Style Beyond Measure

I am on hands and knees on my bedroom floor leaning into the dark cavern of shoes tossed hither and yon in the bottom of my closet.  I am searching in vain for the mate to my sneaker (Yes!  I vow one day to excavate this dark terrain, but not at this precise moment) when something stops me -  a gleaming black pointed toe of gorgeous Italian leather - its point, pointing at me.

Oh! I remember, I remember!

I quickly reach in and pull it out and promptly fall in love all over again.  Like a callous lover,  I have instantly forgotten my missing sneaker, and sitting back on my heels,  I turn my prize over in my hands, admiring its beauty.

It is just one of a beautiful pair of sleek, flat, very flat, black leather slides - you know, the ones that you simply slide into barefoot and out the door you go - no longer the barefoot contessa.  Just a contessa - gorgeous, carefree, fabulously wealthy and heading out the door of your weathered stucco hillside home on the Amalfi coast.

Oh, the power of shoes!  Oh, the power of  exquisite styling!

I am putty in your hands…

 

Hello You Gorgeous Women;

A happy shoutout to Brenda Bliss and Jenny Ryan for saying “hello” after my last post - oh so long ago.  Many thanks! I love you both.

Skincare is majorly on my mind at the moment.  As you know from my last post, I am now back to work full-time and loving it.  But my skin is not so necessarily as happy as I am.

Here’s the situation…I’m working in a bookstore (how lovely is that?).  I’m surrounded by thousands of novels, how-to books, cookbooks, biographies, art books, magazines - all just waiting to be read. However, as wonderful as that might seem, there is a problem. It’s as dry as the Mojave Desert in there!  No humidity, no moisture - its arid as the day is long.

You see, all those intriguing books, all those pages and pages of wordy delight - they are the ones to blame.  It’s the paper.  So much paper that it’s just sucking all of the moisture out of the air.

No one mentioned this in the job interviews.  None of the employees looked the worse for wear.  They all looked surprisingly spry and young.  It wasn’t until I was well into my training that I noticed it.  Suddenly, I was cotton-mouthed and dry.  The skin around my cheeks and eyes were tight, and I had paper cuts all over my hands.

Oh Lordy!

So now, before I turn into one of those horror movie speed-motion tricks where the person shrivels up and turns to dust in the blink of an eye, I am on the quest for new and improved skincare.  

Like Ponce de Leon on his search for the Fountain of Youth,  I shall not rest until I find the perfect skincare regime geared for women of a certain…ahem…age who work in moisture-challenged environments.

I’ll let you know where my search takes me.  In the meantime, if you have any suggestions, please pass them along my way.  I’ll be glad to give you “Co-Discoverer” credit!

So sorry that I have been off the blog page lately. Can it be that nine months have passed by so quickly? I don’t blame you if you’ve totally written me off, and if anyone is still out there to read this, I send you my most grateful thanks and appreciation.

I won’t bore you with the details, but here’s a quick rundown of where I’ve been…

Job Searching…heading back into the full time career after about four years of freelance. A very interesting journey in and of itself - especially for us women of a certain age.

Issues that arose during said “job search “- How to get paid what your worth? How to compete with people 10 to 15 years younger and make your experience shine as you know in your heart it does? How to be interviewed by people 10 years younger than yourself - do you come across as a chummy older friend, or Ack!, their mother? And finally to add to all of that insecurity…What to wear for today’s job interview - skirt, pants, stockings, nude legs? The list goes on.

As I said, it was a very interesting journey on which I’ll post more soon - especially on those pesky “issues”.

Hooray! Gainful Employment - After a six month full-out search, plus two months of waiting for the official job offer to be made, I was back in the saddle work-wise and facing about 6 weeks of training (to my new company’s credit they believe in lots of training!).

Happy Endings (or Beginnings?) - The great news is that I’m very happy with my job - I love the folks I work with and the work that am I doing is a good match for my skills and talents. It has a strong “feel good” component to it, too. I really feel as if I am making a difference in my community.

So that’s where I’ve been. A journey to be sure, and one which I’m glad to have taken part in and even more glad to be settled.

See you for the next installment!

Sorry for posting only once for the entire month of October. Last month had a life of its own - as I’m sure you all have experienced before - and the only thing to do was hunker down and hold on for the ride.

To that end, I am embarrassed to say that I let all thoughts of regular beauty upkeep flounder in the ocean of “let me just get by for one more week”. Only my one more week turned into a whole month! Sound familiar?

Anyway, all of this to say that I finally made it to the hair salon yesterday and am feeling fabulous!

Its hard to describe how having your hair cut after too long an absence makes you feel. I think that “totally pampered” comes close. The feel of lying back in the salon sink and having someone wash your hair for you. Lots and lots of frothy suds, and not one but two washings, followed by a long luxurious rinse and perhaps a dollop of conditioner.

Then the procession to the stylist’s chair, whereby someone is going to devote his or her complete attention to you for a full 45 minutes - their only purpose being to help you look your very best. How divine is that? Its probably the closest we come to experiencing our inherent “queenliness” on a somewhat regular basis (a facial, massage or pedicure comes to mind, too) .

And therein lies the truth of the matter. Keeping up your apprearance - your hair, your nails, your brows, whatever - is not only about maintainence and being well-groomed. The real importance lies in taking those few precious moments for yourself and allowing both the inner and outer you to be pampered, nourished and honored. You deserve those moments no matter how time-poor or cash-strapped you may feel at that particular moment. You deserve to feel your “queenliness” and that’s exactly what I did yesterday. My inner royalty was revived and I feel absolutely marvelous.

Isn’t it time for you to ascend the throne, too?

(Image: “Beehive” by Shari Warren at Allposters.com)

Miss “B” - one of the Wonder Women from the Artella teleclass - was kind enough to ask for some on-line resources for quality opaque hosiery in Womens Sizes.

Here’s what I found that looked good…

JustMySize.com (part of Hanes Hosiery)

Avenue.com is a clothing and accessories site for Womens sizes. They also carried hosiery that would seem to fit the bill…

This site looked good, too…WomanWithin.com

Take a look and see if any of these will work for your fall wardrobe…and if you place an order, let me know how your experience was and if you were pleased with the product.

Happy Shopping!

Thank you, Artella! I had a wonderful time!

I was lucky enough to be invited to present a Fashion and Style “Q&A” teleclass last week for members of the Artella community (of which I proudly belong!).

If you’re not familiar with Artella, please take a few moments and click HERE for a wonderful treat.

Artella is a warm and welcoming on-line community for writers and artists; and is, quite possibly, one of the most creative websites you’ll ever visit.

Artella is the brain-child of the exquisite Marney Makridakis, and to enter her world is to truly come in contact with your own creativity and authenticity.

Opportunities to embrace your creativity abound here, whether you are an artist, writer, poet, singer, story teller, whatever…

And our particular teleclass was full of creative “Wonder” Women who had an awful lot to say and ask about fashion in general.

I hope to share some of those discussions with you over the next few days. I also encourage you to send me your own “burning” fashion questions or comments to share here (don’t they all feel burning at some point or other?). E-mail me at Jaime@StyleBeyondMeasure.com. Or just hit the Comment button on this post.
In the meantime, thanks again to Artella and to all the wonderful participants for a fun presentation! The power found in a group of women is awesome indeed!

Speaking of someone whose looks or way of dressing catches your eye…

I hope it goes without saying that as “sisters” in beauty and style, we freely acknowledge that beauty.

Have you ever had a complete stranger come up and compliment you on something? Your hair? Your outfit? Your jewelry? Your shoes?

I’m sure you have, and what a delicious feeling that is - to be acknowledged and noticed as a person.

Acknowledgement is probably the very best gift we can give another person, even if we are strangers. Again, it goes back to the idea of acknowledging beauty - all kinds of beauty - and appreciating what it brings to us.

So please, in the spirit of sisterly “appreciation” - share the wealth. The next time you see a woman with a great haircut or pretty eyes or just beautifully put together, take a moment to stop and let her know how good she looks. You’ll be passing on a lovely gift and reaping the benefits from a deed well done.

I was upstairs at home the other day standing near a window, when something gracefully falling from the sky caught my eye. It was a bright red leaf…its bold color grabbing my attention.

At the time, I wasn’t really sure what I saw, so I leaned into the window and watched it land on our lawn. There it was, a graceful red beauty standing out among a sea of green. It was like a friendly “shout out” from the Universe; so unexpected was its appearance.

I was still thinking about that red leaf a few days later and it struck me that we should approach our own beauty just like that leaf…to stand out in a crowd, naturally.

Rather than following every beauty trend of the moment - forcing our curly hair to be stick straight, plucking our medium thick brows into an impossibly thin sliver, wearing lime green shadow just because that’s what’s “Hot” - doesn’t it make more sense to take a tip from nature and let out natural beauty shine? Promote our own “natural resources” as it were?

Most of the time, when someone catches our eye in a favorable way…its because of something unique, something that just totally “works” for that person. It may be the color of her hair; or the way its cut. It may be an amazing pair of aquamarine eyes. It may be a creamy complexion combined with freckles, or a great smile.

It’s rarely about a specific color of eyeshadow or lipstick shade. It’s more the total package, and how perhaps that one element - a gorgeous mane of hair, the long, ivory column of a neck, or lush full lips - when highlighted, make it all work and make that person stand out in a crowd.

What’s your best beauty feature? Indulge yourself today and take some time to admire yourself in the mirror. Go ahead…no one’s looking.

Name your best features and see if you are fully appreciating them yourself. Are they a highlighted part of your beauty?

If not, and you feel that you may be taking them for granted, then go ahead and with a full intention make them a focal part of your beauty routine tomorrow. Make those lush lips even more full and inviting than usual. Throw more attention to your naturally beautiful shaped brows by taking some extra time with your eye makeup. Give your silky, fine hair an extra treat with a glossing shampoo. You get the idea.

When you pamper your own best “natural resources”, you are not only nurturing your self-esteem, but you are giving something back to everyone else - the chance to appreciate Beauty in one of its most natural elements - the human form.

We left off with the “G’s” last time. Shall we continue?

Happiness

Heart

Honesty

Honor

Hope

Hot

Impression

Independence

Influence

Inspire

Intimate

Irresistable

Journey

Kindness

Lesson

Life, Lips, Look, Lose, Love, Measure, Memory, Modest, Mystery, Naked, Nature, Need, Open, Passion, Peace, Pleasure, Possess, Power, Protect, Provide, Purpose, Quiet, Reflection, Relax, Remember, Respect, Reveal, Right, Risk, Sad, Scent, Secret, Sensual, Sentimental, Sex, Share, Show, Simple, Soft, Song, Soul, Special, Spontaneous, Strength, Surprise, Tease, Tempt, Tender, Thankful, Thrill, Touch, Treasure, Truth, Value, Vision, Whisper, Wild, Wisdom, Wise, Wonder, Write, and You.

What a perfect word to end with!

I came across a list of “Art” words I had saved - words to use in collage art - and I realized that they worked well for describing feelings about Beauty. What do you think?

Acceptance

Admire

Anticipation

Aphrodisiac

Appealing

Brave

Celebrate

Change

Character
Comfortable, Desire, Easy, Experience, Explore, Exposed, Fair, Fantasy, Fears, Freedom, Garden, Gentle, Gift, Glance, Gratify

And that’s just A through G…

More later.