Fashion Police

Guest written by our friend Sergio Chaney

One of my favorite shows to watch these days is Fashion Police on E! on Directtv. The shows stars Joan Rivers who has several guests with her each episode to sit about and talk about what celebrity wore what outfit and to which event each week. The guests are usually a combination of George Catsiopolis, Giuliana Rancic and Kelly Osborne.

Sometimes they will switch out one of the regulars for a new person but most of the time it is the same fab four. They will show pictures of celebrities on red carpets and then vote and decide if each of them thinks the celeb looks hot or not. Usually everyone doesn’t agree on each one and then at the end of the show they vote for who gets best and worst dressed for the week.

One segment that they do that I really like is B*tch Stole My Look. They will compare two celebrities who have chosen to wear the same outfits and then decide who looks the best in it. I usually whole heartedly agree with them.

A Tidbit on Talbott

Robert Talbott was founded by Robert and Audrey Talbott in the 1950s. Audrey, prior to her marriage to Robert, was a clothing buyer. As a hobby, she created bowties for Robert and his friends. With her skill and Robert's dream to manufacture a true quality product, Robert Talbott the company was born. By 1955, the business was a success and they were traveling the world for silk.

In 1958, the first Robert Talbott store opened in Carmel, New York with a second opening in Pebble Beach in 1968. 24 years later, in 1992, a Madison Avenue showcase store was opened. Dress shirts were added to the Robert Talbott line in 1990, which had been exclusively ties up until this point. Casual shirts and outerwear followed.

Today, Audrey Talbott has shifted her focus to high quality ladieswear and her eponymous line is featured at many boutiques throughout the country.

A woven SILK tie...square bottomed and skinny. Robert Talbott for Jacobson's from the 80s...

Behind the Velvet Ropes

It was a lot of fun going to the old movie theaters downtown. Some of them had rotated between being live theaters and cinema theaters. The marble and the gold leaf was a radical change from the plastered walls, stale popcorn smell and dated 70s carpet of the neighborhood haunt. While both theaters had velvet rope to signify the boundaries of a line, it was the difference between the velvet you imagined being cut from a princess' old dress and something fuzzy, flocked and bald. Even the stanchions were solid brass.

It's funny how I thought it was all so elegant, when it was really meant as a form of crowd control. If I really wanted, I could duck under the rope and go where I wanted, which my brother often did, but somehow there was comfort in being directed where to go.

I just wondered why events that were more prestigious had barricades to keep the "rabble" like us away from the stars or away from the nightclub door. All elegance was lost and we are relegated to being the "undesirables." But that just makes people want to go to the event even more, even though you may never see a star bigger than a size of an ant from your vantage point, rather than getting their own personal audience in a quiet theater where you can eat your popcorn in peace.

Buying velvet ropes sure makes guests at a small affair think they are getting the star treatment, and that is who usually appreciate it more.

NoMoreRack: Straight Foward Deals

There are many sites out there purporting to have daily deals, but often they are mired in a bit of confusion. What started out as simple concepts have snowballed into sites with so many offers that they seem to have become just regular shopping or store sites. The immediacy is gone.

Luckily, nomorerack.com has never changed its tune. A person can still visit the site, see the daily deals queued up and make an instant decision whether or not they want to grab a deal that day. The "less is more" approach tends to work on me, as somehow the fewer items to remember, the bigger space they etch in my mind all day. Shipping is cheap too. It's only $2.00 per item.

Recently, I visited NoMoreRack and found a curious sight that I neglected before. The deal farthest to the bottom right was not for sale in exchange for currency, but was noted as a "friendrack" deal. Apparently, if you rack up a number of referrals, you qualify for a free item. Recent "friendrack" items have been a hobo bag, freshwater pearl bracelets and diamond earrings. Currently, 14-17 are needed to cash in on one of the items, and the offer doesn't expire. I have seen items come up for as little as 6 referrals, however. The items change, but you are not under the gun to mercilessly recruit friends under any sort of posted deadline. When you reach a certain number of friends who sign up on your suggestion, you simply redeem a deal when you find something that interests you.

I am recommended sites and businesses to my friends all the time, so it is nice to have an obtainable reward, and also a good Sometimes you'll find friends want you to reach a goal, and will sign up to help if they know you really want something. Kind of like how my relatives new I wanted the chance to win a bike for selling the most candies and cookies in school. What is one more almond cluster going to hurt?

Have you tried NoMoreRack yet? If so, tell me what you thought. If not, what influenced you to hesitate?

Working on Etsy

Guest post from: Kent Lara

I use my San Antonio wireless internet connection to make money and work from home. I never thought that when people said that they worked from home, that they were actually working and making money. I got inspired by a friend when I heard about a website called Etsy.com that came out in 2005. I have always been interested in sewing and am quite good at it. There are many people that create custom designs for customers through Etsy.

In 2008, I decided that I was fed-up with my desk job. I decided to give sewing a chance. For years I have been collecting vintage sewing patterns. They range from the 1920’s to the early 1990’s. I started posting the vintage patterns Etsy and working with customers to create custom designs. Now, I have a big enough clientele that I literally work from home everyday and communicate with people all over the world from my computer. I have a flexible schedule and I love it! I am also filling my creative need that my nine to five never met!

Why Vintage? Reason #2

Read "Why Vintage?: Reason I"

Why Vintage: Reason #2 - expanding your circle of influence.

Vintage clothing is a great conversation starter. There are a lot of folks who would barely notice you were wearing a vintage item. They may just think "wow, that guy/gal looks sharp" and not be able to put their finger on it. But once you start wearing vintage and learning about the pieces you own, it opens up a whole new world.

Suddenly you spot a guy wearing a 40s tie - the silhouette and color scheme are unmistakeable to your trained eye. Suddenly, you have something to talk about! You can go up to him and comment on it and walk away with a great new business contact or friend, or at least feel more at ease. It is iffy sometimes to walk up to a man in a modern tie. He may say "thank you," but there is really only so much you can talk about on the subject. Reason being, is a lot of people don't want to "give away" their secrets. They might not want to tell you where they bought it, unless they are from out of town, because they don't want you to go out and buy one just like it. Or they don't want to reveal that they got it from X store because they couldn't afford Y store.
They might not do it deliberately, but some people unconsciously feel that way.

When you ask about someone's vintage tie, you might get a story about how it came to be.

Why Vintage? Reason #1

Why Vintage?

Reason #1: Originality.

We live in an area that is experiencing a housing boom. Many new folks are moving to the area. Previously, the locale had been pretty isolated considering that no major highway came through, and there aren't too many department stores around, especially if you are a busy person who doesn't have time to take a day trip to the city. We attended a party where the attire was semi-formal and three ladies showed up wearing the exact same dress! Luckily they had a good sense of humor about it. There was only really one or two stores to go to for formal dresses and they both evidently lived near the same one.

For guys, there usually isn't such a dilemma. It doesn't really seem to matter if 12 guys are wearing the same black suit or tux. In fact sometimes it is a badge of honor. It is sometimes difficult to tell and seldom noticed as it is a bit more of a "uniform" way of dressing formally. However, the same phenomena does exist. Often, men will show up wearing the exact same necktie. Now that can be embarrassing. A tie nowadays is the way to express your individuality, style, and it is what folks notice most about your dressing. A great tie can either disappear into the whole ensemble and cause folks to notice you, not you walking behind a tie, or it can be loud and crazy. But having the exact same tie as someone else can either reveal your shared good taste or reveal private things that you may not necessarily want someone else to know - like the price you paid.

Today's reason for wearing vintage is uniqueness, and there is a very small chance that someone will show up to the office or to a party wearing the same exact items as you are. Be in style, but refuse to be an exact copy of what everyone else is wearing: Wear vintage!

Dive In: Plus Size Swimwear for that Cruise

Clothing retailers, especially those with limited floorspace, only stock the best selling sizes. This might be easily remedied in the men's pant department by hemming trouser legs an inch or two or taking something in. Sometimes ordering from the catalog suffices, as there are usually no fitting surprises. Women's bathing suits are an entirely different matter. Occasionally, a regular department store will carry the odd size 16 or 18, but the trendy surf shops seem to think size 10 is an XL.

The internet typically is a better source for plus size swimwear, even if it takes a bit of trial and error. Surprisingly, plus size websites start at a size 12 or 14, which is far from plus size, especially since the scale for bathing suits typically start at a size 8, and go up to a size 22 and even a size 40 in some styles. The bathing suit size doesn't always correspond to clothing sizes, but because of materials, such as lycra and spandex, they tend to be more forgiving.

"Plus size model" has been quite the buzz word, or buzz phrase. Surprisingly, the "plus size" ladies are a mere size 8-10 for high runway and perhaps a 12-14 for catalog modeling, which is merely a size medium, it seems. There are seldom women modeling plus sized clothing that are truly a size 30, or even a 18 outside of very specialized catalogs. However, the suits shown are proportioned to look flattering on larger sizes and are not upcharged for extra fabric. Certain panels may not be as revealing, and alternatives, such as swim dresses and short and top sets are also available for ease of fit.

Looks are deceiving, anyhow, when it comes to the example models. When a model is 6', if she is a size 12 to 14, even perhaps a 16, so long as she is not photographed with her size 0-2 sisters, she appears in proportion and looks to be a healthy weight. You would never guess.

Before you go on that cruise this winter, don't despair. Tasteful and fashionable options abound.

A closet is worthless if you can't see what's inside

Guest post written by Pete Allan

We don't have a very big house, but we really try to make the best of it. Sometimes we pack things into the wrong places just to get stuff out of the way and I think that we did that all this summer with our coat closet. Well now that it's time to use our coat closet on a daily basis, we're having a little bit of trouble because it's just so full. I've had enough of getting toppled by an avalanche every time I pull out my coat before work every morning.

But I knew that we needed some extra things to help organize the closet. While I was online looking up that stuff, I ran across the website http://www.Homeproimprovement.com and after that I decided to use them to redo our kitchen. This was something that we decided to give ourselves for Christmas and I was really grateful that I found that.

I think that we're going to be able to finally use our closet to the full extent. Now we just have to go through thte trouble of sorting all the stuff and putting each thing in its own place.

Plus Sized Gowns: Shop for an Enchanted Evening

I am sure the sock in the arm is coming for even mentioning New Year's Eve. It could match the other big bruise that is turning all sorts of pretty colors there now. I accidentally played part of a Christmas song the day before Halloween and that was my payment. This mention, however, is warranted.

Decadent New Year's Eve balls sometimes take weeks to find just the right thing to wear. For men, it is not a source of embarrassment if two or more gents show up in the same tux. For women, all involved must have a sense of humor, or accessorize unconventionally to avoid a run-in with a twin.

If you require plus size evening dresses, the situation is sometimes more dire if you live in an off-the-beaten path area from not many shops to pick from that carry anything larger than a 12 or 14. Roaman's carries a full line of evening dresses that start at a size 12, which is their "small" or "extra small" and go all the way up to a 4x (size 34-36). They do carry every day clothing up to size 5x, just no current evening gowns. In other words, there are no special up charges for larger sizes on the site. The price listed is what is charged.

So, do I get a sock in the arm, or a pat on the back for reminding you that its time to start looking?