Potpourri of Fashion Advice

2. It's not about your budget-Money can't buy style. How you put your clothes together matters much more than what you pay for them.

3. It IS about your attitude-If you walk like a million bucks, you'll look like a million bucks.

Some eternal truths: 1. The bare skin thing only works in Hollywood. 2. True style essentials: a great black dress, a great pair of jeans, a knockout coat, one pair of bright, stylish shoes, and a bag that at least looks expensive. 3. Every once in a while, dress up!

Some new fashion rules: Your shoes and bag don't have to match. You CAN wear black at weddings. You don't HAVE to wear a business suit. Sometimes, you can skip the pantyhose.

Designer Fashion Tips: Issac Mizrahi-"Don't wear tons of super-tight clothing".

Anna Sui: "Do mix floaty silhouettes like flowy tops, tunics, and dresses into your wardrobe."

Carolina Herrera-"Do have a signature piece of costume jewelry, like enamel bangles."

Nanette Lepore-"Don't wear a cropped top with low-waisted pants."

Valentino: "When in doubt, do wear red. Red with a little bit of orange in it is good on any skin tone."

Betsey Johnson: "If you love kooky stuff, don't wear too many layers. Patterns and prints look best in small doses, and make sure that they fit-too big looks sloppy."

Diane von Furstenberg-"Do learn to be comfortable in your own skin and with what you're doing in your life. If you want to look beautiful, you have to be confident."

Michael Kors-"Don't fall for a trend that makes no sense in your life."

Five Things NOT to wear to a backyard barbecue: Stilettos, all white clothing (including shoes), a cocktail dress, a full face of makeup, and a micro-mini skirt.

Five Investment Pieces to acquire AFTER you get your raise (You lucky dog!): a perfect suit (jacket, skirt, and pants), a great work bag, a fitted trench coat, a fancy watch, and a pair of fabulous heels.

You should NEVER, EVER wear these four things to work (even on Fridays): 1. Tube tops 2. Cheeky or tasteless message T-shirts 3. Cutoffs 4. Sweatpants

Most guys like to see women in: Jeans, White tank tops, medium-height heels, Chuck Taylor sneakers, and SOME cleavage (Not over-the-top, just a "hint of mint").

To stay party-fresh till the wee hours, don't mix drinks, manage your heels, scent yourself, and most important of all, EAT!

Here are ten rules for special events, weddings, reunions, and big-deal parties: 1. When in doubt, dress up. 2. Own one amazing cocktail dress 3. Mix posh and casual stuff 4. Think long-term with special-event purchases 5. Stock up on pretty wraps 6. Step up your jewelry...7...And your boat (if you're into that sort of thing) 8. Don't buy anything that you need to lose weight to fit into 9. Remember, lingerie counts (For this one, you can just make do with clean regular underwear!). 10. Go for look-at-me shoes

Five trends that are NOT worth resurrecting are overstyled hair ('80s look), clunky shoes, too much jewelry, eye makeup overload (raccoon look), and extra-extra large (XXL) outfits.

The 20 Worst Fashion Mistakes (of all time,so far): 1. Visible panty lines 2. Anything mesh 3. The no-bra look 4. Big hair 5. Holey denim 6. Too-tight clothes 7. Throngs on display 8. Overly-tweezed eyebrows 9. Weird headgear 10. Scrunchies, banana clips, and other extreme hair accessories 11. Visible lip liner 12. See-through clothes 13. Candy-colored hair 14. Too-short skirts and shorts 15. "Mom" jeans 16. Rude message T-shirts 17. Orange fake tans 18. Butt cleavage 19. Work clothes with sneakers 20. Too much "bling" (loud, flashy jewelry)

Your basic wardrobe essentials should consist of all or most of the following: a black pantsuit, a softer neutral suit with pants or skirt (gray, brown, khaki, or navy), three pairs of neutral pants, three winter-weight skirts (one should be a tweed), three summer-weight skirts (one should be a tweed), three cotton button-front shirts, three blouses, two sparkly tops, a leather jacket, a denim jacket, a trench coat, three pairs of jeans (all hemmed to different lengths, for flats, heels, and sandals), a black dress, a solid-color dress, a print or embellished dress, six sweaters (three neutral, three color, and in varying neck lines: crew, V-neck, and cardigan), three blazers, (one summer weight, one three-season weight, and one winter weight), ¾-length wool coat, watch with two bands (leather and link), one black bag, one brown bag, one color or print bag, 1 pair of black heels, 1 pair of brown heels, 1 color, print, or embellished heels, 1 pair of black boots, 1 pair of brown boots, and 1 pair of black flats (You can never have too many bags or shoes). Now if you can't afford all this, just manage with what you've got and add on later (An easy way to acquire all this is to HIT THE THIFT STORES!).

Don't confuse your Personal Style with your Shopping Style. Personal Style is what you look like when you're finished. Shopping Style is how you get there.

A stand-alone is something that goes with nothing else you own and coordinate with nothing you own-in color, in style, in consistency.

To beat the system, learn the system first.

All manufacturers cut their sizes differently. Try on several sizes to find your size within each brand you like.

Identical garments often leave the factory to be sold at two different prices.

If you really want to score at an outlet, buy out-of-season merchandise. At the end of a season, markdowns are 50 percent; out of season,, they're 70 percent.

Your best chance of a consignment store score is in a wealthy zip code.

Five Smart Vintage Buys are: 1. Anything not in style 2. funky jewelry 3.Men's ties 4. Blue jeans 5. Slips and lingerie looks

Your Personal Style melds your lifestyle, finances, and identity into an overall fashion statement that makes you feel good about yourself and tells the world how to feel about you.

The power base of any wardrobe is its versatility.

All wardrobes are based on color groups; smart wardrobes are also built around comfortable shoes.

Never build a wardrobe around an accessory unless you are very rich, a supermodel, or are in the fashion business.

It only takes money to buy expensive things; to LOOK expensively dressed without spending much money is a far greater challenge.

There is a lot of similarity between a brassiere and a pair of jeans (A good pair is judged on its ability to life, shape, and mold, like the bra).

Handbags make the loudest statement about a person's status; but shoes are way up there, too.

It 's not how good a brand you buy or how chic the shoe is-if it doesn't fit properly, you will suffer (Truer words were never spoken).

Shoes are the backbone of every wardrobe and every day's dress-up.

A shoe has only jobs: to both fit and perform well.

Choose the shoes you wear each day based on the demands of the day and how much walking you will do.

Try on shoes at the end of the day, not the beginning, because your feet swell as the day progresses.

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