Professionalista

Sexy Secretaries Rule

I would like this pair of Mu Miu spectator pumps and this is what I'd wear with them: A chocolate knee-length pencil skirt; a crisp white blouse (a la Carolina Herrera); a big watch; and my fabulous new 100x red-framed reading glasses. Then I'd walk into a wall because can't walk in magnifier glasses and four-inch heels.

Let's hear it for the [plus-size] girls!

I'm home today with the kids - a couple appointments we have to get to - and I'm going away for a week for part work (trade show in San Diego) and part personal (seeing my dear mom and dad in the Bay Area). So I'm glad to be home. But, of course, they are teenagers. So here it is - 9:23 - and they are still sound asleep. Great! Thus far I have done work emails, made a work call, watched Top Chef (Hail! The DVR!), eaten cereal (Wheaties mixed with some Honey-nut Cheerios), made and drank coffee, read the paper, done the dishes, and watched part of Rachel Ray.

RR had lovely Emme, the plus-size supermodel, on the show. FYI - I have met Emme and she is a very nice lady and has a golden glow about her. Emme made over three full-sized ladies ranging size 20 - 24. Their complaint, of course, is that they want to look good - image that! - and be able to actually find stylish and flattering clothes. No more tents! No more bed spreads! No more peasant blouses!

Emme did the makeovers which emphasized the following:

• Show off your assets: Wear fitted (but not tight) blouses that gather under your breasts or at your skinniest bit (usually the waist or under said breasts).
• Don't shy away from color: dark on bottom, color on top. It draw's the eye up the body to your face.
• Layer

Emme likes to recommend ruffles a little more than I would - and leggings. But these ladies looked prettier, shapelier, and happier.

And here are some cute dresses that are very work appropriate - perfect for a more voluptuous woman. Wear with a jacket to kick it up a notch. This is from Overstock.com.

Oooh, I think one of the kids is getting up. Gotta go.

Heat Chic

  

I just got back from a walk with my kids around a local pond. When I say "around," I really mean part way around. It got muddy and I was wearing slip-on flat-type sneakers and a sun dress. On the way back to the car, we sat at a little picnic table looking at the pretty pond and the vista beyond. And I was thinking about how hard it is to feel like you look good when it's humid.

So I wasn't surprised that the ladies at WhoWearWhat were thinking the same thing. They were featuring the fashion in that classic Elizabeth Taylor/Paul Newman movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. There, of course, was a lot of slip wearing - which always looks cool - but also fabulous white dresses, crisp blouses, open necked shirts for the men (or roomy pajamas...NOTE: I have a coworker who is wearing a Calvin Klein pajama top as a summer shirt - love that). And, of course, there were lots of cool beverages - mint juleps? Or was it bourbon on ice?

Here's my advice: Go out to a men's store (Ralph Lauren? Tommy Hillfiger? Macy's men's dept?); by a pair of pajamas - roomy, cool, pastel, cotton; get home and set up a fan with a big bowl of ice cubes in front of it; turn the fan on; put on just the pajama top; and sit back with a book and a gin and tonic. Mission accomplished. Heat Chic.

I love jackets/blazers and this is why...

I'm a big fan of a jacket for women - and not just as part of a suit. Let's face it - few of us wear suits these days. Most workplaces are business casual. That's ok. The problem is when business casual turns into "a-day-at-the-beach" casual or "I-am-so-hot-that-I-have-to-wear-this-really-low-cut-top" casual or "I-only-fit-into-these-cropped-elastic-waist-tan-pants" casual. Look, I'm sympathetic but if you want people to know you've got it goin' on, please consider this: the salvation of business casual is the jacket or blazer.

Check out this cute short-sleeved-cropped jacket that I found at Bluefly.com. A pair of black pants with peep-toe heels or cute flats; a short-sleeved T or tank top; and the jacket. Voila! You look put together. A jacket with a detailed collar; or a nipped in waist; or 3/4 sleeves: these details add interest and either camouflage or enhance parts. Also, wearing a jacket always conveys more authority than just a t-shirt or blouse. And I'm a big one for women conveying authority. Fear not the power!

Jackets don't have to be boring; jackets don't make you look heavier; jackets don't have to be expensive. But keep this in mind: one really good jacket can be worn over and over again with different combinations. I have a jacket that at different times of the year, I wear twice/week. Maybe one day with a dress and one day with a skirt or pants. Smarty pants image consultants call building several outfits around one jacket a "module." Now you know the lingo.

So, look your wardrobe over - what if you bought a really sharp jacket - maybe even invested some moola - that would work with multiple outfits (outfit - such a chick word, yes?). Let's say the jacket cost $200. You wore it just once/week for 1 year. Because I was an English major (and I had my son go get me a calculator), I can tell you that that breaks down to $3.84 per wear. If you wear it once/week for 2 years, $1.92 per wear. Many of us spend four bucks on coffee EACH DAY.

Food for thought.

How to work an hour-glass plus figger

Most of us would love to have an hour-glass figure. You know, a brick-house-36-24-36-Kardashian-va-va-voom kinda figure. Or a slighter more willowy gentler curved body. I myself would be happy to have a top half proportionate to my bottom half (or vice versa, perhaps). But my issues aside, it's important for us to realize when the hour-glass is stuffed with a little too much sand (as evidenced by the picture attached).

If you happen to be lucky enough to have one of these proportionate figures that is perhaps a size or two larger than when you were 18, here are some tips for looking smokin'-hot:

1) Let go of size. If you're over 21, you shouldn't even be considering Junior sizes - frankly, the cut - and styles - aren't going to work for you (unless you are built like a young boy. If you ARE built like a young boy, stop reading this).

2) Skim not squeeze. You want to choose materials and cuts that are going to flow over your curves not cut off your circulation. For example, buy jeans that fit your hips and thighs and go to a seamstress and have them alter the waist: for $25 - $30 you are going to have jeans that fit perfectly, look great, and accommodate the consumption of a meal without popping a seam. Buy a jacket that fits in the shoulders and hips and have the seamstress take in the extra material at the waist. This is good! This does not mean that you are fat - it means you have a molded, beautiful curvy figure. Rejoice!

3) Please go buy a new bra. I know lots of lovely women whose boobs hang low, left, right and every which way including loose. NOTE: Boobs look natural and youthful pointing pretty much forward and lifted somewhat over the rib cage. This look can be achieved by going to a good intimate apparel shop. The trained professionals will measure your rib cage (which will probably be smaller than you thought) and your boobs (your cup size will probably be a size bigger than you thought). Et voila! Your boobs will be front and center. A brassiere that fits the right way will emphasize the valid lady lumps and minimize those lady lumps that aren't supposed to be there.

4) If you're uncomfortable with your enhanced hour-glass figure, don't try to just cover it up. Wearing leggings and a huge shirt will just make you look larger. Here's a comfortable go-to outfit for shapely women: dark jeans (that fit comfortably - i.e. you had them tailored), a cute t-shirt that gathers underneath the bust (and make sure that the gather is UNDER the bust not ON the bust), and a cute jacket that cuts in at your waist. Try it, you'll like it.

5) The V-neck is your friend. I'm not talking a super deep V that shows lots of cleavage along with most of the girls. I'm talking about a modest V. A V-neck will lead people's eyes up to your face - it's like a frame for your neck and face. It also shows your clavicle - one of your "skinny bits," as my image guru Lynne Marks says. Try it, you'll like it.

6) Commit to shopping for the right pieces in the right places. It might not be fast but it can be rewarding.

7) And please oh please oh please, get rid of the Junior hipster jeans and too baggy or too tight t's.

Let's talk facial hair

Did you know that men without facial hair are perceived to be more approachable? (Well, women without facial hair too - but we're not going there.) It seems somewhere in our primitive brains that we interpret facial hair as a disguise - something not to be trusted. Go figure.

So all you guys who are reading this (is one of the five people reading my blog a guy?) take note: If you are in a profession that entails working with people, needing to build rapport and relationships (banking! sales! social services!), you might want to consider nixing a heavy mustache and/or beard.

Now, I must say, on my own behalf, that I am partial to a clean, square jaw. But in recent years, I am digging the goatee/minimal mustache combo. Some guys look great with this. But there are some dudes that rock this look that could totally go clean shaven. Others...not so much. These men are wise to judiciously use the facial hair. It's like camouflage - goes a long way to enhance a minimal chin or cover up a thin upper lip. Women don't have this option. It's a mixed blessing.

Teachers are the kindest of professionals

I just attended a film festival hosted by B's school. One of the teacher's is an actor as well as a thoughtful teacher and he has a great interest in engaging kids through video work - whether it's stop-action animation (that's B's favorite), music videos, comedic scenes or longer more intricate scenarios. The Savoy in Montpelier donates the space each year and all the families show up to laugh, be amazed and sometimes quite moved.

This school that Blake goes to - Centerpoint - is made up, like any school, of caring teaching professionals. Their expertise is the foundation of what they do but, honestly, it's the kindness and compassion they show every day that truly creates the positive experience for students with vastly different abilities. These teachers seem to know exactly how to come to each student with what he/she needs.

I've been asked to speak at the transitionn ceremony next week. I'm honored. And I think I know exactly what I'll talk about.

Shout out for Twitch before I've even seen him perfrom this season...

Stephen "Twitch" Boss is the man. I adored him two seasons ago when he was a competitor on So You Think You Can Dance (heretofore to be called SYTYCD). Why did I - and so many SYTYCD fans - adore him? Well, he's a great dancer and performer, of course. But beyond that he is a professional: honest, upright, hardworking and positive. Always willing to make his partner look good; always willing to hear advice he is offered. I love that in a SYTYCD contestant/all-star/man.

Musing on Mad Men and what's behind the martini shaker

In one of the pre-acetate-safe photo albums at my parents' house, there is a photo of my mom and dad that I like to remember. In it, they are sitting side by side on a green nubby coach. They are both beaming. My dad is wearing dark pants, a white shirt and a dark tie and his hair is dark brown. My mom is sitting with her legs crossed, leaning a little forward in a super-cute all-white fitted dress. Her hair is tres bouffant, her forehead is glowing and she's holding a cigarette in her hand. Just looking at that photo, you think, "How wonderful. What a crazy fun time that was in 1970! Look how happy! Must have been a good party."

But of course, there's a story that goes along with the picture. This was Ruth and Colin's 25th wedding anniversary (I was but a wee lass of five - I was long in bed). They were enjoying a party in their honor at our house. They were happy - a solid couple with two grown children and their pleasant surprise (moi). But what happened at that party was a sad thing indeed. One of their best friends insulted another one of their best friends by making a racial slur. My dad stood up for his insulted friend (a lovely man: I remember him) and his other friend basically said, "You're with me or you're against me." That pretty much ended a 25-year friendshp.

I tell this story because I was thinking about Mad Men. I adore that show. It reminds me, obviously, of my young childhood (I was born in '65). My parents were LA working-middle class not NYC upper-middle class, but something about the feel of that show is right. Not to mention the clothes, the cigarettes, the types of parties, the booz (my dad's drink: Jim Beam with ginger ale to start; Jim Beam with water to finish; my mom's? grasshoppers and pink ladies - this was before box wine became a staple). But just like the picture, there's something else - something deeper. That behind every cocktail pose, behind every superficial conversation and camera face, there's a story.

I like that I know the story of betrayal, temerity, loss and stalwartness behind that 25th anniversary picture. And I guess that's why I like Mad Men so much - because we get to see the stories behind the amazing facade.

Oh, and I want to be Joan.

Smackdown: murse vs. leather briefcase

You all need to know, I'm pretty old school when it comes to my men. (And when I say "my men," I really mean the one man I own and all the other men I secretly covet.) I like them big. I like them big and manly. I like them big, manly and self-assured. I like them big, manly, self-assured and not carrying purses. Sorry to any hipsters out there: I just can't dig a murse.

Oh, I know, I know: messenger bags are a necessity for dudes walking/riding to work, going to class, hanging out on Church St. and going to the local coffee hut. And men do need something to carry their laptops and lunches in - something beyond the backpack with Sharpee graffiti all over it. But I don't think any self-respecting guy should be swayed by Bluefly.com text urging them to carry a: "snazzy travel tote, rock a "busy" messenger bag or kill them with a crayola colored briefcase." It's obvious a woman wrote this text. No self-respecting dude - gay or straight - would write such copy.

A man can never go wrong with a leather brief case. Comme ca. This Levinger Cambridge Briefbag with laptop sleeve is a Mad Men-worthy bag. Levinger isn't even paying me for this. For any guy heading out to his first job, looking to upgrade, or hoping to get the kind of woman who likes a manly-man: avoid the snazzy travel tote. Go old school: get a high-quality leather briefcase and use it for 40 years. Or until your woman tell you to get a new one.