Sunday, November 25, 2012

Dress Codes

A Black Tie invitation calls for formal attire. Men wear tuxedos, women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates. A little black dress is completely appropriate for black tie functions.
Formal usually means the same as Black Tie, but in some trendier cities like New York or Los 
Angeles, it could mean a black shirt, no tie with a tux. Women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.


A White Tie or Ultra-formal invitation requires men wear full dress, with white tie, vest, shirt. Women wear long gowns.

Black Tie Optional

A Black Tie Optional or Black Tie Invited gives you the option of wearing a tuxedo or formal dress, but it should clue you into the formality of the event, meaning a dark suit and tie would be your other option. Women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.


Creative Black Tie

Creative Black Tie leaves room for trendy interpretations of formal wear. He can go more modern with a tux -- maybe a black shirt, no tie. She wears long or short dresses or evening separates.
Sometimes, themed parties call for dress codes like Texas Black Tie, or other variations of Creative Black Tie. In that situation, you can have more fun with it, choosing a dressy look with a theme (for him, it could be a tux with boots and for her it could be a long dress paired with Southwestern style silver belt and jewelry).

Resort formal is a designation for warm weather locales (like a beach wedding) where the women can wear something bright and lightweight (floral sundress for example.)

Semi-Formal

Semi-Formal or After Five means that tuxes are not required, nor are long dresses. An evening wedding (after 6 PM) would still dictate dark suits for him, and a cocktail dress for her. Daytime semi-formal events mean a suit for him and an appropriate short dress or dressy suit for her.


Business Formal is the same as Semi-Formal for him, but for women it suggests that women opt for more tailored dressy suits and dresses. The idea is to still be business appropriate -- which means nothing too sexy or slinky -- but still dressed up.

Cocktail Attire

Cocktail Attire means short, elegant dresses for her and dark suits for him. The little black dress is the ultimate cocktail dress and appropriate for most special occasions.

Informal is often interpreted as the same as Casual but it actually calls for the same dress as Semi-Formal -- dark suits for him, short dresses for her -- especially when associated with a wedding or special event.


Festive Attire

Festive Attire is usually seen around the holidays, with the mood of the party being Informal or Semi-Formal. For her, it means to choose looks with a bit of sparkle or holiday bent (i.e. a beaded sweater with black pants, a red silk blouse with a black skirt).


Casual

Dressy Casual calls for dressed-up versions of casual looks. For him, it could be trousers and a sportcoat, for her a dressy pants look. Jeans, shorts, T-shirts and other casual looks are not appropriate for Dressy Casual.


Casual generally means anything goes (including jeans, sneakers, etc.) If the host or hostess wants a more dressed-up approach, it would be dictated on the invite.

And when in doubt about what to wear, remember you can always ask the host or hostess what they expect party guests to wear.

Courtesy of About.com.

Dry Winter Skin

When we turn on our furnaces the heat dries out our skin. If you are over 50 your skin will dehydrate quickly. It's time to use the heavier facial moisturizers available in the skin care line that you already use. If you are not using a group of products, now is a good time to find something. You may want to investigate products in drug stores, department stores, salons or direct sales companies like Mary Kay and Avon. Every morning I splash my face in the basin over and over to remove my cleanser. This helps add hydration to the skin. I apply a moisturizing serum and cream moisturizer to trap the moisture on my skin. In the morning I apply a sunscreen that's formulated for the face with SPF 30 instead of foundation. If you have fine lines and wrinkles the illumination from the sunscreen ingredients will give your skin a dewy, youthful appearance. Foundation will seep into fine lines and wrinkles and leave a dry, matte appearance. Face powder will dry the skin even more by absorbing the moisture from your skin care products. Use it sparingly on the nose and chin and to seal your lipliner before applying lip stick.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Stop Bashing Big Business

Ever since the U.S. Presidential election there has been a real effort to bash people and companies who have achieved a high level of success. I thought the United States was founded on the principles of good business. Most of the very large corporations today were founded decades ago. Without big business there wouldn't be smaller businesses that provide supplies and services. The idea of adding more taxes to businesses doesn't make sense. What makes even less sense is the bashing of the families that started or own these businesses today. People don't realize how much these companies contribute to their communities by their enormous donations to charities and non-profits. Many of these organizations help the dis-advantaged and infirm in their communities that social programs do not cover. I attend charity fundraisers all the time. I see these business owners or their CEO's contributing large amounts of money to help keep the doors open for these great causes and organizations. We do the same with our family owned business, just on a smaller scale. We all agree that it's good to "give back" to the community that supports us. We also give to charities, organizations, school athletic programs and churches who come to us with a need for funds. It can be exhausting weeding through the abundant requests but my husband does this personally. He also serves on the Boards of several charities in our community for everything from grants to cancer and other types of disabilities. I take personal offense when someone who doesn't understand begins to bash people who own or run successful businesses that do so much for our community and our country. The new health care laws are already causing problems for big business. I hope that all of us can survive it.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Pretty Flat Shoes

Pretty flat shoes are appropriate for any occasion. A buckle on the toe looks best with jeans and tweed slacks and skirts. Flats with flowers or "blossoms" look best with dresses and dress slacks. Flats covered in sequins, glitter or "gems" are best saved for evening events when wearing silk, satin or clothes with embellishments. Flats with hardware like designer logos look good with nearly everything so they are a good investment. Plain flats can be worn with everything too depending on what they are made of. Rough leather looks casual while shiny materials look dressy. I have black patent leather flats that I wear frequently with suits and dressier clothes. They came in handy today when my husband and I attended an event. There weren't enough chairs for everyone so we stood for over an hour through all of the speeches. We also had to walk quite a distance to and from the parking lot so flats were a great choice.

Lily Pulitzer