It's After Labor Day!

It's after Labor Day, and you know what that means. Yes, you must put away any white shoes and white pants that you have been wearing - that is if you are in the USA. If you are in Brazil (or anywhere else below the Equator)you can ignore this rule; however, even Catherine Zeta-Jones shouldn't wear white pants in the US after Labor Day - and wearing white shoes is infinitely worse!
While we are on some "rules" or fashion faux pas, here's another: don't wear light, bright blue eyeshadow. First, it isn't in style, second, it won't make blue eyes look bluer, and third, it really doesn't look good on anyone.



In most places in the USA, it's still too hot to wear long sleeves or anything remotely resembling Fall clothing. Seasonless clothing that will keep you comfortable includes khaki pants and skirts, crisp white cotton blouses, dressy tees, and black and navy as long as it's in cotton.
One of the best bets for the next month or two are tops (tees and shirts) with three-quarter length sleeves. They are perfect for cooler mornings and hot afternoons. This year the fashion magazines are full of three quarter and shorter sleeved sweaters as well - great for transitioning into colder weather.
For work at least, put aside those brighter summer clothes, the light linens, and of course the whites. For many people, wearing those summer clothes now is going to make you look like the French Quarter the day after Mardi Gras.


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Get Ready for Fall!!

Okay, if you are on vacation (as most of Europe is right now) lucky, lucky you! However, if you are like many of us in America, especially those who have children, the "Fall" semester has begun for the new school year, and that means new schedules, routines, work, and yes, new clothes!
The temperature here has reached 101 F in the last week, so despite that "Fall" semester business, we are definitely having summer weather.
So, what to do?
This is a great time of year to stay indoors and start preparing your closet for the Fall/Winter to come. How? You've read about this process before, many times, I'm sure, but the process is still tried and true, so stay under the air conditioning and get into that closet!

• Get a small notebook. You need to make a list of the clothes and accessories that you will really need for this Fall and Winter. If you don't write down that your only black cashmere cardigan has moth-holes in it, you won't remember to buy a new one, and to look for new ways to store that sweater next year so that the moths stay away.
• Clear one drawer - this is where you'll put all the summer things that you're going to be wearing before Fall really kicks in. Go through your summer pieces and put away those things like stark white pants that you can only wear another week or so anyway.
• Have one section (small) of your closet where you put the hanging summer clothes you'll be wearing for at least another month. Put away very obviously summer clothing that won't do for your workplace, if you work outside the home.
• This is a good time to throw away summer clothes that you know you won't wear again because they're stained, they shrank, they are too trendy to be in next year.
• Give away summer clothes that were from last year, yet you didn't wear them all summer because they no longer fit, you don't care for them, whatever. Pass them on to someone who will wear them. And you won't have to deal with them next April when you're getting ready for summer again.
  
• Check your summer shoes and either toss them, give them away, or reserve them for next year.
• Now, go through the clothes that some people call "seasonless" although few clothes actually fit that description. Some you may not have put away (khaki pants?), some you may have with Fall clothing (black cotton slacks?). Unless you live where there are harsh winters or in the tropics, much of your clothing will (should) fall into this "seasonless" category. (I've found that "seasonless" often means that it is wearable anytime except the hottest summer days and the most frigid winter days).
• You don't have to go through all your winter clothing right now ---the scratchy wool, the thick turtleneck sweaters. Save going through these for the end of September. But do look at all of your jackets/blazers and your cardigans because these pieces see you through non-coat weather, and then through the coldest winter days as well.
• If you colour-coordinate your wardrobe, then be sure that both tops and bottoms still fit properly and check for stains, tears, etc. , anything that would prevent your wearing it.
• Have a category that needs to go to the cleaners, a category that may need repairs or simple work before you can wear it again, and of course, if you can't wear it - get rid of it!
• Check your Fall shoes. Make notes on which colours and styles need to be replaced, what can be resoled, what needs to be thrown away, which should be given away.
• If there is anything that you didn't wear last year that you still have: throw it away or give it away!

This is just a beginning, but you should know what you have to mend (or have mended), what should be cleaned, and most valuable of all - the clothing you are going to have to purchase to wear during the next 6 months.

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