Hillary Clinton wore an elegant, tailored Ralph Lauren white pantsuit to accept the Democratic nomination for president at the recent convention. A white pants suit can be worn for different occasions. My favorite is for an evening business or social event. The key to making it work is the fabric and shades of white. A great way to know the difference in whites is by going to either a fabric store or look at white paint chips. This will help determine which white works best for you. Hillary’s white pants suit was close to a true white and the fabric projected a softness that balanced stark white coloring.

Recently, I was a victim of wedding dress party guest nightmare after going through ten dresses along with multiple pairs of evening shoes. However, the reality is that going to a wedding as a guest and not as a member of the wedding party, what to wear is not dictated by pictures, which is good. Also not having to wear a long dress makes it easy to pull something from my wardrobe.

These are the following tips I learned to help avoid having the wedding dress party guest nightmare:

• Many stores do not have all their dresses in stock…order on line.
• Dresses that look great on the hanger…chances are that they won’t look good on you.
• Be sensitive to your body shape…buy a dress that will enhance it.
• The dress must be comfortable…no matter how great it looks on.
• Long dresses are really long…be prepared to spend upwards of $75.00 for alterations.
• Be sure you have a pair of shoes to wear for alterations.

If you follow these six guidelines, I guarantee that shopping for a dress to wear to a wedding will not be a nightmare. It even might be fun.

Clothing choices for women have switched back and forth between pant and skirt suits. I recommend a dress with a jacket to clients. It’s easy to wear a dress, especially a sleeveless one (which stays cool under a jacket) and dresses flatter most figures. Also, dresses and skirts are rising in popularity because executive women want to move away from pants. Hugo Boss has several striking dress and jacket combinations available during their anniversary sale.

It is interesting to see flip flops become somewhat of a main footwear choice on Main Street. Flip flops are designed now in every material from rubber to upscale leather. Recently, at a 5-Star restaurant for dinner, I was disappointed to see men wearing leather flip flops! It was a dinner not lunch. There are so many cool casual shoes that resorting to flip flops is not necessary.

White has been in style for the last two years. In 2016, it hit in athletic shoes and in recently replacing sandals especially for men.  Give credit to the shoe designers. We have seen the colored footwear boom in everything from bright orange to screaming yellow hues. Smart designers decided to add a white and it became a trend. It makes sense because you can wear white with any color outfit. The new white shoe is not clunky so add it to your closet!

I do believe a wonderful statement necklace on a woman projects the same presence as a man wearing tie. A necklace, like a tie, draws attention to the face. It frames the face and adds diversity in color and shape.

For the necklace to have the same effect as a man’s tie, it must lay close to the collar bone. It needs boldness with color, the stones or the metal. A long necklace can have the same effect if it contains more than three strands.

Christmas red is very popular during the holiday season when see an explosion of the color. We find that the more reds we see in lights and decorations, the more our spirits get lifted… it’s beautiful!

Wearing reds can be a nice way to celebrate the holidays; however, when I see someone wearing red shoes, red stockings and a red suit… I say No, No, No!
To keep in the spirit, keep the red suit, dump the red shoes and stockings or keep the red shoes, stockings and skirt and wear black on top. I also love the red-beaded necklace on a black dress. A touch of red, especially around the neck, for the holidays is fun.

At a recent program for women. I was the keynote speaker. A question came up around whether it’s appropriate to use leggings for everyday wear. Many women today like leggings because they are popular, comfortable and easy to wear. However, they are not pants.  Maybe when wearing a longer, three-quarter length jacket that hangs to the calf, leggings could squeak by but skinny pants add more polish and style and provide a very smooth finish. They are a much better choice than leggings. Spanx has leggings, that when worn, look like pants.

Shoe designers have us coming and going. What shoes should we wear for each occasion? Recently a major department store had a sale:  buy one pair and get one free. What a genius idea and seductive way to reduce a shoe inventory and get us to go nutty buying shoes we do not need!

Recently I was getting ready to go to a conference. My biggest challenge was how could I limit my shoes to four pairs? You need shoes to workout, a dressy dinner event, a gala and then to host a meeting. Also, the conference center was a mile away from the rooms. Why couldn’t I just bite the bullet and wear workout shoes the whole time? After all, athletic shoes in all colors are the rage.

I did end up bringing too many shoes but my feet felt good as my image!

It is not easy to dress for the masses, especially on television. In today’s race for the White house, the male candidates have it much easier. Their choices are simple because it comes down to the shirt and tie combination. Their main battle is the fit of the jacket. President Obama has his suits tailored to fit him so he always looks elegant and crisp. He is also tall and slim, so his main issue is look stately and in command in an approachable manner.

For the heavy set candidate, it can be difficult to not look rumbled and clown-like. Women, on the other hand, have an even more difficult task. Their clothing choices are either too bland or tend to look matronly. Another challenge is that they must look feminine but like they’re still in command.

Television will add at least 20 pounds so clothing choices must accent the slim side of women. We are now in the midst of a presidential campaign so look for the dress style wins in the candidates and learn from those that miss the mark.