The Closet Coach

This month in the Site Spotlight is J of J’s Everyday Fashion, a style and fashion advice blog that shows you how to translate professionally styled looks from catalogs and magazines into outfits anyone can wear. I especially like her description of her blog as a “safe place for style questions.” Don’t we wish every site were like that?

About J

My professional background is in corporate marketing. I lost my job due to the economy about 6 months into blogging and decided to do J’s full-time. I am now a successful entrepreneur and freelancer.

The blog is my full-time job, and along with my position as the Shopping Expert for VISIT FLORIDA, I do retail consulting for one of my favorite brands, a makeover show on IzonOrlando, personal shopping and closet consultations, and lots of public speaking throughout the year.

Above all, my goal is to provide content that helps women with their style journey. There is so much joy in looking great, and I feel honored to be a part of that for women across the globe!

About J’s Everyday Fashion

J’s Everyday Fashion was created to be an accessible, all-inclusive fashion destination, no matter who you are or where you are from. I want everyone to feel welcome to enjoy fashion as much as I do.

We’ve all made fashion mistakes, and we all struggle with bad shopping habits, body issues, small budgets, or even just having enough time to dedicate to getting dressed.

J’s is a place to talk about those issues and get inspired for new ways to conquer the ever-daunting question of “what should I wear?”

What she writes about

J’s Everyday Fashion provides outfit ideas, budget tips, shopping resources, and is a safe place for style questions. The purpose of J’s is to provide an accessible, pared-down version of fashion that makes anyone feel welcome to give it a try.

I share fashion disasters, experiments and successes, all in the hopes of passing along what I’m learning to my readers.

Her favorite posts

• Four Easy Office Style Secrets
• 6 Clothing Items You Can Repurpose Now
• Today’s Everyday Fashion: Secrets of Shopping at Banana Republic
• If Fashion Mistakes are Wrong, I Don’t Want to Be Right
• Today’s Everyday Fashion: The Juniors Section

[Site Spotlight is a feature on the third Thursday of every month that brings you a new or noteworthy style and fashion blog.]

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Thanks to J for participating in this month’s Site Spotlight, and thank you for reading. Did you like this post? Please leave a comment or share it with someone else; just use the handy sharing widget below.

(Want to get more shopping tips and fun insider stuff? Join The Style List. It’s like a secret club in your email inbox! And when you join, you’ll get my free email series, 7 Days to Better Shopping. It’s my gift to you!)

I like to think I have a consistent personal style. I favor clean lines, fitted garments, classic cuts and minimalist design. There’s a reason why I love Calvin Klein so much :)

So I was surprised when Fresh Produce asked me if I’d like to review an item of their clothing. At first glance, their aesthetic is quite different: simple, loose silhouettes in soft knits and bright colors.

Unsure what to choose for a review, I looked through the site. That’s when I found the Effortless Dress. As soon as I saw it, visions of the beach danced in my head.

I chose the color Reef, which is a vibrant lime green. I liked that it had the feeling of the very current neon trend without being so bright that it would be instantly out of style next week.

(Two other things I like: most of Fresh Produce’s clothing is made in the USA and founder and designer Mary Ellen Vernon is a female entrepreneur.)

When the dress arrived, I was surprised to discover that it wasn’t just an ordinary cotton knit. The little bit of added Lycra gives the fabric a smoother feel, heavier weight and much more fluid drape than a typical cotton dress.

When I put it on, it fit perfectly and felt great; it really is comfortable, especially in its normal unbelted state. (I’m wearing a size Small, which the size chart says is the equivalent of a 6-8.)

Although I’d originally imagined it as an easy-to-pack option for summer beach travel–and I still think I’ll get most of my wear from it in a casual setting–here I’ve dressed it up to wear to meet friends at the movies.

Silver seemed a perfect companion for a bright, cool color so I went all silver in my accessories: necklace, belt and shoes.

If this kind of simple, casual everyday clothing speaks to your personal style, Fresh Produce might be a great option for you, too.

[Disclosure: All reviews are my honest and unbiased opinion regardless of product source. I do not write paid reviews. The Effortless Dress was provided to me courtesy of Fresh Produce.]

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Thanks for reading. Did you like this post? Please leave a comment or share it with someone else; just use the handy sharing widget below.

(Want to get more shopping tips and fun insider stuff? Join The Style List. It’s like a secret club in your email inbox! And when you join, you’ll get my free email series, 7 Days to Better Shopping. It’s my gift to you!)

We women seem to spend a ridiculous amount of time focusing on what’s “wrong” with our bodies, and what we can do to hide our flaws or erase them completely. (Just read the cover lines on any women’s magazine, just about any month.)

But where does that get us, other to further internalize feelings of insufficiency?

This is a call to change your thinking, to change our thinking.

What if you stopped thinking about the attributes of your body that make you uniquely yourself as flaws?

What if you not only accepted them, but saw them as assets?

What if your “minuses” were pluses?

It’s not just positive thinking. There is plenty of historical and personal precedent, if you only stop to think about it.

Marilyn Monroe turned the mole on her upper lip into a signature beauty mark–and so did Cindy Crawford, years later.

Lauren Hutton refused to fix the space between her front teeth and graced countless magazine covers.

Brooke Shields made thick eyebrows the height of fashion–and Arizona Muse has brought them back.

For every girl who’s “too tall,” there’s another who stalks the catwalks at 5’10” or the basketball court at 6’2”.

For every girl who was called “chicken legs” in elementary school, there’s another who’s glad to have slender legs today.

For every girl who takes a straightening iron to her curly locks, there’s another subjecting her hair to hot rollers or perms.

Everything about your body that makes you unique on the outside is no more a flaw than the things that make you unique on the inside: your sense of humor, the way you write or draw or sing or dance, the way you’re there for your friends and family.

Confession #1: I’m the “chicken legs” girl (5th grade classmate to me: “Are those your legs or are you riding on a chicken?”). And I’m not always good about practicing what I preach.

Confession #2: I have an 8-year-old daughter and I struggle to find the right words when she criticizes some part of her appearance–and, even worse, when she reports that some other girl has done so.

So maybe this is a better headline for this post: Love yourself the way you want your daughter to.

Your turn

• What have you learned to love about your body?
• What would you say to a young girl to help her love herself just the way she is?

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Thanks for reading. Did you like this post? Please leave a comment or share it with someone else; just use the handy sharing widget below.

(Want to get more shopping tips and fun insider stuff? Join The Style List. It’s like a secret club in your email inbox! And when you join, you’ll get my free email series, 7 Days to Better Shopping. It’s my gift to you!)

I call Level 4 of the 5 Levels of Working Mom Outfits “Client Meeting” because it instantly communicates a specific kind of dressed-up-for-the-office. No matter how casual the workplace, we tend to dress better when we’re going to be meeting with our clients and customers.

That’s exactly what this outfit was for. It doesn’t get much career dressier than a DVF wrap dress, does it?

Once again, I was looking for ways to make this sleeveless wrap more office appropriate. In the winter I put a turtleneck underneath; for spring, a T-shirt did the trick.

It was neither warm enough nor the appropriate situation to skip hose, so I opted for these tights in a lighter taupe rather than the chocolate brown ones I wore in colder weather.

Because the dress is a pattern of black and brown, I went with contrasting black shoes. I love the shape of these!

The perfect jacket to go with the dress was this cream-colored faux leather one from the Limited. It almost looks like the jacket and dress were made to go together!

T-shirt: Gap (similar, $15, American Apparel).
Dress: Diane Von Furstenberg (similar, $218, Bluefly).
Jacket: The Limited (similar, $50 on sale)
Necklace: Stella & Dot (similar, $54 on sale)
Shoes: Indigo by Clarks Plush Weave ($109.99, Zappos).

Working Mom Outfit Level: 4/Client Meeting

[Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links.]

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Thanks for reading. Did you like this post? Please leave a comment or share it with someone else; just use the handy sharing widget below.

(Want to get more shopping tips and fun insider stuff? Join The Style List. It’s like a secret club in your email inbox! And when you join, you’ll get my free email series, 7 Days to Better Shopping. It’s my gift to you!)

When Lena Bryant first began creating and offering clothing for larger women over 100 years ago, she could hardly have imagined the breadth and range of plus size labels that would one day exist (or the amazing success of her Lane Bryant stores).

Now there are more choices than ever. The hardest part, in fact, may be figuring out where to start!

Here are some of the best places to shop online for stylish clothes in the plus-size range, usually considered to be size 14-24.

• The standard-bearers. Devoted entirely to plus size fashions, Lane Bryant actually began as a maternity shop before expanding into-and then focusing entirely on–plus size clothing. You can find a Lane Bryant store, and/or relative newcomer Avenue, at just about every mall.
• Subsidiaries of larger brands. Many brands now offer either plus size sister brands (Torrid, ASOS Curve, Eloquii by the Limited) or plus size ranges of their primary brands (like Old Navy, which goes up to size 30 in its Women’s Plus, or Fresh Produce Plus Size).
• Unique boutiques. For truly unique options, search for plus sizes on Etsy; what you find may be one-of-a-kind.
• Multi-brand stores. Some online boutiques that sell clothes from multiple labels include offerings in plus-size ranges. You can search for plus sizes on Zappos and ModCloth’s sizing goes up to 4X (U.S. size 22).
• Department store departments. Visit any department store website and you’ll find a section or “shop” devoted to plus sizes, from Nordstrom to Macy’s to Neiman Marcus.
• Specialty lines. Plus size garments aren’t limited to dresses, tops and pants, either. Brazen Lingerie offers plus-size unmentionables and Always for Me sells swimsuits and lingerie in sizes 14W-24W.

As with any online shopping, price ranges and quality varies from brand to brand. Once you find a line that works best on your body, start your searches for new garments there (and sign up for the store’s email list so you can be the first to get notices of new sales and styles).

Your turn

• If you’re plus size, where do you shop online?
• Are any of these sites your favorite?

What to buy

[Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links.]

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Thanks for reading. Did you like this post? Please leave a comment or share it with someone else; just use the handy sharing widget below.

(Want to get more shopping tips and fun insider stuff? Join The Style List. It’s like a secret club in your email inbox! And when you join, you’ll get my free email series, 7 Days to Better Shopping. It’s my gift to you!)