The Costume Institute Gala!

This past week, New York City hosted one of the most important functions in fashion...
"The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion" Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was held on the night of Monday, May 6th, 2009. Many stars, models, politicians, musicians and other stars were dressed up (or down) for this event.

Looking through the gallery at http://www.peoplestylewatch.com/, my daughter and myself choose our favorite and least favorite selections. See if you agree!

Best Dressed:

Rachel Bilson in Brian Atwood for Bally (FANTASTIC color... green ruched mini dress)











Hillary Swank in Calvin Klein (for color and design, simple and striking)

Marion Cotillard in John Galliano for Dior (peach silk with jewels, need we say more)









Worst Dressed:

Unanimously it was...

MaryKate Olsen in Christian Lacroix Haute Couture (looks like a salon girl in a oversized gown) Maybe next year, Mary-Kate will let me be her stylist!

Street Style in D.C.!

I just got back from D.C. (notice the lag in posts!) I traveled on the city's Metro system into D.C. everyday and did some people watching. As an artist/stylist, this is one of my favorite jobs... to watch and observe what people are wearing on the streets in different cities and bring that style to you.

Coming from New England, I thought the style in D.C. would be inspiring and fashion forward. Well, it was both, but not a lot of different than what we wear here. I just assumed that being a top city, the Capital, where Mrs. Obama lives, Washington D.C. would be jet setting, extreme, on the edge when it comes to style. I was right and wrong. As I said, the style was fashion forward, but not like you see on the streets of Manhattan or L.A.! It was sophisticated (thank you Mrs. Obama) and classic. With our economy on the down spiral, it appears that women are dressing safer and more traditional.

My favorite trend I spotted was the classic dress neatly worn with a thin cardigan over top. A lot of the dresses were classic shapes in vivid colors. Like this shirt dress from New York and Company (http://www.nyandcompany.com/). Worn with gladiator sandals or thong sandals, this style is flattering on every body type.
I spotted one young woman in a tribal print dress with a navy cardigan unbuttoned and jeweled thong sandals. It was beautiful and now I'm the search for a tribal dress to wear this spring.

Also everywhere were pencil skirts and simple button down cotton blouses. Also worn with sandals (the weather was in the 70's), this style is also simple and classic.

As for accessories, everyone seemed to be carrying large totes, maybe because you can bring your laptop or book for the Metro ride into the city, or maybe because totes are so fashion forward this spring. Scarves are also still going strong in lighter fabrics like silk blends. Jewelry was kept to a minimum with emphasize on the complete outfit.

I will keep observing different trends in different cities and try to update and create your style.

Time to Purge!

With Spring in full bloom, now is the time to purge all of your out-of-date, haven't worn in 5 seasons, will never fit in again OUTFITS!

I usually go through my closest and clothes at least twice a year. Once in the spring and again in the fall. Mainly because I have limited closet space so I need to change out my seasonal outfits to fit the weather in New England.

I have a couple of great ideas to help you weed out your clothes. First of all I suggest having 3 empty laundry baskets...1 for clothing to keep, 2 for clothing that will be given away to Goodwill or brought to a consignment shop to sell and 3 for items that could go either way!

The first rule when taking clothes out of storage is if you are not sure if it fits put it in basket #3 and try it on. Seems simple, but how many times do you rotate your clothes and then never wear it because it doesn't fit the way it use to. Which leads me to my favorite rule of purging, if you have not worn it in over the last 2 years (because it doesn't fit, doesn't look as good as when you bought it, or needs repair) YOU HAVE TO PURGE IT. You will not wear it again, it will not come back in style, you will not save it for your off springs, you will not fit in it again...purge it!

I recently read somewhere that if an item has sentimental value (for example: the leather jacket that you went to your first concert in) take a picture of it and then put it in the appropriate give away basket! Great idea! When you have finished going through your clothes... go through basket #3 and make hard but truthful decisions. Put the clothing to keep away in the appropriate spots, bag up the clothes for Goodwill and the clothes for consignment. It feels great to go through your clothes and filter them out. And remember the more you purge, the more room you will have for your new outfits!

Keep creating and updating your style!