Using Tumblr as an Inspiration Board

I had been feeling left out because I was seeing more and more people using the microblogging platform Tumblr, but I seemed to have no use for it. I mean, I blog semi-regularly and I tweet, of course. Why would I also need a microblog?

What I didn't realize is that Tumblr isn't really a blog. It seems to be the intersection of a blog (because it looks like a blog), Twitter (it's all about brevity) and a social bookmarking site like Delicious. I found a purpose for it and maybe you can too.

Since I'm very visual, saving a bookmark or a link doesn't mean much to me. Chances are great that I will never return to it. I keep a lot of pictures on my computers, and instantly being able to see what I saved jogs my memory and reminds me why I saved them. So it's like inspiration x 2! Which is exactly why Tumblr is becoming useful for me.

When you sign up for Tumblr, you get your first microblog. That first one is always public and functions as a social network. You can then create additional private microblogs, which is what I'm using as my online inspiration board.

I have a private Tumblr for those purposes and here is an example of the kinds of things I put on it. I save other things like Zumba videos, decorating ideas, interesting color combinations, and even recipes there too. A good tagging system keeps everything organized.

I also have an inspiration binder with ideas cut from magazines, but this keeps all the pictures, links and videos I find online in one place as well as outfit ideas from my own closet and inspiration pics I take in stores. I have the Tumblr iPhone app (which is fine, but there are others I plan to try) and just upload them directly to the app and tag them. So simple.

So if you look at a lot of visual things like fashion blogs and fashion magazines online and want to save what inspires you and have easy access to it (without taking up a lot of space on your computer), Tumblr is great!

An open letter to "dressy" capris

Dear Summertime Bastard Cousin of Dress Pants,

I kind of hate you and why are you still in my closet? Please leave.

Yours in confusion,
KK


I'm putting my summer wardrobe together and found some pants I've purchased over the last few years. I've never worn them. They have just hung around from season to season, perhaps waiting to find a purpose. Or perhaps waiting for Godot. I really don't know and pants don't talk. And if I did have talking pants, you should be worried about me. But sometimes shoes talk to me. I assume shoes yelling "buy me" to women is fairly normal, right?

Let's get this straight right out of the gate: I generally like capris and certain cropped pants as a casual alternative to shorts. Some are really flattering and comfy. I remember the fury capris caused when they first came into vogue. The fashion people of the world had a fit because they were somewhere in between shorts and pants and nobody knew what to do with them, except for the fact that they had the potential to be really, really unattractive and unflattering on women, sometimes making even the skinny, long-legged chicas of the world look short and stubby.

Well, women decided they liked wearing them (hey, they cover cellulite, unlike most shorts) and capris gradually changed from a one season fad into a classic summer staple for many. The fashion world listened to what shoppers wanted for once. Yay us.

The conundrum laying on my closet floor right now is what to do with "dress pants" which are actually capris, cropped pants or anything in between. They look, fit and feel like dress pants, except they end awkwardly at my calf, ankle or some strange no man's land in the middle.

Flattering. Hmmm...

I've never worn a pair of these out - whether casually or for work. I feel weird just trying them on and attempting to make something look right with them. They certainly throw the body's proportions off. A jacket which looks great with a pair of pants will be off balance when those pants are capri or cropped-length.

Do we really need to wear these as career wear? Most folks work in air conditioned environments in the hot weather and I know a lot of people whose offices are so cold that they're grabbing for the sweaters they need to keep around.

Shoes never look quite right with them either. I've seen sandals, slides, wedges, pumps and yikes...flats. Because every woman is different, you have to 1) know your body type and how to enhance it; 2) wear them at exactly the right length (much like a skirt); and 3) wear the right height and style of shoe or they can change your leg and body shape in all different ways. Of course, none of them are good.

Dressy capris kind of look like they're trying to be pants, but haven't tried hard enough. Or like they're pants, jr. All the complaints the fashion pundits had when capris first came on the scene are especially true of the dress pants version of them: awkward length, unclear purpose, unflattering, making women look short, squat and heavy instead of the usual goals of appearing leaner and taller.

For work or for dressy occasions, why not just wear lightweight dress pants which fit and flatter without much effort instead? Save the capris for the grocery store or a picnic.

Shorts. Tank Top. Fake Tan. Check, check, check.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have read that I have been lamenting recently about my inability to use self-tanners because of severe breakouts. I still don't know why every one I've ever tried makes me break out on only my face, neck, upper chest and back, but it's the ugliest and most painful version of the cystic acne I've struggled with for years. And it scars - so I have to be extremely careful.

I am so bright white and I crave color. While I used to be able to tan as a child - my school pictures from grade school, which were taken in early September always showed me with a golden tan from spending nearly every day at the pool - I seem to have lost the ability to tan naturally. I don't even tan when using tanning beds, which I won't use nowadays anyway (and I honestly miss the "ultraviolet coffin"). I don't burn either, which is just bizarre. I just get warm-colored freckles over the bridge of my nose. That's how you know I've been out in the sun. I start morphing into the Wendy's girl. (Good thing my hair isn't red!)

A medium tan on me looks like most other people's pale winter skin tone. So all I can do is use self-tanners to get some color.

Spray tans are great too, and I will get them for special occasions or vacations. But they fade quickly and I just find them to be a pain. I like to control when and where I put on my tan. Here's how I do it.

PREP:

I make my own sugar scrub. Just use about half a cup of table sugar and a tablespoon or so of olive oil, mix it into a paste and take it into the shower. Just try not to get it wet until you scrub your skin with it. You want it to stay thick and paste-like. A harsher version of this is to use coarse kosher salt in lieu of sugar. They both work - it just depends on the amount of exfoliating you want to do.

ARMS & LEGS:

Since my appendages don't break out, I'm using L'Oreal's Sublime Bronze Pro Perfect Airbrush self-tanner in Medium.

No, it's not an air horn.

You can layer this product several times over a few hours to get a nice base tan. I had been using the Sublime Bronze towelettes, but this is the same price and I feel like you receive about four times more product. Also - and this is IMPORTANT - you don't have to rub it in, it evenly covers the tops of my hands and feet (which streak like crazy!!!) and doesn't settle into dry skin. We all have that skin (ankles, elbows and knees) which collects self-tanner and stains for a long time, regardless of how well it's exfoliated. I've made some wild and unattractive streak patterns in the past while trying to avoid those areas.

Also, it claims a "fresh citrus scent." I've never encountered any type of citrus that smell this this, but it's a better scent than any other self-tanner I've ever used.

FACE, NECK, CHEST & BACK:

For my sensitive, acne-prone areas, Clarins Self-Tanning Milk is gentle and hasn't caused breakouts. (Thanks, @reinhoren!)

The color blends nicely with my arms and legs, is able to be layered to obtain a lovely, golden shade, and also smells better than other self-tanners (yay!).

So that's how I'm spending my summer in shorts, tanks, sundresses and faking a tan. I feel like I can finally participate in summer again!

The New Neutrals:

ARMY GREEN

I remember showing a friend a new apricot-colored top I bought and she asked what I was planning to wear it with. Then she started naming the colors that came to her mind: navy, brown, and .....? That was it. That was as far as her imagination could go in creating interesting outfits. I told her my plan was to put it under a burgundy jacket and she was shocked. She thought you could only pair "colors" with "the basics."

When most people think of those "neutral" or "basic" colors to build their wardrobe around, most people will name the same ones - black, gray, navy, brown or beige. To that I say: YAWN.

Let's start expanding our wardrobe horizons. It's perfectly OK to take a few safe steps out of our familiar fashion comfort zone.

This is the first installment of a series about colors I've found are more basic than you might realize. Adding a few well-chosen "new neutrals" could dramatically expand your wardrobe possibilities!

I never thought about wearing army green until I bought a faux-camouflage skirt from Ann Taylor a couple of years ago. Even though it was patterned, I was genuinely surprised at the amount of colors that looked great with it. I don't just mean the colors you would normally mix and match with dark green, such as shades of brown and beige. I discovered that it looked fabulous with yellows, all sorts of pink and aqua, coral, orange and even baby blue and lavender! How versatile is that?! 

As I tell my clients, it's the confident use of color and little surprise flourishes that make it look like you know what you're doing. And that's how to have real style. Or fake it - which is just as good!

Expanding on my army green collection, I bought twill shorts which I paired with a pink satin top.

Can you imagine all the possibilities of adding an army green skirt, pants or jacket to your casual or professional wardrobe?

Be on the lookout for some of these new basics to add new life to your closet! You can thank me later :)

Nail Polish Thinner to the Rescue

Admittedly, 99% of my nail polishes never get to the point of being old and goopy because I am constantly buying new shades and the old ones are left out in the cold. Or given to my little niece - but only if they're pink or purple, which are the only colors she will wear.

A great nude shade is my standby and I really like the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri line because it covers well with one coat, which is sometimes all I have time for. And I love how rapidly it dries. They're not joking. The down side is that what's left in the bottle thickens up pretty fast, which leads many nail polishes to the dreaded nail polish graveyard.

Quick Sand - nude with a hint of sparkle for summer!

I was ready to toss this old goopy favorite shade when I remembered I have nail polish thinner! Nail polish saved! I can't believe I forgot I had this little money saver hiding in the cupboard.

 

Do you have any nail polishes that can be resurrected 

with just a few drops of thinner?