing this with an elegant black suit as easily as a young woman would wear it with jeans and a tee and high heels. 

The point of this post is to encourage you to wear (and create if you are one of my clients) accessories that celebrate individuality and personality. One or two bold pieces are all you need. Matching necklaces, bracelets, and earrings are sure to make you look overdone and dated.

A bold, elegant necklace can be as simple as this large pendant piece with a simple bail and a bold silver chain. I've seen it offered as such a necklace for as much as $60.

Some may say that minimalism is bad for the economy. Still, during the nineties, I sold enough of my own jewelry designs to quit my retail manager job and almost double my salary the following year.

Opportunity is always there. Be flexible. Open your mind and your eyes to what is appealing at the time. Respect that trend and then do what suits you and your own style.

Another Adventure

Have you ever had to totally change your plans after you arrived at your destination?

We planned to go shopping in Abingdon, Virginia, for part of the day and then make early dinner reservations at a great restaurant we recently visited. Since this is not a busy time of year for them, I thought we would just call earlier in the day for the first seating. We found that the restaurant and many others in town were either closed for the whole month or operating with a minimal lounge menu.

This is the always inviting porch at the Martha, where the desk manager told us about a great new café around the corner.

So off we go on a new adventure.

Earlier, we stopped briefly at their small T.J.Maxx. I have been looking for a luggage or camel color bag to replace my Liz Claiborne bag. After being carried for several years, it was time to retire it because the zipper finally broke. I was thrilled when I found this Michael Kors one that I have been coveting for more than a year! None of the other stores I have visited still had one in stock, so I was thrilled to find this one at a much lower price than the ones I had been looking at online.

Instead of complaining about my lack of planning, the wonderful Mr. Mickey smiled and suggested we try the new place. It turned out to be great! We will revisit 128 Pecan.

The Virginia Creeper Trail starts a couple of blocks from downtown Abingdon.

An old railroad track was converted to a bike path that extends to the top of Whitetop Mountain. We have actually ridden our bikes from the top of the mountain into Damascus but not all the way back to Abingdon. Perhaps on another day, we will try that.

No Saturday adventure is ever complete until we have shared an afternoon dessert. On this day, we stopped at Anthony's Desserts for a coconut cream pie tart. 

Mickey found the old book on French Country style is one of the shops we visited. He knows how French my heart is.

We saw a large house on the hill off in the distance, so of course, I suggested we get a closer look. The road that passed by the house continued upon the ridge, so we drove to the end of it, where we saw this awe-inspiring panoramic view of mountains and rolling pastures on three sides.

Today's outfit includes a long sleeve white tee, a blue Ponte jacket, and black So Slimming jeans, all from Chico's. The short boots are Madden Girl from Belk a couple of years ago.

At Last!

The storm of the century made me stay home for a couple of weeks, but last night we were so happy to be back at our favorite restaurant for dinner.

I have posted in the past about wearing black and how it isn't always flattering for everyone. If you are like me and have invested in an abundance of black in the past, there are ways to make it work for you. Here I've added a bright aqua scarf and gemstone ring in the same color as accessories.

All of the pieces of this outfit are a couple of years old. The boiled wool jacket is about ten years old! I love that it has black embroidered details on the collar. The cuffs can be turned up, and it has one decorative button closure, so I wore it with a long sleeve black tee from Chico's. The black knit pants were a find at Ross a couple of years ago. They are by Tahari.

The scarf is a very soft gauze in color I know works well for me. The shoes are low heeled with tiny gold-trimmed bow detail. The bag is Kenneth Cole Reaction from T.J.Maxx. 

My wardrobe is made up of pieces I like to wear and that I feel comfortable in. I am motivated to buy new pieces if I believe they can be worn for several years with many other pieces in my closet. Classics changed with accessories has been my secret to dressing well for many years.

About three years ago, I lost more than forty-five pounds, so I had to give up almost all of my wardrobe. As I replaced those items, I once again looked for classics that could be worn in many combinations and several seasons.

Jeans and A Tee... At My Age?

If you were also in high school in the early seventies, you might be like me in that you find the ultimate comfort is that "uniform" you wore for much of that time.

Occasionally I still see one of my high school friends wearing the same look we loved at seventeen but a Harley tee and faded out jeans with shoe muffins (athletic shoes) will not work for me anymore. Comfort now has to do with more than just how it feels on my body. I want to celebrate that I have been on a tremendous journey for these past forty years. I have traveled the world, owned several businesses, lived in great cities, and learned volumes since I graduated from high school in 1974.

My Junior Class Picture 1973

I still wear jeans and a tee quite often, but my comfort zone now includes great fitting dark washed jeans, a slim-fitting tee with a scoop, or V-neck with a nice jacket or open cardigan sweater. Knowing my body shape is key to putting together comfortable outfits. There is a "sweet spot" between mid-hip and mid-thigh where I like my jackets to end. They should be neither too short, showing all of my flat bottom, nor too long, making my short legs appear shorter. 

The jeans should fit my body, neither too tight nor sagging in the back. Dark wash looks more appropriate and much better with most of my jackets, but I have one faded pair of classic Levis, which I wear with flats and a navy blazer on sunny fall days. The NYDJ cropped jeans I am wearing below remain one of my summer favorites also.

Autumn of 2013

I hope that sharing my inspiration sets from Polyvore and explaining why I make certain choices helps you put together great outfits that make you feel confident and comfortable. Here's to our next forty years!