... ble on New Year's Eve, but I'm stuck with what to wear for the lower half of my body. Please help with any advice you could give me. I'm 22 years old and not scared to be a little daring with any outfits. Your fashion advice is appreciated. (Murfreesboro, TN)

A. Hooray for daring to be bold in your clothing choices and not willing to wither away in the sidelines, but there's a fine line between looking tacky and looking spectacular” only Dolly Parton  can pull off that combination! When you are wearing a flashy item of clothing, like a gold sequin top, let that piece be your outfit's focal point and everything else be a backdrop for it. If you add something equally or more flashy to a glitzy piece you will risk looking like a reject from a 70's Vegas lounge act” sure, you'll get attention, but not the kind that you deserve.      


Rather than mixing something black that is high contrast to the shiny gold, try a more modern approach of keeping the look tonal and more fluid. A softer, muted shade of burnished metallic will be sleek and chic, without adding any distraction to your glammed up sequin top. If you do wear a black bottom, try a knee-length pencil skirt with nude legs and a muted gold shoe. For a more casual feel, you can indeed wear jeans with your gold sequin top, but choose a sophisticated denim cut that is more dressy and a shade that's more refined rather than standard issue blue jeans.

Your look doesn't stop with your clothing. When you see the red carpet posers, you'll notice that the glam girls have slightly messy, undone hair and nonchalant makeup when their outfit is over the top glitzy. Keep your hair soft and simple and not looking overly done, but rather more like you just woke up with perfectly, imperfect hair. Go for either a dark smoky eye with a pale lip, or a softer eye and bold red lip. Your jewelry should be the last touch before you leave the house. Wear what works best as a whole, rather than drowning yourself in extraneous details just to be flashy. Live it up and have a happy and healthy New Year!

--December 30, 2007