evergreen

Timeless evergreen style and fashion posts

Style Motivation Week! Lighten up. Have fun. It’s only fashion.

This week’s Summer Spotlight theme pulls from some of my favorite style motivation posts. I don't want you ever to take style or fashion too seriously because you lose the spontaneity that makes it all so interesting. And unique to you. Lighten and move forward... it's only fashion. - S.H. Ok, I was (sort of) eavesdropping. Here I was, out and about, having an espresso and couldn't help but listen the one-sided conversation of the girl across the coffee bar. You know the type. Clutching her cellphone and talking at a decibel level as if she were orating into a can with a string rather than the gold earbuds that she had plugged in. REALLY, we can ALL hear you. Clearly. Even above the

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When you ask how to be beautiful, it’s more that beauty is how YOU see yourself

Beauty is how you see yourself
Dearest Readers:  For this week's FocusOnStyle.com's 15 year online anniversary online post, I want to go even further back to when Focus on Style was my weekly newspaper column. This style motivation post from 1996 is still vital today. Either by a reader email or asked in one of my courses or one on one stylist sessions, so many of us question how to be beautiful in hopes of some secret elixir to instantly transform ourselves. But the truth is that beauty is how we see ourselves... that's the self-confidence that honestly makes us shine and what I try to convey with all my style advice. Enjoy this week's throwback post! - S.H Dear Sharon: I feel invisible, yet people tell me I am attractive. I just don't look the

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How to wear anything: Top 5 style maxims to tweak your chic

This week's 15th anniversary post looks at timeless ways to wear anything... including the lead photo of the late great fashion raconteur Anna Piaggi.  Discover your inner Carrie, if you must. How to wear anything with aplomb? Follow the Top 5 Style Maxims. Did you ever notice how some women can barely pull off wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt without looking like they are about to clean out the garage? While there are others who are the masters of the craziest, most way out combination that always seems to work on them? From Sarah Jessica Parker's the character Carrie in “Sex and the City,” pictured below,  to the late fashion impresario Anna Piaggi, pictured above, the Italian

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Home Style Week! How to decorate your home office with style (a peek at my space too!)

Continuing this week's summer spotlight of Home Style... Let's get your home office to brim with inspiration. Mine is where I'm creating the C'est Chic Crash Course.... join me. Home Office Style: How to find decor inspiration to decorate your home office can be challenging. Let me share my design tips to help you make your work space a part of your personal style. You don't need to hire a decorator when you can do it yourself! I've been meaning to write a piece about how to decorate your home office for a while. After all, it's where many entrepreneurs spend most of their time so its design direction should be inspiring. Part of growing your business, is also the

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Home Style Week! Turn Any Room Into A Glorious Guest Room In No Time…

This week's summer spotlight is Home Style... Let's review  The Pack Rat's Guide To Create a Guest Room on the fly In this life, most of us manage to pack every room within an inch of it's wainscoting. So please don't dwell in the dust bunnies of red carpet despair, use this opportunity as your jolt of java to wake up your inner accommodating host. With just a few of-the-manner-born prompts, any room can be turned into a pleasing, glorious guest room at a moments notice. What time is better than the present to sit down and sort through all that countertop/closet/dresser drawer/behind the couch build-up that clutters up your decorating domain? If only the room that your guest will

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Home Style Week! Inside My Home Style Design Board + how to curate your Pinterest board

Do you Pin? It's a fantastic way to catalog what you have while able to visualize the design inspiration that runs throughout your choices. This week's spotlight is Home Style. Pinterest is an excellent way to keep track of what you have and what you want to add to your design wishlist. Admittedly, I never remember who designed what when it comes to my home style design. Even though both my husband and I picked it all out ourselves. I'm a collector of modern classics-- vintage and new-- that have a sculptural edge which keep the eye engaged. Along with some quirky pieces, like the 70s hand chair pictured above, for the heck of it. RELATED: What to wear when

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French Chic at a Certain Age: Man-Tailored Jackets in the way Ines de la Fressange works them

Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2012 - Chanel
Oh la la... I'm shooting another segment for the C'es Chic Crash Course and so much is going on here on FoS. It's a triple threat for this week's Summer Spotlight of Ageless Style + highlights  from FocusOnStyle's Best of 15th Anniversary online, PLUS, Day Three of the three-part FoS series Ageless, Age-Appropriate French Chic At A Certain Age. Master this style: How to pull off classic man-tailored  jacket like Ines de la Fressange's tuxedo and school boy looks Wearing a jacket can get a bit tricky. If you're busty, you end up looking boxy (wear it open). If the jacket is too conservative, you just added 10 years to your appearance and, worse, the aura of being inflexible and boring (avoid anything

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Makeover Etiquette- What is expected at a cosmetic counter makeover

It's so easy to get intimidated into buying everything at a cosmetic counter makeover, but you don't want to me a mooch and leave empty-handed either. In this week's look at FocusOnStyle's 15 anniversary online, lets check out an oldie but goodie from 2002 about what is expected at a cosmetics counter makeover. -S.H. Buy, try, or just say good-bye... the graceful guide to getting gorgeous at the cosmetics counter Makeup Artist Tips What to Expect From Your Cosmetic Counter Makeover Dear Sharon: I am scheduled for a makeover at an Estee Lauder counter in a department store in a few days. The only other time I've had a "professional" makeover was in a Body Shop, when I was 16. I'm

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How To Find Your Style…

The timeless man-tailored elegance from Ralph Lauren
For this week's 15th Anniversary online post, let's look back at this double-header style motivation post on FocusOnStyle from 1999 on how to find your style. If chic style is what you're after, I can help you redifine what chic is for you in my C'est Chic Crash Course. I hope you'll join me. How to find your style can be perplexing. But not if you simplify what you need to know to look great… Two-Up For Something New: Stymied For Style and Fashion Puzzle [dropcap]D[/dropcap]ear Sharon: I've just switched careers and aside from the obvious more casual dress code, I am having some daily doldrums regarding my appearance. Everything from makeup (or the lack thereof) to the horrific amount

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What to wear post baby weight to feel confident about your body

 Dear Sharon:  I have always had a small frame. I am about five foot and weigh about 130 pounds. Well, I just had a baby about two months ago. I have baby fat still which makes the fitting clothing I normally wear out of the question. Wearing baggy clothes is also a no go since I am so short and do not want to appear bigger than I am. Therefore, I am at a loss as to what my choices are. My most important goal is to feel comfortable in my own skin. I have often tried to dress like other people who never worked out for me. Developing my own style is a must. Please help me. I would be forever grateful as this would definitely boost my

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Spex Appeal- How to Find the Right Sunglasses and Eyewear Shape for Your Face

PRADA SUNGLASSES
This week’s look back at one of FocusOnStyle’s 15th Anniversary shopping advice posts takes in how to find the right sunglasses and eyewear for your face shape just as the blinding rays of summer begin to hit us. Learning how to find the right pair of sunglasses for your face shape not only helps you go incognito in style, but also helps instantly add glamour to any look while protecting your eyes and skin from the suns harmful rays. Keep on trend this season and the next with these timeless tips culled with you in mind.  After all they're sunnies, have fun with them. Whether you go for bold or go for classic, either way you're certain to add a dose of

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10 ways to know if it’s your signature style or time to get out of your style rut?

Today's BIG Question: Are you in a style rut or are you extremely confident about your signature style? Is every day the same for you when it comes to your style? Do you feel you need a way to snap out of the same old, same old style because you're boring yourself to death? Is it really a style rut after all? Or, merely a need to add some zing to what you already have and love. It's easy to have someone scream, you're in a style rut! Particularly, if it's a paid personal shopper or a segment on a TV show that's after the entertaining (not to mention demeaning) sound bite. When it comes to your everyday style, so

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Is There An Appropriate Dress Length For An Older Woman

This week's look back at one of FocusOnStyle's 15th Anniversary stylist advice posts takes into account the old addage of just becuase you could doesn't mean you should. As gorgeous and as in impeccable shape that you may be, knowing when and when not to flaunt it all, and how much, can be key in putting your best look forward. --S.H. Can I wear a short skirt at 57? I recently purchased a casual knit dress via mail order. I love this dress! The fit and soft purple wine color is great on my average size figure. My problem-- the dress is about 2" above my knees. Can a woman my age wear a shorter dress? If so, should I

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