How to Look Your Best, Part 2

Saturday, I wrote part 1 of this blog which you can find here where you get the beginnings of how to become a Chic Fabulous Fashionista using Color, Focus, and Fit.

The second part to being a Chic Fabulous Fashionista is using FABULOUS which stands for Focus. Let people focus on you as a beautiful woman, not your clothes. When someone looks at you let them think, "there's a well put together beautiful woman" not "wow, she has a crazy outfit on." The biggest key is to have a focus and not make someone who looks at you not know where to look.

No longer should clothing be all "matchy-matchy" but they should go together. If you try to wear baby blue pants, baby blue blouse, baby blue shoes, and a baby blue belt, you may get dragged off to a nursing home.

So, you've heard that mixing prints is the new in thing but how do you do it with out looking crazy? Only have 1 strong pattern and the other pattern should work as a neutral. For example, I have a pair of brown pin stripe trousers with an aqua pin stripe. From a distance, these pants look solid brown. So, I can wear a blouse with a strong pattern with aqua and brown colors and it will go with the pants. Wear your patterns with confidence. If you are small, do not wear an oversized print it will overwhelm you. If you are large, do not wear a tiny print.

Pop! That seems to be the key word in today's fashion world. You want 1 thing that catches your eye. Maybe you have a neutral outfit on with hot pink shoes. How fun is that?

Make sure that you dress appropriately for the occasion. When in doubt, dress a little nicer. In business, dress for the job you want instead of the job you have. I recently went to a banquet and I was a tad bit more dressy than many of the people there. I was wearing a cocktail dress and many of the people were just wearing what they wore to work. However, I looked much better than the woman I saw who showed up to a banquet in a sloppy t-shirt and jeans.

You also need to dress age appropriately. I find that most women I know tend to dress older than their age. Remember 40 is the new 30! So, don't dress like you're 50. However, if you're in your 20's don't dress like a teen. One rule to keep in mind is to not repeat trends. If you wore giant bell bottoms in the 70's, don't do it again. Leave that for the teens!

Finally, accessories can be wonderful to create focus so use them!!! But, don't "matchy-match". Shoes, belts, and purses do not have to all match. In fact they shouldn't all match. Jewelry sets are old school, too. Pick 1 piece of jewelry to pop, and let the others be more neutral. Don't forget about scarves!

Here is your challenge. Pick an accessory that you already own that you hardly ever wear. Decide now that you are going to find a way to wear it in the next week. Maybe it's an old broach that you are going to put on a chain as a necklace. Maybe you are going to finally wear that scarf that you always forget you have. If you are up to the challenge, please comment here on my blog about what you wore!