Brenda’s Fashion ESSENTIALS:^ ^ ^ How to Look Fantastic In Your 40s, 50s and Beyond THE BRENDA shorts BrendaBrenda KinselKinsel punch and save! Sophia Loren, Catherine Deneuve, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vivica A. Fox, Helen Mirren, Ellen Barkin. What do these women have in common? They are all women of style, beauty and confidence. What makes a woman look so radiant? She’s radiant when she displays her beauty, inside and out. All women in their 40s, 50s, 60s or beyond have what it takes to enjoy style and the confidence that comes with it. Yet so many women reach a new decade and start giving up. They give up on fashion and beauty and let their style expire. What if I told you it’s easier to enjoy these things than you think? In fact, your most fashionable, confident years may be in front of you. In this Brenda Short, discover many easy tools to look great and enjoy your age. The Brenda Shorts 2 Schedule Your Updates 1. Put your feet first. Time to make a serious edit of shoes that hurt your feet. Otherwise, it’s all you think about: pain, pinching, pressure. A client was so relieved when we did a serious edit of her shoes. We had a “no excuses” purging session. Anything that hurt left her closet no matter how cute they were. When a shoe fits your arch and gives you room in the toe box, you’ll be swooning with delight. As in all things that come in sizes, when you’re shopping for shoes, ignore the numbers and go for the best fit. Be willing to pay more for shoes than you ever used to. 2. Create a strategy for shopping. If you dread shopping, break it into baby steps. Do you want to buy a sweater? Don’t try on one or two; try on twelve of them. Sure, that could seem overwhelming to someone who doesn’t like to shop but turn it into a game. Which sweater will be the last one standing? Which sweater will win the sweater competition? Create a yes/ no/maybe pile and review at the end. If you have someone with you whose opinion you trust, let them vote too. Reason out your choices. You may end up buying more than one because you’ve surprised yourself and found sweaters that will serve you in different ways. It’s much more satisfying to walk out of the dressing room with items you’re already really fond of and not something you bought by default or because you lost patience. 3. Change your focus. When your weight rearranges itself, don’t hold out hope that it’s going to snap back to the way it was anytime soon. Accept change. Maybe the waist you used to define with belts has disappeared. That’s okay! Shift your focus away from defining your waist and move the The Brenda Shorts 3 attention somewhere else. Use pendants, necklaces, scarves, earrings or rings to bring attention to your face, neck, chest or hands. Discover new areas to accentuate. Create Buzz 4. “You’re glowing! Did you just get back from a spa vacation?” Wearing colors that repeat your skin tone, especially in lustrous fabrics, will give you a dewy, radiant glow. Your skin will look fabulous! Depending on your skin tone that could mean wearing honey tones, caramel, tan, powder puff pink, or peachy colors. Skin tone colors can make you look beautiful, pretty, feminine, serene and quietly powerful. 5. “She looks so refreshed! Do you think she’s had her eyes done?” Look like you’ve had your eyes done by getting your eyebrows shaped. Make your eyes brighter and more open by applying makeup products that have a touch of sheen to them. Wearing jewelry that brings light to the face will make you look like you just had an expensive skin treatment. Consider wearing pearls, necklaces with sparkly semi-precious stones, or diamonds. 6. “My gosh, you’ve lost 10 pounds!” Be strategic about wearing matte fabrics and shiny ones. Wear fabrics that are matte, not shiny, on those parts of your body that you don’t want to recede or seem slimmer. Wearing a matte fabric over a large bust is a better choice if you want that area to look slimmer. A shiny top over your bustline could make your breasts look fuller. If hips and thighs were areas you’d rather not bring more attention to, use dark colors with dull finishes in trousers. This simple step of managing the The Brenda Shorts 4 fabrics and colors you wear on the different parts of your body will have you looking thinner instantly. Shine On 7. Don’t be invisible. Women over 50 can stand to add some brilliance to their appearance. Look at an item you might wear a lot, like a leather jacket or a trench coat, and find it in a pearlized finish. Wearing a piece of outerwear in a color other than black or brown can bring more excitement to your look. Consider a coat in lilac, pink, baby blue, dove gray, turquoise or coral. 8. Handbags that have shine bring light to your appearance. Patent leather is excellent, either smooth or in a crinkled texture. Metallic colors are great as well. If you wear mostly cool metals in your jewelry, go for a silver or gunmetal metallic bag. If you wear primarily gold jewelry, look for a bag in a gold or copper metallic. 9. Look no further than the hair on your head for a place to add shine. Ask your colorist about gels that will coat your hair and give it a glistening luster that will last for weeks. If your hair is gray, there are shampoos and finishing products that will make your hair look brighter. Two Layers Are Better Than One 10. Layer pashminas in different colors. Buy two pashminas that are the same size and weight and put them together as one. When you put them over The Brenda Shorts 5 your shoulders, you decide which color goes on the inside and which color you want for the outside. The color combinations add much more interest to your outfit than if you wore just one color at a time. Try some of these combos: chocolate brown/turquoise; coral/lime green; black/white; midnight navy/copper; petal pink/dove gray; wine/eggplant; navy/black; red/orange. 11. Layer shapewear. Movie stars do this all the time to look great all over when wearing slinky dresses on the Red Carpet. Shapewear smoothes lines and allows clothes to glide over your body more effortlessly. For instance, wear a hi-Capri shaper (one that goes from your calves to just under your bust) and then add a waist cincher for an extra slender silhouette. If you have a specific need for a shaper, bring the outfit you’re planning to wear over the shapewear. Try different pieces to get the smooth strategic lines you want. While in the dressing room, assemble the whole outfit with the shapewear and look at yourself in a 3-way mirror. When you’re happy with the results, make your purchase. Getting the right shapewear for one outfit will make lots of other outfits look great too. 12. Layer lipsticks. Mixing two lipstick colors gives dimension to the color and helps control intensity. If a lipstick color appears too bright on its own, try using a neutral color underneath to tone it down. You could shade in your lips with a nude lipliner as a first layer and add lipstick color on top. One colleague plays with colors every time she reapplies her lipstick. She carries a few with her and has fun all day, mixing up her colors. The Brenda Shorts 6 Say “Yes!” To That Last Minute Party Invitation 13. Get “dressed up” in five minutes. Let’s say you get a last minute invitation to sit next to your favorite movie actor at the opening night of your local film festival. Here are three clothing items to stock your closet for instant glamour: a sexy top or a very feminine blouse; a sexy pant such as black lace, satin or a tuxedo pant; a grand entrance coat in metallic, satin, lace, or brocade. 14. Prints are party friends. A beautiful print blouse in a silk charmeuse fabric says “Party!” If it’s colorful, all the better. Look for graphic prints that could be mistaken for a piece of modern art. A tasteful leopard print blouse would work as well. If pants are really flattering on you, you could wear an animal print pant or a pant in a bold color. 15. Stock some dressy accessories. Some things to have on hand: long dangly earrings, open-toed shoes, patent heels in red, sparkly handbags, and a shawl with metallic threads, beads or embroidery. Pick and choose what you want to use at the last minute. What Every Woman Needs, Or Not 16. The Little Black Dress. Every fashion resource says you need an LBD, the little black dress. True or false? False. Some women look haggard when they wear black. It’s just not their color. Some women couldn’t find a dress to fit them properly if they shopped every Saturday of the month. Separates may work best for them. If an LBD doesn’t work for you, find alternate outfits The Brenda Shorts 7 that will take you anywhere, whether it’s a non-black dress or separates that look fabulous together such as a skirt and sweater or a pant and silky, feminine blouse.