Top Tips On How to Wear Stripes for Summer And Look Fantastic

If you have been looking at the fashions on the catwalks, which have cascaded down to the high-street stores, there is one heck of a lot of stripes around this season. Stripes can be fantastic, make a statement and look incredibly smart ... or they can turn a great outfit into one big mistake. Here are some tips on how to wear stripes with success.

Stripes - From The Catwalk To Everyday Wear

• On the catwalk this season designers mixed together thin and wide stripes or paired them up with floral patterns - this requires a designer touch and can be too complicated for everyday wear.
• For us normal beings, try wearing one striped item with a block colour matching item, eg a striped shirt or t-shirt with jeans or white trousers. For instance, I have a turquoise and light grey tunic t-shirt and this looks so summery with white pants and sandals.
• If you have striped pants (which can make you appear taller), team them with a plain top, ideally matching the colour of the top to one of the colours in the stripes.
• Look at this picture of Cameron - how cute is she in this horizontally striped dress, but as we know she has a gorgeous slim and slightly boyish figure so she can carry this off. If you are more curved around the hips you should avoid this type of stripe on skirts or dresses.
• Wearing classic shoes as Cameron has done with this dress gives a smart, formal look to the outfit which would not have happened if she had worn sandals.
• Try layering with striped tops, they look great under cropped jackets or cardigans in a solid colour which breaks up the stripes.
• Look for items in solid colours, which have striped trim, this is very stylish.
• Try the classic outfit of a well cut navy and white striped t-shirt or vest and pair it with either jeans or cropped cream pants and wedges for a fun, nautical look.
• For something different, look for items which incorporate diagonal stripes, which can be really flattering.
• Of course, if you want to add some American flavour, look for a cheeky bikini or shorts in a Stars and Stripes design.

"One week he's in polka-dots, the next week he's in stripes 'Cos he's a dedicated follower of fashion!" - Ray Davies, Lead Singer of The Kinks knows his stuff.

The Story Of Toe Rings And How To Wear Them

Toe rings are an essential accessory for Spring and Summer this year as they add that extra sparkle to quite ordinary feet and individuality to the plainest of flip-flop sandals.

Who Wears Toe Rings?

Toe rings have been worn by Hindu women in India for hundreds of years as a symbol of marriage. The Hindu tradition is to wear toe rings in pairs, rather than a single ring on one foot and they are normally ornate in style, sometimes fashioned with bells as decoration. Traditionally Hindus are not allowed to wear gold below the waist as the precious metal has a respected status, but modern Hindu brides are now demanding gold and diamond toe rings after marriage.

In the West, the modern way to wear a toe ring is normally on the second toe of either foot, however, personally I like to wear them on the third toe if wearing a shoe with a thong, as this shows off the ring better and prevents it being damaged by the shoe.

What To Wear Toe Rings With

• There is no strict rule on how to wear toe rings. Normally, I will choose to wear either a gold or silver toe ring depending on the type of the other jewellery I have on that day, although you could match the ring with the colour of your sandals. Silver rings look gorgeous with black, silver, grey, turquoises and cooler coloured sandals, whereas gold rings glow with browns, bronzes, reds and warm colours.
• A shiny silver or gold toe ring looks outstanding on a tanned foot, but don't fear, I am not recommending the sun-bed or drastic tanning - just dust a bronzing powder over the top of your foot and toes before slipping on your shoes and ring, they will look lovely.
• Toe rings can be worn with casual sandals and flip flops perfectly, but if you are dressing up with some fantastic strappy shoes, look for a toe ring with some "bling" as this will add sparkle to your toes on a night out.
• As most toe rings are adjustable, you can ensure they are tightened up before heading out as the last thing you want to happen is to lose a ring, particularly if you have invested in gold or silver.
• There are no hard and fast rules, but toe rings look perfect when worn on the top half of your toe, rather than nearer the bottom.

Have You Ever Wished You Looked Taller - Choosing The Right Shoe Can Give You Inches!

Many of us have looked at photos of ourselves and wondered why we weren't the ones born with legs up to our armpits (or maybe slightly longer legs anyway). Sometimes, we are just petite all around, or some ladies are longer in the body relative to their leg length. However, there are ways, particularly by choosing the right shoe style, where we can visually increase our leg length. There are also styles of shoes we should avoid as well, so here are some "do's and don'ts" which will get you the long, lovely pins you desire.

Don't choose shoes which have..

• Ankle straps or are gladiator sandals as this visually cuts your leg off at the ankle.
• Straps which lace up and tie around the leg - visually cutting even more of your leg away.
• Heavy, chunky heels or square toes, which blunt the shape of the leg.
• Heels which are far too high for you - have you ever seen anything less desirable than a tiny girl tottering around in six inch heels - not a good look.
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Do choose shoes which have..

• Peep toes, as they elongate the foot and look dainty and pretty, with the benefit of showing off a perfectly painted pedicure.
• Slingback straps - particularly where the strap stretches in a "v" shape from around the ankle to the front of the shoe as this again elongates the foot. Look for narrow straps rather than wide ones.
• Kitten heels - especially in a mule style, ie with a strap just across the front of the foot. Kitten heels are not very high themselves, but they display your ankles perfectly on a pretty, curved heel.
• Pointed toes - if you are looking for flats or pumps. Pointed toes elongate the foot again, rather than a rounded toe, and a "v" shaped opening in the shoe or a peep-toe flat will also add length.
• Classic pump heels - a pretty pump with a low cut front, a peep-toe and a mid sized heel will elongate legs, make calves more shapely and generally add height.

These tips are ideal now it's Spring as there are some beautiful floral skirts and dresses out there begging to be paired up with a lovely pair of new shoes.

Sarah's recommended read - Every shoe you need to get you through the season at www.handbag.com

Have You Started A New Year Fitness Plan For A New You ... But In your Old Clothes?

Hopefully those who started a New Year Fitness plan are still sticking to it ... and even better are now getting fit and healthy and not embarrassing themselves too much by puffing and panting around the running track or in the gym. Yep, I have been out pounding the streets after work and at the weekend, trying to revert to my former relatively fit state when I ran in the London Marathon. However, too much sitting on my comfy sofa or tapping away at my laptop keyboard in the evenings has left me with some catching up to do. I did go out this evening however, and as you do, caught site of myself in bus-stop window. Oh dear, I thought, who is that scruff in the old woolly hat and mis-matched tracky top and bottoms - it didn't help that it was also pee-ing down at that point as well.

Yes, even when coming to then end of a 5K run, I am still sad enough to worry about meeting friends or acquaintances from my village, who will no doubt look at me askance when they see me back in my "normal" attire after seeing a lunatic in soggy pink hat and baggy trackies plodding towards them along the pavement, yelling "Hi!". Thinking on this as I made my way back home, I decided to put together a list of essential and funky items that help you keep your street credibility from falling into the gutter.

Essential Cool Items For A Fashion Conscious (But Also Health Conscious) Girl:

• Whatever you wish to start with go for a colour scheme - if your favourite colour is pink then go for it - you don't have to be pink from head to foot. (For some reason I just thought of someone such as Paris Hilton in a pink glitzy jogging suit - eeeeugh - enough of that!) But pink mixed with black or grey, or grey and black will look stylish.
• It's better to choose more than one colour as you can build up layers which are important for working out whether indoors or out, as when you commence your workout you will need more layers which can be removed as you warm up and put back on as you cool down to keep muscles from getting stiff and injured.
• Look for jogging pants and tops in a fabric with wicking which means that the clothing will move sweat away from the skin to the outer surface of the fabric, where it evaporates. This is far more comfortable than an old cotton t-shirt which sticks clamily to you. Plus, running tops are in brilliant styles and colours and also cut to be flattering as well as comfortable.
• If you are addicted to wearing a hat to either keep your hair from your face, keep your head warm or to stop your iPod earphones falling out of your ears you might fancy a change to a fleece headband such as skiers wear. These are great, they look brilliant, come in designer brands at reasonable prices, and can be adjusted to fit different sizes.
• Running or gym shoes - it would be pretty stupid to choose these on looks alone - go to a specialist fitness shoe store and they will advise you on the best style for you, and even put you on a running machine and video you to assess your "gait"!. But it doesn't mean that you have to be running around in a pair of ridiculous dayglo shoes - there are plenty of styles to choose from.

Yes, the above may not seem important to some as they pound the treadmills and tracks, and running or exercise is definitely not all about looks ... but looking good and also feeling good will just help in a teeny-weeny way to motivate some of us who might be teetering on the brink of "I really can't be bothered/I'm too tired to go out tonight - I'll go tomorrow instead". Plus, if you keep it up there's plenty of opportunity to get a picture of yourself running over a finishing line in a race ... wouldn't you rather see youself looking smart!

Oscars 2009 - Whose Dress Would You Rather Be Wearing - Jennifer's or Angelina's?

Many of the blogs and sites that I have been scanning for fashion news of the Oscars have reported that they were rather disappointed at the lack of glamour displayed on the red carpet this year. However, the dress which was worn by Kate Winslet has been described as making her look like a "dominatrix" by a well known UK newspaper, which could I suppose be called glamourous in an ever so slightly seedy kind of way? It was actually a black one strap gown by Yves Saint Laurent which did make her look quite statuesque and stunning.

Two of our favourite stars were of course at the Oscars and were really head-lining the event this year. As has been widely reported, this is the first time that Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie have crossed paths and been in the same room since Jennifer found out that Angelina admitted falling in love with gorgeous Brad whilst they were filming Mr and Mrs Smith, which is when Jennifer labelled the lovely Angelina as "uncool". Hmm ... well as can be seen from the pictures here, as well as disagreeing over various issues in their personal lives, their styles and dress sense are very different. I know which one I personally prefer, and in a few lines their differences and styles are listed below:

Angelina

• Angelina dresses in long and lean curves which accentuate her fantastic figure.
• Her outfits involve a lot of silks, satins and leather.
• Casual wear involves well fitting jeans and clingy tops, which are usually accessorised with luxury ethnic style jewellery and belts.
• When younger, Angelina's style was pretty gothic and there are echoes of this in the dress by Elie Saab she chose for the Oscars this year, which was brightened out of it's severity by a pair of huge emerald jewelled earrings and matching ring.

Jennifer

• Jennifer has been crowned as "The Best Dressed Star In Hollywood" in the past and her style and popularity has in no way wained.
• Jen dressed for the Oscars in a metallic Valentino strapless gown, accessorised with sparkling Fred Leighton jewels and Jimmy Choo “Jag” satin sandals.
• For casual wear Jennifer likes to wear jeans, t-shirts and blazers, she dresses like the original "girl next door" and looks fantastic and not overdressed like many other Hollywood actresses.
  
• Like Angelina, Jennifer wears a lot of black, but mixes this with browns, greys and beiges for casual wear, to creams and silvers for formal dresses, which accentuates her normally golden tan.

Which one of these golden girls' style do you prefer, leave your comments ...