Whether you are a spender or a saving during an economic downturn, you still want to be fashionable. If you want to look fashionable, then a few trendy items in your wardrobe are a must. However, buy inexpensive items and buy only a few. Incorporating trendy accessories into your wardrobe is an inexpensive way to look fashionable without spending a lot.

Shopping on a budget is no problem when you follow these five great tips:

1. Enhance your assets: Find out what styles you should avoid and which styles accentuate.
2. Purchase carefully: Knowing items that will complement and co-ordinate with what you already have will stop impulse buying.
3. Shop with a Plan: Before you buy, consider if the item will go with three other items you own now, how long it will remain in style.
4. Systematic shopping: Instead of buying all of your clothes at once it’s better to have a shopping schedule. Add one or two items a month.
5. Remove and replace: Once you have built a workable wardrobe it is a good idea to continually remove and replace items you no longer wear.

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What’s the button-rule?

There is a rule to buttoning a man’s coat in order to project sophistication and elegance. But it is amazing to me to see sportscasters, TV reporters, and celebrities who don’t follow this rule because not doing so can sabotage their image immediately.

Here is a quick history of how the button rule came into existence:

Back years ago King Edward VII became so heavy that he was unable to button the bottom button of his vest. His followers did not want to embarrass him by buttoning their last button, so they began to take his lead and imitate his style – and that started a new fashion trend to leave the last button open. Today suits are designed to leave the bottom button open, and so are vests and sport coats. Here is a quick reference guide to when to button which button of your jacket:

* On a single-breasted 2-button jacket – button the top button only.
* On a single-breasted 3-button jacket – button the top two buttons only, unless the suit lapels tend to roll to the middle button. In that case you would not button the top button because of how the lapel would lay against your torso.
* A trendy, single-breasted 4-button jacket is often designed so that you wear all buttons closed or only the bottom button open. I always encourage my clients to button the last button unless they see a pull in the fabric around the 4th button. In that case you would leave it unbuttoned.

Here’s the button bottom line: Most jackets are designed to leave the bottom button undone. So if you button it then the fabric pulls and shows if you have a few extra pounds, which can undermine your great presence. We realize that when men gain weight, you tend to put the pounds in your lower midsection. So coats are made so that you have some ease for the coat to lay straight with no pulling or tugging – as long as you don’t use that bottom or last button.

I hope that regardless of your physique or title, you will find the right suit that fits you correctly and can emphasize your positive features. When you know the rules of buttoning the coat, it appears that you are a sharp, well-dressed man who understands how to get the most from his wardrobe.

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Necessities for your wardrobe depend on so many things: the activities you are going to be doing, the type of clothing that is designed for that activity, and your personal preference. Now is a good time to go through your wardrobe and find the clothing that you no longer need because you are not including that activity in your schedule or life right now and find those garments new homes.

There are many things that influence our choices in clothing and accessories.

    Start with your body shape
    Continue with your skin undertone coloring (the pink or peach you see when you look at your fingertips when you turn your hands over)
    Then look at your hair color (is it your natural color or are you having it colored)
    Then look at the color of your eyes

Out of these items which people commonly check when purchasing clothing, the only ones that are needed are your skin undertone and body shape.  Dressing to match your hair or eye color are secondary to these things.

Select a true turquoise and hold that color up to your face then duplicate the way your face looks when you try on other items of clothing.  This is what it means to support your skin tone and when you look your very best. This is the only color that everyone can wear.  Your shade might be lighter or darker and you can play with that so the color gives your skin tone the best overall look with no shadows or dark lines.  Then use that as your guideline for every color you try on to be sure you continue to look your very best.

Then the style of clothing for your body shape is the next thing to consider. Closet refreshing, so you have the appropriate clothing for the activities you choose to have in your life, is an ongoing process and one that needs to be put on the schedule several times a year.
 

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In every area of our life, we do business with people, companies and industries that have a consistent image. That is why so much effort is placed on communicating consistency.  It is called Brand marketing and works as well for a product as it does for a person.

Evaluate your own personal image to see if you are consistent in every area of your dressing.  Make adjustments as necessary, so that from casual out to formal you present a good impression each time.  Once you establish your look, it is easy to add new items to your wardrobe.  Your key when shopping is consistency with your established image.

Another way to think of this, is if you have a bowl of apples (your image preference) and you place an orange on top of the bowl you are immediately aware something is different. Use this same idea as you are shopping for new items of clothing to add to your wardrobe. Is the new item a match, in our example above an apple, or a mismatch, as in our example above, an orange.  With a small amount of practice adding items to your wardrobe will become very easy and fun.

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 Transforming your wardrobe is easy if you know how to do it.

Early in my sewing career I had a choir ask for 50 dresses to be designed and sewn for them for a special event they were presenting. I did all of the measurements, pattern making and sewing. When I attended the event I noticed some of the ladies looked great and some not so great.

Since I had done all of the work on creating these garments I immediately went to work to discover what caused the difference in the results I saw. I found that even with the clothing in my personal wardrobe that there were some garments that looked great and some not so great.

The thing that kept influencing the result of the over all look was clothing placement. With years of training in anatomy, the bone structure became important in understanding how each person is put together and the influence that has on the way clothing looks.

Since each clothing designer chooses the height, size and shape of the person they like to design for, many garments could look better with just a little tweaking. That is why alterations often need to be made for the garments you are purchasing or gifts you are given to add to your wardrobe. It is not your body, it is the way the clothing is fitting your body. Remember we are clothing hangers, as the garments hang from our shoulders.

Change The Length The Garments In Your Wardrobe To Be In Your Personal Proportion

Like a diagram for a room and where to place furniture, each person needs to know where to place clothing on their body so it works for their proportion and bone structure.

Padding (or weight ) around your bones does not influence your vertical placement formula. A cool side effect of putting clothing in the right place for your proportion is that you can visually look like you weigh less.

I appreciate being able to take all the guesswork out of what to wear especially when making clothing purchases so that every garment in my wardrobe is a garment that really looks great with my personal proportions. Since your vertical proportions are based on your bone structure, they will remain the same throughout your life. It will be valuable for you to become aware of your head size, where your arms attach, where your waist is and the rest of the information about how you are put together in your proportions.

The result is you can save thousands of dollars by transforming your current wardrobe and when making new clothing purchases that will flatter you every time.
 

It is so simple for you to make the minor changes to your clothing that they need for you to have the right proportion for your clothing. More information about how you can find out your personal proportion is HERE

The key to having a working wardrobe rather than just a hanging wardrobe is that every garment is one that fits, can be worn for the other items in your wardrobe easily and fits your lifestyle.

 Improve your image instantly by having your clothing in the right place for you.

 

In the area of your wardrobe, you can take an amazing leap forward by knowing your personal proportion and using this information every time you get dressed.

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The importance of getting your wardrobe ready in advance is priceless!

Getting your wardrobe ready for all of the parties and events that are often a part of special events celebrations, allows us to share the joy of the event and spend time more comfortably with others in a less formal setting. Be sure you and your wardrobe are ready for all of the different events and activities you are going to or might be invited to. That way if an unexpected invitation comes along you can have an outfit that you can choose to wear already on hand. Plan several wardrobe additions just in case some of those unexpected events pop up at the last minute.

Your special occasion events calendar is an important item to set up in advance so you are prepared for the season. Think about all of the parties, plays, shows and other celebrations you might be invited to or asked to go to and see what is in your wardrobe that can be worn another way or have something put with it to give it a new look.

How To Add Items To Your Wardrobe

Prepared with your list of what you have, go looking to see how you could add to what you have in your wardrobe already or purchase new items to wear for your event schedule. It is fun to see how many unique ways you can wear the same items from your regular wardrobe and have them look entirely different. This mind-set will allow you to expand on the clothing in your closet and it will also keep you from adding things that are not a fit with the wardrobe and image you want to maintain.

Looking great every day in your wardrobe choices gives you consistency and that gives you visual credibility with those you know and meet. The importance of this needs to be in the front of your mind when shopping, before buying or adding any new wardrobe pieces with an item you might find. Does the new prospective wardrobe item look like what you know you like or want to look like with the way you dress regularly?

Now, you are going to look different than the model you saw the garment displayed on when you entered the shop where the items were being sold, in the windows of the store or in the visual departments displays around the store. Observe them, but stay true to your own wardrobe style. Occasionally they are meant to be pretty but are impractical to add to your wardrobe or to actually wear. Be on the alert for wardrobe items that could only be worn for limited occasions and decide if that wardrobe purchase would be a good investment or not.

If you can be an smart shopper by knowing what you would look good in for your body type and size, it will save you hours of looking and being disappointed after trying something on and  then finding it did not work for you. You have a good idea of what you liked from the past clothing purchases, the items in your wardrobe you wear regularly and what you passed on. Bring that memory to the front of your thinking as you are evaluating new additions to your wardrobe. Occasionally, try on things you have not tried in the past, you might be pleasantly surprised at what might be added to your favorite look list and can laugh at what you find not working for you.

Being consistent with your wardrobe choices will also allow others who might choose to buy you gifts of clothing to select things that will actually work for you. Nothing more frustrating than to open a gift you do not like and then have to take time to take back. Be real with your gift givers about your size. Oh my! Did I just say that? Yes, I did.

Save them the embarrassment of getting you something that does not fit. If you really like the item they gave you but it does not fit, when you go to return it or exchange it you are now going to be annoyed if your real size is no longer available.

How To Have Fun Adding Items To Your Wardrobe

Make special celebrations dressing this year an exciting event in itself. Then when you go to the activities you have on your calendar you will be doubly blessed. You had a ball choosing the outfit from your wardrobe to wear, then had fun going to the event because you knew you looked fabulous in every garment you selected from your wardrobe and then the extra bonus: getting compliments!!!

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Forget everything you’ve heard about beauty being only skin deep. Two recent Newsweek polls reveal that beauty may be pocket and career deep as well. Both surveys suggest dressing to impress today simply isn’t enough. Many managers evaluate the physical attractiveness of job candidates too.

The surveys reveal the following 8 ugly truths about beauty in the workplace:

1.  Looks Matter at Work

Fifty-seven percent of the managers polled feel an unattractive (but qualified) applicant will experience more difficulty getting hired.  Sixty-eight percent believe that once hired, looks continue to affect how managers evaluate an employee’s job performance.

2.  Aesthetics Trump Education

When asked to rate nine character attributes, looks rated third below experience and confidence, but above where a candidate went to school and a sense of humor. With that said, it’s probably a good ideal to leave for last, or not include at all, that line in your Facebook bio about having a great sense of humor.

3.  Resume Surgery or Cosmetic Surgery?

Fifty-nine percent of hiring managers recommend investing as much time and money doctoring your looks as you do doctoring your resume.

4.  Caution Women – Being too Hot can Leave you Cold

Don’t believe that? Ask Debrahlee Lorenzana, the Queens woman who filed suit last month against Citibank, alleging the corporation fired her because she was “too hot.” Regardless of the veracity of the allegations, many professional women know all too well the importance of mastering the ability of looking attractive without being attracting. Sixty-one percent of the hiring managers Newsweek surveyed – 60 percent of whom were men – responded they feel it is beneficial for a woman to display her figure at work.  Meanwhile, 47 percent of those same managers said they feel some women are at a disadvantage for being too attractive in the office. A winning case of “Damn if you do; damn if you don’t.”

5.  Fat or Skinny, We Hate Hiring Fat People

Sure 75 percent of the American population is overweight – according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control – but that doesn’t stop us from discriminating against overweight people at work and in life. Newsweek reports “[2/3] of business managers said they believe some managers would hesitate before hiring a qualified job candidate who was significantly overweight”.

6.  We Don’t Like Old People Either

Eighty-four percent of managers believe some bosses avoid hiring a qualified job applicant who looked much older than his or her cohorts.

7.  In Certain Situations, ‘Lookism’ is OK

Sixty-four percent of hiring managers said they believe when a job calls for an employee to be the “face” of a company, hiring people based on looks is acceptable. But there was an inconsistency here. 60 percent of those same respondents said they would favor a law making it illegal to discriminate in hiring based on looks. When researched further, 46 percent of the public said they would favor a law making hiring discrimination based on appearance illegal.

8.  Don’t Say FML Yet – Confidence is Imperative, Too!

You will recall that both confidence and experience ranked first and second on the list of the most important employee attributes. That said, lots of opportunities exists for the regular folks.

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Do you have a full-length mirror? If not, invest in one — you must be able to see yourself from head to toe in order to establish the ideal length and correct proportions. Once you have bought your mirror, you’ll appreciate how much difference getting the right proportions can make.

You may be wearing the right colour, style and fabric, but if the length and proportion of your outfit are incorrect for your height and shape, you will not look your best. If you buy a garment that is the incorrect length, have it altered to fit before you wear it. Take off your shoes when checking your correct lengths. If your proportion and legs look good without shoes, then imagine what they will look like with them on!

Whether you like your body or not, if you understand what your current shape and proportions are and know a few style guidelines for your shape you are well on your way to looking your best. Not many of us do have a perfect shape (only something like 2% of the population).  However, you can create the illusion of a perfect body by choosing clothes to create the appearance of perfect proportions.  It’s all about balancing your perceived shape to the "perfect" shape.

Combine wearing flattering clothes with your best colors and you’ll feel fabulous and impress everyone you meet.

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We’ve all been there…standing in front of a stuffed closet with nothing to wear, wondering what the real secret is to dressing well. You might think that not having a supermodel body, an unlimited budget or a personal stylist are the reasons for your wardrobe woes.

Take heart, your closet only seems to be filled with a chaotic clothing mess that no force of nature could ever squeeze a decent outfit out of. But, with The Body:Gram Fashion Tool, that very same closet will soon be ruled by your personal mathematical principle of harmony, beauty, and proportion.

Yes, for the first time ever, the constants which have governed the universe since fig leaves were in fashion, can now easily be used to create the wardrobe of your dreams….. By following our simple formula, you will look 10 pounds thinner (or more!), 10 years younger, and without a doubt 10 times more stylish.

Well, if much of what we consider beautiful in the world around us is made up of proportion, including our own bodies, doesn’t it only make sense that the clothing that makes us look our best should be based on proportion as well?

To that end we developed “The Body:Gram Fashion Tool”; an amazing formula based on Your Personal Proportion, which empowers you with the secret to knowing the most flattering way to wear every article of clothing in your closet. From the best length of a skirt or top, to the ideal dress or accessory, its power to create the perfect outfit is truly extraordinary.

So whether you’re “shopping in the back of your closet” or buying something new at the mall – the Body:Gram Fashion Tool will take any outfit from frumpy to fabulous in record time. It will also make you look sizes smaller – and all without breaking the bank!

The World?s Best Kept Secret to Dressing Thin, Young & Beautiful

at Any Size, Shape or Age

The ideal clothing proportions for your unique body will be instantly calculated, using a timeless equation for beauty. With this revolutionary & EASY to use fashion secret you will discover how to look 10 pounds thinner, 10 years younger and 10 times more stylish in all your clothes. Act now 

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