Today’s Outfit Idea: A Step in the Ruched Direction

All right, all you ladies who push your style aside because you’re too dang busy just trying to get your kids or your partner or yourself out the door in the morning – the Fastionista is here to ease your style fear.

I’m finding that I’ve really become a fan of ruching or rouching (pronounced “rooshing”) which is a gathering of material for a diminutive pleating effect. It’s a style that adds embellishment, texture, and even pattern in the most organic way: from the material itself. Now, like any other pleating, ruching in the wrong place can either add weight or detract from the silhouette of a piece, so as with anything else I always try before I buy. But if it’s handled the right way it can add so much to an outfit, so here’s what’s in my closet today:

· Red Ruched Dress: There’s ruching here, there, and everywhere in this dress: at the crew neckline, in the full skirt, and, best of all, in the waistband, which nips in at the narrowest part of my midsection and creates an hourglass shape. But because this is a sleeveless dress, I’m going to need a completer piece—it’s still too cold to go all-out summer in my dresses, and sleeveless isn’t the most professional look in the world.

· Pink Shrug: I don’t like to wear my Valentine’s Day pinks and reds actually on the day itself (what can I say, I’m a rebel) so, always staying ahead of the trend, I think I’m going to pair pink with red a couple weeks earlier than everyone else. Since I don’t want to cover up all that great ruching in my dress, I’ll go with a shrug, which is cropped with a looser fit; this doesn’t cover as much as a blazer or cardigan would. You may be wondering if pink and red really go together, to which I proclaim a resounding YES! Pink is merely a lighter hue of red, and, as with any other two-toned styles, bringing a lighter and darker hue of the same base color adds dimension to a given outfit. I do have a caveat to this, though: always make sure the two hues are far enough apart from each other on the saturation scale so that it doesn’t look like you’re trying to match items exactly but were unsuccessful (so, for instance, it’s best not to mix raspberry and magenta, which are reds that sit right next to each other in the color spectrum).

· Accessories: All right, let’s make sure everyone really knows I meant to mix pink and red, and add my pink and red scarf into my ensemble. The silk scarf is mostly red, with a pink border. I’ll knot that at my neck. I’ll also wear a silver and black sparkly headband, and I’ll finish with a black, tan, and silver bracelet.

· Purse: The reason I wanted to mix my neutrals a little in my accessories, with the black and tan combo, is because of the purse I want to carry and the shoes I want to wear. My purse is a light brown satchel with a dark brown strap and gold fixtures: since I’m mixing my neutrals I may as well mix my metals, too. Brown and gold go splendidly with the warm colors of my dress and shrug, as well.

· SHOES!: I’m going with a pump that is dark brown with a black patent leather toe. Again, I’m playing on my mixing neutrals and two-toned motifs, and the style, which is feminized menswear, is still very big.

Voila! There you have it: great fashion fast. And you, gorgeous lady, are ready to take on the world, Fastionista Style!

Dressing for work is one thing, but at the end of the day it’s time to play!

Stepping Out Tonight In: Hats

I feel like hats sometimes are the great forgotten accessory. There’s a huge selection out there of cadet hats, fedoras, floppy hats, cloche hats, the list goes on, but so many people see them as just something to wear to keep the snow and wind out of the coiffeur. If you can get away with donning a chapeau in the office, by all means do so, but if you’re not comfortable with that or need to adhere to a dress code, start playing at quitting time. I’m especially happy to see that the floppy hat is still trending: I thought that’d be gone by now, but it’s so not. Incorporate a pattern if you can (I’m loving this one from Forever 21) and remember to match weights with the season (straw weave for warmer weather, wool for cooler). The best part? Hats go with just about anything from jeans to an evening gown (for dressy occasions, think sequined beret or all-black fedora). Have a great night!