Tag Archives: spring

Are you a Rule Breaker?

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I have always had a respect for authority, never really been rebellious. Rules don’t bother me unless they are stupid rules, then I want to push back against the rules. Don’t get me started on politics. You have been warned. When the glamour magazines come out and “let us know the new color of the season.. it’s so magical how they all get the same colors from magazine to magazine, the stores are in line with this too—did they take a survey on the street of thousands of woman? Was it off of what a famous person decided? Color is so powerful that when we think of neon we think of the 80’s or now… (these colors are back in trend –  regurgitation of the 80’s.) Yes, I am not a fan of florescent neon unless you are a kid, but in a business meeting.. ack!

So how are the “it” colors decided upon? Who are the they that we all follow from fashion, home décor and makeup? “They” are Pantone. Mystery revealed? No, who are they? A secret society from the dark ages bent on gaining power .. oh sorry different group.. heehhee. Have you ever tried to describe a color over the phone? I have its like describing the taste of salt! No matter how many adjectives you use you know the other person is not seeing what you are! Specific colors are in your mind are associated with memories. Whenever I think of a brown horse I can see the hide color of the horse at Grandpa Chuck’s. Not all brown horses are that exact color but to me—when I say ‘brown horse’ I think of that exact shade. Due to working with a specific product line when you say Currant I immediately see SeneGence Currant Lipcolor in my mind but other companies have named their cosmetics Currant and they are different shades.

If I were painting my house and I need to order more paint, what do I do to get the same shade? Well, in stepped Pantone. In the 1950’s they came up with a color matching system, each color was given a number. This filled the need of graphic designers to say to each other we want 5,000 copies of this Pantone red 345 or whatever color they wanted to match. Brilliant really. Now over the phone the pros could share the exact color they wanted based on Pantone’s color matching system. How Pantone became the color deciding gurus of the fashion world, I don’t know. I bet it’s in a meeting, “Okay, so humm we gotta do this season thing again.. so what have we not used recently?” So every Spring and Fall Pantone tells us what is cool and we change out our couch cushions, go on the prowl and buy that new trendy outfit

.Pantone Fall 2013

So here is my problem—every new season I see women, especially girls wearing the “it” color and it looks horrid. Not because she is not lovely and amazing because I believe all women are, but because that color doesn’t look good on her!! So if the colors coming out are good for you this is great, this falls colors just happen to be for those with yellow undertones to your skin. If you are a pinky toned skin not so good, the it colors will be wearing you not you wearing them.

What colors you wear whether they are the “hot” color of the season or not, should look “Hot” on you! I happen to look sensational in the jewel tones of this season, and I’m excited to get more brown shirts because when brown is not hot the selection of brown can be limited. Three years ago I had to have a royal Blue suit.. impossible to find! I had to have one custom made. Now its going to be easy.. the choices will runneth over because Pantone has decided that Mykonos Blue, which is a royal blue enough for me, is in this season! I will be able to find shirts that go with my suit! And my brown pants which the brown tops are starting to fade, I get to brush off the dust we are going shopping. And ohh, the Acai Purple is amazingly great color on me and other women with yellow undertones to their skin.. last seasons colors.. not so much. I walked in to stores and walked out because those colors didn’t look good on me.

So shop to look hot, shop to look fabulous shop for the right colors if they are “in” or not—Do you want to look Trendy or Hot?

More information on the Pantone colors can be found here: http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr.aspx?pg=21057&ca=4

By the way the spring, summer, fall winter was designed for white women. Forcing all women of color in the “winter category”— that will be another great post soon!

Spring Trends – Clothing

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If you are anything like me, it seems to be the same box of clothes coming out of storage at the change of each season. Since we are talking beauty here on the Glamour Connection blog, clothing goes along with it. So I decided to browse the various fashion sites spring trend reports, found i liked Glamour magazine’s break down of “Wearable Trends” because really, who wants trends that are either impractical or just plain obnoxious. So I took my favorite looks/trends from the Glamour slide show and wanted to give a few examples of what could be. Spring often brings florals, pastels and whit – these ideas for spring have a bit of that, but red and gray are also featured. (I am really loving gray lately.) The thing with clothing is that every woman should really wear what is most comfortable for them. Now, I’m not saying your should wear your lounge clothes everyday because that’s what is comfortable for you. If that is your particular favorite, maybe it’s best for you to stick with cotton fabrics and no fuss outfits. It’s also great that spring is still cool enough that throwing on a great jacket over whatever shirt you happen to be wearing can appear to be a put together look – given you are wearing your nicest pair of jeans or slacks. So here 7 of the 15 spring trends:

“Painterly Prints”

A wrap-dress from Target. The wrap-dress does good things for most women. It seems this new spin on florals, where it appears to be a painting not just a loud pattern, can give you the feeling of being a walking piece of art.

“Polka Dots”

Polka dots really seem like a good idea. Executing this good idea is another thing. Trying to browse and find a good example for this trend was a challenge. Accessories, luggage and children’s clothing was mostly what was found. So here is a great belt that can accent another trend (which I actually chose to leave out) – the monotone look.

“Military Coat”

Love this look. It seems like it comes in and out of “fashion” quite often. So maybe you already have a military style jacket in your closet. Spring is the prefect time to clean those closets out anyway. However, if you are shopping, look for one of these jackets.

“Head to Toe Gray”

Gray is wonderful because it is so flexible like black,  but gives you more variety with the various shades available. it’s also very easy to find lots of cuts and fabrics in this set for spring color.

“The Scarlet Jacket”

Personally, I find red a hard color to wear on a regular basis. I have just never felt it was for me. But I can definitely get behind wearing a red jacket. You won’t be overlooked in one of these. (note – the jacket on the left is currently out of stock at zappos.com, But I liked it too much to leave out.)

“Tie-Dye”

Tie-dye has seen it’s glory days as splashes of brightly colored hues adorning a basic cotton t-shirt. Those days are gone but the pattern is staying. This style too has come and gone a few times, but how it’s being used now is fantastic. The option for the accessory will be great if you are a little timid about such a loud pattern.