Lace-Black

While shopping recently, the new craze for young girls and women is lace and sequin.
Don't get me wrong, I love lace (so Victorian looking), but I will never be caught wearing everything lace or lace with nothing under it like shown on the runway models. A bit of lace like a black lace jacket on top of a tank top or a three quarter sleeved top, a shawl made of lace to wrap around your shoulders, perhaps even a lace dress on top of a sweater dress.

Salvation Army provided me with my wish list item of a black crochet-lace type dress. I am putting it together to peek under a black full round dress so that it looks like a lace slip or extra layer peeking underneath. I have planned and put together at least three dress ideas with this lace apparel I purchased. Stay tuned.

I also have a short sleeved black lace shirt that I purchased at the Avenue. Now a bit heavier in weight, I check out Lane Bryant and the Avenue for tops that may be a bit larger, but still can be worn with a belt or scarf around the waist. A cute jacket over a larger lace top looks chic. And, Charlotte Russe provided me with a white with silver sparkles lace top. I tried it on over a grey v-neck sweater and it looked great. That was a surprise to me thinking that something such as lace could go over on top of a sweater. Jeans and boots, my little lace top over my grey sweater and mmmm I wonder what necklace I will wear...a cute little outfit to go out with my husband on Mondays.

Let me tell you about my Mondays. My husband, being a pastor, has Mondays off if there are no emergencies with anyone from church or with our family and home. I love putting aside a little special outfit to look nice for him; something that may be a bit to fancy for church. I don't want to wear something so casual either that perhaps I wear around the house during the week.

A special earrings and sweater, or a necklace he has given me along with a tee and jeans, and off we go for a coffee and most likely to the beach or a book store. We love books.

Women's Pantsuits

Boyfriend suit or menswear-style pantsuit are the new title for what I call a "woman's pantsuit." I guess girls feel comfortable wearing their boyfriends clothing; a bit more lose in style. What the stylists are saying today is that men originally wore the suit, and it is the in thing for women to wear a tailored type outfit that can be worn for work or out for the evening.

Wear the sleeves straight down on your arm with a fitted blouse and fitted trousers with a lovely long chain necklace, heels, and you are ready for work or when you are ready to go out for the evening to a fancy restaurant.
Push the sleeves up on the arms, throw on a lightweight cotton top, change your jewelry to possibly a large bauble beaded necklace, shorter heeled shoes, and you are ready for "casual."

A light camisole is also an option if the weather is a bit more warm than expected and you still want to wear something long sleeved like your pantsuit.

Your pants can be all sorts of different lengths like cropped, skinny, boot-cut, flared. I know that I love the look of the cropped pants with a small heel. As I am getting older (sorry ladies, don't always want to mention age), but I am having problems with my knees so that beautiful 3 inch heel just does not do it with my knees, especially being bed ridden for four days which happened to me last month. I love heels, but don't want to suffer that much.

The more tailored the suit, the better the expert designers say.

Also, just a CrystalsCreations tip, mix and match blazers with dress pants. If you go on a business trip, take two suits and three to four tops and your set with mixing and matching. Just remember to take a couple of necklaces and earrings and your off.

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.