ap contributors

Uniform Behavior

by Une Femme on May 22, 2013 · 0 comments

On those workday mornings when I find myself up against the wall time-wise, my Business Casual Uniforms save the day. I’m fortunate in that on non-meeting days, jeans are acceptable in my workplace, but I try to keep the overall look polished. Here I’ve paired with a simple tee, black knit jacket and low-heeled patent pumps.

I love mixing a bit of shine and sparkle with my denim, here have added some rhinestone earrings, a gold watch and cuff.

Have you formulated one or more uniforms for work days?

Earrings: kate spade, no longer available. Similar.

Jacket: Eileen Fisher, here.

Tee: Eileen Fisher, similar. I love these tees not only for the super comfortable fabric, but also for the ease over the tummy.

Jeans: NYDJ, here.

Shoes: Stuart Weitzman, here.

Watch: Michael Kors, here.

Cuff: Ann Taylor, a few years old. Similar.

**Disclosure: Actions you take from the hyperlinks within this blog post may yield commissions for www.unefemme.net. See Already Pretty’s disclosure statement for more details.

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A Thin Line Between Love And Hate

by Nadine on May 16, 2013 · 20 comments

I like to believe that I have an open-minded approach to style and fashion. It takes all kinds – an adage that seems fitting both for people and the clothes they wear. But as much as I’d like to tout the virtues of my sartorial acceptance, every once in awhile a style trend comes along the provokes my irrational prejudice. I become peevish and cranky, prone to vitriolic rants about pointy-toed shoes or the needless resurrection of Hammer-pants.

I was so angry when rompers came back in fashion a few years ago. “What are we? FIVE?” I’d snark everytime I saw magazine pics of grown women in one-piece suits. Sure I used to wear rompers all the time…but that was back in the seventies when I was super-wee kid!

But the truth is, my resistance was borne of fear. I loved rompers when I was super wee kid. They were easy, comfortable and cute. Those are qualities I still look for in the clothing I purchase today. And I began to consider, that maybe I didn’t hate rompers, so much as I was intimidated by the challenge of wearing one without looking like an overgrown kindergartener.

Sometimes the only way to conquer a fear, is to face it head on. Last summer, I was shopping for some summer duds, when a super-cute romper caught my eye and I thought, what the heck? Might as well give it a whirl. I was shocked to discover that I loved the look of that simple one-piece shorts suit.It was comfy, cute and when I paired it with some funky accessories, it felt anything but juvenile.

Romper – Jessica Simpson

Sandals – Nine West – similar

And just like that I became a zealous romper convert. They’ve been a lifesaver these past couple of weeks when the temperature in Ottawa has risen sharply from just below the freezing mark to a sweltering 29 degrees Celcius. (That’s 85 for those of you that think in Farenheit).

Romper – Old Navy

Jacket – Old Navy – similar

Hat – gift

Sandals – Rieker

Romper – Gap – similar

Scarf – Thrifted

Shoes – Chinese Laundry – similar

What about you? Is there a style trend that you initially rejected and then embraced? I’m currently nursing a grudge against peplums. If any of you are betting people, put money on me wearing a Judy Jetson style frock by Fall 2014.

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Already Pretty contributor Nadine Thornhill is a sex educator and blogger at Adorkable Undies. She is also a burlesque performer, poet and playwright, living in Ottawa, Ontario – Canada’s national capital. Her writing tends toward subjects such as clitorises, feminism, vibrators, body image, gender politics and non-monogamy. She is a passionately committed Scrabble player and lifelong klutz, having sustained 16 concussions to date

**Disclosure: Actions you take from the hyperlinks within this blog post may yield commissions for adorkableundies.com. See Already Pretty’s disclosure statement for more details.

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Yes You Can (Wear That)

by Une Femme on May 15, 2013 · 15 comments

Photo by Une Femme

How many times have you been out shopping with a friend, and watched as she picks up something lovely from the rack, looks at it longingly, sighs, then puts it back, saying “I can’t wear that; I’m too _______.” How many times have you done this yourself? How many times do we say and hear, “Well, that only would look good on a model?”

I grew up hearing the refrain, “you can’t wear that.” No horizontal stripes, nothing tucked in, no two-piece bathing suits. I learned early on that only certain body types “should” wear certain styles, that “some lucky women can wear anything and look good,*” and that the rest of us mere mortals must make do with more limitations. And I’m here to tell you, as the old song goes, ” ’tain’t necessarily so.”

We all know now that images in magazines, in ads, and often on television are digitized and manipulated to elongate, erase lumps and bumps, and “perfect” images. Nobody and nothing looks the way it does in a fashion editorial, where everything has been manipulated for artistic effect.

Clothing for online and catalog shoots is often pinned in back or otherwise adjusted beyond recognition to fit the model’s body. While we should continue to lobby retailers for models of all shapes and sizes to better represent how the clothing will look on a variety of shapes, in the meantime we must remind ourselves that often the item of clothing shown won’t look like that on us; in fact it won’t look like that on anyone because it’s far less tailored than it’s been manipulated to appear. (One personal red flag: if sweater or jacket is always shown belted though it doesn’t come with a belt, that’s a sign the fit is funky.)

Even though a celebrity may be snapped in public wearing the same Gap jeans that you wear, chances are hers have been painstakingly altered to fit her body perfectly, and that a stylist helped pick that particular tee (hemmed perhaps just an inch or two), sweater and bag she’s wearing with them to create perfectly balanced proportions.

So we need to let go of thinking that if an article of clothing looks different on us than in the catalog or online image, or on a celebrity or model that it’s somehow wrong for us, or that our bodies are “wrong” for the style. Just as no single item of clothing looks great on every body, there is no single body type that looks great in every style.

I’ve discovered, much to my surprise and delight, that some items of clothing may actually look better on us than they do on the models in the shoots or ads. I recently tried on a jacket in a department store that fit me wonderfully and looked fabulous on. It curved where I curved, and was a perfect length. I went home to search for the same item online to see if I could find it at a discount anywhere, and couldn’t believe the images I saw were the same jacket. On the models it looked boxy and stiff, not at all how it looked on me, and I never would have given it a second look had I seen it on online or in a print ad first. (And I’ve also found that sometimes a couple of simple alterations are all that’s needed to take an item from “meh” to “wow.”)

I’m not arguing against proper fit here, or in favor of wearing something that doesn’t suit you or your style. What I’m saying is that if it fits (or can be altered to fit), if you love it, then Yes You Can Wear That even if your waist is thicker than the model’s, or your legs shorter, your shoulders broader, or your backside curvier. Clear your mind of preconceptions of how it “should” look. Try it on. You might be pleasantly surprised.

*I’ve come to believe that this is more a function of confidence and attitude than body type.

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Already Pretty contributor Une Femme is fifty-six, married to the same wonderful monsieur since 1995, the mother of a special-needs teenager and two hooligan dogs, a full-time administrative professional, a coffee-holic, Paris-obsessed, native Californian, and a petite and curvy femme d’un certain age. She believes that personal style is an essential form of self-expression, and started her blog, Une femme d’un certain âge, in 2007 hoping to start a conversation about style for women over 50.

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Bridging the Gap: Straddling Between Standard & Plus Sizes

by Ashe on May 9, 2013 · 53 comments

Heazure asked, Could you do a post addressing people on the “cusp” between plus sizes and straight sizes? I’m a 14/16 and it’s maddening, and I was happy to share my experiences and insights.

For most of my life it’s felt like no matter WHAT my size, I’ve always straddled the “cusp” between standard sizes and plus sizes. Size 10? Well, that’s still a size 14 and we don’t stock it. Size 20? Well, your arms, legs, bust and hips are too small to fit in everything. Most of my life, I’ve straddled the 14-18 range, and it’s effin’ hard. I stopped wearing oversized everything in high school, so it can feel especially difficult to find a fitted shirt, dress, or skirt when I’m on the cusp. (You’re on the cusp! You’re plus, but not! You must hide your body!)

Many standard clothing stores stop at a size 14 (and some stop at a 12). Many plus-size shops begin at a 14 … and yet there’s this huge difference in the way those two size 14s are designed. Many women find that at the standard shop, you’ll get a little muffin top, the thighs may be too tight, but when you pop into the plus-sized shop, you’re finding that the pants are falling off of you everywhere.

For a comparison: The Limited, Express, and Eloquii are all sister shops, and you can see how their sizes compare:

At Express, a size 14 has a 40″ bust, 32.5″ waist, and 43.5″ hips.
At the Limited, a size 14 has a 41.25″ bust, a 34″ waist, and 44″ hips.
At Eloquii, the size 14 Women’s has a 42″ bust, a 37″ waist, and 45″ hips.

Between the Express and Eloquii size 14s, you have a 4.5″ size difference. And what happens if you’re between that Limited 34″ and Eloquii 37″ waist? A 3″ gap is a pretty big! And yet, when you’re on the cusp of clothing sizes, that’s a pretty frequent occurrence.

Shopping is already a difficult, anxiety-inducing task for many of us. When you’re a size that’s on the cusp (and that could be another cusp — perhaps you’ve got a very petite frame and a 0 or 00 is a bit too big!), it just feels like extra work. You’re too large for one shop, too small for another.

Another factor that contributes to this is grading scale for patterns. In a standard size shops, clothes are usually graded with a 1″ difference between sizes; yet as soon as you hit size 10 or 12, the grading jumps up to an 1.5″. Once you’ve moved into full-on plus-sizes, it’s not uncommon to see a 3″ variation between sizes, which means it can be difficult to find that perfect fit.

It’s Not You.

Sally says this all the time, and it’s true. Straddling the cusp isn’t YOUR fault. Don’t beat yourself up, think your bangin’ bod is odd, or swear off fashion forever.

They’re just clothes.

Each store has their own version of the ideal customer, vanity sizing, and sense of draping. Even if you absolutely love J.Crew, Anthropologie, or Nasty Gal OMG SO MUCH, their styles may not work with your body. But the amazing thing about shopping and the internet? How much easier it becomes EVERY DAY to find the styles you want, a size that fits, and a brand you love (and can afford!).

Know which Shops ARE Designed to Fit You.

It took me a long time to learn that the woman Lane Bryant designs for is not shaped like me. And neither is the girl Urban Outfitter designs for.

I’m sure you’ve found a few places where you’ve bought clothes and felt good. What is it about those items that do work? Is it ample room in the bust? Extra space in the hips? A slim cut thigh? Do you need a junior’s fit, a standard fit or a women’s fit? Once you know what brands work and what it is you want from your clothing, finding that perfect fit becomes a bit easier.

I’ve personally found luck with places like ASOS, City Chic, Modcloth & Ruche’s plus selections. I have luck at places like Macy’s, Kohl’s, Target, or Old Navy, where the standard range may run from 0-20 and they have a variety of junior’s, standard, and women’s fit.

If you’re having a hard time finding brands that work for you, a service like Gwynnie Bee may help. For a monthly fee, you “rent” clothes from a wide variety of brands. Sizes start at 10 and go up. I received a one month free trial from Wardrobe Oxygen, and my quick and honest thoughts are: For a woman going through weight change, starting a new job, or who has a tendency to wear clothes a few times and then buy new items, it’s WELL worth the cost.

Find Inspiration in People Built Like You.

I may have a fashion blog, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have days when I hate fashion. I love looking at women of all shapes and sizes, because a great eye for shape, pattern, and styling is universal.

But finding other bloggers built similarly to me? It’s a huge relief.

It doesn’t matter if they’re a size 2, 12, or 22; I know which bloggers aren’t super busty, who gains weight in their stomach, and those who may have a long torso. For those who fall into a similar size range as me, I check out the places they shop. As a result I’ve found tons of new shops I’d have never known about. They’ve lead me to independent designers who create custom clothes for women of all sizes.

The average American woman is a size 12-14, which means a larger portion of women are likely straddling the cusp than we realize. If you’re in that cusp, I’d love to hear your thoughts — what tips and tricks you’ve learned for shopping or what fabrics or styles you’ve found are great and easy to adapt for your body.

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Call her Ash, Ashe, or Ashley– she doesn’t mind! Already Pretty contributor Ashley began blogging in 2007 about fashion and style to fill a void in her life while living in the wintery tundra of Indiana. Her blog Dramatis Personae focuses on food, life & style. Ashley’s love of fashion began at 10, when she bought her first issue of Seventeen magazine; this also began a life long battle with learning to love her body (she never looked like the girls who graced those pages). As a plus-sized woman, she loves promoting fashion for all women and shops that want to make all ladies feel beautiful. She currently calls New Orleans home and share her little house with a wonderful fiance and two brilliant and playful Maine Coons kitties.

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Gracey Wears: Stripes

by Gracey on May 7, 2013 · 10 comments

I don’t pay a lot of attention to fashion “rules.” But, I am aware of their existence and sometimes find them irritating. One rule, in particular, has always kind of niggled at me. The rule that says if you’re plus-sized, you shouldn’t wear horizontal stripes. I think it bothers me because it doesn’t tell the whole story. Not all stripes are unflattering and I believe that anyone can wear stripes as long as they are the right type of stripes.

This dress? It’s definitely the right type of stripes:

Yes, they are horizontal, but they’re fairly thin, which makes them almost flattering. Well, you know, as flattering as a horizontal stripe can be.

More importantly, they’re the right kind of stripe on the right type of dress. The skirt drapes over the hips and the tummy and the thighs, cajoling even the most horizontal of stripes into a softer, more figure-flattering line.

Today I wore the dress (Old Navy) layered underneath a jacket (thrifted via Goodwill). I added a thin belt (Macy’s), a pair of black and bronze sandals (Arturo Chiang “Gessika” via Piperlime) and a vintage lion brooch.

These pictures are from a couple of weeks ago before the weather got warm, so the layers keep you from getting the full effect of how non-terrible these stripes are. But, trust me, regardless of your build, horizontal stripes do not need to be banned from your wardrobe.

xoxo,

Gracey

Shop the Look:

Exact Old Navy dress (Tall available)

Exact Arturo Chiang sandals

Exact vintage brooch

Similar cargo jacket

**Disclosure: Actions you take from the hyperlinks within this blog post may yield commissions for fashionforgiants.blogspot.com. See Already Pretty’s disclosure statement for more details.

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Cleavage Goes To Work

by Nadine on April 29, 2013 · 71 comments

Once upon a time, our beloved Sally did a couple of posts about her interpretation of “sexy secretary” style. I remember reading both entries and the ensuing discussion in the comments sections with great interest. I considered jumping in but I was a brand spanking new reader at the time. I was still feeling shy and it seemed that Sally’s readers had covered all the relevant perspectives in a thoughtful, intelligent way.

Recently, I was poking around the site, looking for advice on pencil skirts (Me + pencil skirts = hot mess!) The sexy secretary entries popped up in my search string, so I decided to give them a re-read. That’s when I realized I did have something to add to the discussion. So rather than comment on a post from 2010, I figured I’d pipe up in a post of my very own.

(Aside: I understand that “dressing for the job” means vastly different things depending on the type of job you have and where that job happens. But for the purposes of this post, I’m mostly thinking about corporate, office-y type situations.)

In the original posts, Sally and her readers shared what I thought were some pretty sensible guidelines for staying professional when executing a cute corporate look. Avoid halter tops. Don’t show your lingerie. No see-through clothing. All sound advice in my book. But there was one suggestion – a suggestion I’ve heard and read many times before and since – that gave me pause:

Avoid cleavage.

Here’s the thing. Some people, like me, don’t … cleave easily. I have to deploy specific push up bras in conjunction with a very low cut neckline to get my ladypillows together. Cleavage is something I can only achieve through deliberate clothing choices, and it’s true those choices would not be appropriate in a traditional office setting.

That having been said, breasts come in all manner of shapes and sizes. Some are just larger, higher or closer set than others. Some people will have visible cleavage even in a garment with a relatively modest neckline. I can understand why someone with ample cleavage might choose to conceal it. But it feels unfair to automatically label their style as provocative or unprofessional if they don’t.

Unlike visible thongs and transparent blouses, breasts aren’t clothes. People don’t wake up and decide which boobs they’re going to wear to work that day. I support office dress codes in concept; however, I’m not comfortable with the notion that the application should vary based on people’s body size and shape. If I can wear v-neck sweater to work, I think my well-endowed colleague should be able to as well.

But what about the effect of cleavage on co-workers? How do you avoid creating a distraction?

Human beings get distracted all day long and that includes our working hours. We get distracted by noises, stray thoughts, the Internet. Heck, I’ve been distracted from writing this article five times already. (Curse you, Survivor: Fans vs. Favourites!)

We also get distracted from work by our basic biological impulses: our appetites, fatigue, our need to socialize … and our sex drives.

People get turned on by other people. People get turned on by bodies, particularly the parts that are typically concealed. Cleavage is a pretty clear indicator that there are breasts in the vicinity. Boobs are body parts most of us don’t see on the regular. Boobs are body parts many of us associate with sex. And I don’t dispute the notion that a small display of bosom might give a colleague a tingly thrill.

But compelling as cleavage might be, I find it interesting that we assume responsibility lies with its owner. I have never once heard of a person being admonished because their especially delicious smelling lunch was distracting the staff. In fact, I’m fairly certain that if an employee complained that the aroma of said food was so tantalizing as to affect their productivity, they’d be told to get it over and get back to work.

But that’s not what happens with cleavage. When the cause of the distraction is related to sex instead of food, the responsibility suddenly shifts. People – often women – are held responsible for other people’s reactions to their bodies, particularly if those reactions are sexual. I have a hard time with that. I don’t feel it should be incumbent on someone with an abundant decolletage to wear high tight collars, if no one else has to. Will that little line peeping through create a brief sexy diversion for a co-worker? It might. But if said co-worker is professional, I think it’s reasonable to expect them to ignore that distraction and continue with the job at hand.

Dress codes can be super helpful in a professional environment. But it does make me uncomfortable when it feels like those guidelines aren’t only talking about what sort of clothes one should and should not wear, but what type of body one should or should not have.

Image Victor1558 via Compfight cc

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Gracey on: Brooch Clusters

by Gracey on April 25, 2013 · 21 comments

Lately I’ve been loving wearing clusters of brooches or pins on my outfits; you can see some of my looks here and here. However, I have to admit that it was, at first, sort of intimidating deciding how to put the pins together. I have good news though. Through vigorous trial and error and dedicated application of the scientific principle, I’ve determined some fool proof* groupings and am here to share them with you!

First things first though. While I still love the impact of a single, shiny pin, three shiny pins are thrice as nice. For my tastes, three pins is the ideal number. Anything more looks like you’re the colonel in a fake but glittery army. And a mere two brooches look as though you forgot something. Like your third brooch.

Now, without further ado, here are some three-pin groups that I like.

On the Open Sea

Create a brooch picture with a gold boat, rhinestone feather as a wave & rhinestone cluster as the sun.

Pastel Study

You’ll be spring-ready with a pastel, multimedia toucan, rhinestone & enamel circle and a blue rhinestone flower.

On the Dark Side

You don’t have to go bright; this group has a black/clear rhinestone piece, green cabochon piece & a clear floral arc pin.

Rhinestone Cowboy

Your time to shine? How about pairing a double rhinestone pin, floral arc & a cluster all in clear?

Go for the Gold

Not a fan of the shiny-shine? Try a matte gold cluster, here with a bee, double-flower and a rooster.

The Thing With Feathers

Hope is, and so is this cluster with the toucan pin, the feather and a blue flower.

Organic

Organic shapes (wheat, leaf and feather) make up this pearl and rhinestone cluster.

Insect Life

For the entomologist in every woman; a multicolored rhinestone pin, green butterfly and pearl-bodied fly.

One Sweet Pair

This sweet grouping pairs a mother-of-pearl sweetheart pin & a double butterfly-flower rhinestone pin. Yes, that’s right, this last group only has two pins, instead of three; because rules are made to be broken.

So, what do you think? Do you wear multiple brooches? Are any of these groupings something you’d try?

xoxo,

Gracey

*And by fool-proof, I mean they’ll probably work. Most likely.

P. S. If brooch clusters are on your list to try, and you’re looking for pins, you can find them easily and cheaply on Etsy and eBay, in thrift stores and at garage sales.

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Already Pretty contributor Gracey hails from from Fashion for Giants. She’s essentially your average blogger, except that she’s taller than average (six foot) and bigger than average (size 14). She also likes to think that she’s more amusing than average, but that could just be vanity. In addition to being tall and plus-sized (and possibly hilarious), she’s also a thrift store shopper, a vintage lover, an Oregonian, and a bike commuter.

Likes: Gracey likes to shop, to blog, and to terrify her co-workers with brightly colored outfits.

Dislikes: Robot uprisings, too-short skirts, and leggings as pants.

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(Don’t Step On My) Blue Snake Shoes

by Une Femme on April 24, 2013 · 12 comments

One of those silly fashion rules I grew up with was “never wear black and blue together.”

I say, “silly rules are made to be broken.”

In fact, black-and-navy has become one of my favorite neutral combos.

As you can see from my hair and the tree litter on the sidewalk, we’ve been getting some strong spring breezes.

I’ve always been more of a leopard print gal, but the gorgeous snakeskin print of these shoes won me over.

One of my favorite vintage jewelry finds, an Hermès “Collier de Chien” leather cuff.

As much as I love dangly earrings, I can no longer tolerate any that are heavy. I look for designs that add visual impact without a lot of weight.

Jacket: Eileen Fisher, a few years old. Similar .

Scarf: Nordstrom, here. (This color is called “Blue Merlin.”)

Tee: Eileen Fisher, here. (Color: Ink.)

Pants: Eileen Fisher, here.

Shoes: Stuart Weitzman, no longer available. Similar.

Earrings: Argento Vivo, a few years old. Still available here!

Watch: Michael Kors, here.

Cuff: Vintage Hermès, from Beladora2. Other leather studded cuffs here, and here.

**Disclosure: Actions you take from the hyperlinks within this blog post may yield commissions for www.unefemme.net. See Already Pretty’s disclosure statement for more details.

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← Previous Entries

ap contributors

Uniform Behavior

A Thin Line Between Love And Hate

Yes You Can (Wear That)

Bridging the Gap: Straddling Between Standard & Plus Sizes

It’s Not You.

Know which Shops ARE Designed to Fit You.

Find Inspiration in People Built Like You.

Gracey Wears: Stripes

Gracey on: Brooch Clusters

(Don’t Step On My) Blue Snake Shoes

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