Fashion trends 2008

The new year always means new style trends. 2008 is definitely an year of change because the change from 2007 is remarkable. According to Suze Yalof Schwartz (Glamour magazine), here are the top five trends that you can follow in the coming months:

1. A T-shirt dress matched with a men's blazer (borrow from your man or simply buy one)
2. Ruffled sleeves, tops, skirts, preferably in bright colors like hot pink. I would not recommend this for everyone because it may add volume and make you look fat. So if doesn't work for you, forget about it.
3. A floral top matched with cropped pants and gladiator shoes or sandals.
4. Show your shoulder and neck with an asymmetrical top
5. Hand printed splattered splash tops and dresses
   

Almost all of these items can be bought at mid-priced stores like Banana Republic or even Target.

Style lessons with Tim Gunn

I have been reading "A Guide to Quality and taste" by Tim Gunn. As you know Tim is the elegant Director of Fashion at the prestigious Parsons School of Design and he also appears in Project Runway and in his own show "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style."

He has all the credentials to have a book with that title. I found that the book has very good information and it is written in an elegant, but easy style. It has humor and good information. If you have seen Tim on TV, as you read the pages of this book, you will hear his voice.

The book does not have long lists and pictures telling you what type of pants to wear (that is what he does on his show too - he lets people pick their own clothes but gives them broad guidelines on how to shop and also provides them with a list of items that they need to buy after examining their wardrobe). It has detailed explanations on how to make your own selections. Quality, taste and style is his mantra or his other mantraafter "make it work."

The book has chapters on "who are you," "posture," selecting accessories, and others. The accessories' chapter recommends "say no to the it bag." It is a different book about style, fashion and dressing. The advice is deep, but very practical.