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To Extreme or Not Enough?

Dress code as seen at a London Club in the Soh...

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We live in a society that presents a mixed message as it relates to personal style. On one hand, we want our children to express themselves as people. On the other, we present them with rules, regulations, and restrictions in terms of their hair styles and clothing choices. While some parents support their children’s wish to dress the way they want, others feel that this freedom causes nothing more than problems. When you stop to think about how children’s fashion has evolved, you may find it easier to decide for your own child.

Consider the typical high school from the 1960′s. If you walked through the door, you would likely notice several groups or ‘cliques’ of kids. There would be the jocks, clean-cut and preppy dressed. The ‘hoods’ would be dressed distinctly differently. There may be a small sub-group, but for them most part you were either a jock or not.

Now, consider the typical high school today. There is a group for every kid. Goth kids in their heavy eye make-up and dark clothing. Nerds, who have embraced the floods and pocket protectors. Gear heads, metal heads, good girls, and bad boys. Today, our kids are able to express who they are in the way they choose to dress.

The question becomes is this a good thing or not. In reality, kids today focus so much energy on how they dress and how those around them look. They generalize personalities based on apparel. Maybe it isn’t a good thing. Maybe the schools that have created dress codes and rules about extreme hair styles have it right.

We can only hope we have made the right choice for our children.

Filed Under: Extreme Colors, Fashion, Hair Styles Tagged With: , ,

The Changing Trends in Hair and Clothing Fashions

 

 

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 06: The mohawk hair... 

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

 

Movie stars, singers and the general public love at times to experiment with hair and clothing styles. These can range from the elegant to the wild, depending on the personality of the individual.

When a major entertainer makes a dramatic change in wardrobe or hair, it can cause waves throughout the fan community. Fans are quick to copy the style, which then can be transmitted to others as the newest and latest style to mimic. This is especially true when a popular film comes out and a new style makes a hit with movie goers. Such crazes as mohawks, leg warmers and similar styles were established and set by the stars who wore them during a specific decade.

Keeping up with the dramatic changes in hair and clothing styles can often be a challenge for the fashion conscious. These styles can literally change overnight, causing what was one day to be the latest and greatest to be out of style the next. The middle of the road goal is to find those styles that have a timeless quality to them. These are the ones that weather the dramatic shifts in style with ease.

People that use this method are able to adjust their style much easier, while still leaving room to experiment with the wild side of fashion. This can be as simple as adding a dramatic color or pattern to a basic outfit. Others like to follow the changes closely. Whatever the style, there is still the fun and challenge on staying current with the trends.

Filed Under: Fashion, Hair Styles Tagged With: , ,

To Accessorize or Not to Accessorize?

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 18: An earring...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Beyond the basics of creating an outfit, which can be a difficult enough task, you have to decide whether or not to accessorize it. The unencumbered outfit can be as stylish a statement as all the bangles in the world – possibly more so. On the other hand, a plain outfit might gain new life with the right accessory. As usual, it’s up to you to figure out what your outfit requires in order to make a head-turning effect.

The purse might as well be its own outfit. In some ways, it has transcended the status of “accessory” to become the defining element of fashion. What about belts? Do you choose a conservative one or a flamboyant buckle with studded leather? If you’re especially adventurous, you can make your own belt. There’s nothing that says “fashion rebel” quite like a belt made out of paperclips. You can visit www.offers.com to see what materials you can find for your rebellious constructions.

Earrings are nearly purse level, but they’re still firmly in the accessory category. There are a lot of choices in the realm of ear decoration, but, sometimes, the best thing is to leave off earrings entirely, depending on the occasion. Everyone has different tastes in earrings – some don’t like them at all, some prefer small ones and some like hoops. In fact, that’s true of most accessories: you sacrifice some mobility for the sake of fashion.

The ultimate goal of any outfit, whether you accessorize it or not, is to look good, and it takes work to look good.

Filed Under: Fashion, Make-Up Tagged With: , ,

Comfort, the New Fashion Mantra

Fashion followers tread a very fine line between what is considered normal and what is not. It is difficult to judge what fits, as different cultures all view it differently. For example, in some Asian cultures, body piercing is an auspicious and marked event in an individual’s life. In the West, piercing is generally frowned upon. There are so many other fashion practices that connote different meanings across various cultures.

Hair and make-up too vary among cultures and have changed throughout centuries. The laborious and painful hair-dos of Marie Antoinette days are ridiculous compared to the extremely casual slept-in hair styles that are in vogue today. It seems that even fashion has come full circle from being primitive and earthy in ancient times or arduous and painful during medieval times. Now, style is a blend of all that has passed. Today people can choose to be comfortable wearing such things as LRG Clothing or uncomfortable for the sake of style. Today it is much more of an individual choice than it was before.

Nowadays, people have the option and they prefer it in their own hands, rather than to be blinded by what is dictated. Fashion brands like LRG bring individuality to the forefront by creating looks that are urban and surprisingly refreshing, giving you the independence to choose any style.  LRG clothes are very much in keeping with the times and can help you completely formulate your own style because of the wide variety of colors and graphics available. Despite the changes in the fashion world, you can still be trendy and fashionable at the same time.

Filed Under: Fashion, General, Make-Up Tagged With: , ,

What Makes an Outfit Haute Couture?

Christian Lacroix, 20 ans de haute couture, ré... 

Image via Wikipedia

Haute Couture is a French word which means ’high sewing’. For a piece of fashion to be classified as Haute Couture it must adhere to a strict list of guidelines. Not just any article of clothing can be designated with the title.

Not many people know this, but for a fashion house to be considered as Haute Couture is must be a member of Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Each member must adhere to the following rules in order to keep his or her ability to label something Haute Couture.

  • The designer must cater to private clients on a regular basis. This means that a designer must provide made-to-order fashion which is devised in multiples sittings with the client.
  • The designer must have an office based in Paris. This office needs to employ 15 or more people.
  • The designer must present collections to the public twice a year. These collections must contain separate outfits for day and evening wear in 35 styles.

Each year a listing of designers are released to the public showing who is a member. The member list for 2011 is as follows:

  • Adeline Andre
  • Anne Valerie Hash
  • Atelier Gustavolins
  • Chanel
  • Christian Dior
  • Christopher Josse
  • Franck Sorbier
  • Givenchy
  • Jean Paul Gauliter
  • Maurizio Galante
  • Stephane Roland

Most Haute Couture clothing is incredibly expensive due to the workmanship and time involved in making the pieces. Some desingers can spend hundreds of hours on a single piece of Haute Couture clothing. Prices can start anywhere from around $15,000 for a simple suit, to over $100,000 for a more elaborate and ornate gown sometimes seen on the red carpets of Hollywood.

 


Filed Under: Fashion, Funky Patterns Tagged With: , ,

Piercings can be Considered an Extreme Fashion Statement

Corset Piercings

Image by stray-kat via Flickr

One or two earring piercings is attractive and often a subtle fashion statement. However, when it becomes more than two sets, and anywhere else other than people’s ears, it’s often considered extreme. And, piercings are no longer just your ordinary earrings. They can bring parts of the skin together often in an extreme and painful way.

A corset piercing consists of several small rings inserted into the surface area of the skin. Usually this area is on the individual’s back, thighs or legs. For the back, the rings begin near the bottom of the shoulder blades and descend downward to just above the small of the back. The rings on the corset are looped together with decorative ribbon thus resembling a corset. This is a very painful area to pierce and it requires a very steady hand and lots of care. Because the skin in this part of the body is very delicate, it has a tendency to swell. Corset piercings last no more than two days before the flesh begins to rip.

Nipple and belly button piercings are done through the thin, soft tissue of the skin. A 14-guage needle is inserted into the thin flaps of skin then a ring or stud is secured into the opening. Another piercing is called spacers. These are typically found in the ear lobe. But, more recently people have been found piercing the nostrils and their bottom lips. It may look somewhat unattractive seeing someone’s bottom jaw and teeth. But it’s a fashion statement like most extreme piercings that speaks rebellion and individuality.

Filed Under: Fashion Tagged With: , ,

Vacations: Supposed to Relieve You from Stress, Not Cause It

Traveling is a complicated experience, because you have to consider so many additional factors. Even common activities such as shopping can become very different when you’re traveling. Your needs are different and the environment through which you’re navigating is different; it’s easy to give over to impulse and behave in ways you wouldn’t at home, such as buying too much.

In fact, it’s often the case that people on vacations tend to spend too much. That’s not because spending is an essential or pleasantly-indulged part of vacationing (although some would probably argue that). When you’re on vacation, it’s easy to buy something without thinking about it. Perhaps you’ve bought a bunch of memorabilia (itself a questionable expense, but you’ve got to have some kind of memento, right?) and need something to carry it in, so you buy a new suitcase. Or you want to attend a party but you didn’t bring much in the way of formal wear, so you buy a suit. Expenses such as these which you might think twice or thrice about at home become second nature on vacation, because you’re deliberately setting aside the normal operations of your life, and that often includes budgetary concerns.

Unfortunately, the bill collectors don’t smile and nod understandingly when you explain that you don’t really owe your debt because you were “on vacation.” It’s a good thing then that you can get a Reach Card prepaid visa. With the prepaid card, you can control your expenses with a clearly defined limit, so you always know what you can afford and what you can’t, whether you’re on a quick trip by yourself or an extended vacation with the family.

Filed Under: Fashion, General Tagged With: , ,

I Need a Dress…Now!

It happens all the time. It’s the night right before a big dance and your dress hasn’t been delivered yet. Or maybe you simply forgot to go shopping. How are you going to find a dress in such a short amount of time?

Begin with what’s easiest. Facebook, tweet, or text your friends and ask if anyone has an extra dress in your size that you can borrow. Don’t be discouraged if they’ve already worn it to a dance before because if you are, you aren’t going to have a dress to wear to this one. Make sure you make arrangements to have the dress dropped off or picked up well before the dance is going to start so you have time to get ready.

If you’re having trouble finding a dress, maybe you have to raid one of your sisters’ closets or even your mom’s. You may even have to look in your own closet and wear an old dress. We know, this is going to be torture. Perhaps you don’t even have anyone’s closet to raid.

So you can’t find a dress yet. You’re probably going to have to go shopping now. The problem with that is you probably already spent all your money on the dress that never arrived, or you never had any money in the first place. It’s going to be a last resort, but you may want to try the nearest Goodwill. Sometimes you can find great dresses for under $20 and no one is going to know it was used.

There are plenty of options when it comes to dresses; you just have to find a dress. You’re going to find one, but you just can’t be picky.

Filed Under: Fashion, Funky Patterns Tagged With: , ,

Keep Your Makeup From Running

Don’t you hate it when you spend a great deal of time on your makeup only to have it run all over your face within an hour? That can be very frustrating, especially when you took so much time to make it look great. What can you do to prevent your makeup from running?
If any of your powders such as blush or eye shadow are the problem, where they never seem to stay on and flake everywhere, you may want to try a sealing powder. A sealing powder is a powder that goes on your face after all your other powders have been applied that helps keep your makeup on your face and prevents flaking.
Eye makeup is evil when it comes to smearing. One of the best ways to prevent smearing is to buy waterproof eyeliner and mascara. It’s going to be difficult to wash off, but it’s going to run a lot less. You may want to carry around extra makeup so you can reapply every now and then.
Another trick for eye makeup is to wipe under your eyes every so often using your pointer finger. Don’t use the tip of your finger, but rather lay your finger flat pointing toward your nose and push up so that you wipe off all the excess makeup.
It’s going to be difficult to keep your lipstick from rubbing everywhere. You shouldn’t have a problem with your lipstick unless you’re using your lips a lot. When you’re drinking, just be careful about the way you hold your glass to your lips. If your lipstick is running without your lips rubbing against anything, you may want to buy a new lipstick.

Filed Under: Fashion, Make-Up Tagged With: , ,

3 Ways To Fix a Bad Hair Day

It’s hard to find someone who enjoys a bad hair day. We can’t stand when our hair won’t cooperate. Sometimes all we have to do is switch our hairstyle and that bad hair day will turn into a cute up do.
One of the easiest up dos that will make a bad hair day look great is a messy bun. You’re hair is obviously already messy, so why not make it cute? There are several ways to create a messy bun, but it’s all about your preference and how you like to do it. A simple way is to pull your hair back and secure like a ponytail. Take your hair and twist it around until it starts forming a bun. Leave the bun loose and secure with an elastic. Then pull pieces out until it’s as messy as you would like.
A braid can be a savior of a bad hair day. You can either make a braid from an existing ponytail or simply pull your hair together and begin your braid. Three way braids are the easiest. Divide your hair into three equal sections. Take one of the outside sections and transfer it over the middle one so that it is now the middle section. Do this with the other outside section over the new middle piece. Continue until you reach the end and secure your braid with an elastic.
Sometimes all your hair needs is an accessory to make it look great. If your bangs aren’t cooperating, try pulling your bangs back and securing with a clip. If you put your hair up and you don’t like the look of it, maybe all you need is a headband to make it look great. Maybe you simply need to put a bow in your hair. Don’t give up on your hair when a simple hairpiece can save your bad hair day.

Filed Under: Fashion, Hair Styles Tagged With: , , ,
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