Fashion Me Fabulous

The Fall Winter 2014 runways have been full of "natural" makeup. This has meant everything from light foundation with nude lipstick to zero makeup with dry lips. The common denominator with the no makeup look has been a complete lack of mascara. For most women, mascara is their must. Some women love the drama of long, dark lashes. Others just want their pale lashes to show up. In my case, I want to look awake. Mascara isn't my makeup must; lipstick is. I've often gone without mascara because of my seasonal eye allergies, but I can't imagine getting dressed up without mascara. For every day, I can take it or leave it. What about you? poll by twiigs.com

As I was searching for makeup ideas for last week's New Year's Eve post, I noticed a lot of glued on bits -- everything from simple lashes and rhinestones to elaborate pearls and foil . Gluing things onto your face is not actually a new practice. During the 18th century, the craze for beauty marks led people to glue dots of velvet or silk moles to their faces. False eyelashes were invented nearly one hundred years ago. Yet, I don't know many women who are glue happy. About once or twice a year, I will play with false lashes for a party or wedding. (In truth, I would try to wear them every day, but since I have glasses no one ever notices the effort and I end up rubbing them off.) For several reasons, I doubt I would put rhinestones or beads on my face. poll by twiigs.com

As fashion bloggers, we feel it's pretty important to stay up-to-date on trends. Even if we weren't bringing you pics and one-sentence recaps, we'd still be poring through runway show after runway show looking for the dramatic and the thematic. McQ Fall/Winter 2012 However, we have a logistics problem with this upcoming fashion week. First, my computer is kinda crappy. Flash-heavy sites live Vogue and Style take forever for me to search. Second and most important, becca and I will be traveling to Japan for our friend's wedding right in the middle of fashion week. Yes, there will be a week without posts. Please, keep us in your hearts forever. Comme des Garçons Fall/Winter 2012 Because of these two things, we're going to be scaling back our blog coverage. We're putting the choice of scale up to a vote. Since a long list of names is overwhelming, let's talk styles. You can vote for as many options as you like. poll by twiigs.com Chadwick Bell...

Available at ASOS Bra straps are an office no-no, but what about on causal summer occasions? I'd rather show my bra straps with a tank top than go without or suffer with a padded (i.e. warm) strapless. Although, I can't show beige or white straps. Those colors are just too underwear. When I do let my straps show, I try to make sure they're some sort of color that looks like it goes with the outfit. Particular? Yes, but those are my personal rules. poll by twiigs.com

On the one hand, I need my purse in the summer. becca already talked about how summer requires her to upsize to a tote for all her warm weather necessities. (My necessities do not include a Kindle because books have pages, thank you very much.) On the other hand, I don't want a strap touching me. It's so, stinkin' hot. So hot. I also don't like carrying my purse around with me at summer events, but I'm too paranoid to put it down. I would love to just ditch the purse and carry my goodies in my pockets, but not all of my summer clothes have roomy pockets. Grr! First world problems! poll by twiigs.com

Sunday, I was all matchy-matchy in shades of green, pale blue and white. I accessorized my green blouse and high-waisted print skirt with a small blue porcelain ring, a pearl choker, a large antique pearl drop necklace, and pale blue teardrop earrings with crystals. It was a lot of jewelry. Coco Chanel is attributed with saying that before leaving the house you should look at yourself in the mirror and take one thing off. (Since she was famous for wearing piles of fake pearls, I find it dubious that she actually said this.) Sometimes I feel a pile of jewelry is exactly what an outfit needs, but it is certainly easy to overdo it. poll by twiigs.com

Unlike most Americans who had Monday off, I had to work. To add to the indignity, I was having a bad shoe day. I have a cute little pair of shoes that I thought I would make more comfortable with padded inserts. Well, that works best if the shoes are already a little big, not perfect. Now they're a little snug. I neglected to wear socks and ended up with skin peeled off my heel and a toe and with a dime-sized blister on the other heel. You can't even gripe about a bad shoe day either. It's your own fault really. You also can't gripe about a rogue undies day either. Whether they're too tight, too loose or too invasive, the best you can hope for is a bit of privacy to deal with the problem. I've actually blanked on conversations because all I could think was "Underwear! What are you doing ?!" poll by twiigs.com Is there another fashion grr that poo poos on your day? It's deep personal question day, as you can see.

Here are some words I never thought I'd say: I'm going to Japan for my roommate's wedding. I've been to Japan, and I'd expected to travel abroad for a wedding at some point * cough becca cough *. I didn't expect my roommate to be getting married. Needless to say, I'm thrilled for her and I look forward to meeting this man of hers in person in October. Since college, every wedding I've been to has been in a different state. The only wedding I've been involved in was four hours away in Detroit. (And may I so humbly say that I am super bridesmaid? There will be no fainting on my watch. Drink this water. DRINK IT! You look lovely.) Weddings are not the easiest thing to pack for even if your outfit has already been picked out for you. The dresses usually require special undergarments. The shoes may require band-aids, and if there's dancing you may require other shoes. You can't always just throw mascara in your purse lest you look washed out in ...

A toggle-clasp crest necklace got me all excited until I saw it was a replica of something from the Twilight movies. Pass. It's not that I don't still like the necklace, but I find breathless Twihards difficult enough to deal with without yelling, "Edward is a freaking obsessive stalker ! This is a classic tale of abuse !" so I don't want to invite Twilight conversations. In high school, a friend of my mother's gave me a necklace she used to wear in high school. It was a simple silver chain with a blue heart pendant. The next year, Titanic flooded theaters. As I'm not a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, James Cameron or romances, I've managed to avoid seeing this cultural behemoth. I stopped wearing the necklace when a classmate felt inspired to share with me, "I can't believe the boat sank! I knew it happened in, like, history and stuff, but you'd think they'd want to give the movie a happy ending." Yet, I'd still wear Hammer p...

This was a great season if you were hoping to find lovely, wearable makeup. If you look forward to Fashion Week's crazier faces, however, this season fell flat. Marc Jacobs made faces beside the point with ugly pimp hats, and even Dior, a company with a full makeup line, went with soft faces.Thankfully, a few shows went wild. Chanel's jeweled eyebrows Dries van Noten's orange to there eye shadow Fendi's white swipes Miu Miu space panda with mirrors Prada's orange and black and white and purple eyes poll by twiigs.com Image source: style.com and vogue.com .

Milan featured a slew of fabulous faces. Bleached brows were a big trend, and these were the first runways to feature lipstick! White and black liner with black wings at Giorgio Armani. Pink and angelic at Dolce & Gabbana. Bleached brows and deep red lips at Gucci. Reddish eye shadow with white accents at Marni. Peacock eyes at Roberto Cavalli. Bleached brows and heavy lack shadow at Versace. poll by twiigs.com   If you can't get enough makeup, head to our Facebook page for more fashion week faces. Image source: style.com and vogue.com .

Braids are great, especially when you need to camouflage the fact that you woke up too late to shower. Being a child of the 90s, I'm fond of the single braid in loose hair. They're also nice touches in certain updos (and despite the milkmaid jokes, I like heidi braids). But if you don't de-frizz your hair properly or wear the braid too long, it becomes a frizzy mess. So of course celebrities are wearing frizzy braids all over the red carpet lately. Nothing complements $600 shoes and a $1300 dress -- both of which were probably borrowed because celebrities are freaking cheap -- better than gym hair. I don't care how popular Blake Lively is, the Olson's hair looks better. Do you like braids? Can you wear any braid anywhere?

When it comes to Christmas parties I tend to decorate myself almost as much as my Christmas tree. I like to wear my green suede shoes, white tights and a red dress. I look like an elf. Even if I tone it down, I tend to mix red and green a lot or wear a lot of sparkly things to holiday parties. It's festive and fun in my opinion. Some see it as a bit over the top and prefer subtle details or just a pop of holiday color. Others appear to go for more year-round party options. Do you go for holiday theme dressing for festive parties or do you prefer or a more subtle approach? poll by twiigs.com

becca recently gave me an old dress of hers (pictured left) and I finally got to wear it last week. Clothes swapping is common among our friends. We're all different sizes, and, like most women, those sizes fluctuate. Whenever we get together, at least one person has a bag of clothes. Other people have told me they raid the closets of friends and family. With holiday parties coming up, now is a great time to shop your friends' closets. Instead of each of you spending money on a cocktail dress, you could swap little-worn party frocks. poll by twiigs.com

One of my coworkers casually made a comment that the only reason anyone dresses out of the norm is to solicit comments. I disagree fully. I don't dress like the rest of my fellow Hoosiers because, frankly, I'm a little odd . If I don't fit into the normal train of thought, the normal set of interests, the normal pattern of behavior, why on earth would I be expected to dress like everyone else too? One of my friends keeps reminding me that I'm the exception, not the rule. She reminded me of this last time we had a discussion along these lines. While I may dress for me, I'm the minority. Plenty of women do dress for attention. Some want to attract a partner. Others want to stoke jealousy in other women. Some people just desperately want to be noticed. poll by twiigs.com

It's bloody hot! Last week, it was over 110 (degrees, not heat index) at work everyday. Thursday, after drinking two liters of water, I still wasn't sweating and started to hallucinate. A big thanks to the people who make popsicles for keeping me alive. Up until this time, I'd scaled back my makeup routine to spf infused moisturizer and blush. Now I don't even do that. (I should still be wearing the spf moisturizer, but I feel like even that gets sweated off during the walk to the car.) poll by twiigs.com

My sister-in-law likes stud earrings because she can sleep in them. This blows my mind. It's never occurred to me to sleep while wearing my earrings. Of course, I also prefer wires and dangles to studs, and I've made a habit of removig my jewelry as soon as I get home. Even so, posts are a little stabby for bed, and I can't imagine wearing them to bed saves that much time in the morning. poll by twiigs.com Bonus question for those of you who wear earrings to bed: Why?

When a friend of mine returned from a trip to Italy, she gave me a red, blown-glass atomizer. Retro, sexy and bold all at once -- it's awesome-sauce. I'm not the only woman who has a love for pretty bottles (and I will confess that good packaging can entice me to buy a product). If I were to have a dressing table full of perfume bottles, I'd most likely collect in shapes, all rounded or all sleek. Since I'm in love with the sexy torso bottle of Jean Paul Gaultier's Classique , it could be the standout centerpiece of my expensive collection. Perfume Bottles by Fashion Me Fabulous on Polyvore.com poll by twiigs.com You can click on the itty bitty bottles for more info on the perfume. Do you have a favorite perfume bottle?

This weekend, I sat down and gave my toes some pampering. We're a month into summer and my nails were still unpainted. It seems like I'm more into keeping my toes painted now that they can't be seen all the time than I was when I could wear sandals at work. There's something about prepping my feet to be seen (even when they're stuffed in ballet flats) that makes me feel like summer. Image source allposters.com . poll by twiigs.com

When discussing what needed to be removed from my closet, becca and I started having high school flashbacks. Do you remember in the late 90s how everyone was wearing those awful tear-away pants? To this day, the idea of an ankle length cargo skirt makes becca shiver. While some people are celebrating the return of 90s "fashion," we prefer to keep our closet trauma in the past. Years ago, we asked you what your favorite fashion era was. Now we want to know what retro style to you want to stay confined to thrift stores. Feel free to pick more than one decade. poll by twiigs.com Okay, so maybe the Saved by The Bell photo from Starpulse doesn't illustrate early 90s fashion that well, but how could I not share it with you?