Rant: Nude is the New Black.

Nude is the new black. Plain and simple. In the 90's you could pretty much get away with wearing black shoes with everything but now, now you have this trend where instead of choosing something to match the colors in your outfit, you go completely neutral. I have this rule that if you can wear something with black, brown, navy blue & white- it's a staple. Versatile pieces like this are worth being invested in because, with that rule of thumb, you will be able to wear it more times than anything else in your wardrobe.

Shoes.
Nude shoes- heels to be exact, are great when it comes to business, semi-formal to formal wear. They're great in patent finish or matte, depending on what you prefer. I'm a huge fan of patent (even my wallet is patent) finish so that's what I opted for, but I'm glad they have options for everyone. The nude heel is the new 'little black dress' of your shoe collection.  They allow a classy finish and direct your eyes upward to the outfit. They act like a chamelion, virtually going with everything and anything.

Makeup.
Likewise, with makeup, Nude lips are becoming as frequent as the smoky eyes. They too can go with most makeup motifs and look great with any outfit on anyone. I usually measure trends started by and popular with the Caucasian population by the way it works with my brown skin. I've tried this and it seriously transforms your face. A nude colored lipstick with a clear gloss slicked over it has worked with all the eye makeup combinations and outfits that I've thrown at it and with a clean finished face (I use powder because I'm shiny) it makes for a really great, fresh look.

Nude will probably be here to stay for a while so if you haven't hopped on the bandwagon yet, we're all waiting for you.

Rant: Mismatching

I was walking through Downtown Disney & drinking everything in. I love Disney, I never went as a child so when I'm in Orlando now, I try to go at least once. I walked by this store & noticed that all the mannequins were wearing different socks with a decal over the window reading "Make your own style". Now I'm all for people being individuals & expressing themselves but this whole mismatching epidemic is awful. Its not okay that Disney is encouraging children not to match! Its bad enough that when they dress themselves that they demonstrate the coordinating abilities of a colorblind (or just blind) person, but encouraging them to put on anything as long as its colorful is a travesty to our generation.

Today's magazines aren't making it any better as they encourage you to throw any patterns together. I'm adventurous & will try anything magazines throw out there (and twice if I like it) but when I saw that this was the new trend, so to speak, the word "Hobo" flashed across my mind. Everything in me screamed at the heinous thought of going out in public like this. I know we're in a recession but that's no excuse to dress like we're homeless. I'm supposed to blindfold myself, reach into my closet & pull out the first two things, regardless of color & pattern? I don't think so.