Shortening Ankle Zip Pants

Ooh! I Can Wear That Now

Have you ever looked at a fashion style and had to dismiss it because you could not see how it would work for you?

I have walked straight past pants with ankle zips. If, like me, you find all pants are too long for you, this article is for you.

I found the solution to taking up pants with ankle zips from Judith Turner in Vol 21, No 7 in ‘Stitches’ magazine. You can either do-it-yourself or take the instructions to your alterations person.

I bought these cheap purple pants from K Mart to try it out. Judith gives professional alterations techniques. I chose the ‘let’s skip a few instructions’ easy way. My method works best on dark colours (one seam) whereas Judith’s version works on all colours as she makes a feature of the seam.

Find the point just below your knee and fold over until the bottom hem is where you want it. It takes a few attempts to get it to your satisfaction (be aware of where the seam will be when you sit down). Then I sewed up the seam twice for strength on the inside. I cut the folded bit smaller, turned under the edges and zigzag sewed the edges together (about ½” final length). To make the fold less obvious, I hand-sewed the fold edges upward to the side seams.

Voila! You and I can now wear ankle-zip pants. Walk confidently and no-one notices the seam.

PS – Judith unpicks the side seams and ends up with a top-stitched feature seam whereas I just tried to downplay the seam. See her website – http://www.geniecentre.com for more alteration tips and the link to her book ‘Clothing Alteration Secrets Revealed’.

PPS – If you want to try it and cannot find the instructions, click here to email me & I will send you a PDF of the 2-page instructions from Australian ‘Stitches’ magazine.

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Instant Style Update

Two Simple Ways to Update Any of Your Clothes Instantly

I was reminded recently when doing a Personal Style Session on a client’s wardrobe of how to help her update her wardrobe instantly. This is what I advised her with a few extra options.

The most obvious instant update is to buy and wear a pair of skin-tone shoes. These have been around a few years and are now a modern classic. Fashion magazine and catalogue Stylists are using them everywhere from the chain store, Big W to Weight Watchers’ magazine where they style women who have lost weight.

You have three options for skin-tone shoes. Dip your toes in the water like the Big W catalogue on the left and wear a shoe that combines skin-tone with black. Go more modern and wear skin-tone, peep-toed, platform-sole shoes like the Weight Watchers’ model on the right or wear solid court shoes. The third option is to be bolder and wear skin-tone ankle boots – platform-sole high heels (from ‘Weight Watchers Aug 2013 magazine below), my lower-heeled Diane Ferrari (below) or cut out or strappy styles. If you worry about your legs, wear stockings like I do.

 

Skin-tone shoes instantly and stylishly modernise all of your clothes and they go with every colour, even black.

A different option is to choose black or coloured platform-sole shoes, ankle boots or interesting cut-out designs.

Tip two is to add a necklace. Make it a bit interesting to define your personality. Shoes work. Accessories add the final polish.

PS  Before you buy, you can test it out. Go to any cheap chain store and pick up some skin-tone shoes in as many styles as possible. Try them out in the privacy of a change room cubicle. Then you can buy them or look for a better quality option elsewhere.

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Goodbye, Old Twinset. Hello, the Modern Version

 My inspiration for writing fashion articles for Baby Boomer women come from all sorts of places.

One of my inspirational sources is ‘Australian Stitches’ magazine. In the June 2013 issue (Vol21 No 9), Eddi Franz quoted Lucinda Chambers, the Fashion Director of British Vogue magazine – ‘fashion leads you to think differently about clothes’. Eddie added the point that fashion ideas get you thinking which leads you to something more interesting. Eddi’s article about proportion being the modern difference influenced me to expand and apply variations of this principle to the evolution of the classic twinset.

The twinset is a style that has been around for over 60 years. The style is still popular as they keep it in the pattern books. I have written about how to modernise the classic style with a narrow belt worn over the top of it. (Click here to refresh your memory.) The modern twinset version has expanded to include both stiff and relaxed jackets.

Today’s article is about three proportion and style adaptions for saying ‘hello’ to the modern twinset. You can choose a favourite or play with all of them. Simple variations are ways to keep you happy, smiling and content with your wardrobe.

Read on for my three fashion tips to keep you, a Baby Boomer woman, agelessly stylish and ahead of your contemporaries.

Basic Premise

All three variations are worn over straight bottoms ie jeans, tapered pants or straight, slim or trumpet skirts. These styles slim your bottom half and keep the attention above your waist.

Even Cutaway Over Even Over Straight (ECOES)

When you still want to wear or have a jacket and top that are the same length, modernise it by wearing an unbuttoned jacket that has a curved or straight cutaway shape. This is slimming because it breaks up the solid colour across your body.

The picture on the right is of Natalie Barr in ‘Prevention’ magazine, June 2013. In this version, her top and jacket are a light and dark variation of the same colour. This is a good idea to follow. Her jacket is angular as it has a straight draped collar and angles away to her side seam. Her cami allows plenty of space for a necklace and lightens her face. If it is very cold, wear a high neck top with a scarf or necklace lower down your neckline to create the same effect.

The picture on the left is from the 2013 Spring Collection of Diana Ferrari and shows the same type of jacket in white, 3/4 sleeves. Looks great over a bright V neck top. You can pass on the printed pants if you like.

Wearing an equal-length straight or curved cutaway in monochromatic variations works well especially if the textures are different. On the left is a Chicos look of a curved wool-type texture jacket over a patterned sparkly top, both in the same colour.

Long over Short Over Straight (LOSS)

This is the most common and a fairly modern variation. The creation of waterfall type jackets whether of stiffer, formal, classic materials or the softer, fluid casual materials have appealed to most women.

The straighter the hem, the more classic and formal it looks. This has been adapted to suit-type jackets where the underneath top is worn over the waist and its hem is lower than the jacket.

The more business casual or casual look is demonstrated by this Chicos model on the left who is wearing beige pants, a cream top and a long, aqua pointed jacket. Long over short over straight looks best when your top and bottom skirt or pants are either the same colour (classic) or very close in colour (modern classic) and the jacket is a different colour.

Your top and jacket can be the same colour as in the pattern illustration on the right. This is best when the jacket is a modern style.

Short over Long Over Straight (SOLS)

This is what Eddi wrote about and which inspired this more expansive article. Short over long over straight is ‘stylishly current’ as Eddi wrote. It is a look that Baby Boomer women tend to shy away from as they feel their lower body shape has relaxed and they grieve their lost slim shape. Not so! You can still wear it because it shows your confidence in wearing what’s current your way.

The simplest way is just a bit shorter over long. This means you only show a little of the underneath top. It’s a good business look as in the Jacqui E black skirt & top & grape shorter jacket on the left.

 

The more business casual look is shown in the Sussan grey jacket over a white top on the left. The jacket is formal at the front and has a peplum hem at the back (different and modern). I showed this short over long look in my previous short Chanel Jacket article. A casual short over long of printed jeans, white shirt and short denim jacket from Sussan as well as more jacket styles are shown on Sussan website.

I recently styled this look on the right for a client, Rhonda, from her wardrobe. I showed her how to tone it up with her blue shoes or tone it down with black shoes and a scarf.

Last Words

Embrace the modern twinset style look. Remember and play with ECEOS, LOSS and the stylishly current SOLS.

(Don’t miss out on upcoming personal style articles for Baby Boomer Women who want to be agelessly stylish and modern. Click here to sign up for The Fashion Translator eZine and get your weekly tips every Thursday from Margaret, the Baby Boomer Personal Stylist.)

Go to the Products Page on this Blog for online styling products for the modern Baby Boomer.

Add Metal to Your LBD

The Little Black Dress (LBD) or the Little Black Outfit (LBO) can be dressed up in many ways.

Here’s one style idea you may not have considered or experimented with before.

The LBD or LBO (Black Pants/Skirt + Black Top) looks very classical when teamed with gold or silver accessories. They can go from feminine to dramatic when coloured accessories are added.

Not many women wear metallic accessories (ie bronze or pewter) with an all-black outfit. The model on the right, in a Butterick 5719 dress pattern, demonstrates this well.

When wearing the dress/skirt option, substitute sheer stockings for black stockings or tights. You want your shoes to shine. (Stop panicking about your legs!) The model is wearing a multi-strand bronze & glass necklace. The necklace needs to stand out not blend into the black fabric. Her wrist cuff bracelet is simple and doesn’t overpower her necklace. Her earrings are a simple, classic gold style to break up the bronze look (3 bronze items are enough). You could go bronze necklace, earrings and shoes with a simple, classic gold watch or narrow gold bracelet.

The shoes are the essential item that makes the LBD or LBO look agelessly stylish and modern.

Follow the same principles if you prefer or have pewter-coloured accessories.

Metallic bronze and pewter also stylishly compliment purple, grape, red and dark olive.

(Don’t miss out on upcoming personal style articles for Baby Boomer Women who want to be agelessly stylish and modern. Click here to sign up for The Fashion Translator eZine and get your weekly tips every Thursday.)

BEFORE YOU LEAVE THIS BLOG – Check out the ‘Style Products’ Page for web-based products to keep you agelessly stylish & modern.

Seven Steps to a Polished Professional Image

When I first trained as an Image Consultant in 2001, the business world was more formal. Dark, stiff suits were the order of the day for men and women. Times have changed. The dark suit is still required and worn in traditional corporate settings. Elsewhere dress standards have relaxed.

Still those who do business with you expect you to look and act professionally. A polished professional image gives the impression that you know what you are doing and will treat your customer efficiently and respectfully.

Today’s main article points come from ‘The Polished Professional’ eBook. The seven steps are about your dress as, from what others see of you, your dress determines 55% of the judgment they make of you.

Use these tips to help you, a Baby Boomer woman, learn and practise the skill of a polished professional image.

First Impressions

Next time you meet someone for the first time, take a mental note of how you feel about that person. Then analyse how much of that impression you formed was through their dress, their behaviour, their grooming, their gestures etc. practise analysing  at least one person every few days and you’ll soon discover that in image management all factors work together to create a polished professional image.

Select Five People You Know That Dress Well

Think about their appearance and how they are usually dressed. Look at how they dress, groom and accessorise themselves to enhance their professional image. Write down what you have noticed and see how you can apply thee to the way you present yourself.

Become Introspective

Think about what you have learned and how you dress, act and groom yourself. What things can you think of that would enhance your image? Find someone you trust and ask them what areas of your image they think needs changing or improving. Accept whatever they say with grace. Remember! You asked for their opinion.

Study Your Clothes

Every day take something different that you wear and study it in detail. This could be a suit, shoes, lipstick or accessory. Improve on it. Change it. Combine it with something else for a new look. Buy an appropriate but different look next time you shop. Find out what works and what doesn’t and work out why.

See an Image Consultant

This is by far the best and most cost effective way to perfect your image. It will cost you less in money, time and stress than the process of trial and error. (Whether it is myself or someone else, it is the ‘Aha’ moments that move you faster towards your goals.)

Research

Read books, newspapers, magazines and Blogs. Watch videos or YouTube. Listen to takes. Study the media. All of these are excellent ways to upgrade your knowledge when it comes to professional dressing and staying current.

Dare to Ask

‘How do I look?’ This is the simplest way to get feedback. Don’t be shy. Ask those you trust and admire. People in most cases will be honest with you. However, don’t make a nuisance of yourself by asking the same question day-in and day-out. (MY TIP – Ask in private, one-on-one. Do not ask when you are in a group situation. Most people are too polite in a group to give you the answers you need to improve your professional image.)

Last Words

The ‘Polished Professional eBook for Women’ is a TAIC product. As I am one of their trained Image Consultants you can purchase the eBook through my website for $25.00 by clicking here.

There is also a ‘Polished Professional Men’s eBook’ available for $25.00 by clicking here.

 

 

 

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How to Wear Tone on Tone Colour

It is very easy when wearing all one colour to look matchy-matchy, boring and dowdy.

I use the phrase ‘tone on tone’ to refer to an outfit exactly in the same shade of a single colour. It may be a dress and jacket, pants top and jacket or top and jacket in the same colour shade. For Baby Boomer women matching dresses and jackets are rarely worn now and matching tops and jackets remind us of the out-dated and aging twinsets of our youth.

To Modernise These Clothing Combinations remember and apply these very simple words – ‘contrast and opposites’.

You do this by making one of the pieces an obviously different texture and then adding a statement necklace. The royal blue outfit on the left from Oprah magazine, Nov 2012 demonstrates this perfectly. The model is wearing a smooth-textured wool jacket over a diagonal, uneven-pleated top which creates a raised opposite texture. The contrast is provided by the gold necklace with clear crystal drops in white and blue. The glimpse of tone on tone colour texture underneath the jacket creates a quiet elegant look.

 

Contrasts and opposites always have two options. The other one is to team a flat surface bottom layer with a same shade of colour, textured jacket. The Simplicity pattern 2148 on the right has a velvet jacket over matt pants and top. Other alternative textures are lace, sheer, blingy or a hand-made wool look. Even with a casual outfit, a contrasting necklace would lift this look from interesting to stylish.

The principle of ‘contrast and opposites’ is a basic principle of stylish dressing. So try both or stick to the option you prefer.

 

(Don’t miss out on upcoming personal style articles for Baby Boomer Women. Click here to sign up for The Fashion Translator eZine and get your weekly info every Thursday.)

Colour Speaks Louder Than You Think

It is said that a picture speaks a thousand words. And a picture of you is made up of your natural colours and the clothes and accessories that you wear.

Those colours are speaking loudly to the senses of others. When you meet someone new, you usually see them first from a distance. Their hair and clothing colours are the areas that reach our sub-conscious first. You judge on the hair colour (and often the hairstyle) and reinforce your first impression with their clothing colours. We all do it without thinking even if you protest that you don’t. Lastly, you use their body language and words to either confirm your first colour impression or feel confused by their conflicting signals.

Hopefully as you, a Baby Boomer woman, get older and learn more about different personalities, you give others the time and attention to read their more subtle clues. BUT colour is the first thing that speaks very loudly to your left-brain senses.

Colour can have different meanings in different countries and cultures. In this article, I am concentrating on it from an Australian view which is 95⁺% compatible with most western cultures.

Also I am concentrating on the positive messages of the following seven colours. I want to help you subconsciously shout out loud positive colour signals.

Be aware that different shades of colours give different messages. These below are general descriptions.

The Primary Colours

YELLOW – Yellow colours are eye-catching as it takes longer for your eyes to process yellow. In general yellow relates to the sun and it sends out a bright, cheerful and happy signal. That’s why we generally associate blondes with being happy women. Yellow is also the colour of learning and logic.

RED – Red colours are active, romantic, sexy and fiery colours. Quite often we believe that they look best on brunettes but this is not true. Medium red suits every woman. On its positive side, red is a go-getter, confident colour. Red has been deemed the colour for Baby Boomer women in their 60s, probably relating to a time to let loose and really be yourself.

BLUE – Blue colours usually relate to communication. Dark blue has long been associated with business and sends a trusting vibe out to others. Men relate to women dressed in blue as being easy to talk to.

The Secondary Colours

GREEN – Green colours are a mixture of yellow and blue. In general, greens are balancing colours as they are the opposite of the red skin tone of most women. Mid green is an eco-earth colour used to signify caring for the planet. Turquoise (2013 Colour of the Year) in a strong shade projects a commanding Extrovert presence and in a soft shade implies a quiet-achieving Introvert energy.

 PURPLE – Purple colours are a mix of red and blue. It has always been a spiritual or royal colour that was once hard to find. The Woman’s Movement adopted purple as one of its logo colours and now purple represents a more refined, elegant, female power colour. In its magenta shade it is a colour that supports the confidence of business women.

ORANGE – Orange is made from red and yellow. Once regarded totally with ‘cheapness’, it has updated its image. Orange is a warm, lively, people colour. Wear a deeper orange and you project a down-to-earth, easy-to-relate-to aura like this 2011 orange burnout blouse from Chicos.

The Seventh Colour

WHITE – White is my last colour because a white shirt is touted as a woman’s must-have basic like this 2013 white
shirt from Chicos website. Be aware that when you wear white, you shout out an image of purity and complete confidence in your ideas and opinions. You know what you are doing; where you are going and why you believe it is the way to do it.

 

Last Words

If you own a TAIC or any brand Colour Palette, read the colour descriptions. Use them and these general comments to dress to express how you feel or how you want to feel that day. Notice how a particular colour changes your body language and your words. Then use it to read others with empathy and tolerance.

(Don’t miss out on upcoming articles for Baby Boomer Entrepreneurial Women. Click here to sign up for The Fashion Translator eZine and get your weekly info every Thursday.)

For More Reading on Colour Messages

Go to the ‘Colour Articles’ on this – https://thefashiontranslator.wordpress.com/colour-articles/

‘The Complete Book of Colour’ by Suzy Chiazzari

The Modern Midi

In 2013 the Midi is being claimed as a fresh new look both in the USA in Oprah April magazine and in Australia in Dressmaking with Stitches magazine.

The Midi is any length from just below the knee to mid-calf. It is a length than can easily label the Baby Boomer woman as old-fashioned and dowdy depending on the style and material. It can either restrict you to very small steps or need a long, possibly revealing split at the back for general living.

The longer Midi best suits tall women or those with a long body.

To look modern, choose a Midi in slim-fitting skirts or dresses with a bit of stretch in them. Then add a little something extra like this black & pink belt on the J Crew outfit on the right from Oprah, April 2013. Or choose a Midi in a textured material like this lace skirt on the left from Dressmaking with Stitches magazine and add similar-coloured accessories. I think that the pink striped skirt is the better Midi length for women of any height and body shape as it ends just before the widest part of her calf. It is slightly longer than knee length, modest, easy to walk in and definitely not dowdy.

Other ways to wear Midi length are in a slightly flared trumpet hem or a dress or a skirt with a pleated, flared or slightly gathered flounce at the hem. The Midi looks best with high slim heels. Avoid thick or chunky heels with this length.

(Don’t miss out on upcoming personal style articles for Baby Boomer Women. Click here to sign up for The Fashion Translator eZine and get your weekly info every Thursday.)

WARNING: Are You Chasing People Away

WARNING:  The Colours You Wear May Be Chasing People Away

Most people let the weather decide their attitude for the day.

As I write this newsletter the weather is changeable. It is grey with intermittent rain, cool and quiet. Sometimes the sun peeks through and everything looks brighter. Today you can end up feeling depressed, eat more and want to go back to bed or alternate between sunny and miserable all day. Either way you feel totally exhausted at the end of the day.

It is easy to automatically react to the situations and colours around us. BUT smart women don’t do that! They choose their colours and feelings for the day. That choice may not always be upbeat and positive but it is a considered choice.

Most women dress unconsciously. Some women have a wardrobe full of one colour, usually safe black, although I know a woman who only wears red. Other women may have lots of colours but wear only 20% of them. Finally some women just grab and wear ‘this will do’ clothes.

A recent survey stated that ‘women spend longer getting dressed to go out with other women than they do to go out with their partners’. I believe that Baby Boomer women take more time to dress for meeting new people than meeting old friends or going out with their partners. Quick dressing can result from a ‘stuck in a habit’ dressing.

Truth is not what someone else tells you. It is when you agree with what someone else tells you. So here are some of my insights on how you are chasing people away by the colours you are wearing. Choose your truth.

Colour is A Language
I have read and believe that we have seven brains. Only one of them deals with words. Sometimes it is interpreting visual and emotional signals (or languages) and translating them into words. Other times we get heart and intuitive messages in a language that we often ignore or supress. Colour speaks those languages. What we wear and what others wear consciously or unconsciously connect to these visual, emotional, heart and intuitive languages. We have learnt over time to interpret colour – eg feeling blue, seeing red or being sunny yellow.

Different cultures also have attached different positive and negative associations and feeling to colours. Be aware of this when you travel or have personal or business dealings with other cultures. You may turn them unconsciously to you or against you.

Then there are the Five Element Colours of Feng Shui and the Rainbow Chakra Colours. Add Colour Therapy, Angel Feather Colours and the rest and you can be totally confused.

Unconscious Dressing
Like my introductory weather analogy, too many of us dress and live on auto-pilot. Do you change your dressing to blend with the weather? Do you go mono-colour because it’s safe? Do you unconsciously dress to please others or not annoy or out-shine them?

Your unconscious colour choices can actually repel the people you want to attract as they cannot emotionally connect with the real you. Your colour choices can also bring lots of people who are draining your life energy with their challenging emotional problems.

Lastly you can also unconsciously do it to others by choosing, buying and imposing your personality traits on them. Like this cartoon, we claim we do it in the name of Love.

 

Conscious Dressing
Life today is a real smorgasbord and you are swamped with choices. My advice is –

(1) Choose one system of Colour Interpretation and stick with it. There are many paths that lead to the same result.

(2) If you have a TAIC Personal Colour Solutions Palette, you have this advice at your fingertips. Read the Colour Effects descriptions on the back of your favourite colour chips to see the type of people you are attracting. Look at the other colours in the Palette and see what you are missing that you can add to your life.

(3) Learn to stand up for yourself and wear colours that fully express who you are. Give your loved ones and others the chance to appreciate you not the pretend you.

(4) Then leave others adults alone. Make them buy their own clothes. It saves you time and teaches you that we are all different and that’s OK.

Last Words
It’s grey and raining again but I don’t care. I chose this morning to wear Red. I needed to feel active and get this newsletter written. What colour are you wearing today and why?

(Don’t miss out on upcoming articles for Baby Boomer Entrepreneurial Women. Click here to sign up for The Fashion Translator eZine and get your weekly info every Thursday.)

How to Wear a Modern Chanel Jacket

Everything old can be made new again. That’s the basic principle of fashion.

The Chanel Jacket, created by Coco Chanel, has been a legendary timeless classic for 60 years. It has a round neckline that comes just below your neck bone; ends just on or below the top of your hipbone; has full-length sleeves and was a modern style we Baby Boomer women all copied in the 1960s. It is usually worn unbuttoned.

Here is my personal style advice for Baby Boomer women with three ways to modernise the Chanel Jacket.

Version 1:
If you want to wear modernise it a little, read the two-part article ‘A Chanel-Inspired Jacket’ by Rita Camastral in the current Vol 21 No 9 issue of ‘Dressmaking with Stitches’ magazine. Part 1 is in Vol 21 No 8. Rita has made the sleeves three-quarter length and added an interesting top under the jacket. The shell top has a centre open-weave inset that creates vertical stripes to contrast with the horizontal stripes of the jacket. This looks modern over unmatched black pants.

Version 2:
On the Chicos website I noticed two modern interpretations of the Chanel Jacket.

Make it new again by choosing a three-quarter sleeve variation and wearing a longer top under the jacket. On the left is a white denim variation over a white top and jeans. I am not a fan of this much white; so I would change the shell top colour or add coloured accessories to lift the white. On the right is a light open-weave jacket worn over a darker green top. I think that works better.

Version 3:
Both examples have added modern accessories. On the left she is wearing silver necklace and bangle to match the silver stitching on the jacket. On the right she is wearing mid-green earrings and two chunky gold bracelets set with green stones. The bracelets add a little drama and funky edge to a timeless jacket.

There you have it. To make the old new again – Wear the timeless Chanel Jacket with three-quarter sleeves as an unmatched jacket or over a longer top with modern stylish jewellery. Old is now new again.

(Don’t miss out on upcoming personal style articles for Baby Boomer Women. Click here to sign up for The Fashion Translator eZine and get your weekly info every Thursday.)