Football Meets Fashion

I have to admit that what I love about football season has little to do with the sport.  Cool, crisp days with the leaves vibrant colors.  Tailgating with friends and the energy of the stadium.  Cuddling up under a blanket with a hot cup of hot chocolate.  Sometimes I even pay attention to the game...if my boys are playing.

There is only one thing that really gives me heartburn about this season and that is how to look cute, show team spirit in my dress and stay comfortable throughout the day.  You see, we can be gone for a football game as long as 10 hours.  Within that time it can go from 72 degrees to raining and 49 degrees.  And, as a part of my day, I help to set up the tent, chairs and food for the tailgate.  It is a challenge to look fabulous during all of this.

The easiest part for me is what color to wear.  Why, the team colors!!  What else?  So, I spend time during the year looking for red, light blue and gold.  We have two schools to represent.  I look for tshirts, turtle necks, jackets, jeans...really anything in the team colors.  But pulling it all together and getting the right thing for the right temp is the challenge.

I like my jeans with heels.  Heels are an impractical choice for a long day at a football game.  But, at almost 5 foot, it is almost as uncomfortable not to wear heels.  So, a long time ago, I decided that all games require two pairs of shoes.  One pair for wearing around the tailgate and a second pair to wear into the game.  Thank God that skinny jeans are in.  They look cute rolled up with my ballet flats or UGGs when I'm actually at the game and wedge sandals or boots at the tailgate.


The only thing left to think about is how to stay warm into November and December.  The first thing that I always make sure I have are gloves.  If my hands and feet are warm then I am in business.  Last year I bought a knee length puffy coat with a cute ruffle to get me through the late games in the mountains.  Because of the puffiness, I chose to pair my outfit with a rubber wedged rain boot.  I saw a cute pair of wedge UGGs the other day...and they were comfortable.

I think the most important thing to remember is to keep the femininity in your football gear.  Look at the details of what you choose.  Make sure that there is something special about your outfit.  Something that represents who you are.  If you are a die hard fan...then by all means, wear your team logos.  But, if you are a dutiful mother or wife...keep you personal style mixed in with the necessary elements of a football day ensemble.

Go Team!!!

Shorts make me want to die

I admit it...I would rather die than have to put on a pair of shorts.  The last time that I broke out a pair of shorts was when I went to Sea World in San Antonio almost 20 years ago.  I'm just not a big fan of my legs to begin with so shorts make me want to crawl under the nearest rock.

So what do you do when you live in the South and the days start to hit 100 degrees in May?  Dresses!!  That's right, they are the answer to the "no shorts" woman's wardrobe.  There are so many fabulous, easy options in the dress department.  Over the last few years dresses have taken up a huge percentage of space in every retail store.

My favorites are the super soft, knit, washable, easy to wear kind.  I found this fantastic striped dress Talbot's recently and bought it in two colors.  I also love anything Zen Knits.  They wash beautifully and the designer is from Hawaii.  She loves things that can be worn with flip flops over a bathing suit or with heels out to dinner.

It's so easy to make a dress your own.  Add a different belt or put on some funky jewelry.  I love that you don't have to figure out an entire outfit.  Dresses are the new shorts for me!!

Alluring: What to Wear Now

This time of year can be tricky because you can start out at 30 degrees in the morning and by mid afternoon it could be in the 70's.  A lightweight, long sleeve tee is a great option for this time of year.  You can layer it in the morning, remove your jacket by the afternoon and push your sleeves up by late afternoon.  

The following suggestions are all for the Alluring Woman, but I've given you ideas for individual shapes.  I've also started to explain why you would choose this particular silhouette so that you can apply it to other items.

This is the perfect top for the Hourglass.  The faux wrap gives you a low enough cut to show a little cleavage without being too much.  The ruching in the middle draws the shape back in to show off your small waist.  The sleeves are slim cut but not too tight.  As an hourglass the thing you want to focus on is highlighting your waist and the delicate curves of your womanly body.  Let the fabrics skim your body but nip in at the waist (or you can belt your tops for the same effect). 

These cute little shoulder cutouts give the Rectangle an illusion of soft curves.  You may not realize right away by looking at this that the top is straight cut.  But by showing the skin at the shoulders you achieve a sexy, bared look without plunging into the neckline.  

The Oval is a tough shape to dress.  You want to do what you can to minimize the attention being drawn to your middle and keep the look feminine and sexy.  This top is full and gives you plenty of room to be comfortable, but the low cut still makes it sexy.  One of the most important things to remember for this shape is to stop the length of your top at the narrowest part of your hips.  If you go longer, it becomes a tent and if you go shorter you will draw attention to the widest part of your body.  

The Inverted Triangle has a real challenge not to look too sexy.  With a larger bust and narrow hips, a low cut top can be very challenging to wear.  A great alternative to show the shoulders.  This allows you coverage for your cleavage but remains ultra sexy.  By choosing something that has natural fullness in the top and nips in around the hips, you will show off your assets without adding volume where you don't need it.  Ask any man and he will tell you that shoulders are hot!

When dressing a Triangle you want to keep the emphasis on her small rib cage and shoulders.  A wide neckline on this top shows her sexy collar bone, her chest, it nips in around the rib cage but allows for room for her hips.  The ruching on this top helps to draw the top in where it needs to and doesn't look overstretched around her hips.

Mixing Personal Styles

Some of you have asked how to incorporate your primary and secondary styles.  Remember when you took the style test you probably had one that stood out from the rest.  That is your primary style.  You then had one or two other styles that were stronger than the others.  This is your secondary style.  You may be like me and have almost all of the styles, other than your primary, about even.  That is okay too.

So first and foremost, let's talk about your primary style and what you should do with that.  Let's say for example that you came out a Casual Woman.  You read the description and is sounds like you.  But, you look in your closet and it looks more like chaos woman than Casual Woman.  Go back to the description and pinpoint what resonates most.

Example

1. Clothes that move
2. Totes and backpacks
3. Knit dresses
4. Great fitting jeans
5. Shoes that let her keep moving, usually flats

Keeping in mind some of the basic traits of a style will help you when you start to incorporate your secondary style.  For example, the Casual Woman may be an Alluring Woman as a secondary style.  Let's pick out a few key elements of that style.

Alluring Woman (secondary)

1. Big, dark sunglasses
2. Low, v-neck tops
3. Wrap dresses

Okay, a casual woman could wear a great fitting pair of jeans with a low v-neck top while carrying a backpack and wearing oversized sunglasses.  Or, she could wear a knit, wrap dress with a cute pair of flip flops and a big tote bag.  You start to see that you can take elements from both styles and mesh them to create your own personal style.  

Are you a sentimental woman?

Of all the personal styles, the Sentimental Woman is by far the softest and most feminine.  Sometimes she doesn't even seem of this world.  She is a dreamer, feels deeply and you generally want to take care of her (although she is usually stronger than she appears).

You will often think that this woman is from a forgotten era.  She will be ladylike and poised.  She will likely handwrite notes to others.  Her home will be eclectic and interesting.  She may collect something that is pretty and probably an antique.   Whatever she does she likes to feel feminine.

This woman loves soft and flowing things whether in her clothing or her home decor.  You may find soft blankets and flowing curtains in her home.  She admires the quality and workmanship of vintage pieces and they will often dot her home and wardrobe.

The Sentimental Woman is often a reader and her language skills are superior to most.  She gets lost in books and can actually put herself in the scenes.  She is a great visualizer because her imagination and dreams are powerful.  This woman will often be curious and be an excellent researcher.

You are most likely to find this woman working in the arts, in charitable organizations or in something that has to do with history (such as a museum).  She is intelligent but quiet.  She gets lost in what she is doing and can shut out the world.  She is probably an expert in her particular field but isn't vocal about how much she knows.

The Sentimental Woman has an eclectic style.  She either buys items that are reminiscent of another time or actual vintage pieces.  She likes the idea of the vintage pieces having had a life before and giving it another life now.  She will generally look for soft, feminine, flowing pieces.  She is more concerned about feel than look.  She may not look in the mirror right away because she is lost in the feeling of wearing the piece rather than concerned about how it looks.

The Sentimental Woman is by far the most difficult to shop for.  For her, it is personal.  She wants to search out things that are interesting.  She doesn't like to shop in malls but loves to go to little eclectic boutiques and vintage stores.  Her idea of style is telling a story with her clothes.  It may be difficult for this woman to find things she likes in the modern styles.

Several things that the Sentimental Woman should have in her closet are:

Vintage Coat (velvet or with a ruffled collar)
Soft, flowing white cotton dress (this can be dressed up or down in warmer months)
Tall boots (either riding boots or victorian lace up boots)
Vintage beaded clutch (can dress up anything for an evening out)
Lace blouse (this can be worn with jeans or slacks to still feel feminine but modern)
Vintage inspired jewelry

The Sentimental Woman accessorizes just like she dresses.  She may need a scarf to keep warm but you can be that it is a scarf that has some meaning.  Either someone special gave it to her or it reminded her of another time.  She cherishes gifts, the talents of friends and family heirlooms.  Many of her accessories will be in one of these categories.

The main piece of advice that I can give to a Sentimental Woman is to purge often.  Because of the nature of this personality, purging is a painful process.  The Sentimental Woman wants to hang on to things because she genuinely loves them even if she doesn't wear them.  This causes chaos in her closet. Even if you just purge to boxes that you put away, keep your closet for the items you are wearing now only.

Are you a casual woman?

I've really pondered the name for this category.  It used to be "sporty" but too many women would say that they were not athletic or didn't play sports.  I thought about natural, but I know a lot of women in this category that do the hair and makeup and still dress more casual.  That's why I finally decided on Casual Woman.

This woman is absolutely full of life.  She is busy and active and involved.  She loves her family, friends and community.   She may not be playing on a soccer team or golf everyday but she is moving all the time.  But, by the same token, this is the woman that is most likely to play some type of sport or be involved in running, biking, swimming, etc.  If she has kids she plays with them.  If she doesn't, she probably has a dog that she walks and plays with.  She is the woman that you can call to do something at the drop of a hat.

This woman is an easy friend to have.  She caring, fun and easy to be around.  She has a tendency to over-commit because she likes to be involved.  She is great to have on a project or committee because she has excess energy to get things done.

The Casual woman doesn't worry a lot about what she wears.  She wants it to look good, but more importantly she wants it to move.  She wants to be comfortable and dressed to do whatever her day may hold.  Binding or stiff clothes will make her feel like she is in a straight jacket.  She would love to live in yoga clothes, jeans and a tee shirt or sweats.  If she has to dress up it will be pretty simple and still have some comfortability.

This woman isn't a big shopper.  She goes and gets just what she needs.  She has a tendency to wear her clothes to death if they feel good.  This woman usually has a laid-back, easy style that comes off as casually cool.  Jennifer Aniston is a great example of a Casual Woman's style.

Here are the things that every Casual Woman should have in her closet:

• Great fitting jeans...multiple pairs
• Comfortable military style or denim jacket
• Graphic Tees
• Stylish sweats
• Knit dress that can be worn with flats or dressed up with jewelry and heels

The Casual Woman will have some jewelry, but it is generally meaningful.  A friend will have made the pieces, the proceeds went to a good cause or they are representative of something this woman believes in.  She isn't a big accessorizer  but she sometimes likes to put on a piece or two of meaningful jewelry.  This woman doesn't accessorize in many other ways.

She is not a purse woman.  She is more likely to be carrying a big tote, a backpack or a very small bag she can throw across her body or over her shoulder.  She will not change bags to match her outfit, but will change bags to meet the needs of her day.  Her bags are utilitarian not fashion.

This woman will generally be in flats of some sort.  She may have a selection of tennis shoes...both functional and stylish.  She will prefer to wear flats with pants to the office.  She just needs to be able to move quickly and heels hinder that.  Flip flops are definitely her summer choice.

The Casual Woman is usually not my client.  They know what they like.  There is a chic coolness about them that comes naturally.  And, they are generally pretty confident in their appearance. 

Are you a traditional woman?

One of the most popular styles is the Traditional Woman.  I don't know if it is where I have lived (midwest and the south) but in my client base there have been over 40% who have tested as Traditional.  This person is exactly what you would expect.  And, I mean that from a style perspective as well as a personality perspective.

The Traditional Woman has strong values and lives them in a consistent way.  She is steady and dependable.  When the Traditional woman tells you she is going to do something she follows through.  She  is an intelligent woman who makes decisions in an educated and methodical way.  She is not quick to leap.  She cannot be easily swayed.  When the Traditional Woman decides to do something you can be sure that she knows what she is doing.

This woman has a very even temperament.  She is not easily ruffled and maintains a cool head even in the worst of circumstances.  The Traditional Woman will always look for solutions and will not get caught up in drama.

This woman is usually pretty content with what is in her closet.  She will choose simple pieces that she can wear for years.   This woman like structure in her clothes.  She feels sloppy and not pulled together when she wears something like sweats.  She is not likely to go for bold patterns or loud colors.

The Traditional Woman will not follow trends.  When she finds something that works for her, she may buy multiple of the same item in different colors.  She is not comfortable with a lot of details like embellishments, lace, low cuts or big flowing pieces.  She prefers to stick with classic pieces.

Here are the things that every Traditional Woman should have in her closet:

Crisp white button down (Coldwater Creek has some really nice options)
Black or navy suit with jacket, pants and a skirt
Classic trench coat and long wool dress coat
Standard 5 pocket, boot cut or straight leg jeans (depends on shape)
Little black dress

The Traditional Woman likes to have clothes that work together in a lot of different combinations.  She values conservatism and wants to get the most out of her clothes possible.  We will be talking about capsules later in this series.  The Traditional Woman will want to pay close attention to that subject.

Accessorizing is not important to the Traditional Woman.  She will have a few pieces that are important to her and wear the same thing most every day.  She will not change her handbag regularly.  She will have a functional, sturdy bag that she carries every day.

Traditional Women often come to me and want to make changes to step out of their comfort zone.  It is imperative to respect your style.   You may choose to add some flavor from your secondary style but overall staying with conservative, classic pieces will benefit you most in the long run.  Embrace your traditional nature and feel confident that you are wearing what is right for you.