So the other day I was on Twitter and a friend posted that she and several friends had dressed up for a 90’s party. My first thought was, “Oh how fun! I love dressing up in old outfits! I bet they really came up with some outrageous outfits!!” And then I clicked on the pictures. Ahem. Y’al, I about DIED to realize that I OWN and regularly wear outfits just like those!! After I stopped laughing, I immediately contacted Megan LaRussa.

Megan is a Birmingham-based stylist. She works with women all over the south to help them pull together a stye that is contemporary and yet “them”. She writes about her fashion coaching (and gives FABULOUS style tips) on her blog, www.SouthernFemme.com.

I knew Megan could give moms like us some tips on pulling together a look that works for us functionally, but yet gives us some style as well. Many thanks to Megan for sharing with us today!!

THE TOP 3 WAYS TO BE EFFORTLESSLY STYLISH AT ANY AGE
By: Megan LaRussa of Southern Femme

As a Style Coach I work with moms of all ages to instill both style and confidence into their everyday life…without spending a ton of time and energy doing so! With each decade, your personal style, body type and budget will all change and develop. This happens to EVERY woman so no need to feel alone or frustrated anymore!

But if you ever feel overwhelmed at times knowing:
*What is ‘age appropriate’
*What clothing looks ‘frumpy and dumpy’ on YOU
*How to handle getting ‘a little lost’ along the way with your personal style, dressing your body, and even where to shop
*How to ‘just say no’ to sharing clothing with your young daughters
….AND SO MUCH MORE!

Why is staying current and chic important? Why is it even worth your time? Remember your clothes speak for YOU. Make sure they know what to say. Your clothing is a form of social communication, and let’s be honest a ‘good outfit/hair/skin’ day can make life a little more pleasurable ☺

Image courtesy of Vogue

And in the words of famous fashion designer Marc Jacobs…

“All you need is confidence, comfort and the pleasure of dressing.”

I’m going to teach you how to achieve all 3 of these things!

#1: Know Your Body Type:

Your body type will change over the years, and thus so should your wardrobe. If you know your real body type and what styles, colors and shapes look good on your figure then you will always look your best AND can easily look 5-10 lbs slimmer!

Take your measurements to know your accurate body type!

One of the most important tips for women of all body types is to remember dressing is about balance. If you are wearing a voluminous, tunic style top always pair it with a straight leg jean or pant, and vice versa.

Coco Channel said it perfectly, “Fashion is architecture. It is a matter of proportions.”

The ultimate style icon, Coco Chanel

#2: Get Inspired! Learn to Enjoy your Personal Style:

Similar to your body type, your personal style may evolve over time perhaps from funky and trendy in your 20’s, 30’s, & 40’s, to more classic with a trendy edge through your accessories in your 50’s & 60’s. Or maybe you’ve ‘lost’ your style over the years and need a refresher course and some inspiration!

Stylish Femme & Designer, Vera Wang showing off her personal style in her own closet.

The BEST (and most fun/least expensive) way to gain a good feel for your style is reading magazines, blogs, and even creating inspiration boards on Pinterest. Simply, go through magazines and blogs, then pull/pin images that you are attracted to. Everything from colors, total looks, hairstyles, accessories or certain pieces. When you go back through what you’ve marked, you will see a pattern of what you love. And better yet you’ll have a series of style inspiration images for those mornings when you feel like you ‘have nothing to wear’.

#3: Have Quality Basics that are UP-TO-DATE.

When you have well-fitting, quality basics they will allow you to build multi dimensional outfits in your wardrobe. What was fashionable in the 80’s will usually NOT still be stylish today, so ladies say goodbye (and thank you for the good times!) to those items that are just plain dated. But if you invest in quality, timeless pieces they can last you decades!

10 Items to consider:
1. Wrap dress

Select a wrap dress, like a DvF one, with a thicker fabric for a more flattering silhouette.

2. Black pencil skirt (that hits right at the center of your knee cap)

3. Dark wash jeans (2 pairs, one hemmed to flats & 1 hemmed to heels)

4. Ballet flats

50-something French style icon, Ines de la Fressange sporting a basic tee, ballet flats, and dark wash jeans!

5. Basic black & nude pumps (select a pump with a slightly rounded, slightly pointed toe, that is more likely to remain in style than super pointed or square)

6. I tell every single style coaching client that they must have a basic black fitted cardigan in their wardrobe. Invest in a great quality cardigan in a heavier fabric like cashmere for fall and winter, and a lightweight cotton one for spring/summer.

7. Black opaque tights (NO sheer black tights!)

8. Black and/or metallic clutch for evening- never wear your every day purse when going to a nicer dinner or function.

9. Black trousers- pick the shape of the pant based on your body type. So if you are curvier, pick a boot cut trouser. If you are more pencil shaped, you can pick one that is straight legged. AND steer clear of anything that is too low-rise OR high-rise. Anything that has an 80’s waistline or fit needs to go!

10. Basic quality white tee. They are a great basic for your weekend looks. Try it with a pencil skirt+ cardigan + flats, OR with jeans + a cute flat or boot. Wear your blazer from your black suit with your white v-neck tee, jeans and ballet flats for the perfect casual outfit. It’s très Parisian and classic!

Alright ladies, now that you know the top 3 ways to be effortlessly chic every.single.day, I want you to actually put these tips into action. Just like you would learn to play the piano or learn to speak French by practicing, same goes for learning to be stylish!

And I leave you with one of my favorite quotes…

“I have never known a really chic woman whose appearance was not, in large part, an outward reflection of her inner self”.
—Mainboucher, couturier and former Editor in Chief of French Vogue.

Yours in Style,

Megan

Megan LaRussa
Style Director of Southern Femme
Style Coach/Wardrobe Stylist
www.southernfemme.com
[email protected]

P.S. Want more style?? I invite you to check out the Style Yourself Chic in 30 Days program!

Linking up with:

Home Stories A to Z

As I told you last week, the Hill Hangout is getting a new ‘do. And as you can see, HERE IT IS!!! I am so excited to have worked with Aimee at www.byAimee.com to create a new look that is more professional and easier for you all to find what you are looking for. There are still some tweaks to be made and some content to fill in, but we just couldn’t wait to show you. Again, the message of The Hill Hangout will still be the same, but we are so excited to have an updated method of providing it to you. Please take a look around!!

I was looking around the internet today for some creative ideas on how to organize my swimsuits and cover-ups. I’m out of drawer space, so I needed a new idea. I came across this fabulous tutorial on how to organize almost every hot spot in your home. Now, I know that this type of organization is not possible, or even desired, for some of us, but there are so many great tools and techniques here that I will definitely be using some of them on cluttered areas in our home.

Such great ideas, but the only question she didn’t answer is the one about how to store my swimsuits. Any ideas?

Y’all, we’re doing some celebrating around here.

Okay, so maybe I’m celebrating a little more than you will, but come on and humor me.

I have been working with the fabulous Aimee at www.ByAimee.com to give The Hill Hangout a new look!!!

While I have loved each of the looks we’ve had over the years, I have finally bitten the bullet and hired someone to design a more professional look around here. As The Hill Hangout has changed and grown, I have really needed to have someone with blog design expertise step up our look. I gave Aimee a few color schemes and a graphic choice or two, and turned her loose on the design. I absolutely LOVE what Aimee has come up with and can’t wait to see how it all comes together.

Although we’re getting a new look, everything you know and love about The Hill Hangout is still here. All of the posts are still available. The sidebars might be moves around a little, but they are still there. And most of all, the mission and purpose of The Hill Hangout will remain unchanged. I hope that the new look will serve only to make the site more organized and friendly to my dear readers. Thank you so much for coming back to The Hill Hangout day after day. I love having you share in our lives!

The winners of a three-pack of Fish Foam Window Cleaner are:

Courtney Head

Linda

Joy Sowell

Ladies, email me your shipping address and I’ll get your product out to you right away. Thanks for playing!

This is spring break week here at The Hill Hangout. We have put the homeschooling books away and taken the week off. We thought long and hard about how to spend our week o’ freedom. We considered a trip to the beach, but my folks were not going to be there. We thought about a trip to Mississippi, but in the end the girls decided to stay around Birmingham and play with their friends. We don’t get to spend nearly as much time as we’d like playing with friends because of school and ballet and church and soccer and everything else we have going on. So that’s what they wanted to do, and it sounded like a great plan to me.

One of the reasons I was so hung-ho on the girls’ plan is because I know I will have plenty of time to knock out a few projects around the house. I have a few sewing projects, some cooking to stock the freezer, and since there is yellow dust all over creation, I have some deep spring cleaning to do. Yay for Fish Foam.

Y’all, I had no idea what this stuff was until Nathan at Fish Foam emailed me to see if I’d mind trying out Fish Foam and writing a review for you all. I had to google it to see what it was. Well, it was a foam window cleaner, and boy do I have windows that need cleaning! So I quickly told Nathan that if he’d give away some of it to you all, then I’d be happy to give it a try. In the back of my mind I was thinking, “It’s window cleaner. How exciting can it be? I mean, Windex really isn’t all that fun to talk about.” Well…

Little Pitter Patter had been entertaining herself in front of one of my mirrors for a few days, and as I caught a glimpse of said mirror I was shocked at how much grime she’d gotten on it. I chuckled as I sprayed on the brand new can of Fish Foam thinking the mess would give this red can a run for it’s money. Observation #1: It was thick and foamy and didn’t run down my mirror. (hence the name Fish FOAM.) This might not sound like anything earth-shattering, but it meant that the cleaner stayed on the dirty spot, soaking in well, instead of dripping down. Observation #2: When I wiped, I was truly shocked at how clean the mirror was. It reminded me of Through The Looking Glass and made me feel like I could just step right through. It was CLEAN. Observation #3: I didn’t have to scrub away streaks. Because Fish Foam is alcohol-based instead of ammonia-based, it does not street AT ALL. Y’all, I have never had an easier time cleaning mirrors in my life. I was truly so shocked at how well it worked that I started looking around the house to find areas to try it.

Toothpaste on the bathroom mirrors: no problem.

Water marks on the dishwasher door: check.

Fingerprints on the fridge: perfect.

Glass cooktop: spotless.

30 year old windows: look like new.

The next projects I’m going to tackle are my shower door and the pollen-covered outside of my windows. I feel strongly that Fish Foam is up to the challenge.

You can order Fish Foam from their website at www.fishfoam.com. You can buy by the bottle ($4.95), by the three-pack ($13.95), or by the case (12 cans for $42.95). The fine folks at Fish Foam have graciously agreed to give away 3 three-packs to my readers. You have until Friday, March 23, 2012, at noon to enter. Fish Foam will ship to the lower 48 states only, so my winners must come from there. Here’s how you can enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me where you’ll use Fish Foam. (1 entry per person)

2. Subscribe to the RSS feed of The Hill Hangout by clicking on the orange button under “Subscribe” in the top right-hand corner of this page. (1 entry)

3. Tweet the link to this giveaway and include @TheHillHangout so I’ll see it. (1 entry)

4. “Like” our Facebook page. You can do that on the right-hand column of this page. (1 entry)

5. Blog about this giveaway, including a link back to this post. (1 entry)

Please leave a comment and for each way you’ve entered and let me know. If you don’t, your entry won’t be counted.

If you don’t win, just go ahead and order Fish Foam directly from their website. I’ll definitely be ordering more when I run out. I’m never going back to the blue stuff again!

I follow what seems like a million of the join-and-buy sites that offer everything from children’s clothing to home furnishings, but I’m not sure I’ve ever bought from a single one of them. Until today.

I’ve been following Joss & Main for a while, and they have some very lovely home furnishings for great prices. Today I decided to glance through their site, and I found the perfect bedding for Pitter Patter’s room! I can’t tell you how excited I am about this because I have been paralyzed by perfection in her room. I haven’t been able to find the PERFECT bedding, so I just haven’t bought anything. And the poor girl has been sleeping with sheets and blankets for way too long. I was really beginning to feel bad about it because her room looks pitiful. However, I now have this beautiful Ferran-New York bedding on the way:

(Sorry about the tiny pics. That’s the best I could do!!)

I ordered the duvets and the shams. Once the room comes together a little better, I’ll post pics. The bedding was only a part of what needs to be done in her room. Next up – fabric headboards and draperies. We’re making progress. Maybe I’ll have it finished before she outgrows it! Haha!

Part of our kitchen reno a few weeks ago was to remove the soffits above our cabinets, using the extra space to raise our cabinets to the ceiling. This left a space above our kitchen window which had once been wood-paneled soffit. Perfect spot to bring in a little color and texture with fabric!

I got lucky ducky and found a piece of fabric I loved at Premier Fabrics in Meridian, Mississippi, for $4.00 per yard. Actually, I ran into my friend Amanda while at Premier and she showed me this great fabric in the clearance room that she was considering for a shower curtain in her children’s bathroom, and I promptly snatched up a yard and a half of it for my own space. The colors were perfect, the design was fun, and there was enough for both of us to have plenty for our projects.

Now, I’m not a seamstress. I hardly know the basics of sewing enough to limp by on a project like draperies. But I knew I wanted a classic Roman shade, and I’d seen lots of tutorials on Pinterest and blogs about how easy they are. I followed Darby’s tutorial most closely, but actually went with a combination of several different methods. The most helpful and time-saving tip I found was to use tension rods to make the pleats. Shazam! That genius idea saved me a ton of money, a ton of sewing, and a ton of frustration. And they keeps the pleats from sagging in the middle. Here’s how it turned out:

Sconces are so pretty. I am happy to see them as a re-emerging trend in interior design lately. I’ve noticed them all over Pinterest, Houzz, and blog-land. They’ve traditionally been most commonly used to flank a bathroom mirror or master bed. But lately I’ve seen them used beautifully in hallways, living rooms, and dining rooms.