Professional Dress for the Fashionably Challenged-guest post by Danielle

Apr 20, 2012 by Clueless Fashionista

I know I often encourage you to be daring in your dress and experiment with trends and that does apply except when you’re going to an interview. Danielle of Belts and Bangles has some great tips for dressing for success in an interview while still looking stylish.

You have finally landed an interview with the firm downtown; you hit it off perfectly with the HR director on the telephone and your spirits are soaring. Then you find yourself standing in the closet surrounded by one fashion disaster after another. If you are one of the many talented up-and-coming professionals that has a great résumé, but fall short when it comes to dressing the part—don’t despair! Not everyone was blessed with an abundance of fashion genes; some of us need a little help from our friends to dress for success.

When I give fashion advice to job seekers, the first thing I point out is that during the interview your clothes should not speak louder than your resume. To accomplish this, think conservative. Darker colors project a more serious tone than spring pastels and solids rule over flashy florals and geeky geometrics. What else do you need to know? Read the tips below to help you feel relaxed and look fantastic for the interview and we will deal with how to dress for employee on boarding later.

The Do’s and Don’ts

DO choose a suit or ensemble in a brown, grey or blue. Wear a solid colored blouse or button-down shirt. White or barely there blue are excellent choices with a suit. Your slacks and jacket should fit properly and be comfortable to avoid fidgeting. If you choose to wear a skirt, select a hemline that falls at mid-knee or just below.

DON’T forget to check for wrinkles, panty lines and loose hemstitches. Heading into an interview with your shirt tail flapping in the breeze will not earn you any fashion points.

DO accessorize wisely. Choose jewelry that is modest, nail polish that is neutral and shoes that have a low-to-moderate heel with closed toes.

DON’T add bold, exotic scarves, chunky jewelry or a crazy new hairstyle. It’s important to let your personality shine over your clothing.

Prepare for the offer before you leave the job interview. Take a mental snapshot of how your interviewer is dressed. Look at employees you see in the halls and reception area as you pass through. Ask about company dress codes. You will probably notice that there are a variety of styles, but there should be a common theme that is predominant. It’s easy to tell if the majority of the staff are “fully suited” or wearing separates. Is everyone wearing slacks? Skirts? Ties? Flats or heels?

Danielle is a full-fledged, no apologies, into-the-trenches thrift store warrior. When she isn’t scouting out her next hot find; she blogs for Sears and other brands she uses. She’s found everything from jumpsuits to grass skirts to a wedding dress and gotten the old lady smell out of all of them. Read her fashionably thrifty musings on beltsandbangles.com.

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How do I wear that trend…Tangerine Tango

Apr 17, 2012 by Clueless Fashionista

Every year Pantone, the authority on color, earmarks a color to represent that year. This year they chose tangerine tango.

Now as someone who enjoys wearing red, orange and yellow, I was pleased with this color selection. However, I realize that this bold color could be intimidating to those of you that may be a bit color shy. I wanted to give some tips on how you can incorporate the Pantone Color of 2012 into your wardrobe and brighten things up this year. The great thing is that this color is bright enough to be a bold presence in the warmer months but it’s bold enough to take us through the colder months as well.

1. Accessories! You know I am a fan of incorporating color through accessories, especially shoes. You can pick up a pair of pumps that are exactly tangerine or in the same color family like these fabulous coral pumps by Jessica Beijo. Click the picture if you’d like to pick up a pair. They’re $69.95 at DSW.

2. Pants. If you’re more daring about your approach to color, you could give it a try in a pair of orange jeans. These are great because they can be worn by anyone, regardless of your skin’s undertones. One of the biggest obstacles to wearing a rich color like orange is if you have red or blue undertones in your skin. If you have red undertones, orange close to your face can bring out the red and not look the most flattering. If you have blue undertones, the orange could make you look washed out. So if you throw on a great pair of orange jeans, the color is away from your face and you can pair it with a neutral color like gray or off-white (or any variation of this color-eggshell, anyone?).

3. Makeup. Now wait before you scoff at this one! I know that some orange makeup can be very bright and garish. No, I don’t want you to wear crayon orange makeup but in lighter palates, orange is a wonderful spring makeup color. You can go for a soft orange lip gloss or a light orange eye shadow. In fact, I found a couple of videos that show you how to wear orange makeup.

This is one from Bella Sugar that shows how orange makeup can work well for a variety of skin types.

This is a great tutorial that shows you how to do an orange smokey eye. It’s definitely on the more advanced side but she really explained things slowly and did the tutorial with a great closeup on her eyes the entire time. I will be giving this a try and showing you my interpretation of it. I encourage you to do the same and share it with me! I’d love to see how the orange smokey eye turns out for you.

So there you have it. Some great ways to wear the Pantone Color of 2012, Tangerine Orange (or other colors in the orange family). If you dive into this trend, send me the pics! I’d love to see how you incorporate it into your outfits. Go forth in color!

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Product Review-Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream

Apr 14, 2012 by Clueless Fashionista

As a BzzAgent, I got an opportunity to try out the Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream. I was interested to try it because I’d never heard of B.B. Cream so I wanted to know what it was all about. I did some research in advance and discovered that it is tinting moisturizer that helps to camouflage marks and other discolorations on your face but it isn’t a foundation or concealer.

Well I am a big fan of tinted moisturizer, having learned about them several years ago. I’ve used them regularly since and I just happen to not have any so this was a great time for me to check out another brand.

I got it in the mail and opened the package. The first day I tried it out, I put it on much like I would any other tinted moisturizer I have used in the past. I squeezed about a third of a dime sized amount of it into my hand and rubbed it onto my face and neck.

I like the texture of it and it definitely moisturized my face, however, the color was about two to three shades too light so it made my face look ashy. I rubbed it off some and after an hour or so, the moisturizer soaked in and I didn’t look so ashy. This is a problem that I’ve encountered with other makeup products that aren’t specifically made for women of color. Although it says medium/deep, it’s not truly for darker skinned complexions. It’s more for olive toned skin.

With that in mind, I do like the product and if I apply it sparingly, I really like it. It does smooth out my face and moisturizes it very well. However, I would have to recommend it very carefully. I could only comfortably suggest it to women who are much lighter than myself and I’m considered a light brown-skinned black woman.

I would ask Garnier to look into taking this product and stretching the color spectrum to work for the multiple hues of woman who might use it. I think that if skin care and makeup companies started creating products that could be used by all women, without it having to be a special line for women of color, they would benefit from it.

I plan on finishing my tube but I wouldn’t buy this product because ultimately it’s too light for me but the SPF and the thickness makes it a great moisturizer.

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Clueless Style Files-Colorblocking

Apr 11, 2012 by Clueless Fashionista

So I decided that I want to start doing outfit posts, but since everything here is for the purpose of becoming more stylish and experimenting with style, I will share with you guys when I delve into different trends that I feature.

I am a big fan of the colorblocking trend. As someone who was very match oriented growing up, I have been enjoying going against those ideals that everything has to match or coordinate. I had a few meetings today and wanted to go for a more business casual look while trying out the colorblocking trend with a neutral.

I decided to go with my gray slacks, green t-shirt and green open toed pumps. It was a little cool this morning so I topped it off with my pink, animal print scarf from Fraas. If you didn’t see that post, check it out: Product Review-Fraas Animal Print Scarf. But before you check that out, enjoy my take on the colorblocking trend.

If you’ve tried the colorblocking trend, please share pics. I’d love to show the different ways people are incorporating it. I call this my “ease in” approach because I used a neutral but not one most typically paired with this shade of green in this way. I plan on doing a more daring colorblocking outfit once I figure out what that looks like. I’d love any suggestions on more daring colors to pair.

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Product Review-Fraas Animal Print Scarf

Apr 10, 2012 by Clueless Fashionista

After having the opportunity to review the fabulous Fraas scarf in October, I was excited at an opportunity to road test one of the new animal print scarves. The wonderful folks at Lipton Publicity sent me the pink one. When I got it, I loved it right away. It’s a subtle animal print with pink tones but not overly so. It’s a great thin scarf for those fickle, warm spring days that turn into cool spring nights. It’s thin enough to go around your neck but wide enough to cover your shoulders if necessary. Plus, it’s a great neutral pink that will jazz up almost any outfit because of the subtle color and not-too-overpowering animal print.

You know how I love a great animal print piece that can provide a pop of pizzazz!

Make sure you check out the video I did with the other Fraas scarf. It applies to this one as well.

How to wear a Fraas Scarf

Visit www.fraas.com to check out their fabulous scarf collection. I’d love to see how you wear your scarves this spring. Send pictures of you in your scarf to info [at] cluelessfashionista [dot] com and I’ll feature you and a link to your Facebook or twitter on a follow-up launch. Double kudos if you send me a picture of you in a Fraas scarf!

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