Flesh-colored sandals

Meet my saviors for this past summer - flesh-colored Franco Sarto sandals

Parisian Chic - A Style Guide by Ines de la Fressange

I greatly enjoyed the book, even though I find some examples unacceptable, like leather jacket with pearls or chiffon dress with biker boots. But even though I did not agree with everything in this book, I found it a delightful read and I did pick up some interesting. One outfit in particular struck my fancy - Nine wearing navy polka dot belted dress with olive cardigan and light brown kelly bag, just like the one I have.



I will definitely give similar outfit a shot as well as navy sweater and menswear blazer with pushed up sleeves.

I loved the list of basics that is different from list of basic you can find elsewhere:
menswear blazer, trench coat, navy sweater, tank top, little black dress, perfect fitting jeans. I never owned menswear blazer or sweater in navy and now I am inspired to give them a try.



This is not your typical style book, it is a guide to experiencing Paris and I will take it with me when we will go there with my family.

The whole book has an air of effortless chic and I will definitely read it again and again.

Top 10 of my wardrobe

1) Cashmere sweaters

2) Cardigans

3) Trench coats - I have them in two colors: khaki and black

4) Striped sailor shirts - I am a big fan, I have them in various styles and colors

5) Pencil skirts in variety of fabrics, from denim to wool

6) Shift dresses, again, in a variety of fabrics and colors ranging from neutral to solid brights

7) Pumps in black and nude

8) Crew neck, v-neck, round neck and boatneck t-shirts in black, white, nude and also in variety of shades of peach, apricot and green apple

9) Boot cut jeans

10) Plaid pants - I ALWAYS have at least one pair in my wardrobe and keep it untill it's completely worn out

French striped sailor shirt

One of the must have in any wardrobe is a french naval striped shirt. I have a variety of striped shirts, most of them in classic cream/navy combination. Striped shirts are definitely one of my favorite wardrobe staples, in spite of its bad reputation due to its tendency to visually widen your silhuette but I cannot resist it's charm anyway!


French striped sailor shirt originated from French sailors' uniform, originally made by Saint-James, French company that started making striped sailor shirts. I also read somewhere that even before Saint-James stripes were worn by American prisoners, symbolizing prizon cell bars, therefore being considered embarrassing. Later, in 1917, Coco Chanel admired so much the shirt's simplicity and charm and made it part of her wardrobe. Chanel was the one who introduced the shirt into the world of fashion and thanks to her I am enjoying wearing it today.

How to wear a turtleneck

Turtlenecks are considered a staple in woman's wardrobe, but they can be deadly since they visually shorten even a long neck and they are just brutal on shorter necks.

There are a few things though one can do to get away with wearing a turtleneck:

- wear a long necklace to visually elongate your shape
- avoid horizontal patterns on any other items
- wear it with vertical stripes
- wear it with heels
- just wear anything that has lengthening and slimming effect
- high waisted pants to elongate the legs

The Style Checklist: The Ultimate Wardrobe Essentials For You

If you enjoyed Nina Garcia's "The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own" and "Lucky Shopping Guide", you will definitely enjoy this one. While Nina Garcia's book is more of a list of her personal favorites, "Style Checklist" is a complete guide to all the basics every woman must own. In author's words, this book should be a prerequisite to his other books where he teaches women how to create outfits without realizing that there are a lot of women out there who does not own the aforementioned basics.




I loved the beautiful photos and good descriptions of every basic item, starting from black pumps and ending with a trench coat, paired up with some tips on what to wear it with. The book is divided on a number of sections: Work, Weekend, Saturday Night, Travel, Entertaining etc. and each section contains a list of basics pertaining to that section.



For example Work section contains black pumps, black suit, white shirt, navy blazer, twinset, black skirt, black turtleneck. Weekend section: easy jean, khakis, thong sandals, polo shirt, white jean, linen shirt etc. Travel section: Trench coat, nude heel, trouser jean, festive flats etc.

If you could only have 10 items in your wardrobe, what would they be?

10 items:

1) J. Crew cashmere cardigan in camel or apricot color

2) Lilly Pulitzer cotton color block cardigan in cream/navy


3) White t-shirt



4) Lucky Brand jeans







5) Banana Republic khaki trench coat

6) Bebe pencil skirt


7) Banana Republic khaki stretch pants or Express Editor wool pants








8) Shirtdress in neutral color



9) Cashmere v-neck sweater in camel or light green color






10) Ann Taylor coral fitted top

Harper's Bazaar Great Style

First chapter of the book is dedicated to talking about the wardrobe basics.

Key items as building blocks of your wardrobe:

1. Dark lean suit
2. Pencil skirt or a-line skirt if more suitable for your body type
3. Crisp white shirt
4. Great pair of jeans
5. Little black dress

In addition to basic building blocks, the book talks about classics that are worth having regardless of current trands, such as white t-shirts, cashmere cardigan, white jeans, trousers, shift dress, tuxedo, bouclé jacket, trench coat, and camel overcoat.



Then there is a list of items worth splurging on as well as the items one could save on.

Splurge list: Coat, chunky knits, such as cashmere sweaters, dressy blouses, furs, cocktail dresses and evening gowns.



Save list: jeans, pants, skirts, button-up shirts, lightweight knits, tank tops and t-shirts.



I totally agree with saving on t-shirts since in order to look good, they need to be replaced often and thus are not worth splurging on. Although personally, I prefer white t-shirts and tank tops from quality cotton even though I always avoid paying much for them, trying to catch them on big sales.

For the most part I found advice in the book reasonable and useful but a few things were not to my liking. Like, for instance, the calendar on when to shop for what. The calendar in the book recommends to shop for seasonal items BEFORE season starts when seasonal clothes are the most expensive. I believe that if one is not in search of the current trends but is stocking up on timeless classics, it's better to shop for seasonal item AFTER the season has began, or towards the end of the season. this was you will have exactly what you want for much less. For instance I shop for winter coats and cashmere not in october, as calendar in the book suggests, but staring in Mid-January, early February. I barely ever pay full price and my closet is full of cashmere and I always have a nice fur jacket or two that were a real bargain.

I agree that when you see an item that you absolutely love, you should grab it since later it might be gone, or when you want to get some trendy pieces. In that case yes, shopping before season begins is the only option, but when stocking up on basics I prefer end of season.

Next chapter talks about personal style and various style personalities:

The Classicists (Jackie O)
The Bombshells (Sophia Loren)
The Bohemians (Jane Birkin)
The Ladies (Grace Kelly)
The Mavericks(Kate Blanchett)
The Minimalists (Kate Winslet)
The Eclectics (Gwen Stefani)



Then another chapter is dedicated to what is most appropriate by age group (20s,30s,40s etc.), followed by a chapter on what's most flattering for various shapes. The fact that "pregnant" was added as one of the shapes, on top of regular "curvy" or "boyish" made me especially happy.





then the following chapters talk about

Office wear




Evening wear



Casual wear

Chapter on casual wear again has a number of different casual style types:


Preppy
Glam
Sporty
Urban
Country
Jet-Set
Boho
Romantic
Rocker












The last two chapters talk about accessories and lingerie.



Every chapter is generously illustrated with celebrity photos

Style Clinic

The book starts out talking about a distinction between the concept of style and the concept of fashion. Style is different from fashion in the way that fashion trends come and go and style is timeless. It helps knowing exactly what works for your body type and your style personality. What pieces worth splurging and what to buy cheap. What needs to be renewed often and what will last. The book also talks about classics - the pieces that will never go out of style. I especially enjoy that part since I prefer timeless pieces over new trends. Trends come and go and there is no need to follow each one, especially considering the fact that not all trends will work well for a particular body type. As the book mentions, if one looks great in boot-cut jeans, there is no need to get into unknown territory of skinny jeans just because they are trendy at a particular time. there is no need to deviate from what has worked well for you in the past. The basic moral is - Fashion makes you desire things you should not. Shop your style, not the hottest fashion trends.




Also the book lists some timeless classics, such as trench coat, LBD, tuxedo suit, good jeans, classic knits such as twinsets, turtleneck and v-neck sweater.



Personally I am a big fan of trench coats, cashmere, good jeans, twinsets, pearls and LBD.



Then the book goes into what should be kept in your closet and what should be discarded. The more you buy, the less it seems you have to wear. Buying a lot does not mean that everything you buy will work for you, most of us buy impulsively on a whim and then end up with disfunctional wardrobe. And that's where the Style Clinic comes in.
It helps you to decide what to purge from your wardrobe and what is worth keeping.

Next subject is wardrobe basics - white shirt, cardigan in your favorite color, suit jacket that goes with your skirt, 3 pairs of pant: jeans, tailored work pants, and smart day-to-evening pants, classic LBD, couple of casual t-shirts and tank tops, dressy round-neck top as a dressy alternative to a t-shirt, day skirt, 3 pairs of shoes: boots, ballet flats and a pair of high heels.



The list of basics is followed by details about each item, how to pick the right one and what to wear it with.


Also there is plenty of advice on how to find the perfect fit for your body, on using colors and prints in order to emphasize or camouflage, dressing appropriate for your age, and some successful shopper tips. Such as CBS: coat, bag, and shoes formula and other useful rules.

Second part of the book talks about each piece of clothing (jeans, skirt, dress etc.) more in depth, what to wear it with, what kind to choose for each body type, how to build a coat capsule, how to select a perfect pair of pants, a skirt, dress, accessories etc. Well illustrated with pictures of celebrities that fit a particular body type and/or wearing particular article of clothing.




I'd highly recommend this book since it has a good advice for any occasion

Nothing to Wear? A 5-step cure for the common closet

A pretty useful book for those who wants to clean up their closet a bit and actually ending up having more to wear. Personally, I got rid of half the things in my closet and as a result I have a lot more to wear and also I stopped buying impulsively and filling up my closet with items I never wear.

Mistake number one for most women is that we do not always stick to our style when shopping for clothes. Some times we just like something, other times we cannot walk past a real bargain. Either way, we end up buying things that are not a part of our "signature" look.

This book helps you define your style, if you already haven't and encourages you to get rid of all the clothing that does not constitute your style "uniform".

The book presents you with 5 steps to improving your wardrobe:

1. Define your style

Five different styles are presented in the book:
Classic
Chic
Bohemian
Whimsical
Avant-garde
















There is a style type quiz you can take to determine which style do you fit in with. One can belong to more than one type. For example one's style can be Chic-Classical, etc.

2. Edit your wardrobe - discard everything that is not your "uniform"

3. Fill in the gaps - build a backbone of your closet, the basics, and then add the "frosting", items beyond the basics

4. Put it all together - get out your digital camera and take pictures of outfits, build wardrobe capsules, photograph them etc.

5. Nurture the new you - instructions on how to care for your wardrobe, how to store clothes and such

Here is a sample inspirational board from the book: