Fair warning... this one is just for the ladies. Next week I'll write about menswear. For now, I'm calling this week's blog "From the Pages"... of Vogue, to be more specific.

I LOVE fashion magazines, I always have. Ask my mother. She can attest to my inability, even as a young girl (oh so very, very long ago), to make it all the way through the supermarket checkout line without purchasing a new magazine. That being said, I have always been distressed by the chasm between the fabulous pieces in the pages of the magazine and my very ordinary life. With this in mind, I would like to bridge that abyss by showing how to translate some of the things I see, to our closets. Unless, of course, you buy Gucci and Prada on a normal basis, in which case, please feel free to send me a belated birthday gift.

On page 372 of the March 2010 issue of Vogue, they feature one of my favorite trends for Spring, the natural accessory. By this I mean shoes, bags and even jewelry made from natural fibers like straw, jute, burlap and natural colored linen. If you click on the picture of the page above you can see the whole article. Now I love just about every single piece on this page. So I sat and thought, "does our son really need to go to a full 4 years of college? Really???" Unfortunately I decided he does so it doesn't look like I'll be buying the $3,000 "tote" from Fendi. The good news is, we have options!

"Rocket Dog" woven flats, DSW.com, $35

Gotta love Target! Here's their take on the trend with a jute chain necklace... now where I have seen that before???

Jute & wood necklace, Target, $20

If you're up for hunting a little, here are some pieces I found in resale situations. This is a pair of shoes that I saw at "The Resale Boutique" for probably under $20:

And these are two purses I bought at the antique fair in Ann Arbor last summer for under $30 each:

So you see, a girl's just gotta have options. And thank goodness we do!!

That's it for this week. Be sure to check back next week for a trend from the men's fashion pages.

Also, if you haven't already, be sure to become a fan of Style Success on Facebook!

If you're ready to realize your style potential and you live in SE Michigan... or you're willing to fly me out!, call or email to set up a consultation: http://www.stylesuccess.net

Have a wonderful week!!

I was watching Project Runway last night (so much better than last season, I think) and found myself getting increasingly annoyed. Again and again they referred to their models this week, women who have survived heart disease, as "real women", since they were not professional models. To be fair, PR did not invent this phrase. It has become the politically correct term, I suppose, to describe women that are not a size 2 or 4. I hear this term used time and time again and I've just about had it. I'm insulted for both sides, the models and the "real women". As for the models, the inference is that models are NOT real women. What does that mean? They don't have the same emotions, intelligence, rights as "real women"? Last time I checked, they are living, breathing, real human women. Or does it mean that models are more perfect than women under 5'9" and 115 lbs?

And as for the rest of us mongrels, if the intention is that, by virtue of their size and beauty, models are some species of super-human and therefore not "real women", then why the hell are they put in front of young girls and grown women as the ideal we should aspire to be?

On top of it, all the designers, aside from one, commented/complained about what a challenge it was to design and fit for women that are not professional models. I'm confused... who do they think are supposed to buy their clothes? In my opinion, every single one of their challenges should be to design for a different sized woman.

I'm tired of tv shows like The Swan, models that look like Holocaust survivors, 15 year old girls modeling clothes that are supposedly meant for 40 year old women and the idea that it's better to look like a plastic surgeon's practice doll than to see the beauty in aging with grace and dignity. It is exactly these types of messages that are sent to our young women that make them feel that they will never be beautiful ENOUGH.

Am I alone in these thoughts?

Tuesday Tips & Tricks: From the Pages

"Real Women"