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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: , ,

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: , ,

More Dangerous Fashion Trends

Extreme fashion trends come and go and have been a part of our culture for centuries. It seems that fashion has such a strong pull that endangering one’s life or the chance for a deformity all in the name of “fashion” does not seem to deter the most intense fashion divas.

One fashion trend that has found its way back into fashion recently is extremely long earrings. This became popular in the 1980s and seems to be finding its way back into the fashion scene over the past few years. The danger of long earrings or large hoop earrings is their ability to get caught on things and pull out of the ear. This causes an injury to the ear that has to be surgically repaired.

Colored or novelty contact lenses have become a major fashion accessory. Unfortunately, it has become easy to purchase these lenses over-the-counter or online. Users are not receiving proper training or care while wearing these and tend to use them incorrectly and suffer eye infections as a result. Contact lenses of any kind should not be used without a doctor’s supervision.

Some of the most common fashion items that are used by nearly everyone have dangers involved as well. In fact, many hair colors contain carcinogens, which are chemicals that are known to cause cancer. Your clothing might be another source of toxins that can be introduced into your body. Synthetic leather, waterproof clothing, or clothing that is labeled as “easy care” or “easy iron” contains harmful chemicals which can release fumes throughout their lifetime. In fact, a dangerous chemical used in dry cleaning stays in your clothing and can contaminate your body and even your home. This chemical attacks the nervous system and can cause issues such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, and even reproductive issues.

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Launching an Online Clothing Store

Every business can benefit from having a web presence. Some businesses rely completely on a website presence, never actually existing in a brick and mortar format. For example, you can decide to run a clothing store completely online, providing customers with a way to buy fashion clothing on the Internet without having to set foot in a store or a dressing room. If you decide that you want to run a clothing store online, you should be aware of some of the tactics that you can employ in order to improve customer satisfaction. Your primary concern should be to constantly improving upon your customer service, offering high quality products and solid customer service so that your customers are always satisfied with their interactions with your company. In order to determine whether you are meeting the needs of your customers, you can use a customer satisfaction survey. A customer satisfaction survey is going to help you interface with your customers. You can use these surveys to ask your customers about their experience. How would they rate their experience? Would they recommend your store to their friends or family members? Will they shop with you again in the future? Ask these and other simple but insightful questions and you will be able to gain some truly vital insight into the good and bad about your company. You can apply all of the information that you receive to how you do business, and in that way you will be able to improve your business with time. Customer surveys are a great way to find out what your customers think about you. The information that they provide you with will be able to be applied to your business so that you can make improvements and greatly improve upon the strengths of your company. If you want to know about your strengths and weaknesses, simply ask your customers because they will be honest with you.

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Dangerous Fashion Trends

Through the centuries there have been many fashion extremes come and go. Many were harmless; however others have created life altering deformities, illnesses, or death all in the name of “beauty.” Have you ever considered how far you would go to be fashionable?
In tenth century China women would break and bind their feet to keep them small and achieve the look of a Lotus flower bud. This practice caught on and the wealthiest families began breaking and binding their young daughter’s feet to achieve this status symbol look. This led to crippling and an inability to walk. It must have been incredibly painful to endure.
The corset was used in fashion off-and-on from the fifteen century until the nineteenth century when a small waistline became essential to fashion. Over tightening corsets led to crush injuries and deformities of the ribs, which in turn led to miscarriages and other physical ailments. Doctors continually warned women of the dangers of wearing corsets, and blamed corset wearing to 97 different diseases or ailments.
In the late sixteenth century pale skin was a must. Tanned skin indicated a life of hardship and labor. The most popular way to achieve the pale skin was called “ceruse” which was a mixture of white lead and vinegar. This mixture was applied to the face, neck, and bosom. This would continually poison the wearer until they began to develop skin lesions, rotting teeth, hair loss, and eventually death.
Through the years, extremes in foot fashion including high platform shoes, stiletto heels, “stilt” style shoes, etc. have led to many, many accidents and injuries caused by these. Some of these shoe styles have been bulky, heavy, and difficult to balance in. This has caused issues with legs and feet as well as difficulty walking and balancing resulting in injuries.

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Being Fashionable: A Software Download Can Help

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MAY 02: Dita Von Teese po...
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Many of the folks in Hollywood enjoy having cooks, maids and stylists at their beck and call. Someone comes in and styles you every day, picks out your wardrobe, your shoes and jewelry–how wonderful it must be to have it all done for you! Some actresses even boast that they employ several nannies at a time to help care for their children. All of this is great, but for the average person who doesn’t have access to those resources, there are other ways to go about getting it all done, having it all, and doing it all on a budget that’s perhaps a fifth of the celebrity’s budget.

Don’t underestimate the taste that you have in your styling efforts, even if it means pairing those trusted, weathered jeans with a great pair of shoes and a nice blouse. For the everyday woman, it’s all about being creative and using what you’ve got. If you only have a few things, but they’re quality items, you’ll fare much better than having a closet full of clothes, shoes and purses that are not fit to wear, are too little, or are outdated.

For the fashion-challenged, finding help may be as close as the computer. A fashion software download lets you put in your fashion tastes and preferences. You’ll get back suggested styles and colors that are perfect for you. You can customize the software to fit your style, and create a look that rivals Rodeo Drive any day! After all, those Hollywood types didn’t all start off with a fashion stylist on their payroll, right?

Always use what you have at your disposal and make the most of it by adding things that dress it up, spice it up and make you feel good about being you.

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Best Rock Cothing Styles

Converse logo
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Rock is about extremes. The music is rebellious and cutting edge. It’s loud and free spirited and it gets noticed, so the clothes have to get noticed, too. Here are some of the best rock clothing styles for the real rocking rebel.

Skinny jeans are the pant of choice for the rocker girl. They’re just a little bit punk and whole of rebellious attitude. They can be worn with sneakers or heals, and the top can help change the whole effect of this rock clothing staple.

Today’s rock t-shirts are tight fitting with a soft, worn look. They always have cool graphics on the front. These graphics often celebrate the rock stars of days gone by. The eternal rock clothing symbol is the peace sign, so you can never go wrong with it emblazoned across your chest.

Dresses and skirts are all about being naughty when you’re in rock clothes. The skirts are usually mini skirts. Some are tight fitting and some are playful schoolgirl styles. Whether it’s leather or pleats and plaid, the little skirt should be a little racy. Leather and rubber are hot dress styles in rock clothing. They signify that the wearer is a tough dominatrix who can hold her own.

Today’s rocker girl is wearing cool sneakers, heavy biker boots and and sexy high heal boots. Depending on the style of rock n roll you enjoy, you’ll want your shoe to fit the image. The classic Converse is almost always in style with rock clothing.

Leather jackets and hoodies are the outer wear that the rock clothing fashionista will be wearing. However, today’s leather jackets are more streamlined and fitted.

The final piece to completing a great rock clothing style, is the jewelery. It has to be silver or stainless steel, and it has to be Gothic and heavy. Heavy crosses, skeletons and skulls are the best choices.

Don’t forget to wear your attitude.

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