Monthly Archives: September 2015

Who Is Your Fashion Icon?

Posted in beauty, clothing, dressing your figure, Fashion, heroic women, personal style by

Who is your fashion icon?  We recently had some fun with Rally to create three iconic looks from clothing in our store.  The photos turned out great, and it got me thinking about how fashion defines us as it has been defining women over the years.

Looking very Audrey. Top and necklace from Fashion Crossroads

Looking very Audrey. Top and necklace from Fashion Crossroads. Photo by Raymond Craig.

Are you a classic Audrey Hepburn, like me?  Or, maybe you are an edgy Madonna. Perhaps you identify more with the flirty and voluptuous Marilyn.

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Desperately seeking Madonna. Clothing and jewelry from Fashion Crossroads. Photo by Raymond Craig.

To determine your fashion icon, ask yourself about how you choose your clothing.  Do you look for timeless pieces and shapes that evoke maturity and class and fabrics that look and feel rich like wool, silk and cashmere?  Do you like tailored, figure flattering styles?  If yes, Audrey is your girl.

Perhaps, however, you gravitate to black and like a harder edged style.  Is there a bit of a bad girl in you?  Do you love studs, chains, and zippers?  Is leather a personal favorite? If a pencil skirt, a refined motorcycle jacket and shoe boots is your idea of the perfect work outfit, you might just be a Madonna.

Maybe you love color and clothing that shows your assets off.  Perfect style for you is part flirtatious and part dramatic.  You don’t shy away from prints, you embrace them.  A flowy skirt is your idea of a must have item.  You were the little girl that chose her dress by its twirl value.  You adore cotton and soft fabrics.  If this all sounds like you, then Marilyn just might be your icon.

Just a little Marilyn. Elan tiered tank from Fashion Crossroads. Photo by Raymond Craig.

Just a little Marilyn. Elan tiered tank from Fashion Crossroads. Photo by Raymond Craig.

The point is that each of these women knew who they were and they said it with their clothing.  Fashion is a reflection of your own unique style and you should have one!  What do your clothes say about you.  If a stranger saw you walking down the street, could they discern anything about your personality from what you were wearing?  If you’re not sure, then spend a little time thinking about what inspires you and who.  Then, when you go shopping for new clothing this fall, make sure the items that you pick make you feel great and reflect who you are and who you want to be.

Check out rally.com for some great quotes from these three ladies.  My favorite is from my style icon Audrey: “When you grow up as a girl the world tells you the things you are supposed to be: emotional, loving, beautiful, wanted.  And then when you are those things, the world tells you they are inferior, illogical, weak, wain, empty.”  So here’s to not letting the world define who you are!

Ankle: The New Hip Length

Posted in business, clothing, dressing for work and dressing for an interview, Fashion, personal style, travel, travel clothing, trends by

When I mention an ankle length pant to a tall woman, she usually responds with a pained look and a determined shake of the head indicated she’d rather die.  At only 5:2, I can only imagine what it would be like to fear short pants.  I’m on the other end

Ankle length pant from Lisette L. Pantalon.

Ankle length pant from Lisette L. Pantalon.

of the spectrum and at that wonderful height where petite is too short and average is too long.  That’s why I LOVE ankle pants. I can usually get an ankle pant to be just the right full length for me.  But, if I want to wear the hippest new length for the season, its off to the seamstress I go to get my pant hemmed to the perfect ankle pant length.  So you lucky tall ladies, this blog is here to encourage you to put aside your horrific memories of too short pants when you were a kid, and embrace a new trend this season.

So let’s talk about the right length.  The picture on the left shows the optimum length for an ankle pant.  You want that hemline to fall an inch above your ankle bone.  Any higher,and your pant becomes a cropped pant.  Any lower, and the look is all wrong. This style looks great with heels, as pictured or with shoe boots.  See my blog from last week for more information about these.  Notice that this style usually coincides with a slim legged 60’s inspired cigarette pant.  Wider legged ankle pants look better with tall boots, and are trickier to pull off.

Full length hemline

Full length hemline

Conversely, the picture on the right shows the optimal hemline for a full length pant.  Hopefully this will help you visualize the difference between the two hemlines. Notice that the full length pant falls about midway down the back of the shoe or at the bony part of your heel. This is the perfect length for a slim legged pant because the fabric won’t pool or “break” too much on the top of the foot, creating extra and unnecessary bulk.

I find that ankle pants work better on me if I wear some type of a heel, wedge or dressier shoe boot.  I think its important to keep your shoe sleek and not boxy. Too chunky of a shoe creates a “cankle” (when your calf goes right into your ankle) and ruins the style.  Taller ladies can get away with more shoe options like ballerina flats, for example.  They already have the leg length to make the look work perfectly for them.

Fall is the perfect time to wear this style as the temperature is dropping but there isn’t snow on the ground forcing us into boots and socks.  This style can be a great work look, as it is dressy and chic.

Don’t know where to buy an ankle pant?  Check out our Lisette L. ankle pant on our online store at Fashion Crossroads Inc. This is a great jet black, all stretch, pant that will fit slim through the legs just like the styles shown in this blog as well as tuck your tummy.  The fabric is dressy so it can take you from work to evening to travel.

How To Wear Shoe Boots and Cuffs

Posted in clothing, dressing for work and dressing for an interview, Jewelry, personal style, tips and tricks, travel, trends by
Yellowbox Shoe Boots

Yellowbox Shoe Boots have arrived at Fashion Crossroads!

One of the trends you won’t want to miss this season is shoe boots. You’ll find everything from utilitarian lace up styles to sexy embellished cowboy boot styles lining store shelves.  This is a great alternative to the riding boot of last season while still providing warmth and practicality on those icy winter streets.  The key shape is a lightly rounded toe which offers a slimmer silhouette without squeezing your toe or looking too boxy.  Thus, even if you choose a lace up style, your foot will still look feminine.  You can choose classic colors like black and chocolate brown or branch out into saddle brown, grey and tan.  There is no wrong choice, so just pick what you love and will work best with your wardrobe.  Wear your boots monotone by matching your pant color to to your boot or choose a contrast for a little edgier feel.  Black looks great paired with grey jeggings and grey boots work to set off a black jean.  Chocolate brown looks great against dark denim.

Any shoe trend only works well when you wear it correctly.  As with any outfit, you need to consider the overall style.  What are you going for?  Is this a casual weekend style or something you want to wear to work?  Casual looks, like those worn with jeans, pair fabulously with lace up boots.

How to wear shoe boots

Three ways to wear shoe boots this season

Consider these three pictures. The woman on the left looks sharp in her brown wedge shoe boot with a cream sock cuff.  The heel gives the boot a feminine edge but the cuff keeps it casual, giving the impression of a cotton sock peeking out and the “I just threw this on and look how great I look” vibe.  Her jeans are clean (no beat up spots) keeping the overall style a little dressier.  The woman in the middle has a black fringe midi boot paired with dark denim jeans. Again the jeans are clean. Notice too the fringe is relegated to one accessory keeping her look trendy and classy.  Going for full utilitarian, the gal on the right pairs beat up jeans with brown lace up boots and a military style bag.  The scarf keeps the look feminine, saying, “I’m tough, practical and stylish all at the same time.”  These three styles work well, showing different ways you can wear shoe boots.  What I like best about this style is it can work for any age from 20 to 60.

For work, you can pair a full short skirt with bare legs or tights and a dressier shoe boot like the black style with silver

Shoe boots and skirts

How to wear a skirt and boot together.

rhinestones from Yellowbox pictured at the top of the page.  Pencil skirts can also be worn with boots, but that look is edgier and harder to pull off. These three pictures show fashionable pairings of boots and shorter hems, including short shorts.  Any of these styles could be paired with tights for a more practical style in the winter.  My only caution here is this style is a little younger, so be careful how you put this together if you are over fifty.

Lastly, this season you will be seeing more boot cuffs and leg

How to Wear Leg Warmers Match to the Color of Your Shoes 2warmers.  Similar to the fun boot socks of last season, the look you are trying to achieve is a sock/boot combo.  Where a boot cuff differs from a sock, however, is that you wear it over the boot.  It’s a great way to help your boot look wintery and keep your ankles warm!  This boot cuff is stylish with its silver embellishment which compliments the chain detail on the boot perfectly.  Fashion Crossroads has already received some great shoe boot styles and will be getting a fabulous selection of boot socks and boot cuffs in October – just in time for the snow.

Get inspired about these new ways to wear boots this season and give one of these trends a try!