In the US, if men wear loafers with shorts socks should not be worn. It’s a major fashion faux pas made worse if the socks creep downward or are in a color other than a neutral tan that matches the shoes. Why does it matter? It does not look smart or elegant. Plus, if you are older it definitely will date you.

How you sound is as important as the words you chose, especially in different venues.

Your voice sound and pitch needs to be different when you are:

*In front of a live audience with a microphone

*In front of a live audience without a microphone

*Presenting a webinar using a headset

If you can, record yourself. Then assess what you hear when listening to the tapes. I have a Sony audio recorder that I use to help me ensure my voice and pitch engages the audience and conveys passion in the topic.

A combination of red and white, pink exudes the need for action conveyed by red and the insight offered by white.It is the passion and power of red softened with the purity, openness and completeness of white. The deeper the pink, the more passion and energy it exhibits. Pink in the world of fashion has been considered a color worn mostly by women.

However, over the last few years pink, in many different tones, has been popular for men as well as business women. Recently, a political commentator wore a bright pink tie with a blue plaid shirt and looked very smart. It combined the masculine with the feminine.

Pink also works well with gray, brown and dark camel. It continues to edge closer to being the new neutral worn in professional settings.

You can learn more about color by reading “The Power of Color” by Dr. Morton Walker.

Nail polish has replaced the lipstick women bought when they felt they needed a pick-me-up. Your nail color can complete the total look.

The first lady, Michelle Obama, recently wore the nail color gray. What I love about this color is that it is one of the new opaque colors. It modifies the very fashionable colors to more conservative neutrals. One of my favorite brands is OPI in nail polish. It has wide range of colors—neutrals to the vamp black shades.

The trend for new bold colors began about five years ago when some young women wore candy colors. Then we moved into the very dark colors with shorter, square shaped nails. The first lady bridged her color choice by keeping her nails a bit longer and not squaring them off. It looked perfect and smart.

Recently we spoke about the white casual and athletic shoe making a comeback. As we all know, fashion always changes. Look at the Summer Olympics, especially the runners. The colorful shoe is back flashing many combinations. Another change is that the shoes are light weight with slim lines. This trend has also shown up golf shoes.

Sock colors are also undergoing a bit of a transformation. Mixing colors appear to be the next new phase. So, the rules have been broken. Have fun with your new shoe colors!

Attached is a good example.