Want a Great Coat for Very Little Cash?
We're in the middle of Winter's end sales at all the catalogues.  BCO Outlest, which does final clearances for all of the REDCATS companies (Woman Within, Roaman's, Jessica London etc.) has the best prices for final markdowns, but they won't have every size.  Sometimes they'll only have one lonely color in one size.
On the other hand, if that's the color and size you need, it's going to be half price or less.
If you have a bit of time on your hands, check the clearance sections of your favorite online sites and see if you get lucky!

Be Beautiful!
Knuti

SAD NEWS about WIDE SHOES:
David Tate Shoes No Longer Dependable.

It used to be that every time I tried on a David Tate shoe I was sure they'd fit.  David Tate was my source for pretty and dependable strappy sandals.  They were foot shaped (not pointed.) They were well made and comfortable to dance in.  While there weren't any 3" or higher heels for really DRESSY occasions, at least I used to trust David Tate.  But sometimes life is sad.  

I just sent back a very pretty heel that was supposed to be a size EE.  It was WAY narrower than an EE.  Forget "snug"!  I couldn't even get it on!
 
My old David Tate dress shoes still fit just the same as always, so we know the new ones aren't being made to the same standards, so, sadly, 

I TAKE BACK MY ENDORSEMENT OF DAVID TATE SHOES. 


Propet and Aravon

For dressy events, we still have Propet and Aravon.  Both make cute sandals that are comfortable and look nice (not spectacular, but good) with dresses and even semi-formal clothes.  

Aravon is a newish brand, compared to the others.  Their shoes cost about twice as much as Propet, with no visible difference in quality.  Also, for Aravon, I had to order one shoe size up and accept that to fit my shoe width, I'd have to accept 1/2 inch more length than I need.  Even so, they work.  I wore Aravon Clarissas to a slightly dressy party last weekend and a few people commented favorably on them.


Be Beautiful!
Knuti

Like Lace?  Check Roaman's and BCO
Roamans.com has a few really pretty pieces right now with lots of lace.  short sleeved or no-sleeve dresses and tops are fairly easy to find, but they do have a few long sleeve items as well.
Mostly polyester.  
I found two long sleeved, 30" long tunics.  The "Juliet" "lace big shirt is really pretty in a salmon color they call "sweet melon", a shade of turquoise blue, a pinkish beige, and blue-navy,   I also like the "Emma" clip dot chiffon tunic.  I wish they had a longer length that would fit me the way this fits the model. 

BCO.com (the Redcats group discount outlet) has at least three 30" tunics.  
The first is a lace trim chiffon tunic from Roamans with an elbow length sleeve.  It comes in oatmeal and the pinkish beige they call "pretty taupe".  It's has lace sleeves and yoke for $29.99  
They also have a 30" long, 3/4 length sleeve top with lace inserts covering the shoulder and outer 5th of the sleeves.  This one is made of cotton/modal.  
For cotton/spandex, try the crinkle knit gauze ruffle tunic with eyelet.  It's from Roamans. but apparently BCO is handling the  outlet, clearing the final sizes.

These are only a few of the lace items in the catalog.
Just remember, at BCO, these are discount outlet prices and limited quantities.  It you're interested move fast, because they often go FAST.

Be beautiful!
Knuti

Keep Summer Cool: Pretty Gauze from Ulla Popken and Woman Within

Cotton gauze is showing up in many of the catalogues this season, so grab what you can before the heat soars and you wish you had it.    

Cotton gaze is a lightweight, crinkly fabric that dries very quickly, lets heat and moisture leave your body.  

If you choose light colored, or better yet, white fabric, it actually reflects the heat rays of the sun.  

If you get long sleeves and full length legs, you're giving yourself some protection from both sunburn and mosquitoes. 

Nothing's perfect.  I've gotten mosquito bites through thick denim jeans.  And the thinner the gauze, the less UV protection it affords.  Still, for summer, gauze does what every other fabric claims to do.  It absorbs moisture from you and then dries quickly, actually cooling you off in the process!

If you want to increase this cooling effect, fill a spray mister with water and lightly dampen your shoulders and chest.  (Remember, I said "dampen" not "soak")   As the water evaporates it will cool the surface it was on and that means a cooler you!

If you have hot flashes, you may want to live year round in this fabric.

Gauze is intended for designs that aren't tight.  But they don't have to be tent-shaped either.  Unless you're doing ballet stretches, the crinkled weave of the gauze has a lot of "give" and will get you through most daily activities.
Be aware, though, that if you add spandex to the blend it looks nicer in many ways (drape, flexibility, less shrinkage) BUT, it blocks part of the cooling effect.  

IS gauze a new invention?  Not at all, but until recently it was hard to find in stylish clothing.  Now several catalogues are carrying it.

You can find it at most sites.  I found a really nice cluster of gauze items at Ulla Popken:

Ulla Popken (ullapopken.com) has 32" long, button-front tunics with long sleeves.  These can be worn as shirts, jackets, or swimsuit cover-ups.  They come in reddish orange, lapis blue, green, white, black and a pretty teal, white, navy & blue stripe.#12441, $39. 

They also have matching pants which, at 28" long will hit you at the ankle or as a capri.

On the opposite page they feature a 50" long gauze dress (sleeveless) in a blue & white or red/orange and white fern print.  This is an empire shape, not a boxy or bag lady look.  
Next to it is a pull-over tunic in lapis or green, with white scroll work embroidery  directing your attention away from the hips to the chest area.

 Woman Within (womanwithin.com) has 20 gauze pieces available in bright colors and whites.  Woman within's prices run cheaper than Ulla Popken, but the price difference doesn't show in a quality difference.
Most of the Tunics are 30" long.
Especially worth notice is the "gauze skirt" which is full, fully lined, 34" long, $29-$34.  It comes in black and a cute print that incorporates all 6 of the the colors their cute "gauze tunic" (long sleeves, 30" long, $29-$34, comes in.  Great outfits for partying or just chillin'.

Be beautiful!  And comfortable!
Knuti

Roamans

Roamans Spring line CUTE! (more so than usual)



Roamans (of the Redcats Group) is a site to watch.  For decades they had the same ol' same ol':  Polyester blend standards.  A line skirts with predictable patterns that would have made Mrs Cleaver yawn.  But lately Roamans.com has been providing some pleasant surprises including fun looks and natural fibers.

And we must Never forget the Roamans.com return policy:  Anything, anytime, forever.

Get a Bra that FITS!

Get a Bra that FITS!
Please tell me you don't just bop into a store and buy a bra "in your size" because "It doesn't matter.  They all hurt and sag."

While elastic Does eventually stretch out and die, and that process might hurt the elastic, it shouldn't hurt YOU.

Your bra straps should NEVER dig.  You DON'T have to put up with  pain when you take your bra off and it pulls out of the red underwire indentations beneath your breasts.
Your breasts should point FORWARD, not down.  IF they point down, either your cups and/or band/and/or straps are LOOSE, or they're tight.  Either situations can cause that problem.  Chances are you know if it's loose.  Often women are so used to bras that are too small, they think that's how they're supposed to be!

If you get a new bra, the size you order it by is the "chest band" size with a "cup" size next to it.
For instance, if you look at a "Size 46-B':  46 inches is length of the band that goes completely around your chest to support the weight of your breasts and spread it around your body. 

I've had professionals, at different stores, but selling the same bra brand, measure my chest band above my breasts, then under my arms and around my back, AND directly beneath my breasts, then under my arms and around my back.  On me, those are very different measurements, but at least, when I (or any other customer) try a bra on, I can feel if its very loose or very tight.  The important thing to remember is that the chest band size  is easy to adjust.  Besides the multiple hooks, you could take 4 minutes and stitch a tuck into the back of the strap to shorten it, or buy and extender at a fabric or crafts store.  Chest bands can be adjusted easily.  Cups can't.
Cups are made of the underwire and the fabric.
I f you looked at yourself in the mirror and followed the exact line along which your breast angles out from your lower ribs.  That line is where the underwire of a bra should run.  Not an inch away, not overlapping or squashing breast tissue, not 3 inches down your midriff, but within a half inch of the base of your breast.   
The exception is if you have a prosthetic or substantial "pad" for cosmetic reasons, in which case the underwire should follow a natural-looking pathway and you need to make sure it's in the same position each day.
If the underwire's arch is too narrow, sitting on some portion of your breast instead of next to it;  or too wide, leaving a gap between your breast and the base of the bra, try ordering a different chest band size.  Larger chest bands usually have larger circumferences on the cups.  Likewise, smaller chest band sizes usually have smaller circumference cups. 
"Cup size" really means how far the cup sticks out from your body, or, if you were holding the cup in front of you, how deep is it?  
The depth, shape and circumference of the cup is vaguely hinted at by the letters (AA, A, B, C, D etc to R.)  Most stores try to fit women who can wear a DD cup.  If you're an F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, etc...  They'll often still try to get you to buy a size they have in stock.
Worse yet, these sizes aren't standardized.  
If your breasts are shaped like half-melons and mine are cone-shaped, our measurements will very likely get us the same bras, but they won't fit the same.
So we're stuck with experimenting, and each new brand is likely to fit differently.  
 You WILL be returning bras because of non-standard sizing.  Not your fault.  There is nothing wrong with your breasts. 
Once you find a brand with a style that works for you, watch the reviews on websites.  Women frequently compare the fit of a new style of bra to other styles that you may have tried.  This is good information!


The fabric portion of the cup has to be made of a fabric that won't stretch out and lose its shape  AND is porous enough to allow your skin to breath.  If sweat (which is made of water,ammonia and salt, among other things) can't dry because of layers of foam or plastic that trap it next to your skin, that's BAD.  You can get burns and rashes (diaper rash, only grown up style.)

If the cup is too big it will be loose around the base of your breast or may "bag", feeling too long for your shape. It may not offer the support you need.
If the cup is too small, a bra that seemed perfect in the store goes bad and attacks you.
When you first tried it on, its elastic was brand new and strong enough to compress your breasts so much that they appeared to fit into it.  
The bra actually compressed the fluid right out of your breasts.  But fairly soon the elastic starts to give.  As it stretches out, your breasts may begin to bulge over the top or past the sides of the underwires.  As the band stretches more and more, the weight of your breast  pushes the top edges of the cup away from your chest bone, exposing cleavage that didn't show before the bra's elastic started sagging.  As the top of your breast is more exposed you'll notice that your breast profile starts heading South.  
This is NOT because you have saggy breasts.The problem is that the upper edge of your bra is the most likely to give to the pressure of your decompressing breasts.  The bra can't grow, so the only direction it can move you is further and further downward.  A too-small bra could make Helen of Troy look saggy within two months.  But looks aren't your biggest problem by now:
While the weight of your breasts isn't supported, it's pushes the upper half of the underwires (that support your over-stuffed cups) forward, forcing the lower edge of the underwires to dig into your rib cage, usually painfully. 

Even worse, pushing the bra cup forward, puts your breast weight onto the bra straps!  

In a well fitted bra, the straps are like an insurance policy.  They're supposed to hold the top edge of your bra up as you move around, but shouldn't support weight.  If you put weight on them, they dig into your shoulders.

So, let's recap.  (Or re-cup?)
If you have the
1: right size cup and
2: the chest band is adjusted to the right length, (snug but not tight) , then
3: the weight of your breasts is supported by the underwires positioned vertically, right against your ribs and breast bone, and the chest band going around your back.  
The construction is stabilized, but not supported by
4: your bra straps, (which should be snug, but never tight).  

So, the cup is the key.  If your underwires fit the outline of your breast, the cup size accommodates your breast without compressing it or making it bulge out, and the cup is made of a fabric that breathes, and will keep its shape, wash after wash, you've got the biggest problem under control.  
All you have to do now is adjust the chest band and the shoulder straps.  

You'd think doctors and bra salespeople would know this, but most don't.
  
I was even asked if I'd like to have breast reduction surgery (covered by my medical plan) to get rid of the horrible indentations in my shoulders from my bra straps.  I said "No." and began to research this stuff.  
Now you know it too.
 
Be Beautiful! 
K

 Cute, Lightweight, Even SEXY COTTON BRAS at SimplyBe.com

Summer is almost upon us.  And summer is the season where cotton bras are a godsend.  

SimplyBe.com has a nice group of cotton and mostly cotton underwire bras in sizes up to 44 M.  Pay special attention to their 2-packs (2 bras for the price of 1!) usually in the $30-$40 range.

None of this matters if you don't get the right fit.  (Refer to Get a Bra that FITS!)


I just ordered four cute cotton bras, thinking I'd send the ones I didn''t like back, but it turns out I'm keeping all four.  They're very pretty.  Some are low-cut ("balconnette" style). One is half lace. 

Although they offer great support in a J cup, these are not old-fashioned "orthopedic" bras.  They're also very cool and comfortable and pretty.  

The only down side is that unlike the orthopedic, multi-layers of fabric and foam competition,  you have to hand wash them. I don't like hand washing, but in this case, I'll manage.

Be beautiful!
k