Beauty

I received this question from a reader, ‘Can I wear knee high boots with a little black dress?’ GREAT question! What you pair your little black dress with will make ALL the difference in the world in terms of what statement you are making with your outfit. To give complete justice to this answer, I typically need more information. Tell me more about the dress…Are we talking sleeveless? Halter? Long or short sleeved? What kind of neckline are we working with, and what sort of function are we talking here? Work? Cocktail party? Night with the girls? Either way, the answer is yes to all of these. You most definitely can! Let’s take this very simple
Pleated Tunic Dress
from Rampage and see what we can do with it!

The woman is revered in the Western World, and probably in the Eastern one as well, as a woman who knows style, carries if off seemingly effortlessly, AND inspires others to do the same. She is popularly known as Posh Spice, and this more for the high maintenance lifestyle she embodies. Not only is she one of the more famous Spice Girls, but she is also famous for spousal association with David Beckham, and he is probably her most stylish accessory out of all of them. Add a few noteworthy endorsements, her own DVB fashion line, and her latest fragrance hitting the net, this girl also knows how to market her talents as well. Now to add to her list of stylish endeavors is her latest book that falls right in line with Rachel Zoe’s and Nina Garcia’s novellas, a book on how to be that much more stylish. And it is in bookstores now. The book is part high-end international shopping guide, and part how to look prettier guide with her famous quips spattered throughout. She also offers some blank pages where you can write your own notes. The bottom line? The Posh life is in reach girls. As she says, This is, MAYJAH!! Let’s have a look at excerpts from Victoria Beckham’s That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between.

Victoria Beckham on Denim….

“More than any other piece of clothing, jeans can show off your figure to its best, but if you get the wrong cut or style they will do you absolutely no favours at all.”

Victoria Beckham on Sunglasses…….

“The crucial accessory for me is a good pair of sunglasses. If you’ve ever wondered why I’m always wearing them it’s very simple: as a mum, I often don’t get that much sleep, I don’t always have time to put on the Touche Éclat in the mornings, and who can be bothered putting on eyeshadow first thing in the day anyway? So, instead, I just throw on the Chanel sunglasses, which really do, as the fashion magazines say, hide a multitude of sins.”

Ah, we know this one well, we’ve talked about it quite a bit. Victoria on underwear peeks!

“The absolute worst thing anyone can do with their jeans is to pull their G-string over the waistband.…I don’t mind a bit of lingerie showing…but that is very different from bending over in Piccadilly Circus and showing your thong.”

And what does Mrs. Becks have to say about the LBD….

“A simple black pencil dress is probably one of the most useful things you can own because you can dress it up in so many different ways and no one will realize you’re wearing the same thing over and over.”

And to remind us all just how funny this girl really is, here are her thoughts on tit tape.

And perhaps, her most important tip of all. I LOVE LOVE this one…..

“If you feel particularly good about yourself in something, or someone important in your life makes a nice comment about it, you will always associate that outfit with that moment, and that’s why clothes work almost like a scrapbook of your life. At least they do for me, which is one reason why I have kept virtually everything I’ve ever worn.”

Gotta love her. Pick up That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between at Amazon for less than $15 or at your local bookstore. IT’S OUT!!

We’ve received a question from one of our readers, flowergirl. Let’s have a look:

I’m not a big clutch fan, not alot of opportunities to clutch them with! I do have a dress for a wedding for which I am -desparingly- looking for a bag. The dress-a DARK grey jersey knit,very plain, mid calf, with a foldy-turtleneck type of collar. Chic but not too dressy. will be paired with a pair of thick tights and my black patent leather boots. The wedding is being held in a huge white tent and its bound to be chilly so I’ve got a cheecky little cape-black of course! now all I need is something to put my cell, lipsstuff, and a few other things in….but what? Everything I’ve tried looks dorky or too casual! Any ideas?

The first thing I am going to say, I love this outfit. Consider this, you will be wearing black patent leather boots. The word dorky just does not belong in the same lifetime as black patent. Consider the second thing. Black patent leather boots. Really, there is not much you can do to screw up this outfit, from what it sounds you have pulled together all the basics. Add those awesome boots to a dress in this season’s hottest color, you really can’t go wrong. OH and black patent will dress anything up. Denim, khaki, whatever. You can not do too casual when you are wearing black patent so that eliminates your other concern So what bag are you going to bring if you aren’t a clutch girl? For starters if you are taking a cape, forgo the clutch all together regardless if you like them or not. You will end up having too many things to do with your hands, and you will be too busy to be bored, I mean, excited for the joyous occasion. Back to bags. Hmmm……I am going to suggest a small bag with handles, in black patent if you can find one that will match your boots. Definitely get one that matches those boots. Over the shoulder bag is going to look too “totey” and you don’t want that look at a wedding, and besides, it won’t work with the cape either. A clutch, well, we’ve already ruled that one out so you want to go in between for this one. Something like the Franco Sarto Knotting Hill Large Satchel - that you see here. See, the beautiful thing you have done now is chosen boots and a bag that are so versatile you can do anything with them any day of the week or for day or evening. So many people get the wedding outfit they wear to the occasion and never wear again (and yes, I’ve done that too). But pulling an outfit together like THIS will last for a very long time. If you don’t like this bag, the key you want to look for is small straps that you hold in your hand, and DEFINITELY black patent. Great question, flowergirl! Thanks!

I have to be grateful to the readers who have been emailing me with questions about flat boots. I am almost 6’ tall and though I heart Christian Louboutin, I do also feel much more comfortable in flat shoes. So this season’s ballets and flat boots have kept me very happy in the foot department. Yes, finally being flat can be a very good thing. But how do you wear them and pull them off as a fashion statement without looking boring?

So easy. There is only one DON’T when it comes to flat boots. You can not, I repeat can NOT wear flat boots with a dress that sits at knee length. Flat boots this year pretty much hit the knee and you can not combine two different pieces that meet essentially in the same area. When you go with flat boots and a skirt, pick a dress/skirt whatever that sits above the knee. Honestly, the higher the hemline the sexier the boot is going to look on you. Here is something that came out of London. You can contrast the boot and tight colors as this model did. Or you can also pair your tights and boot color for a very elegant monochromatic silhouette. This will REALLY elongate your legs and give you the same illusion of height that heels will. Go for it.