I participated in a conference call a few months ago with Sam Saboura from the ABC’s Extreme Makeover. Sam could not have been more informative about how to be a “recessionista” in money conscious times.
After about 5 years as a SAHM and a previous 5-plus year stint as a pregnant, at-home with babies through preschoolers, sweatpants wearing work-at-home mom, my wardrobe was (and still to some extent is) not stylish or fashion forward. Since August I have attended almost a dozen events which I would describe as semiformal/business attire. Now I have no idea what that really means…I just know that my wardrobe has flashes of style with a heaping dose of drab and dowdy.
Sam Saboura’s Real Style: Style Secrets for Real Women with Real Bodies provides practical tips on “must-have” basics, what is a “proper fit,” “get odd with brooches,” and how to decide what length of skirt you need. The illustrations in Saboura’s book show normal looking women with curves, disproportionate proportions, and whatever else makes choosing clothes difficult.
My favorite Sam style tips:
- Layer your tees and tops.
- Layer lightweight tops on top of other tops — not too bulky.
- Roll up pants.
- Capri pants are O.K. — Yay! For us short people, capri pants mean “no hemming”!
- Add accessories. An inexpensive way to be trendy w/o breaking the bank.
- Mix the following colors in unusual ways: peach, ocean, red, and green.
- Color has energy. for those that wear black and grey, adding a color to your outfit can be unexpected.
- Sam had good advice about prints: Petite should avoid large prints while full figure should avoid small prints.
The conference call was sponsored by Clorox 2 Stain Fighter and Color Booster, so Sam had some laundry tips, too.
- Wash jeans inside out and line dry = saves energy.
- Add Clorox 2 or similar to preserve color.
- Swim suits – soak in pretreater to keep suits bright. Also, lay suits flat to dry.
- Don’t wring out clothes (Sam would have shuddered at my grandmother’s mangle — she fed clothes through this device to squeeze water out of clothes.)
Sam even had tips for kids:
- Mix trendy clothes with basics.
- Shop online AND off season for good deals.
- Mix and match or even mismatch works as long as child uses the same colors (My preteen may have a bone to pick with Sam as she is the “mixes plaid with stripes and possibly something neon thrown in for good measure.”)
- Let kids dress themselves…even if the resukts are interesting!
One caller asked about the Maxi dress. Sam thought this dress though not flattering on everyone should have a good, not-too-low neckline. Sam Saboura’s Real Style: Style Secrets for Real Women with Real Bodies would make a great gift for your best friend or your wife!
