Neiman Marcus-And what they tell us

I love what Neiman Marcus calls coats and sweaters: Unique Outerwear.

So you know what you can do? Wear a coat that is different then what everyone is wearing. If the coat is a bit baggy-wrap a leather belt around your waist. Grab an inexpensive silk flower or large rhinestone pin and attach it to the lapel.

I was given a bunch of vintage and costume jewelry pins. Wear a bunch of pins around the collar bone of your jacket almost in a collage form, wearing pins that perhaps match in metal color or shapes that fit together.

If you have a wrap from a previous season, purchase a vintage fur collar and tack it to the edge of the wrap. Just a few little stitches, and you have a new stylish wrap. Then when fur is not wanted anymore, just snip those stitches and you have your two separate pieces again. Attach the fur collar to a sweater and wear a pin.

Velcro is great. Just a couple of stitches to attach the velcro to your wrap, sweater and fur and now you can change. You can wear your wrap over the sweater that has the fur attached.

I have noticed that the layering is very different. It used to be the lace tank under a tee and that is still great! Now wear a sweater, a short jacket on top of the sweater and then the wrap. You will be snuggly warm for the winter, can take off the various layers when you are in the car or going indoors. Velvets, wools, silks, cottons all combined in one wardrobe. I have to admit, this style and layers is great for the thinner gal, but I try to get away with as much as I can do without looking too heavy or heavier than I am. But I still play.

You possibly have alot of clothes in your closet that you have not worn and want to get rid of and that is what most clutter free people tell you. I like to keep what I have and use it and reuse it. I have a closet that I keep my clothing in and twice a year go through. Also, keep some cedar chips or blocks in the closet to keep those pesky moths away from your wools. My mom had a cedar cabinet that she store the clothing in.

Scarfs and Wraps

Typically, you can wear a scarf that matches the colors of your outfit perfectly. In fact that is how I was brought up in the 60's and 70' and 80's and 90's. But all of a sudden you can now wear a scarf with a very different pattern and all sorts of colors, wrap it around your neck with a cotton blouse of a different color and a cardigan sweater that is even different from those. Shocking! Yes. Unusual, it sure seems it.
Uncomfortable-perhaps if you are a person that likes everything to match.

The color schemes are very similar from store to store: grey, limey greens, taupy purples, red and rusts, greens in various shades...

Scarfs range from sale prices like $2.99 to mucho bucks especially on the materials the scarves are made of: mohair, wool, silk, rayon, cotton.

I was just in Old Navy last night, peeking at their 50 percent off of their clearance prices. Cotton scarfs of all sorts of prints and little cotton balls of of the edges were only $3.00 How many scarves can you have? Not enough I guess, but I again, didn't want to be spend thrifty but certainly would have walked out with 2-3 scarfs.

Many scarfs are made very wide and can be used as a wrap. I have done that when it is still warm but a bit chilly at night. Now you can undo your scarf and just wrap it around your shoulders.

If you don't want to wear your scarf all day long, and it gets a bit uncomfortable with the temperatures (especially if you have hot flashes like me), take your scarf and tie it on the handle of your pocketbook or wrap it around your waist. When you need it, you will have it.

There are many ways to tie a scarf on your body, experiment and be in style.

Sequin tee and scarf

Years ago, wedding gown and ball room gowns had sequin hand stitched to them. In fact, my friend Jessica made her wedding gown and hand sewed each little piece of shiny metal on her full length dress.

Today, I recently read that to down play the fanciness of sequin, you should wear it in a tank or scarf.

Well, the other day, I picked up a silver sequin belt for $.99. I am going to hand stitch it to a black tee shirt that I have. I can wear the tee shirt alone with jeans, or I can layer it underneath another type of tee or blouse and have it showing around my waist level.

I will handstitch it because I think it would not be good for any needle on a sewing machine and also, if I ever want to take the sequin off, I can use a seam ripper to gently remove it.

If you want just a bit of flash, you can pick up some sequin at a fabric or craft store, and stitch it on the bottom of your favorite scarf. The running stitch is the easiest stitch or a hem stitch to attach a texture like sequin on another fabric. If you are stitching onto a silk scarf, make sure you have the right sized needle so that you won't make pulls in the silk itself.