Bloggers and Books

First of all, let me mention my buddy Henry Gomez from the Plain Dealer who wanted to see his name in lights (aka the Keeping Up Appearances blog) for sending me a link from the Wall Street Journal about the legitimacy of bloggers in the fashion world. They’re now being invited to fashion week. How cool is that? Thanks, HG! Bloggers Get Under the Tent

I’ve decided to take a break from some of the non-essential hectic stuff I’m doing (i.e., networking, all the groups I belong to….anything that isn’t revenue-generating) and write my book. Enough talk already. I have to write the book to get to where I want to be – on the national stage. No one has focused on the subject I am writing about. I know this book will be a big seller. I can’t begin to say how many complaints I hear about the topic I’m writing about. There is already a built-in market for it, and probably markets I haven’t even thought about. And I am certainly the foremost expert on the topic. Definitely in North America….maybe even the world. Oh, I flatter myself. Fortunately, no one has ever stepped up to the plate and written the ultimate book about it, so that’s my job.

It’s just everything else that goes along with working with an agent and publisher that is daunting. The business side of things. I guess tens of thousands of people who are a lot less business-savvy than me have written and been published. I just need to get up the resolve to get it done and not quit. Even though writing is a lonely endeavor, and I’m not big on being by myself for long periods of time. I am energized by people, not solitude and introspection. And I know that a lot of people who don’t enjoy writing more than me have been published – some numerous times.

So I just have to bite the bullet and write. Not in my blog. I have to get to work on my first two books so I can get to the book I really want to write.

Wanna guess what it’s about?

Shoes, of course!

What’s With All These Rules?

A friend of mine – a male friend – recently told me he reads our little newsletter, the Image Insider, written by me, Kelly, and Wendy. I was quite surprised to hear that. I asked him what he thought of it. His response was that there are too many rules. He said I’m always talking about rules. And I realized that he is absolutely right.

I am not, nor have I ever been one who likes or follows rules. I’m a little like the Laverne and Shirley theme, “Read us any rule, we’ll break it”. (Ironically, Laverne and Shirley were the names of my first two goldfish - I was 4)

I thought it was funny that a man was telling me that I have too many rules. Menswear has more rules than the NFL rule book. It’s an issue of Mars and Venus. Men like quantitative analysis, structure, and strictly the facts. Women are generally more warm and fuzzy in how we process information. In the case of personal style, it’s women who can benefit considerably from having a set of guidelines to follow.

There is such a variety of women – in size, age, shape, color and attitude - and we have so many choices in clothing and accessories - we really need guiding principles to help us look our best without buying everything in sight and without going broke.

Personally, I had a large walk-in closet bursting at the seams. I had different wardrobes – in pink, brown, peach, tan, brown, black, etc – complete with accessories. I also had about 5 people living in my closet – I had wardrobe multiple personality disorder! I had romantic skirts and dresses, a couple of leather jackets and skirts, lots of suits, and oxford shirts and khakis (which I hate – why on earth did I have them??). I was all over the place - I was romantic, I was ultra-conservative, I was….a biker chick? Maybe not. But the leather jackets weren’t consistent with anything else in my closet.

I learned "The Rules of Appearance" and I changed forever. There is one personality living in my closet now - the me I am comfortable with. Mostly classic, a little funky at times. My wardrobe harmonizes because I buy in the same color families and only buy what works for me.

There is a certain magic in knowing that you look good - it doesn't matter whether you're male or female. When you know you are doing everything right and you look your personal best you gain confidence and get an immediate self esteem boost. With the rest of the world tearing apart how much we value ourselves, isn't this more important than ever?

Having the right items in your closet – that you know make you look great – along with the right information (i.e., “Rules”) produces a consistently pulled together person.

When you know the rules and know how to apply them, it is only then that you can break them - properly.

Which I happen to do regularly.