Choosing an Evening Blouse

For special evening occasions stylish, elegant evening dresses always looks great. Nevertheless, evening blouses or top teamed with skirt or trousers, can look equally glamorous, and is becoming more popular this year.

Separates are much more versatile than an evening dress, and can be dressed up or down, depending on the occasion. A few key items can carry you through the season and you won’t need to spend a fortune on a single dress that you won’t feel like wearing when everyone has seen it!

Choose colour and fabrics with care – a slim fitting ankle length skirt in either velvet or silk material will never date, and look chic and elegant teamed with a white silk evening blouse or beaded cami top. For a trendy and daring look choose a sexy, form-fitting bustier! Online retailers, Littlewoods, Roman Originals and Coast have some fantastic items for sale. Trinny & Susannah have an affordable range of elegant evening wear available at Littlewoods, which is definitely worth a look.

Your evening wear can easily be changed by teaming the same basic ankle length skirt with a longer length patterned top. A key look this year is wide fitting trousers worn together with a flowing low neck top, cinched in with a glittering gold belt. Evening sandals can be teamed with the belt, along with earrings and other jewellery. If you want to be really daring, choose a transparent top in either chiffon or taffeta, with or without underwear!

Choosing a couple of key items plus blouses and tops for evenings is the popular choice for this season. It’s much more sensible in many ways and can take you anywhere. Another plus is laundering. If an evening dress becomes stained the whole garment needs to be laundered or dry cleaned, whereas a blouse or skirt is more easily dealt with. It’s no wonder that separate evening wear is becoming popular this year.

Choosing the perfect evening dress

Choosing an evening dress can be a daunting experience for any occasion but it can be made much worse if the occasion is a works ‘do’, Here are some basic rules that should be observed for choosing an evening dress for any occasion:

•    The fit – it is essential that the evening dress fits well, no matter what the designer name is if the dress is ill-fitting it will look awful. To ensure a good fit be honest and perhaps seek a second opinion when choosing the dress. Ensure the dress fits perfectly and it will look great.

•    Know what looks good on and stick to this style – it is great to be fashionable and trendy but only if the style suits. It is also very good to personalise a particular look with accessories, jewellery or make-up.

•    Be sure of what the event is and dress accordingly, is it a cocktail event, or a sit down dinner event, is it going to be indoors or outdoors, or even on water.

•    Know your budget- Budget for the whole outfit, including shoes, accessories, jewellery, make-up and perhaps even a hair appointment;

•    Lastly, be aware of the current fashion trends and if purchasing a new dress go for something that is appropriate for the occasion and suitable for you and your body shape.

For spring there are lots of very pretty feminine evening dresses in the shops, and there are styles suitable for formal events or more casual events. Damart are also a popular retailer for beautiful evening dresses.

The in vogue colours range from metallic to pretty pastel pinks, but the you would have to be very confident to carry off the more eye catching cuts and colours, after all nothing is worse than feeling uncomfortable at a formal event. For a works ‘do’ it might be best to avoid anything to revealing or too sheer, there is always the classic little black dress or even if the weather is nice a white dress linen ensemble. This spring accessories are bold but should not be overdone. Remember a shawl or pashmina is always useful, especially when the weather is as unpredictable as it has been of late.

Evening Wear for Spring

Spring has at last arrived and for many of us it is the first opportunity in the year to have a really good look in our wardrobes and partake of a fashion update. The spring fashion forecast is bright and beautiful, whether is it for evening wear or day wear. Bold colours, feminine shapes and lots of texture are on the spring/summer fashion calendar. Sheer and floaty fabrics were very popular in the collections for spring 2009 but unpredictable weather requires most of us to have something handy in case a sudden shower appears. The likes of Tommy Hilfiger have redesigned the traditional Mac and there are plenty new Macs available in silks and satins that are lightweight but will give some extra coverage if the weather changes.

Many of us love the classic little black dress and usually buy one for each new season however this spring sees the arrival of the little white linen dress. White is a popular colour this spring and many of the delightful Grecian or asymmetrical style dresses come in various shades of white. However it is not only dresses that are in for the spring, many designers have reintroduced trousers to their collections. There are many trouser styles available from harem pants to really skinny jeans and casual trousers. Trousers should be teamed with sheer silky tops, perhaps with a print of this season’s most popular motif, the butterfly.

Very often spring has the better weather of the year and there are plenty of sundresses in this season’s collections, sundresses are light and floaty with ruffles still in fashion from last year and easy adapted into evening wear. The must have accessory for Spring is the very long, dangly earring, but these earrings should not be mixed with other bulky jewellery such as the new collar necklaces, it is very much either earring or collar necklace for this look. Again high heels are a must and there are styles for all occasions.

When did dress down day become dress down week?

In this day and age we hear a lot about the problems we face as a culture, in that it is said society has become rude and less upholding of standards. Many people also say customer service has deteriorated.

It may seem like a stretch of the imagination, but I believe this may well be linked to the disappearance of the classy, tailored suit. Dressing to impress commands respect and displays professionalism, it is assertive.

More and more workplaces allow their staff to wear whatever they please, and in doing so may also be allowing their workplaces to become overly relaxed. However, it should also be noted that freedom of expression is of huge importance to a great many people and the freedom to wear what they please makes most people feel at ease and relaxed.

I’d suggest there is a happy medium – bring back class, bring back style – but bring it back in a modern way – there is no reason why we cannot be ourselves but in a smart, sophisticated way.

Christmas gifts for the man in your life

It’s that time of year again when the nights draw closer but the shops are still open till late at night to accommodate the high amount of frenzied shopping going on. Yes, it’s the run up to Christmas. Perhaps the biggest stress for people during this busy period is the buying of the gifts for family and friends; it can be a difficult process with so much variety to choose from! It is even difficult when you have to buy for the opposite sex! It sometimes appears that men don’t understand what women want women don’t understand what men want unless blunt hints are dangled in front of their faces. Many people seem to believe that it is harder to buy from him than her. I think that men prefer practical gifts than one off novelty gifts. Many men would appreciate good mens Berghaus jackets to accompany them when opening their gifts on Christmas morning as it is many yet practical.

What other gifts are popular for him. For the more mature man I would have to say that aftershave and other types of fragrances are perhaps one of the most popular gifts for men. Why? They are perhaps something of a luxury and offer practicality as everyman uses them, or I should hope they do! Some of the most popular fragrances come from companies such as Diesel, Dolce and Gabbana and Hugo Boss and these companies offer excellently presented Christmas packages that come with a selection of different items in a special package. The other good thing about fragrances for men is that around Christmas you can find some excellent deals, especially at Boots.

Furthermore, men like to feel like men. Therefore, some typical guy gifts are always a hit at Christmas and there is so much on offer. There are many websites that are dedicated to male gifts and you can find anything from mini fridges for keeping beers cold whilst watching football to trips around the world’s football stadiums and even to paintball sets. As I have hinted before, football is a popular theme of Christmas gifts from him and will always go down a treat. The latest replica football shirts are always a good option with a personalised name on the back. However, please be warned that you should buy the shirt of the club that they support as you may have to put up with a disgruntled man on Christmas day!

It is obvious that every man will have different tastes and personalities but if you cannot find a special gift that is personal to that person then I feel that a fragrance set is the best Christmas gift for him on offer but there are so many other options for you to choose which means you will always find something ideal. So, as it turns out, men aren’t that difficult to buy for after all!