I love Easter. I love Springtime. I love knowing that Summer is just around the corner, but I also love the way the whole of nature wakes up and starts to flourish. I know it sounds corny, but I really do find it inspirational. So this year, I’m trying to find new fashions to feed off that inspiration. Sure the yellows and pinks of yesteryear still work, and for the most part still look fresh and crisp. But I want something more… something exciting to say, “Hey, I’m awake too!”

So… imagine my delight when I found this Marciano Roar top.

Ok, at $98 it isn’t exactly bargain of the century, but don’t you just love the open back? It sits perfectly over your patootie at the back, and with it’s open back is perfect for wearing without a bra to give that added air of suggestion. I mean that’s what Spring is all about right?

But if that’s not daring enough for to you, try this. Oh my word! I can so see myself sipping mimosas at the country club in this chic little number again from Marciano. This cute Fox Dress comes in light blue or black, and what I love about it is its versatility.

I can see this over a pair of jeans or maybe even leggings to provide a tamer look. But if you can pull this off on its own, it’s a sure fire winner. A simple silver necklace, silver sandals and a matching clutch bag and you’ll be the talk of the church fete this Easter! At $138 I think it’s a bargain when you consider everything you can do with it. With different combinations, this dress will see you right through till Autumn!

Hey, did I say silver sandals, necklace and matching bag? Well, knock me down with a feather look what I found in our catalogue!

Can you believe that these gem sandals from MIA start at only $17.98? I know! How do they do it. Actually, I don’t care as long as they don’t stop doing it! Awesome sandals at an even awesomer (yes it is a word, look it up!) price!

When Pammy J designed this little necklace, I’m sure she had this dress etc in mind. It is Perfect! Not too bold, so it doesn’t take the attention away from your stunning bod in this dress, but doesn’t leave your neck open. At only $14.95, it makes a great gift and also comes in a gift box.

This cute little evening clutch bag from Stefani comes in a variety of colors including black and red; at only $39.95 you could really afford a couple just to ensure that you really do have something special for every occasion.

And there we have it. I know what I’m wearing to my first Spring/Easter outing, and it certainly isn’t an Easter Bonnet! As always, everything i feature here can be found in our online catalogue available for browsing on the home page.

Amid all the doom and gloom of the economy and global recession, there is one little area that seems to have shifted into boom mode; second-hand clothing retailers. In my little corner of the world at least, there has been an explosion of these “bring n buy” shops offering to buy your unwanted clothing items, and resell them. My kid sister and I decided to take a tour of them last weekend, and when I say tour, I mean tour, there are at least 6 within a half-mile radius.

I admit I was a little bit skeptical at first; I thought all we’d find would be washed out clothes with holes and missing buttons that would be better placed on a bon fire than the shelf of a fashion store. I was surprised. Not once, not twice, but three times.

First I was surprised at the quality. Much of the stuff looked like it had been worn only once. There were items that still had the original sales tag! I mean, I guess we’ve all done it; we’ve bought something and got it home only to conclude that we don’t really like it, and then you forget to take it back to the store within the return period.

Then I was surprised at the variety. I expected to find lots of jeans and t-shirts, and possibly shoes, but little else. Well, let me tell you my fellow fashionometrists, there was everything you could ever imagine looking for and a whole lot more besides. Every color you could want, and many you would never dream of. My sister bought a delicious black feather boa to match this sweet little dress she’d bought here.

The simple elegance of the boa really sets this dress off. The dress, from Pacific Plex, cost only $39.99, and the boa cost $5, so she has a stunning outfit for under $50. With her hair up, and a nice pair of heels she looks a million dollars!

But the third and final thing that surprised me was that these shops aren’t the bargain bins you’d think they ought to be. They had similar dresses to the one above, selling for $50 or $60. Granted, many of the items were new or next to new, and I understand that they have rent and overheads, but I must admit that the overall pricing did surprise me somewhat.

In the end, I did succumb and bought a pair of bejeweled sandals (you know I’m a sucker for sexy shoes) that look simply gorgeous with my new bootcut jeans from G by Guess bought on here last week for only $54.50.

The sandals are open toe, and they have so much fun and color in them I don’t even need to paint my toe nails. Simply awesome. Now all I need is a party to show them off…

It isn’t that society is becoming ever more shallow, it’s just that we have… refocused! Yes, that’s it, we’ve refocused. A recent poll in USA suggested that 25% of young women polled would rather win America’s Next Top Model, than win a Nobel Prize, and more than half said they’d marry an ugly guy if he were rich. This little snippet made me think for a while. First, do the girls in question know that the Nobel Prize comes with at least a million dollars in prize money? Ok, you don’t get to be on TV for 8 weeks or meet Tyra Banks… hey it’s already worth it in my book! Sorry Tyra… kidding… love you!

And about marrying these rich ugly guys… how does that make the poor ugly guys feel? I mean, really. Admittedly, if I were to marry an ugly guy, it would be some compensation if he were rich, but I’d still have to look at his ugly mug every once in a while. Maybe I could spend some of his money on special goggles to shield me from his ugliness. Or we could spend it on fancy vacations so he can snorkle and scuba… and keep his face under water. Poor fish.

OK, enough! I wanted to share with you a new fashion accessory that is sure to be a hit among teenage boys, and their mothers.

A Japanese astronaut (no, I didn’t know they had Japanese astronauts either) has been testing chemically treated underwear that doesn’t get smelly even if worn for a week! So, the space program that revolutionized the world with Teflon, is now testing underwear that encourages boys not to change. Great. Look, I’m no prude or luddite, but frankly speaking, I’m struggling to see the advantages to society in this one, and rich or poor, I’d rather marry a clean ugly guy than some skank who has to have his underwear surgically removed once a month. I wonder if that Japanese astronaut will win a Nobel Prize for his scientific endeavors. Eeeew…

After me getting so excited yesterday and ordering my gorgeous Mattisse sandals, we had our first thunder storm of the year, and what a storm it was. I was going to blog about something else today, but I decided to have a little look at rubber boots. What I love about rubber boots is that as a child I hated wearing them to school because the tops of the boots was always higher than to tops of my socks so i always got a horrible, and painful, red ring just below my knee where the boots would rub.

Nowadays of course, boots are made of a more friendly rubber, and all but the cheapest and nastiest boots have a soft rubber lining at the top. Plus, as a child, my choice of colors was green or black, or green again. Have you seen the variety today? I bet you could even find someone on the internet who could put your own photos onto a boot for you. OK, that might not look so great, but still. My girlfriend has a gorgeous pair of green boots with pink spots, and they look fab.

Among those offering delightfully fun rain boots, Coach and Barefoot seem to stand out from the crowd. Their designs are both witty and stylish, ensuring that your feet become a conversation piece for all the right reasons.

I mean how could you fail to smile when you see these fun-loving boots from Coach Signature? Even on the rainiest miserable day they would make you want to splash in puddles and run through the fallen leaves. I can imagine being disappointed on days it didn’t rain!

These colorful rain boots from Barefoot look pretty tame from a distance, but up close they reveal their fun side.

I liked these Aldo Honeycutt boots because they aren’t too frivolous. I can imagine wearing them to the office or to a weekend retreat. Their traditional black and white design is quite classic in its own way, but a more modern pattern shows that you have a fun side when you scratch the surface.

If, however, you want to leave your admirers in no doubt whatsoever about your fun-loving side… how about these lovelies…

These boots are made of a rubberized PVC and have a side zip. I would just love to see the looks on the other dog walkers in the park as I nonchalantly walk alongside my aging chocolate lab. It would be a war of wits to see who could withstand the temptation to mention them. Oh by the way, these boots are called Women’s Seduce. I can’t think why…

The astronomical choice in rain boots offered today is in stark contrast to what I was subjected to as a child. The vast array of patterns and color shows that when fashion and function come together, the results can be really quite awesome. I would  have loved to have had the option to wear some of these boots as a child, although I couldn’t really see me turning up to Mr Angry’s English Literature class in my Women’s Seduces… er… no.

I was visiting a friend last night, when her 64yr old father came into the room and asked her if she had seen his other thong anywhere. Well, I don’t mind telling you that, much as I adore her father, the image of him mincing along the beach in a leopard-skin thong really didn’t do it for me. Then, just as I was about to excuse myself, he held up a flip-flop in his left hand and mumbled something about the dog taking it again. He, of course, was talking about his flip-flop. Nonetheless, the damage was done, and now I will never be able to look at him quite the same again. 

But it did start an interesting discussion between me and my friend (no, not about old me in thongs!) about the latest flip-flop fashions. I love platforms and I’m so happy that they will be with us for another year. My friend is rather petite, and so the extra few inches really give her an edge. This year’s beach sandals can have anything form 1-3 inches of cork in the heels, and they look awesome.

Just look these cute little things I found in our catalogue. OK, so less suited to the beach perhaps, but with a nice sarong wrapped around your bikini, these babies will give you height and elegance, and since they are reduced from $60 to $20 you can afford to get a second pair in white!

But I think my find of the day was this pair of Women’s Orleans Wedge sandals from Matisse. I have already ordered a pair because even just looking at them put me in the holiday spirit.

I love everything about them. They look comfortable, the myriad of colors means I can wear them with just about anything. They’ll look fab with jeans in the evening, or a sarong in the morning. And guess what… reduced from $88.95 to $26.68! I KNOW!!! I don’t mind sharing with you that I am a bit of a shoe-aholic so I have to hold myself back sometimes, but really, at these prices I am not holding back at all. I’m so excited, I think I’m going to have to book a vacation trip to show them off!

OK, not Seattle, Washington DC actually, but that didn’t sound nearly as catchy. So, Michelle Obama has been showing of her gym-toned arms by wearing a beautiful sleeveless black dress. So far, Mrs Obama has ignored the whispers and continued to wear her rule-breaking sleeveless dresses, including to her first official White House portrait, and to her husband’s first Congressional address.

It’s unlikely, however, that her classy dresses are expensive unique creations.  The First Lady is well known for liking a bargain; she says that some of her best buys come from mid-priced catalogues such as J. Crew and JC Penny. This Princeton graduate, and excellent lawyer is truly one of us. Just as her husband is cracking down on excesses in Washington, it appears his wife shares his belief that it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to do the job.

Michelle Obama is probably the most popular First Lady since Jackie Kennedy, and already she is shaping up to be the most stylish. Of course it would be wrong to define this woman purely by her fashion sense, but after 8 years of Laura Bush, and before her the ever-pant-suited Hillary Clinton, it is certainly a refreshing break to have a powerful woman who isn’t afraid to show that she knows how to look good.  The inevitable comparisons to  the late Princess Diana are already being made, and like Princess Di, Michelle Obama makes looking fabulous look so easy and effortless. She must have designers falling over each other to design her freebie dresses, and yet she prefers to stay with what she knows and loves.  Michelle Obama is telling us “I am one of you!” I shop where you shop, and I manage to look great.

So have faith. There are bargains to be had, and whilst you can pay a fortune to look fabulous, Michelle Obama, First Lady of Fashion, is showing that you can also look great without going into deficit!

And article caught my eye this week that was particularly topical.  New Jersey lawmakers were considering banning bikini waxing after two women reportedly landed in hospital after becoming infected following a waxing session gone wrong. I was shocked at the knee-jerk reaction of only 2 cases.  Let’s face it, waxing isn’t something we do for the fun of it, and it certainly isn’t something we look forward to at this time of year. But bikini season is almost upon us, and I for one do not relish the idea of returning to a razor or that horrible hair-removing cream!

But what really struck me was the attempt to ban waxing after only 2 bad incidents. Don’t get me wrong, they should never have happened, and I do think that perhaps the industry needs more regulation and a decent set of standards, but an all out ban? It got me thinking about other instances where things have gone wrong, but no ban has been suggested. Only yesterday 13 people died in a small aircraft accident, but you don’t hear any calls to ban flying! I wonder how many people choke on fish bones each year, but I haven’t heard anyone demanding an end to eating fish!

Alas, common sense prevailed, and the lawmakers were forced to reconsider. Thank goodness! Finding that perfect bikini is hard enough without having to find one that comes up to your belly button and still looks good!

2009 was always going to have to deliver something special to beat the eye-popping trends of 2008, and it looks like sheer is the thing to recycle this year. But before you dig out your gaudy ”look-at-me” see through shirts from the 1990’s, think class rather than crass. This year many designers are using sheer as a teaser, an appetizer if you like.  Many celebrities have been seen sporting tasteful and very appealing sheer this year, but the key is to wear it with something else as well, so the sheer doesn’t become a statement in itself. Think jackets or scarves, or even sweaters and cardigans. Now that Spring has finally sprung, it’s time to start experimenting again with lighter fabrics and fresh spring colors. What better way to start the season than with a bit if see through, tastefully complemented with a sweet cashmere cardigan to retain your modesty. Remember girls, the key this time round is less is more!

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