Gourmet Fashions

Keeping On Track With Fashion

When you become interested in fashion, it is hard to keep up with what’s in and what’s out. There is actually a lot of research that needs to be done if you want to keep up with the latest fashion trends. If you really want to be known for your taste in fashion, there are several things you can do such as read magazines, search online, and watch what others are wearing.

There are plenty of magazines that you can find that talk about fashion in every issue. Magazines such as Seventeen, Glamour, Vogue, and many other magazines will talk about fashion in every issue. Subscribe to one or more of these magazines if you really want a heads up on fashion. Not only will you get a heads up, but they will give you advice on how to save money, where to shop, and other great things about fashion, including a hair and makeup section.

Keep up with fashion online. You can do this by checking up on certain blogs and even searching fashion on search engines. You can even search for recent celebrity pictures. If you see Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift wearing it, it is sure to catch on. This can give you insight into what styles are coming up and what you should prepare for next season.

Watch what other people are wearing. If you see a lot of people wearing it, it is in style. Perhaps once you see that many people are wearing it, you know that it’s accepted and you would want to go buy it also. Keep on track of when trends begin to change. Get rid of the old trends and begin early on the new ones.

These tips should help you stay on track of recent fashion. If you really want to be fashionable, you have to be ahead of others in fashion trends, but remember that if you don’t like it, you don’t have to wear it just because it’s in style. Choose clothes that you want to wear and are comfortable in.

Saving Money on Clothing

Shopping for clothing doesn’t have to be expensive. There are plenty of ways to save money and watch your budget. What are some of these tricks?

Set a budget and only bring cash with you. If you only bring cash along, you will be able to see where your money is going and how much you have left. When you use a credit or debit card, it is harder to see how much money you have spent and how much you have left of your budget. You will most likely end up spending more than you intended if you use a card.

Don’t buy things just because they are on sale, but look at the sales rack anyway. If there is something there that you like, then you should go for it, but if you’re not sure about it, don’t buy it, because, chances are, you’ll never wear it anyway. If you can find a great deal on something that you’ll use, then buy it, but if you’ll never wear it, just leave it on the rack.

Shop online. It’s probably easier to find deals online than it is by browsing through the stores. Remember to not buy it just because it’s on sale. Take note of the shipping cost because some people like to take advantage that some people don’t look at this, and you end up paying a lot more than you should. It’s better to go with something that has a return policy because you can’t try these things on, so if it doesn’t fit you can just send it back. Also, try your best to keep track of your money just like you would if you were at the mall.

Once you buy your clothes, take care of them. The better you take care of your clothes, the less shopping is necessary. Avoid pulling your shirts down often as this can cause rips and stretching, and roll up your pants if they’re too long so you don’t tear the bottoms. You can also take care of your clothing by bleaching your whites and avoiding stains.

Finding Clothes For Your Body

We all know that when we shop, there are probably millions of pieces of clothing to look at in a mall, not to mention thousands of different styles, colors, etc. With so many pieces of clothing, you should be able to find the type of clothing that fits your body type, but that can be quite time consuming. What can you do to find clothes for your body type?

Before you even go shopping, take note of your good and bad points of your body. Buy clothes that will accent these good points and distract from the bad. You may want to go through your clothes and take note of the ones you do and don’t like. Don’t buy clothes that are similar to the ones you don’t like, but focus on clothes that are similar to the ones you do like.

Stick with the stores you know sell your size. For average women, this is not a problem because most stores keep your size in stock, but for women under and over average, try to stay out of the stores you know don’t carry your size, or you’ll just waste your shopping time by browsing through things you’ll never buy.

Sometimes it’s hard to know if a piece of clothing is right for your body. That’s why it’s always good to have a second opinion. Bring a friend along with you when you shop. If you have plenty of shopping time, it’s okay to try on every piece of clothing you intend to buy. If you don’t have much time, try to eliminate the pieces you don’t like as much before you try them on.

It’s hard to find clothes that fit every body type. Make sure you know what fits your body type before you go shopping. Just because a piece of clothing looks cute, doesn’t mean that it will look cute on you. Try your hardest to eliminate clothing that is not cute on you, even if it’s cute by itself or you may have a hard time wearing it after you buy it.

The Ghost of Fashion Past

The fashions of the ’80s went out when the ’90s came in. Good clothes worn badly, like dress coats with the collars popped and the sleeves pushed up, lace dresses worn with a disheveled appearance with jeans underneath, were out, and layers, layers, layers were back in. Just for a few years, though. The grunge look was only an interim until the kids born in the 1970s entered college. Then, their fashion came back. Puffy vests, brand names on shirts (see American Eagle, Abercrombie and Fitch)outlandish platform shoes and sandals.

The cycle repeated itself. The early 2000s saw another half-time fashion come in, Ugg boots and ripped jeans, spaghetti straps and decorator belt buckles. Then, in 2006, with the last of the the next generation graduating high school and shipping off for higher education, the ’80s came roaring back for part II.

Day-Glo everything. Black tights go with any outfit. Off-the-shoulder exercise tops. Pinstriped vests can be found in stores again. Grandma’s shoes, cause you’re indie cool. Thankfully, leotards were lost to the ’90s, but the rest of 1986 had a score to settle, and it’s not leaving for a few more years. It’s the law of current fashion; whatever generation is in college, their clothes get the limelight until the next decade’s children strike out on their own.

So hold on to those jeans of yours; they’ll go from “old” to vintage” before too long. Rip some holes to win some cred, or just put a lot of life into them.

The remnants of each reigning fashion linger on in the next big thing. Traces of ’90s layers can still be found in the resurrected ’80s fashions of today, Ugg boots underwent a slight retro re-outfitting and kept going strong. Call it fashion Darwinism if you will, where the good gets brought along by the rising threads, and the bad dies in the bargain bin, destined to languish in a second-hand store.

And fashion rolls on.

Silcone Watches

: Image via Wikipedia

Watches are a tricky fashion, but can be a fun accessory. Originally a gentleman’ item, a pocket watch, preferably with some sentimental value, was a must. It was as much a sign of status as a time-keeping necessity. Gradually, ladies’ delicate wristwatches came into vogue, and now, you can find every type of watch imaginable. Watches can say a lot about an outfit, and about the person wearing it.
If you want fun and amusing for the kid in you, go for a cartoon-style watch, plastic or rubber, with any of your favorite characters on it. You can go out for a ritzy night on the town with a classy precious metal watch, and there are plenty of high-end retailers and jewelers who will be happy to find the right time-teller for you, for a price. However, most people want a watch that will tell them the time without a lot of hassle (which usually means they want a digital watch) and will still look good. Now, there’s a watch available that does all this.
A new, imaginative product has hit the scene and is making waves: silicon watches. Sometimes called “jelly watches”, they are flexible and elastic, so they can fit any size of wrist. Since i’s made silicon, it won’t rub, cut, or friction-burn the skin. They’e extremely easy to see, set and change the time, and look fashionable with a functional twist. Since they’re simple with basic parts and are almost completely made of silicon, these watches are extremely cheap, usually costing between $7 and $22. They’re perfect for athletes who can’t be bothered with a bulky or heavy watch, those with sensitive skin, or for anyone who just wants a cool-looking watch that will tell them the time and say something about their style at the same time.

Classy Converse

: Image via Wikipedia

Originally created in 1908, the Converse shoe brand has a history almost as colorful as the current pairs of shoes available today. In 1917, the flagship of the brand, the Converse All-star shoe was rolled out. A basketball player named Chuck Taylor came to work for Converse in 1921, and the brand took off, becoming the official shoe of the National Basketball Association. Dominating most of the market until after World War II, Converse was eventually surpassed by other brand names, and forced into bankruptcy in 2001. But the shoe is too good to be kept down, and under the new ownership of Footware Acquisitions Converse jumped from the 16th largest shoe company to the 7th in less than 800 days.

Converse has become less of a sports shoe and more of a indie self-declaring statement. Other brands like Nike and Reebok have taken the leading roles on that stage, but now, the rising generation and the youthful members of the older crowd wear their “chucks” as a way of stating “I’m young, hopeful, and this is me.” If you are anywhere on the liberal arts scene, you need a pair of All-stars. Take a look in any local theatre in the country, and the cast will be wearing Converse. Go to any late-night show and checking out the band: they’re wearing chucks. The brand name even got mentioned in the album “21st Century Breakdown” by Green Day.

Converse All-stars are available in an assortment of colors, although a solid black shoe with white accents in the standard. Converse has also produced shoes in patterns like skulls and crossed bones, hearts, plaid, and has also collaborated with well-known bands like The Who, singers like Kurt Cobain, and popular stories like Dr. Suess’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas to create themed pairs of shoes. On their website, you can design and create your own, truly unique pair, so you can rock your chucks your way.

“Studious Glasses”

Oh, how the tides of fashion turn. Anytime during the 1990s or first half of the 2000s, and a kid would have been shoved in a locker for wearing dorky wide-rimmed glasses. Nowadays, though, nerd glasses are the new big thing.

With the ’80s fashion revival in full swing, it is a small wonder that big glasses came back. In the real 1980s, contacts were just coming out, and most folks with eye problems were still wearing large-lense glasses. Now, the fashion has resurfaced with the rest of that decade; day-glo accents, exercise wear, etc. However, since most people have contacts now to correct their seeing difficulties, the glasses no longer have lenses, just frames for show. That’s right: the cool thing now is empty glasses made of large, unflattering black plastic.

Bands like Cobra Starship, which is working hand in hand with ’80s renewal with their synthesizer-heavy music, have made dorky glasses cool again, and Taylor Swift wears a pair in the music video for her hit single Love Story. Pop singer (and sometimes actor) Justin Timberlake sports a pair of prescription glasses, done up in nerdy style (although, his actually have the lenses in them.) The rich and the famous wear these, and so will everyone else. That is, until this fashion era ends and a new one takes its place.

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen: what once was normal and acceptable became nerdy, unpopular and a social death sentence, and has come full circle to once again being not only acceptable, but will score you some indie cred with the local hipsters. So dig out your old pair and pop the lenses out, or head to any outlet store like Hot Topic, Wal-Mart, or a dozen websites where you can get your own brand-new pair of dork glasses.

The Indomitable Blue Jeans

: Image via Wikipedia

Everyone wears them. From the old man puttering around the house to the grandma in the garden to literally every student in a high school to the biggest fashionistas on the runway, everyone owns at least a pair or two of jeans. And small wonder too: Jeans have a lot of life in them. They can take a beating and keep going. It doesn’t matter if they are sopping wet or full of sand, blue jeans can take it. Life involves lots of hard work, and jeans are designed to be worn during that work. For one thing, they use rivets instead of stitching at the important sections of the cloth, so rips are less likely. If a pair of jeans dies of anything, it will be worn out knees, not ripped seams.

Jeans can also be stylish. One of the new vogues is colored jeans; instead of just blue, try black or grey, or red or yellow or green. The other great aspect to jeans is that they go with absolutely everything. White button up tops? Got it. polo shirt? sure. Plain t-shirt or graphic tee? Of course, duh. It’s one of, perhaps the most, versatile article of clothing on the market today. While they can be paired with dressy tops like button-ups and suit coats for men or knit-tops or trendy shirts for women, it’s still frowned upon to wear jeans to a fancy get-together. Save them for the day-to-day stuff. Jeans are simple, good pants. They don’t try to be pretentious, they just do their best and look good while they’re doing it. Flashbulbs and wineglasses isn’t really their thing.

So, if you don’t have a pair of jeans, go out and paint the town red (or blue.) And if you already own a pair of these hard-working, hard-partying pants, go get another pair of two. Everything good happens in jeans.

Punk Threads

A product of the ’60s, punk isn’t so much a just a music style as an entire way of living. Punk is a way of looking at life. When a reporter asked Billie Joe Armstrong what punk was, Armstrong kicked over a trashcan and said “that’s punk.” The reporter did the same, knocking over a second can and asked, “that’s punk?” Billie replied, “no, that’s trendy.” And nobody defines punk like Billie’s band, Green Day.

Green Day hit the scene in 1987 and by 1992 they were the rising star of the lead/bass/drum punk trio set. In 2010, they’re still going strong off their second rock opera album and making millions. And doing it in style, too.

Mike Dirnt (when he plays air guitar, or air bass, he goes dirnt, dirnt, dirnt) tends to wear his signature sleeveless black button-up, collar popped high making waht appears to be rock fingers on either side of his head. Slap on some skinny black jeans over his lanky frame. For shoes, check out his very own line (partnered with MacBeth) of vegan shoes. Imagine a hybrid combat boot/shiny evening shoe, and you’ve got $79.99 of Vegan Dirnt. He’s not even a vegetarian.

Tre Cool, the drummer, will be a poster boy in his next life. On stage, he’s manic in a soaked tee, most likely with an emblem from his band on it, or a starched shirt with striped tie. On the red carpet, he likes to rock a fancy ink black suit or a Jack Skeleton-esque pinstripe with a faux bowtie hanging from one collar.

Billie Joe, as lead singer, has a style all his own. Live performances see him in a military-like shirt, with patches sewn haphazardly across it: the Warning! album emblem, smiley faces, etc. Tight skinny jeans, black to match his soul, and hair most of the time; he dyes it religiously. To round out his ensemble, he rocks a pair of worn-out Chuck Taylors.

Dressed like an Empress

500 years ago, clothes made the man (or the lady) and it is still true today. While high starched collars, frilly lace, doublets and rapiers may not be the nouvelle vogue, nothing says your hip like a good set of threads. You might not have a cape to throw down in the mud like certain gentlemen, but you’ll have a stylish coat on the arm you offer.

Clothes express a lot of messages. In the very instant someone sees you, they take you in by sight, which means they see your face, head, hands and whatever else you are showing. Everything else they see, is the clothes.

So, how to dress like the royalty you are? Remember, it all comes down to portraying the image you want people to see. The healthiest one is yourself because, hey, you’re yourself. That said, you don’t have to be sewing your own clothes. Do you like the skirt Ingrid Michaelson sported during her Everybody tour? Great. Go for it. You can rock it like a goddess. It shows your trendy, independent, and have good taste in music. Admiring President Obama’s tie from the State of the Union address? Nothing wrong with sending a message of well-put-togetherness and adding a dash of patriotism at the same time. Don’t be afraid to wear what you like; big, Texas-sized belt buckles didn’t come back in style on their own. Set the image you want people to see. Businessmen wear suits for a reason; soldiers wear uniforms for the same. Set your own style, and use manufacturers’ products to express that style.

What people wear is what they want to be. So much of a person’s self is wrapped up in what they wrap their body in. However, it’s important to remember that you’re portraying yourself; you’re not just a skin-and-bones coatrack.