Welcome to January 2012 at Fashion Societe

The crazy 1st week of 2012 is over, and!
Fashion Societe has a spanking new venue to hold its workshops…
got tapped to be featured on an episode of Jerseylicious… and
we had a ton of fun snagging designer discounts at the first Makeover on the Go shopping trip of the year.

Oy but why should we stop there? It’s time to roll out our Monthly Fashion Themes, and with this being usually the chilliest month- here we go with our debut of January: Cold Weather Clothes!

Stay tuned for facts, figures and anything else warm and interesting about how we dress and prepare for cold weather.

This is what we need more of- check out this spectacularly useful guide from Who, What Wear (in our top 3 lists of great sources for fashion)

This is the most festive time of the year, and along with our individual birthdays, it’s the most enjoyable time to be excited about what to wear to the parties. Since the holidays mean seeing alot of the same people multiple times while wanting to look fabulous at each occasion, outfit choices can be quite the dilemma. Leave it to Who, What Wear to break down fresh ideas to inspire us to walk into the room feeling confident and looking great. They even take keeping warm into consideration, which we love!!!

Functional and fashionable isn't always easy, but these styling tips make it workable, fast!

Jordan Salcito Makes Wine for Dummies (and a Cause)

Fashion Societé appreciates when hot New York restaurants, including Crown, Cain, The Dutch and Locanda Verde offer superb values on their wine lists~

Scribbling in her Moleskine notebook on a plane ride back from a wine festival, Jordan Salcito, the wine director of New York’s Crown restaurant, had an epiphany.

“I wanted to make wine approachable,” she says. “Wine is still an intimidating subject and sommeliers are often stereotyped as being stuffy.”

With a mission to democratize the art of appreciating wine, Salcito launched her own label called Bellus, a Tuscan red made from Sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes that pairs well with tomato-based foods, red meats, charcuterie and poultry.

Hoping to “empower people to learn their own likes and dislikes,” while extracting wine’s “intimidation factor,” Salcito teamed up with designer Tory Burch to conceptualize the bottle’s label, which succinctly quantifies the wine’s level of acidity, body, tannins, minerality, oak and complexity.

“Tory has been super supportive. She lent me one of her designers for the label to make it more polished,” Salcito says. “In return, I gave back to her foundation.”

For every bottle of Bellus sold, Salcito will donate 75 cents to the Tory Burch foundation. If all 20,000 bottles sell, Burch can expect a hefty $15,000 donation — which is a distinct likelihood — considering the wine’s $19.99 price tag.

Starting today, Bellus will be available exclusively through Gilt Taste for three days. After that, it can be bought through Crush Wine Company and Belluswines.com. Bellus, which means “beautiful’”in Latin, will also be sold at Crush Wine’s retail store in Midtown Manhattan for $22.99, and at select New York restaurants, including Crown, Cain, The Dutch and Locanda Verde.

“I really wanted to create something with superb quality and a really accessible price point,” says the passionate Salcito. “What I love about wine is that there’s no such thing as knowing everything about it. There are so many different regions. Things are always changing. Wine has such history.”

By Alexandra Steigrad, Women’s Wear Daily

How Style Television Shows and Fashion Magazines Affect the Way Women Dress

Fashion magazines have been around since the mid-1800s. Style shows like “What Not to Wear” have been around for 10 years (as of this month) and going strong.  Pretty much everyone including me wants to “look their best”.  Barring major surgery, we can’t change our facial features, our height or structure, but we can all change our clothes. And unless you live under a rock, you know by now the importance and impact of our image. So with all this media to turn to, what makes us look our best when “well-dressed” is utterly subjective?

Fashion, taste and style are commonly interchangeable words. Yet they’re quite different elements. After all, Fashion is material expression of the current time– garments are chosen to be worn to clothe, through offerings by designers/retailers who feel it will sell. Taste is the preference for a particular design. Tastes range widely to the extent that the “best taste” is usually considered one’s own.  Style is the most complex derivative of clothing and expression. Dressing codes are combined into types, take on a name, become recognizable, and are often associated with groups of people.  But the true essence of style- whether it’s worn, a common thread in music, or found in an author’s work- is a free use of the proper which German poet Friedrich Holderlin explains is the freedom to break rules. Whether a person is “well-dressed” is often a unique interpretation of this 3 element-combo.

With reality TV hosts mocking then transforming the lucky subject to the glee of the family, how many of us can relate to that poor soul when he/she first appears? Their taste is bashed, their possessions discarded and a new style is handed to them. Do we take notes throughout so that we improve upon the end credits, or do we watch for giggles? Personally, I love “How Do I Look?” and  I’ll never give up my subscription to Marie Claire or Lucky. Time spent with these are rewards for tasks such as writing this.  With popularity such as Elle‘s- the largest with 42 international editions in over 60 countries, we can expect to see the new trends, the newest it bags, and fresh ways to put it all together better. With all the coverage and “suggestions” we are led to internalize this ourselves- whether its back to a familiar rut or an actual seasonal metamorphosis.

How’s that going? Magazines work. Shows entertain. It’s basically passive stuff. I believe we need to get proactive. After all, these economic times require all we’ve got.

First published November 7, 2011 in womenpartner.org.

Great Ideas for Changing Over Your Summer Clothes to a Winter Closet

Changing Over Your Summer Clothes to a Winter Closet.

10 Powerful Secrets To A Winning Image -fantastic article from Canadian Expert Charmaine Mills

Having an image that is of a consistently high standard projects a message of quality and self confidence; it increases your responsiveness to your clients and colleagues, and removes the attention of yourself and onto the needs of the ones you are serving.

As people begin to see your name and become aware of the benefits and knowledge that you offer, before you know it thousands of people will not only know who you are but they will begin to seek out your services and expertise. They will identify with your brand which is you.

1.  Don’t overlook the power of a good first impression. People make amazing assumptions about your professional  credibility and potential performance based upon your appearance during a first meeting. It’s very difficult to overcome a poor first impression, regardless of your knowledge or expertise.

2.  Be notable! Identify the components that differentiate you. How do you stand out among the other options? Perfect an eloquent descriptive and memorable introduction of yourself and your position. To promote yourself effectively, you must know (and be able to articulate) who you are and why you do what you do.

3. Ultimately, it is always the person who dignifies the position, and not the position that dignifies the person. If we want others to take us seriously and view us as a professional, we must first view ourselves as one.

4. Body language is defined as a type of communication between one or more persons which does not utilize verbal words. Instead, body language is read by each person by carefully watching the facial  expressions, hand gestures, posture, and movements made by another person.  Body language can dominate the spoken words.

5. Raise your professional and personal standards until even you are impressed. The pursuit of excellence is not only politically correct it is also highly profitable. Do not settle for mediocrity.

6. You are always making visual statements. No matter where you are going or what you are doing, you are telling people something about yourself.  Thinking “big picture” means that to get where you want to be in three years, for example, you may have to pay extra close attention to those visual statements you are making today.

7. Invest in quality instead of quantity. Have clarity about the purpose you are buying for. Don’t spend money on something that doesn’t look great on you even if it’s almost free! Dress better than you have to and don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowd.

8. One of the main elements of an introduction is your smile, or at the very least, a pleasant facial expression. A smile sends a positive message and adds warmth and an aura of confidence. Others will be more receptive if you remember to check your expression.

9. Managing your attitude is an important business tool for every successful leader.  Your attitude is infectious and drives behavior, make it work for you.

10. There is power in perception. To those you meet, how you are perceived is who you are. What kind of image are you projecting? Remember, your career could depend on it.

Charmaine conducts transformational Image & Etiquette consultations worldwide through teleseminars, phone coaching and face-to-face consultations.  Her head office is based in Toronto, Canada.   http://www.advanceimageconsulting.ca

Where you wouldn’t expect to find fashionistas– Patty Lee of the New York Daily News ILLUMINATES them!!

Patty Lee covers fashion, food and other fun parts of the local scene in NYC for the New York Daily News.  Her photographs and story brings color and meaning to the readership as she captures the style of everyday New Yorkers she notices on the street. I’ve enjoyed “On the Street” for awhile now, and think you should check it out if you’ve never seen it.

Through her column in Features, Patty is in charge of spreading the urban style of trendy women in order to inspire and… of course, entertain. She chooses 4 from many, and arranges them on the page so that their head-to-toe sartorial choices are in full view. Each woman gives a translation of her look, and Patty shares their mood alongside the photo. Her favorite “interview” so far has been a mother-daughter combo, where the senior of the pair (Mom) was dressed colorfully, looking vibrant and energetic. The younger half was all in black– completely comfortable in classic New York chic!

With some columnists’ sour outlooks on fashion caused by the volatile economy, sitting with Patty was really refreshing– she reaches outside the box, and gathers her arsenal of special, unique subjects from places we don’t normally expect to see a array of high style. A teen trip to the Bronx Museum resulted in a wealth of great subjects! Furthermore, this pretty young lady does all her own photography- carrying around her Nikon D90 DSLR- and never photoshopping anyone– it’s all naturalll! Enjoy our choice of selections from Patty’s many columns below~

See Foodspotting   South Bronx Style    Staten Island’s Vibrancy

Jennifer Lee, 23, of the upper east side shows off summer-ready-maxi-dress

Margarita Ramos, 23, from Melrose rocks a different look every day

East village resident Caroline Jones, 21, likes ladylike-silhouettes

Originally from Japan Aya Koinuma, 23, who now lives in prospect park thinks New Yorkers have an eye for unique clothes

Introducing “40+ Women to Network with Today on LinkedIn”

I'm one of forty plus women selected by the Women's News Bureau!

I’m proud to be one of forty plus women selected by the Women’s News Bureau to follow on LinkedIn today.

The Women’s News Bureau (http://womenpartner.org) has gathered over 40 women for you to network with today on LinkedIn to help you maximize your membership.  Read their news snippets and invite them to connect.  Then strike up a conversation about collaborating to introduce each other to your respective clients.

Want a make over and have it featured in a national magazine?

Fashion Societe is on the lookout to nominate deserving women to a national women’s magazine that is looking to do a feature about real life makeovers. Nominees must be:

1. Women ages 20 to 36.

2. Women whose look could use some freshening up.  Maybe she thinks mom jeans are ironically cool (they’re not), or darkens her eyebrows with a Sharpie (true story), or is holding on to a hairstyle that made her hot ten years ago (but isn’t doing much for her these days).  The more outrageous her fashion or beauty transgressions the better. Don’t worry about offending her–she’ll be too excited about getting a makeover to be upset.

3. Women who could use some pampering. Perhaps she’s a single mom, or she’s fighting cancer, or she’s putting herself through college singlehandedly, or she lost her job earlier this year.  We want to make her feel amazing for a day.

4. Live in the New York City area (surrounding states are fine).

Do you know someone who meets ALL these requirements?  Please email us if you do (YES, you can nominate yourself), or pass this post on so they can respond to the questions.

Send an email that answers the following questions to fashionsocietenyc@gmail.com by Thursday, September 22 at 12 noon EST.

Name:
Age:
City, State:
Email address:
Why she NEEDS a makeover:
Why she DESERVES a makeover:

As an extension of The Zoe Report’s Q&A feature Ask Rachel, each week the celebrity stylist will answers a burning fashion questions exclusively for Who What Wear and now… Fashion Societé readers!

If you were only going to buy one style of handbag this fall, what would it be and why?

Anytime I am faced with the dilemma of choosing just one option of any particular item—I often encounter this predicament when traveling—my instinct is to always go with the most classic, versatile choice. So if I was going to carry only one handbag all fall, I can say without hesitation that it would definitely be a tote!

While shoulder bags, lady bags, and oversized clutches are also very on-trend this season, a tote, which has always been my #1 arm candy of choice, is the most essential option to accommodate all of your belongings while you’re on-the-go. (New moms take note: they are a fabulous alternative or addition to a diaper bag to stow all of your baby gear!)

Breaking down a few different styles, my top pick would be one that is solid leather, like 3.1 Phillip Lim’s , Diane von Furstenberg’s or even my personally designed , which I am currently relying on to hold all of my necessities amidst the NYFW mayhem!

Other tote-ally chic options to love include any that incorporate the coveted color-block trend. DKNY shows us how it’s done with their , while Pour La Victoire’s Bordeaux Medium Tote and ASOS are equally gorgeous interpretations of the look. Finally, I could never forget to mention a few exotic choices à la Malene Birger’s Reptile Nylon Tote and Nine West’s Island House Large Shopper. What will you be toting around this fall? xo RZ