Day 16. High Flyers - Intrepid Travel
We baby boomers are the pioneers who dared to step out of our comfort zone. The world was at our feet - we sought peace in Indian ashrams, swarmed Torremolinos, swamped Munich, smoked Marrakesh, sailed Mykonos, trekked Nepal and turned London’s Earls Court into a noisy Antipodean precinct! Today our spirit is just as strong as we succumb to the lure of international travel once again. Now though we opt for unique experiences that allow us to connect and engage with the places and communities we visit.
Packed to perfection
There are rules for travelling light. They are:
Place everything you think you need on the bed, and then put away 50% of it. The really ruthless then put away another 25% of what was left on the bed. The remainder is supposed to be what you’ll wear when you’re away!
Most of us are flat-out putting away the first 50%, let alone another chunk of what is left on the bed! So we tell ourselves we’d already mentally culled everything before it was laid out in the first place! Consequently we end up taking far more than we need on holiday.
114 combinations from 13 garments
A capsule of thirteen garments – seven tops and six bottoms in coordinated fabrics and colours provide you with the ability to create a fantastic 114 different combinations!
You can increase the tally by four outfits when you add one dress, and when you put in one extra top and another bottom you’ll create nineteen more outfits, a total of 133 combinations!
It works like this:
Take two central colours such as sand and black and team them with an accent colour such as aqua.
It goes without saying the place to start is with a pair of dark denim jeans! Add:
One pair of black pants
One pair of black shorts
One pair of sand pants
One sand skirt
One black skirt
Tops:
One sand ¾ length sleeve knit
One ivory tank singlet top
One black casual jacket
One black sleeveless knit top
One aqua button-up shirt
One black/sand cardigan
One aqua sleeveless top
The garments will all work with each other because the colours are coordinated.
Layering the garments provides warmth.
Clever accessorising provides flexibility.
This capsule is goof-proof when the garments are planned and can be a godsend if you have to travel unexpectedly. It’s a successful scheme for journey and holidays of around ten days.
I have two peripatetic friends. One is a free spirit and she takes only carry-on cabin luggage with her, no matter how long she is going to be travelling. She sweeps off the aircraft, heads straight through customs and is out of the arrivals hall and in a taxi before her fellow passengers have found the correct carousel in the airport baggage area.
My other friend follows the sun. She and her husband spend three or four months in the southern hemisphere around Christmas then they return to the northern hemisphere for the European summer. My friend arrives with two suitcases. Her mission is a one-woman crusade to boost the national economy. She departs with four suitcases, plus the full allocation of carry-on cabin baggage.
These friends have two things in common. They take everything they deem necessary with them. And they both flat pack their bags!
Flat Packing
When you flat pack a suitcase there are no bundles, rolls or scrolls taking up space and you can get more in.
The older way of packing was to put the lighter items on top of the heavier hardware so the light stuff didn’t get squashed.
The reverse is the newer way. Light stuff goes at the bottom and heavier items are put on top to keep it all in place.
• Start at the base of the suitcase with long garments that need to remain flat such as pants, skirts and dresses.
• Fold pants on their creases, if they don’t have a crease fold them in half at the crotch so the legs stay flat. Place them on the base.
• If garments won’t fit in without folding, then fold as little as possible -fold skirts lengthwise along seam lines to lie flat and fold dresses over at the waist.
• Fold a jacket in half at the middle and place it flat on top of the items already in the case.
• Continue layering and flat-packing until all the soft garments are in the suitcase. Separate layers with sheets of tissue paper if you wish.
• Top with a layer of heavy items – shoes, sponge bag, etc. Stuff bits and pieces in and around them – socks, underwear, rolled up belts, swimwear, etc.
• Place anything that might leak (especially anything that could stain) into snap top or zip-top plastic bags and poke them around the heavy items or into your shoes.
• Do not pack any jewellery (real or fake) in your suitcase. Suitcases are x-rayed by airlines after they leave the check-in counter.
• Keep jewellery with you in your handbag.
Altitude with Attitude
Markets are good sources for lightweight, compact, suitcases. Buy the sturdiest suitcase you can find in the lightweight, compact range. My experience is that international and famous brands do not last longer than the cheaper cases available at mass retailers, two dollar (or one pound) shops and market stalls.
Airlines have strict baggage allowances and may charge for every kilogram that exceeds the allowance. Some budget airlines offer discounted pre-payment of excess baggage on-line. This is cheaper than rocking up to the airport with an overweight bag and being slugged a Monza at the check-in counter; or, worse case scenario, not being permitted to board the flight if it is full.
Ensure you’ve allowed yourself enough time to get to the airport and to check in by the specified check-in time for your flight. Many airlines close off passenger lists 30 minutes before the flight is due to depart. If the passenger list is closed off it doesn’t matter whether you are 5 minutes late or 50 minutes late, most airlines won’t let you board the flight even if the aircraft is still sitting on the ground. Often you have to forfeit the fare and have no option than to purchase a new seat on a later flight to get to your destination. It is vital to read and understand the airline’s Terms and Conditions when you purchase your ticket.
Budget airlines such as Jetstar, Ryan Air, Monarch etc. offer lowest fares to passengers travelling with carry-on baggage only. Check permitted luggage dimensions and the weight allowances with the airline (they are all different) prior to your flight and join the masses to tow your own wheelie suitcase on board.
European budget airlines such as Ryanair, Monarch and Easyjet offer amazingly cheap fares around Europe. And they charge ruthless fees. Everything is charged on top of the basic advertised fare - checked baggage, excess baggage, seat reservation, sports equipment, in-flight amenities (headphones, refreshments, food, pillows and blankets), credit card charges, and service, airport and fuel taxes. Weight limits vary and so do fees and taxes (they never go down!). The key to a cheap European flight is to take carry-on bags, pay cash and read the fine print. Most flights are from Gatwick, Southend, Luton or city satellite airports that can be reached by coach or train from central London.
Sometimes you’ll find special offers and cheap prices on airline or hotel websites so check those out before you make reservation commitments through an agent or an on-line travel wholesaler.
Hotels (world-wide) sell off some of their rooms to wholesalers who in turn offer them on-line. A room may be cheaper through an on-line agent but it may also be the worst room in the hotel, tucked away at the back of the property near rubbish bins that are emptied at 2am seven days a week or above an all-night bar, and it probably won’t look like the picture you saw on the internet. Book with reputable agencies such as www.booking.com or www.tripadvisor.com and check your reservation is refundable if you cancel in a reasonable time. Read the fine print and terms and conditions as they can change from property to property.
Be wary of internet wholesalers who require full payment in advance by credit card. This means you have entered a contract to rent a hotel room from the wholesaler; you are not renting it from the hotel. If you arrive at the hotel and the room doesn’t look like the picture you saw on the internet or is unsatisfactory in any way, your agreement and payment is with the wholesaler and the hotel may be reluctant to change the room or upgrade you without charging the full rack-rate. Refunds from wholesalers can take months, read the fine print before you make any on-line accommodation or airline reservations or commitments.
Toiletries in bottles, tubs, pots or cans are saboteurs of baggage weight allowances. Collectively they weigh more than anything else. They leak, seep (and explode if you’re really unlucky), or get left behind at the end of the vacation because you’re faced with the no-brainer choice of taking home the pair of gorgeous sandals you had to have or the half bottle of shampoo.
Miniature sizes are pure joy for the traveller. Buy them from supermarkets, mass retailers, chemists and beauty counters. Convenience stores and supermarkets located near backpacker hostels and tourist hotels often stock baby sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, etc. or buy small bottles of toiletries at your destination and ditch them when you leave.
Alternatively decant your favourite beauty products from the original large container into small light plastic containers that hold just enough to keep you supplied for the duration of your holiday. Label the containers with a felt tipped pen or sticky label, it’s easy to confuse nail polish remover with skin tonic when you are tired and the liquid is the same colour!
Never refuse a free trial size, mini size or sachet of any product handed to you, even if you think you’ll never use it. Inexpensive travel pouches containing several products are a good buy. Take the products you need on board in your hand baggage (provided the mass weight is less than 100mls per item) and pack the rest in your luggage.
A mile-high makeup and toiletries kit is an essential cabin requirement for long-haul flights if you intend to arrive looking youthful, fresh and as though you are a seasoned traveller.
The mile high make-up and toiletries kit:
One lip balm.
Moisturiser in a sample pot or travel size tube.
One lipstick.
Lip liner pencil.
Mascara.
Eyeliner pencil with a smudge brush.
Small eye shadow duo compact (one neutral colour and one for contouring) with applicators.
Small pot of cream concealer.
Hairbrush.
Small bottle of eye drops.
One packet of moist wipes.
To save confrontations with border security officials who delight in their power to detain you and make you miss your flight, pack the mile high beauty kit into a sturdy clear snap-lock polythene bag to carry separately through the security controls at the airport.
• Apply lip balm throughout the flight to keep your lips hydrated.
• Use moist wipes to remove make-up. Drench your skin with the moisturizer. Moist wipes are useful to remove cosmetic smudges and to refresh your hands and skin during the flight.
• Three or four make-up remover towelettes carried in a snap-lock bag are ideal alternatives to moist wipes for short distance travel. Not only do they remove cosmetics, they’re great face and hand fresheners after a nap.
• Blue mascara makes the whites of the eyes look whiter and therefore the eyes appear fresh and bright after a long flight.
• Eye drops are aircraft necessities; air conditioning in the cabin dries the natural moisture in the eyes leaving them feeling scratchy and looking red and squizzy. Instil a couple of eye drops to moisturize and soothe the eyes.
• Pressurized air plays havoc with make-up in tubes. When the cap is removed the contents squirt everywhere. Decant the product into small pots you can dip your fingertips into.
• Keep all your jewellery (whether it is real or costume) with you in your handbag on the flight. Do not put any jewellery items in your checked luggage. All personal luggage to be stowed in the aircraft hold is security X-rayed by the airlines.
Here’s the thing: If you are travelling to a colder climate wear all your bulky clothes onto the aircraft. That way you can either take more things in your suitcase or take a smaller suitcase.
Travelling Light – long haul economy air travel
You will need a current passport valid for at least six months from the date of your departure. A passport is required to enter and exit every country in the world. No matter whether you are travelling on an aircraft, a cruise ship or some gorgeous private ocean going yacht you’ll need a current, valid passport.
Australian passport application forms are available from the Post Office.
Hand Luggage
International airlines flying in and out of Australia and New Zealand restrict the amount of liquid you can take on board the aircraft. Everyday products such as toothpaste, hair gel, perfume (except from the port of departure duty free shop) and skin tonic are limited to 100mls per item. Hand luggage is x-rayed at security control prior to departure and if you’ve pushed the 100mls limit boundaries the item will be confiscated and disposed of. It is not kept somewhere safe until you return to the country and reclaim it!
If you have an item you are in doubt about, call the airline to check the item is permitted and confirm with the local customs department that it will be allowed through the border processing area. Prescription drugs required during the flight are permitted, but check anyway, a paper copy of the prescription or a letter from the doctor may be required.
Most airlines have an allowance of around10kgs of hand luggage you can carry on board the aircraft. Ten kilograms is quite a lot of weight when toiletries are not included, but check the cabin baggage weight allowance with your airline.
Below are the essentials for long haul economy class air travel hand luggage:
• Any medication you need (prescribed or otherwise), clearly identified, carried in a clear plastic bag and available to be inspected by security and the airline. If the medicine is prescribed ensure you have a copy of the doctor’s prescription with you to satisfy customs concerns.
• A pair of soft, warm, loose fitting socks
• Large warm soft pashmina, shawl or jacket
• Pocket pack of aloe vera tissues or a handy-pack of disposable anti bacterial moist wipes or both
• Eye glasses if you need them
• Blow-up neck pillow – depending on the airline; some airlines provide pillows and blankets
• Spare set of underwear – in case you arrive and your baggage doesn’t
• The mile high make-up and toiletries kit
Get up and walk around the aircraft during the flight, chat with the flight attendants (they love to talk with passengers during the quiet times) and drink plenty of water to keep hydrated.
The old days of filling up your hand luggage with the toilet bag chock-full of cosmetics plus a bit of hand sewing, knitting or crochet to while away the hours you’re trapped on an aircraft are gone. Large bottles of toiletries have to go into your suitcase (they take up valuable weight allowance) to be stowed in the aircraft hold. Knitting needles, crochet hooks, and sewing accoutrements like scissors and needles are a grey area. Some airlines permit them in the cabin and others don’t, the only way to be certain is to ask the airline. It can take days for an e-mail to be answered. A list of inbound prohibited items is available online from the customs department. www.customs.gov.au or telephone Customs Hotline 1300 363 263.
• Penknives and cigarette lighters are banned.
• Smoking is not permitted on aircraft or in airports. Nicotine patches help to stop cravings during your flight. Some international airports have a designated smoking room available.
• Aircraft air-conditioning can be chilly when you are sitting for an extended time on a long haul flight. Take a warm garment - a pashmina is ideal as it enables you to maintain an elegant persona and warmth at the same time!
• Keep items together in one smallish bag you can stash beneath the seat in front and still leave room for your feet. Getting up and down to access hand luggage stowed in overhead lockers becomes very tiresome
• Don’t expect much from an airline when you travel economy class.
• Take the items you might need with you.
• Aircraft carry some items for your comfort. Often they are not readily available and you have to ask, individual entertainment sets may have to be pre-booked. Blankets, pillows and bottles of water may be given to you on request.
• Some budget airlines do not provide free food and beverages for economy class passengers. Take a few dollars for on-board purchases – snacks and meals, beverages (alcoholic and soft drinks) and movies. The airline may allow you to reserve and pre-pay everything you possibly can when the tickets are purchased. Availability can be limited and more expensive on board.
• Most airlines allow you to take food on their aircraft. Most countries do not allow you to bring your own food through their borders. Dump any food removed from the aircraft in the quarantine bins in the terminals prior to approaching border security controls.
• Deep Vein Thrombosis is a very real life-threatening condition some people contract from air travel. Elasticized socks or stockings can help prevent DVT. If you suspect you may be prone to DVT discuss your travel proposal with your doctor and follow advice on precautions.
• Reapply your make-up and do your hair prior to landing and you’ll walk onto the concourse feeling and looking youthful, groomed and gorgeous.
Travelling Bright
Wear loose dark clothing (food or liquids spills on dark garments aren’t as obvious) and flat or wedge heel shoes for comfort. Airports and aircraft are not the places to be teetering around in stilettos!
Accessorize with an elegant, inexpensive short necklace (long necklaces tend to get caught up in airline blankets and dangle in your dinner) or a scarf (or both) and take the bag you intend to wear most of the time you are on holiday onto the aircraft with you.
Make sure earrings are securely fastened. For an obscure reason earrings tend to work loose in aircraft and if they drop onto the floor they’re almost impossible to locate while you are confined in the seat space.
Black pants or dark jeans are essential travel attire. Apart from looking smart, a light weight pair of black pants or jeans containing a decent percentage of Lycra or stretch is a practical, comfortable garment to wear when you are flying. Jeans must have good stretch in them (at least 2% Lycra), if they are rigid and stiff they will dig into the waist, hips and behind the knees when you are sitting for a long time. Be wary of skirts, they ride up the thighs.
Black pants teamed with a white shirt and worn with confidence, style and panache will take you anywhere!
My sun-following friend yearned to stay at New Zealand’s beautiful Huka Lodge and dine in the world class restaurant set romantically on the banks of the Waikato River. Her opportunity came when her husband’s business trip coincided with their thirtieth wedding anniversary. My friend planned a weekend’s worth of outfits, checked in her luggage and flew into Auckland airport from Sydney. When she arrived she discovered her luggage had gone elsewhere. It was midday on Saturday and the shops had closed for the weekend.
It took 3 ½ hours to drive to Taupo and as she drove my creative friend devised an outfit based on the slim black pants she wore. She commandeered her husband’s white business shirt, turned the collar to the inside and used the complementary sewing kit to temporarily stitch it down. The restaurant chef gave her a sheet of Alfoil that she tore into squares to cover the shirt buttons so they shone silver bright. (She got the idea from her teenage daughter who had recently been given a school detention for individualizing her high school uniform!). She rolled the shirt sleeves to ¾ length, opened the newly fashioned Grandpa collar to her cleavage and wore the jewellery and make-up she’d brought in her hand luggage, Whilst the outfit wasn’t quite the coordinated number she’d planned to wear, my friend still dazzled her husband at their anniversary dinner!
Don’t dress like a tourist!
Why shouldn’t you dress to look youthful and attractive wherever you are? Just because you are in a different place it doesn’t mean you can’t look great. Dark denim jeans, flat, comfortable, well heeled moccasins, a plain white tee shirt and a medium weight jacket worn with a slouchy shoulder bag look classy and effortless. Wear the jewellery from your hand luggage. If the weather is hot substitute dark knee length shorts or a straight, knee-length skirt for the jeans and ditch the jacket. The more stylish you look; the better you will be treated in restaurants, stores, hotels and on tours.
Avoid old lady tourist clobber of the baggy black trakkie daks with the white stripe down the side, the faithful old rubber soled sneakers that have seen better days, the faded, oversized sloppy joe with slogan or a picture on it, and, worst of all, the dreaded bum bag. This is outfit screams “foreigner” and “tourist” and can actively encourage poor treatment, bad manners, rip offs and thieves.
Tales of Woe
An awesome 92 percent of the world’s population are honest, decent, hardworking and helpful people. We need to be wary of the remaining 8 percent.
When we are out and about at home and abroad:
• Keep your wits about you and be aware of what and who is around you.
• Maps and guidebooks are often used as a distraction by pickpockets and thieves. Be cautious of anyone approaching with an open map wanting directions.
• Keep your bag zipped shut. It is astonishing how many women wander around with an open handbag.
• Make sure your handbag is with you at all times. Never leave it on a supermarket trolley, a shop counter or in a changing room while you zap off to locate something.
• Backpacks are an invitation to thieves in a crowd.
• Be wary of children carrying dismantled cardboard boxes. They can build a wall around you and distract you. Suddenly your valuables – mobile phone, wallet, credit cards, and passport or room keys are missing.
• Don’t gamble on street games no matter how goof-proof the game appears to be. The game will be illegal and you will be conned.
• Never wave money around in your fingers.
• Ask yourself how a roadside currency exchange store can offer better rates than a bona fide bank is offering. If you must use a currency exchange booth or store double check, triple check and count with the dealer any currency you have bought or exchanged before you leave the store.
• Identity theft is a real problem. Carry photocopies of your passports, credit cards (front and back), travel documents, insurance, drivers’ license, medical card and itinerary separately from the real deal, leave extra copies with someone who is easily contactable, or scan them on a computer you can access from an international location if you need identification numbers.
• Leave precious jewellery at home. Have fun wearing inexpensive fakes whilst you are on holiday without the worry of protecting real gemstones and metals.
• It is worth visiting the Department of Foreign Affairs website before you head off to foreign countries. It contains heaps of information, travel tips, passport and health information, travel advisories and facts about local customs. Go to www.smartraveller.gov.au for information and follow the prompts.
• Governments issue travel warnings on their websites. There are warnings for just about every country on the planet. It is in the governments own interest to keep your holiday dollars at home.
Travel insurance
Invest in travel insurance so you are not out of pocket in an emergency. You may be entitled to a discount on your premium if you belong to an automobile association. Many insurance providers offer discounts to homeowners or clients who already hold policies such as home contents, building or medical insurance with them. Some travel websites offer insurance at the time of booking. Frequent travellers benefit from an annual policy which works out cheaper than taking a new policy each time you travel.
This Goes with That
Air travel baggage weight restrictions, the need to heave suitcases off airport carousels or carry it up flights of European hotel stairs and global weather all contribute to the dilemma of what to take away with us.
Jump onto the internet and research your holiday, talk to a travel agent or purchase a guidebook about your destination. Lonely Planet and Eyewitness Travel publish up-to-date value for money guidebooks for every country in the world. Sell your guidebook on eBay when you return from your travels.
The internet, guidebooks or your travel agent have information on average temperatures and rainfall at your destination. Tropical countries don’t have wide temperature fluctuations but may have a wet and a dry season. If you’re travelling in Australia, the top end is tropical whilst Tasmania is seasonal.
• It’s easy to forget that Europe and North America are in the opposite hemisphere from Australia and New Zealand and therefore the seasons are opposite too.
• Check out attractions you intend to visit and the transport you intend using to reach them. More durable garments are required if you intend to perch on the back of a motorbike. Obviously your wardrobe choices will be different if you intend to spend your holiday reclining in a limousine!
• Is your accommodation up-market or relaxed?
• How long are you going away for?
• Will washing facilities be available at your destination?
• Do you plan to utilize the hotel laundry service? Airlines ban the carriage of washing powder.
• Are there local laws or religious customs that restrict clothes?
• Will you offend if you reveal your arms or your legs? Some countries and most places of worship require female visitors to cover their shoulders. A simple pashmina, sarong or shawl is usually acceptable.
I hope this is of interest to you and you can use some of my tips. Next time we look at swimwear - what to buy, and what's hot (and what's not!). Kisses, Dawn
Monday, August 13, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Day 15. Secret Women’s Business
Day 15. Secret Women’s Business
The number one thing that only women understand? Other women!
Cancer may seem an odd topic to discuss in an image blog, but many of us are encountering it close up for the first time. It may be that a friend or a family member is battling the disease, or our own experience – with cancer or another chronic illness..
The secret of what to say
Devastating news often divests our thought processes and it’s not unusual to be lost for words when a friend or family member says they have cancer. Obviously this is not the time for light-hearted comments or throwaway lines, simply say from your heart how sorry you are to hear such news and then ask how you can help.
Many different drugs and treatments are used to combat the disease, and the dosage and degree from the effects vary from person to person. Some chemotherapy treatments prevent other cells within the body from functioning while the treatment works its magic to stop the cancer cells from dividing.
Cancer treatment or having cancer itself can shatter the sufferer’s perception of her own attractiveness.
The gift of a beauty remedy or beauty treatment is a small thing to help your friend through a very difficult time.
Hair loss
Not all chemotherapy treatments cause hair loss but many do, and the loss can occur from the head, elsewhere on the body, or both. Many women are severely traumatised by such an assault on their self esteem.
Offer to accompany your friend to the hairdresser to have her hair cut prior to start of her chemotherapy treatment. Encourage her to have a short trendy style that will grow back quite quickly and give her something to look forward to once her course of treatment is completed.
She may prefer to purchase a wig to conceal hair loss and keep her head warm while she is undergoing chemotherapy. Go shopping with her. It is easier to match the hair colour and texture prior to treatment. Some medical insurance providers cover the cost of a wig. This might be the opportunity to try out another “hair persona” – for example a blonde may consider becoming a redhead. Real hair wigs look the most natural; synthetic wigs cost less and are cooler, easier to wash, and more comfortable to wear.
A beautiful scarf or hat is a thoughtful gift. Aqua is a universal colour that suits everybody. Some women prefer to go au naturel, but the season should be considered –30% of our body heat is lost through the scalp.
Hair often thins during chemotherapy and this is where hair extensions are useful to increase length and add volume, and the result is instant! Different widths are attached to the natural hair with small metal snaps that can be inserted and removed from the hair during treatment if need be. Extensions can be washed, coloured, cut, curled and heat-styled.
Saltwater spray products add extra body and volume to thinning hair. A textured, beach- blown look reminiscent of hair that has been in and out of the sea can be achieved with artful arranging of the strands.
A stylish friend accumulated a wardrobe of gorgeous scarves she wore with panache while undergoing chemotherapy. She wore the scarves with the ends flowing down her back or wound into a high thick turban she embellished with a glittery broach or she caught the scarf at the nape of her neck in an elegant knot. My friend’s hair grew back when her treatment finished, and she has absolutely refused to wear any sort of scarf since. That was twenty five years ago!
Skin
Some types of chemotherapy cause hyper pigmentation which darkens the skin or gives it an orange tinge. This can happen in localized areas such as the knees, elbows and soles of the feet, or it may occur all over and look like a patchy spray tan. Our skin needs to be totally protected from the sun for the duration of chemotherapy and radiation treatments when it is also vulnerable to infection. Direct exposure to temperature extremes such as very hot or cold baths can cause the skin to flake and thin. The use of a safety razor increases the chance of small nicks and cuts that can become infected because the body’s immune system is compromised. An electric razor is an obvious and safer alternative.
It is risky gifting skin creams or moisturizers to anyone undergoing radiation treatment. Cancer clinics recommend Sorbolene, an inexpensive, simple, pure, fragrance-free, colour-free moisturizer that’s generally safe to use on skin being subjected to radiation. Other creams such as Keri Lotion are nourishing and formulated to nourish dry and flaky skin. A small collection of skin care –pure skin cream, soothing oil and a pure and simple soap in an attractive gift box is a thoughtful gift.
Avoid fragranced or shiny creams. They look and smell gorgeous but they contain minute metallic light-reflecting particles that make the cream shimmer and shine. The radiation procedure can heat the miniscule metal particles and cause the skin to blister and burn.
In fact, the use of any skin product immediately prior to radiation is unwise. Creams, lotions and oils all can move around the markings the radiographer makes on the skin, causing inaccurate placement of the radiation equipment.
Chemotherapy, radiation treatment or cancer itself may cause pruritus or itchiness which, like hyper pigmentation, can be localized or it can occur all over the body. During radiation treatment the skin is sensitive, easily irritated and more likely to blister. It responds best to gentle handling. No scrubbing, exfoliants, loofahs, body scrubs, nylon knit gloves, nylon mesh sponge balls or aggressive skin care products.
Ingredients for a pampering oatmeal bath are an inexpensive gift to soothe fragile itchy skin. Fill a muslin bag, cheesecloth square or a pretty organza jewellery bag with a handful of raw oatmeal (porridge) and tie it off with a ribbon that can be looped over a tap. Swish the bag through a warm bath before having a soak. Squeeze the bag out and apply as a natural poultice to relieve any really itchy areas.
Nails
Certain chemotherapy drugs such as paclitaxel and docetaxel, may cause ‘Beau’s lines’ on the fingernails. These white lines run horizontally across the nail. They eventually go away or grow out.
How about treating your friend to a professional manicure? She might appreciate a pedicure at the same time. Take your own sterilized tools to avoid infections, or speak with the nail technician prior to your appointment, discuss the situation and verify that any instruments will be sterilized.
Put together a small “pamper hamper” for your friend. Buy nail clippers, a packet of emery boards, cuticle scissors, hand cream and a bottle of light coloured crème nail polish and pop them into a cellophane bag and tie it with a ribbon.
Appetite
Many cancer patients lose their sense of taste especially if treatment is centred on the upper body, neck or facial area. This often happens when the course of treatment is well underway.
Favourite foods lose their appeal, everything tastes or smells different and unappetizing – bland, soapy, oily, rubbery, sour, peppery, metallic or ‘like cardboard’ or ‘off perfume’.
Gifting an edible treat is unlikely to re-kindle a dulled appetite. In all likelihood your thoughtful (and probably expensive!) temptation will be devoured by the cancer sufferer’s family.
An alternative could be your handwritten I.O.U. promising to take your friend to an up-market coffee shop or gorgeous chocolate café when her taste buds have recovered. Sometimes the promise of an outing becomes something special to look forward to at a very ordinary time.
When I asked friends who have recovered from cancer what they most appreciated when they were undergoing treatment, they each said it was the gift of personal time.
One friend was grateful that her friends organised a transport roster, taking turns to convey her to and from the clinic where she underwent treatment. She said the knowledge that one of her buddies would be waiting to drive her home after radiation and chemotherapy medications made her feel less alone.
Another friend valued telephone calls, cards, text messages and emails from her family and friends. She said the continuous wishes of encouragement and love, prayers, little anecdotes and people’s thoughts helped sustain her throughout a long and difficult time.
Another enjoyed the chats, reminiscences and companionship she shared with friends who sat with her in the hospital while she received intravenous chemotherapy drugs. Their humour, support, optimism and firm encouragement lifted her spirit and heightened her determination to recover.
Remember that it’s a rotten time and the focus needs to be on the sufferer’s comfort.
The dreaded Mammogram and Pap Tests
Women who’ve undergone mammograms or Pap tests often complain that they can’t think of anything worse. Actually, there are worse things. One is the ordeal of cancer. It is very much worse.
Women in Australia have a 1 in 8 risk of developing breast cancer. The biggest risk factor is simply age; being over 50 years old. A mammogram can detect problems early - long before you notice any changes yourself.
The actual breast screen (mammogram) procedure is uncomfortable for the moments when each breast is flattened between two metal plates while the mammogram is taken, but it’s not invasive.
BreastScreen in Australia is a state government entity and every state has central breast screening locations. Mammograms are available free of charge to Australian women aged between 50 and 69 years. A reminder is sent every two years. Once you’ve been screened there is a 10 day wait for the results, which are posted to you. If any abnormality is detected you are asked to return for a second mammogram, the results of which are often available the same day. The radiographers, technicians and staff at the BreastScreen centres are pleasant, efficient, compassionate and discreet.
A pap smear test is also vitally important, but it is intrusive, undignified and having to undergo one is totally bleh! Pap smear tests can detect cervical cancer in the early stages, long before you or your doctor notice any changes.
Pap smear tests are done by a medical doctor in the surgery. There is no central location for Pap smears like there is for mammograms. Tell the doctor’s receptionist you require a Pap smear appointment. This will allow appropriate time allocation – a Pap smear takes longer than a usual quick consultation appointment. Doctors approach the procedure in different ways; discuss your concerns with the doctor to establish exactly what is going to happen.
As with mammograms, Pap smear tests are free to women over 50. Reminders are sent out every two years once you’re in the system.
Swallow your dignity and make sure you have regular mammograms and Pap smear tests. If nothing else, at least you are getting something back for all the tax dollars the government has relieved you of!
Cosmetic Surgery
Now here’s an interesting statistic – 65% of women seriously consider undergoing a cosmetic surgery procedure at some stage, but only 5% of those women actually go ahead with it.
• Shop around if you’re considering plastic surgery. Costs vary enormously. Most surgeons expect you to ask for testimonials and follow them up.
• Plastic surgery isn’t a guarantee that you are going to look more youthful. A face-lift may hoist out the wrinkles, but if, at the end of it all, you look as though you’ve had work done then everyone will assume you’re old enough to have had it done!
• Build a recovery period into your timetable.
The Big Hit Parade –10 things that are so not youthful or chic!
In our youth-obsessed society age is an issue. As we slip into the chasm of maturity we can tumble unwittingly into characteristics associated with middle age. You can look as youthful as all get out, but if you do any of the following you’ll be busted!
• Sauntering over pedestrian crossings and unnecessarily holding up the traffic.
• Faffing around in the car looking for the car park exit ticket (store it in a designated pocket in your handbag), reapplying your lipstick, fiddling around adjusting the seat belt, locating another radio station, inserting a new CD into the CD player and adjusting the car seat position - whilst another car is waiting for your car spot.
• Wearing your reading glasses dangling from a chain around your neck. Diamante chains count as old-looking too.
• Making statements beginning “In my day, When I was your age, When you get to my age, In the old days,” etc.
• Adopting sayings or words too young for us – such as “sick” in an attempt to be cool. Wait until the word or saying becomes main stream before you start trotting it out.
• Jargon; unless you are intimately linked with its origin, will always sound too try hard.
• Expletives date us. Younger people do not say “bloody”. They say “fuck”. A lot!
• Any action such as sitting down, getting up, alighting from a car or any activity that causes an audible “ooh, aaah or oomph” as you do so makes you seem very, very ancient.
• Words such as “snazzy, grouse, nifty or groovy” slot us into an older generation. Timeless adjectives – “fabulous, awesome, fantastic, and gorgeous” are alternatives that effortlessly sweep across the generations.
• Mature women have personally experienced many things. It’s very easy to be disparaging, derisive or sarcastic when confronted with an issue or situation we’ve seen before. Be alert, a belittling put down is interpreted as mean and petty and old lady-ish. Find an encouraging remark instead. Non judgmental acceptance and understanding is always youthful and appreciated
The Golden Rule across the board is the adage your mother taught you.
“If you can’t say anything nice; don’t say anything at all!”
If you’re a mother yourself you’ve probably instilled into your own children’s psyche!
.
Use it or lose it!
When the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine conducted their Voice of Australian Women Survey, fear of memory loss was the major concern of 62% to the 15,000 participants. I am sure that women across the world must share this concern.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales found the amount of physical and mental exercise we do has an enormous bearing on how healthy the brain remains as we get older. The studies showed that people who keep actively involved in diverse interests, both mental and physical, and who participate in lots of activities from crosswords to martial arts have larger hippocampuses (the part of the brain controlling short-term memory and navigation skills) than those who are less active and whose shrinking hippocampuses are known to be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
Here are some of the things that will keep you in the game and help eliminate those CRAFT moments:
• Working out. Any exercise from walking to vigorous cardio activity four to six times a week raises levels of neuro proteins (brain food) which lead to better connected brain cells.
• Blueberries help improve short term recall and protect the brain’s memory storing cells. Eat some every day. It doesn’t matter whether you eat fresh, canned or frozen blueberries. Make a smoothie for breakfast with a handful of frozen blueberries, a ripe banana, a couple of heaped tablespoons of fat-free yoghurt, a pinch of nutmeg, a teaspoon of runny honey and a cup of skimmed or semi skimmed milk. Blend it all together.
• Turmeric helps increase brain function. Every now and then stir 1 teaspoon into soups, casseroles, sauces (and curries of course!).
• Red wine (about one glass per day) slows the build-up of plaque in the brain, reducing the risk of dementia.
• Analytical left brainers can activate their right brain by sketching, tracing and doodling. Studies show that doodling keeps you focussed during mundane activities so go ahead and release your inner Picasso!
• Intuitive and creative right brainers can activate their left half with crossword puzzles, word jumbles and Sudoku.
• Talking to someone for at least 10 minutes increases the memory as much as a brainteaser puzzle does. Make sure you do some of the talking and not all the listening which is one of the traps we fall into as we age.
• Do you name drop? There are many theories why we forget a person’s name after an introduction. To help prevent the name from dropping out of your mind repeat it in the conversation as soon as possible and as often as possible after you’ve been introduced. In other words – use it or lose it!
Secrets of coping with children-in-law
It is unlikely your child’s partner will be, or will ever become, your best friend.
The opportunities to fall out with our children-in-law are limitless, but most family feuds can be diverted with a little fore-planning and bucket loads of diplomacy, respect and tact!
As we know, most things have a way of working themselves out with time. To avoid offence, both real and imagined, here’s the heads up on some of the measures you can take. And if all else fails, close your lips and bite your tongue until your mouth fills with blood!
Chinese Whispers
It is extremely unwise to criticize your child’s partner. To anyone! You can bet your bottom dollar that whatever you say, even in the strictest confidence, will get out. Your words will be magnified, exaggerated, convoluted and dissected. And then they will find their way back to the person you were talking about. Criticism doesn’t endear us to anyone; and it causes deep rifts within families.
I know someone who for years blurted out every single unkind thought that came into her head about her daughter’s partner. Whacko, away she went! When she was confronted she used the excuse that it’s just how she is and she can’t help it. Eventually she shut up, but not before irreversible damage was done!
It’s no consolation that a soft heart lies beneath hard comments. It’s the out-there-mean words that are remembered.
Refrain from articulating unkind thoughts and never write them down!
Focus on all the good points in the relationship your child shares with the partner and elevate and magnify those.
Loving and sharing, giving and kind.
Finding acceptable an gift for your child’s partner can often be a challenge; the most well-ntentioned gift can so easily be misinterpreted as criticism or disapproval.
• A magazine subscription is a reasonably priced present that indicates you’ve put thought and effort into. Pop the subscription notification inside a really great card, not one of those one dollar photographic cards that every young person knows cost a dollar.
• Check out weekend markets for interesting and unusual tems. Look out for potpourri sachets or lavender pillows, jewellery (a bracelet is less personal than a necklace, ring or earrings), scarves, key holders or handcrafted items such as sunglass cases, jewellery or travel pouches, belts, or scented candles in simple, attractive candleholders.
• Items such as handmade soaps can be tricky; apart from the implication the recipient might be slightly on the nose, if the soap has been made from scratch and contains lye it could react upon the recipient’s skin.
• A plant in a pot is a neutral gift. Do resist the temptation to follow up a few weeks later with solicitous enquiries about the plant’s wellbeing! Bonsai trees are best left to the experienced Bonsai enthusiast who knows how to care for them and has the time to do so.
• Photo frames are items people tend not to buy for themselves and therefore make a great gift. Locate (or download) a photograph of the partner with your child to put into the frame.
• Failing all else, a gift voucher is a rather unimaginative but quite acceptable present. Check the store has a branch or outlet nearby where the voucher can be redeemed, and give the voucher in an attractive card, not a tacky white envelope! A surprising statistic from one of Australia’s leading department stores – 35% of the gift vouchers sold annually are never redeemed.
• Keep the receipt when you give a surprise.
Grandchildren
If you want your grandchildren to wear a garment you’ve knitted, crocheted or sewn; or if you want them to use or play with an item you’ve made; discuss the project with their mother before you embark on it.
If you lovingly create something and the mother doesn’t like the colour, fabric, texture or anything else about it, the article may never see the light of day once you’ve handed it over. So, involve the mum. Ask for colour preferences, show her samples of materials you intend to use and reconfirm sizes. If she seems non-committal, disinterested or unenthusiastic, then read the signs she doesn’t want her child to have the item. You could suggest an alternative, but in all honesty it’s better to abandon the idea, keep your money in your pocket and think of something else to make later.
Women’s secrets – the heads up
• To retain the of depth of colour in black clothes launder them in fabric softener or Radiant Black Clothes Wash. Washing powders and washing liquids often contain bleach.
• Check out $2 (one pound) stores for interesting stocking fillers such as headbands, lip gloss, belts and eyebrow tweezers.
• Safety pins are our secret little treasures! Secure the underside of a cross-over top to one cup of your bra with a small safety pin; it is undetectable and infinitely more preferable than pinning the cross-over in the centre at your cleavage where it is very obvious.
• Use a couple of small safety pins to secure shoulder pads to the shoulder seam of a dress or top to prevent the shoulder pads slipping around. Velcro damages your bra straps.
• Dab a little toothpaste on sudden skin break outs. Toothpaste also bleaches nicotine stains around the mouth. Quitting smoking works better!
• A squirt of hairspray temporarily halts a ladder in pantyhose.
• Use a nylon net ball (from a clip-strip in the supermarket aisles) to clean shower tiles and the shower screen.
• Soap-free gel such as ‘Radox Oxygen’ won’t build up soap scum on the tiles or glass shower screen.
• A golf ball stuffed into the toes of too-tight shoes can help to stretch them.
• Remove chewing gum by hardening the item it is stuck to in the freezer. If the article won’t fit into the freezer (such as a chair!) run ice over the chewing gum in situ and then scrape it off.
Cosmetics – Down to the last drop!
We expect a certain level of commitment from cosmetic products and it’s a nuisance when they stop delivering – this usually happens when they’re nearing the end of their life and about to break up. Here’s how to eek out the max from some cosmetics:
• If lipstick, eye liner pencils and lip liner pencils soften and start to melt in the heat use your fingertips to re-shape them then pop them in the fridge overnight to harden.
• Put lip liner and eye liner pencils in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to sharpening them and you won’t waste that soft chunk of colour that gets stuck in the sharpener blade.
• To realign a lipstick that’s snapped heat the broken sides of each half over a candle flame for a few seconds (no more, or the lipstick will get sooty from the candle) and press the warmed sides together. Set it in the fridge.
• A drop or two of nail polish remover poured into thickened nail polish will allow you to use it one more time. Give it a good shake.
• If the cap of a nail polish bottle glues itself shut, wipe a smear of Vaseline around the top of the bottle before you close it next time and it will open easily.
• Clean a mascara wand with a dab of Vaseline applied with your finger, then wipe it off with a clean fabric rag (tissues flake and get stuck to the brush). Don’t use soap and water to clean a mascara wand however tempting it may be, soap can irritate the eyes and water can carry bacteria into the mascara. Mascara should be replaced every four months.
• To get the last drop from a plastic tube of liquid foundation or tinted moisturizer when no more can be squeezed out, cut the tube in half. You’ll find at least another spoonful clinging to the sides of the tube. Scoop it out and store it in a mini travel pot.
That's it for the moment! Next time we enter the world of High Flyers - Intrepid Travel. We look at getting the most out of your suitcase space, how to combine 13 garments and create 114 outfits, altitude with attitude, air travel and how to arrive at your destination looking a million dollars plus a few of the pitfalls we can encounter during our travels. We also delve into the world of shopping for swimwear and re-vamping swimwear you already have. So, until then, kisses. Dawn.
Retail details and magic products
Hair thickening products
Salt Spray by Fudge, $18, from Priceline.
VO5 Surf Style Matte Effect Texturising Paste $5, from Coles
Diva Extensions, natural hair extensions that can be cut, coloured and styled just like your own hair. They come in different lengths – 12inches, 16 inches and 20 inches and cost from $230 to $480 plus the cost of a cut and style. Available from professional hairdressing salons. Contact www.g12hairstudio.com for a quote.
Add-on 40cm 100% Human Hair (2 extensions per pack) by Headlines Hairpieces $158 ph 1800 251.215 or www.headlineshairpieces.com.au
HairUWear 10 piece Clip-In Synthetic Extensions, $120 by Hairdo. www.hairdo.com.au
Body Lotions
Sorbelene Cream, fragrance free with 10% glycerene 600mls $3, Priceline’s own brand
Alpha Keri Lotion Dry Skin Treatment 1 litre, $16, Priceline and pharmacies
Sun Protection Products
Cancer Council Tinted Moisturizer contains SPF30 $12, from Priceline or The Cancer Council stores.
Face of Australia Tinted Moisturizer contains SPF25 in three colours – Light, medium and dark $12, from Priceline
BreastScreen is operated by every state government health service. There is no central national number. The New South Wales BreastScreen website is www.bsnsw.org.au and so on. Or try: www.cancerscreening.gov.au or phone 13 20 50 freecall.
Blueberries
Creative Gourmet Frozen Blueberries 500g $7.20 from Coles and Woolworths or try their own home brands which are a little cheaper and equally as good!
Frozberries, Frozen blueberries, 1kg $9, discounts available for bulk purchases, organic blueberries (frozen) 350g $6.50. www.frozberries.com.au
The number one thing that only women understand? Other women!
Cancer may seem an odd topic to discuss in an image blog, but many of us are encountering it close up for the first time. It may be that a friend or a family member is battling the disease, or our own experience – with cancer or another chronic illness..
The secret of what to say
Devastating news often divests our thought processes and it’s not unusual to be lost for words when a friend or family member says they have cancer. Obviously this is not the time for light-hearted comments or throwaway lines, simply say from your heart how sorry you are to hear such news and then ask how you can help.
Many different drugs and treatments are used to combat the disease, and the dosage and degree from the effects vary from person to person. Some chemotherapy treatments prevent other cells within the body from functioning while the treatment works its magic to stop the cancer cells from dividing.
Cancer treatment or having cancer itself can shatter the sufferer’s perception of her own attractiveness.
The gift of a beauty remedy or beauty treatment is a small thing to help your friend through a very difficult time.
Hair loss
Not all chemotherapy treatments cause hair loss but many do, and the loss can occur from the head, elsewhere on the body, or both. Many women are severely traumatised by such an assault on their self esteem.
Offer to accompany your friend to the hairdresser to have her hair cut prior to start of her chemotherapy treatment. Encourage her to have a short trendy style that will grow back quite quickly and give her something to look forward to once her course of treatment is completed.
She may prefer to purchase a wig to conceal hair loss and keep her head warm while she is undergoing chemotherapy. Go shopping with her. It is easier to match the hair colour and texture prior to treatment. Some medical insurance providers cover the cost of a wig. This might be the opportunity to try out another “hair persona” – for example a blonde may consider becoming a redhead. Real hair wigs look the most natural; synthetic wigs cost less and are cooler, easier to wash, and more comfortable to wear.
A beautiful scarf or hat is a thoughtful gift. Aqua is a universal colour that suits everybody. Some women prefer to go au naturel, but the season should be considered –30% of our body heat is lost through the scalp.
Hair often thins during chemotherapy and this is where hair extensions are useful to increase length and add volume, and the result is instant! Different widths are attached to the natural hair with small metal snaps that can be inserted and removed from the hair during treatment if need be. Extensions can be washed, coloured, cut, curled and heat-styled.
Saltwater spray products add extra body and volume to thinning hair. A textured, beach- blown look reminiscent of hair that has been in and out of the sea can be achieved with artful arranging of the strands.
A stylish friend accumulated a wardrobe of gorgeous scarves she wore with panache while undergoing chemotherapy. She wore the scarves with the ends flowing down her back or wound into a high thick turban she embellished with a glittery broach or she caught the scarf at the nape of her neck in an elegant knot. My friend’s hair grew back when her treatment finished, and she has absolutely refused to wear any sort of scarf since. That was twenty five years ago!
Skin
Some types of chemotherapy cause hyper pigmentation which darkens the skin or gives it an orange tinge. This can happen in localized areas such as the knees, elbows and soles of the feet, or it may occur all over and look like a patchy spray tan. Our skin needs to be totally protected from the sun for the duration of chemotherapy and radiation treatments when it is also vulnerable to infection. Direct exposure to temperature extremes such as very hot or cold baths can cause the skin to flake and thin. The use of a safety razor increases the chance of small nicks and cuts that can become infected because the body’s immune system is compromised. An electric razor is an obvious and safer alternative.
It is risky gifting skin creams or moisturizers to anyone undergoing radiation treatment. Cancer clinics recommend Sorbolene, an inexpensive, simple, pure, fragrance-free, colour-free moisturizer that’s generally safe to use on skin being subjected to radiation. Other creams such as Keri Lotion are nourishing and formulated to nourish dry and flaky skin. A small collection of skin care –pure skin cream, soothing oil and a pure and simple soap in an attractive gift box is a thoughtful gift.
Avoid fragranced or shiny creams. They look and smell gorgeous but they contain minute metallic light-reflecting particles that make the cream shimmer and shine. The radiation procedure can heat the miniscule metal particles and cause the skin to blister and burn.
In fact, the use of any skin product immediately prior to radiation is unwise. Creams, lotions and oils all can move around the markings the radiographer makes on the skin, causing inaccurate placement of the radiation equipment.
Chemotherapy, radiation treatment or cancer itself may cause pruritus or itchiness which, like hyper pigmentation, can be localized or it can occur all over the body. During radiation treatment the skin is sensitive, easily irritated and more likely to blister. It responds best to gentle handling. No scrubbing, exfoliants, loofahs, body scrubs, nylon knit gloves, nylon mesh sponge balls or aggressive skin care products.
Ingredients for a pampering oatmeal bath are an inexpensive gift to soothe fragile itchy skin. Fill a muslin bag, cheesecloth square or a pretty organza jewellery bag with a handful of raw oatmeal (porridge) and tie it off with a ribbon that can be looped over a tap. Swish the bag through a warm bath before having a soak. Squeeze the bag out and apply as a natural poultice to relieve any really itchy areas.
Nails
Certain chemotherapy drugs such as paclitaxel and docetaxel, may cause ‘Beau’s lines’ on the fingernails. These white lines run horizontally across the nail. They eventually go away or grow out.
How about treating your friend to a professional manicure? She might appreciate a pedicure at the same time. Take your own sterilized tools to avoid infections, or speak with the nail technician prior to your appointment, discuss the situation and verify that any instruments will be sterilized.
Put together a small “pamper hamper” for your friend. Buy nail clippers, a packet of emery boards, cuticle scissors, hand cream and a bottle of light coloured crème nail polish and pop them into a cellophane bag and tie it with a ribbon.
Appetite
Many cancer patients lose their sense of taste especially if treatment is centred on the upper body, neck or facial area. This often happens when the course of treatment is well underway.
Favourite foods lose their appeal, everything tastes or smells different and unappetizing – bland, soapy, oily, rubbery, sour, peppery, metallic or ‘like cardboard’ or ‘off perfume’.
Gifting an edible treat is unlikely to re-kindle a dulled appetite. In all likelihood your thoughtful (and probably expensive!) temptation will be devoured by the cancer sufferer’s family.
An alternative could be your handwritten I.O.U. promising to take your friend to an up-market coffee shop or gorgeous chocolate café when her taste buds have recovered. Sometimes the promise of an outing becomes something special to look forward to at a very ordinary time.
When I asked friends who have recovered from cancer what they most appreciated when they were undergoing treatment, they each said it was the gift of personal time.
One friend was grateful that her friends organised a transport roster, taking turns to convey her to and from the clinic where she underwent treatment. She said the knowledge that one of her buddies would be waiting to drive her home after radiation and chemotherapy medications made her feel less alone.
Another friend valued telephone calls, cards, text messages and emails from her family and friends. She said the continuous wishes of encouragement and love, prayers, little anecdotes and people’s thoughts helped sustain her throughout a long and difficult time.
Another enjoyed the chats, reminiscences and companionship she shared with friends who sat with her in the hospital while she received intravenous chemotherapy drugs. Their humour, support, optimism and firm encouragement lifted her spirit and heightened her determination to recover.
Remember that it’s a rotten time and the focus needs to be on the sufferer’s comfort.
The dreaded Mammogram and Pap Tests
Women who’ve undergone mammograms or Pap tests often complain that they can’t think of anything worse. Actually, there are worse things. One is the ordeal of cancer. It is very much worse.
Women in Australia have a 1 in 8 risk of developing breast cancer. The biggest risk factor is simply age; being over 50 years old. A mammogram can detect problems early - long before you notice any changes yourself.
The actual breast screen (mammogram) procedure is uncomfortable for the moments when each breast is flattened between two metal plates while the mammogram is taken, but it’s not invasive.
BreastScreen in Australia is a state government entity and every state has central breast screening locations. Mammograms are available free of charge to Australian women aged between 50 and 69 years. A reminder is sent every two years. Once you’ve been screened there is a 10 day wait for the results, which are posted to you. If any abnormality is detected you are asked to return for a second mammogram, the results of which are often available the same day. The radiographers, technicians and staff at the BreastScreen centres are pleasant, efficient, compassionate and discreet.
A pap smear test is also vitally important, but it is intrusive, undignified and having to undergo one is totally bleh! Pap smear tests can detect cervical cancer in the early stages, long before you or your doctor notice any changes.
Pap smear tests are done by a medical doctor in the surgery. There is no central location for Pap smears like there is for mammograms. Tell the doctor’s receptionist you require a Pap smear appointment. This will allow appropriate time allocation – a Pap smear takes longer than a usual quick consultation appointment. Doctors approach the procedure in different ways; discuss your concerns with the doctor to establish exactly what is going to happen.
As with mammograms, Pap smear tests are free to women over 50. Reminders are sent out every two years once you’re in the system.
Swallow your dignity and make sure you have regular mammograms and Pap smear tests. If nothing else, at least you are getting something back for all the tax dollars the government has relieved you of!
Cosmetic Surgery
Now here’s an interesting statistic – 65% of women seriously consider undergoing a cosmetic surgery procedure at some stage, but only 5% of those women actually go ahead with it.
• Shop around if you’re considering plastic surgery. Costs vary enormously. Most surgeons expect you to ask for testimonials and follow them up.
• Plastic surgery isn’t a guarantee that you are going to look more youthful. A face-lift may hoist out the wrinkles, but if, at the end of it all, you look as though you’ve had work done then everyone will assume you’re old enough to have had it done!
• Build a recovery period into your timetable.
The Big Hit Parade –10 things that are so not youthful or chic!
In our youth-obsessed society age is an issue. As we slip into the chasm of maturity we can tumble unwittingly into characteristics associated with middle age. You can look as youthful as all get out, but if you do any of the following you’ll be busted!
• Sauntering over pedestrian crossings and unnecessarily holding up the traffic.
• Faffing around in the car looking for the car park exit ticket (store it in a designated pocket in your handbag), reapplying your lipstick, fiddling around adjusting the seat belt, locating another radio station, inserting a new CD into the CD player and adjusting the car seat position - whilst another car is waiting for your car spot.
• Wearing your reading glasses dangling from a chain around your neck. Diamante chains count as old-looking too.
• Making statements beginning “In my day, When I was your age, When you get to my age, In the old days,” etc.
• Adopting sayings or words too young for us – such as “sick” in an attempt to be cool. Wait until the word or saying becomes main stream before you start trotting it out.
• Jargon; unless you are intimately linked with its origin, will always sound too try hard.
• Expletives date us. Younger people do not say “bloody”. They say “fuck”. A lot!
• Any action such as sitting down, getting up, alighting from a car or any activity that causes an audible “ooh, aaah or oomph” as you do so makes you seem very, very ancient.
• Words such as “snazzy, grouse, nifty or groovy” slot us into an older generation. Timeless adjectives – “fabulous, awesome, fantastic, and gorgeous” are alternatives that effortlessly sweep across the generations.
• Mature women have personally experienced many things. It’s very easy to be disparaging, derisive or sarcastic when confronted with an issue or situation we’ve seen before. Be alert, a belittling put down is interpreted as mean and petty and old lady-ish. Find an encouraging remark instead. Non judgmental acceptance and understanding is always youthful and appreciated
The Golden Rule across the board is the adage your mother taught you.
“If you can’t say anything nice; don’t say anything at all!”
If you’re a mother yourself you’ve probably instilled into your own children’s psyche!
.
Use it or lose it!
When the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine conducted their Voice of Australian Women Survey, fear of memory loss was the major concern of 62% to the 15,000 participants. I am sure that women across the world must share this concern.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales found the amount of physical and mental exercise we do has an enormous bearing on how healthy the brain remains as we get older. The studies showed that people who keep actively involved in diverse interests, both mental and physical, and who participate in lots of activities from crosswords to martial arts have larger hippocampuses (the part of the brain controlling short-term memory and navigation skills) than those who are less active and whose shrinking hippocampuses are known to be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
Here are some of the things that will keep you in the game and help eliminate those CRAFT moments:
• Working out. Any exercise from walking to vigorous cardio activity four to six times a week raises levels of neuro proteins (brain food) which lead to better connected brain cells.
• Blueberries help improve short term recall and protect the brain’s memory storing cells. Eat some every day. It doesn’t matter whether you eat fresh, canned or frozen blueberries. Make a smoothie for breakfast with a handful of frozen blueberries, a ripe banana, a couple of heaped tablespoons of fat-free yoghurt, a pinch of nutmeg, a teaspoon of runny honey and a cup of skimmed or semi skimmed milk. Blend it all together.
• Turmeric helps increase brain function. Every now and then stir 1 teaspoon into soups, casseroles, sauces (and curries of course!).
• Red wine (about one glass per day) slows the build-up of plaque in the brain, reducing the risk of dementia.
• Analytical left brainers can activate their right brain by sketching, tracing and doodling. Studies show that doodling keeps you focussed during mundane activities so go ahead and release your inner Picasso!
• Intuitive and creative right brainers can activate their left half with crossword puzzles, word jumbles and Sudoku.
• Talking to someone for at least 10 minutes increases the memory as much as a brainteaser puzzle does. Make sure you do some of the talking and not all the listening which is one of the traps we fall into as we age.
• Do you name drop? There are many theories why we forget a person’s name after an introduction. To help prevent the name from dropping out of your mind repeat it in the conversation as soon as possible and as often as possible after you’ve been introduced. In other words – use it or lose it!
Secrets of coping with children-in-law
It is unlikely your child’s partner will be, or will ever become, your best friend.
The opportunities to fall out with our children-in-law are limitless, but most family feuds can be diverted with a little fore-planning and bucket loads of diplomacy, respect and tact!
As we know, most things have a way of working themselves out with time. To avoid offence, both real and imagined, here’s the heads up on some of the measures you can take. And if all else fails, close your lips and bite your tongue until your mouth fills with blood!
Chinese Whispers
It is extremely unwise to criticize your child’s partner. To anyone! You can bet your bottom dollar that whatever you say, even in the strictest confidence, will get out. Your words will be magnified, exaggerated, convoluted and dissected. And then they will find their way back to the person you were talking about. Criticism doesn’t endear us to anyone; and it causes deep rifts within families.
I know someone who for years blurted out every single unkind thought that came into her head about her daughter’s partner. Whacko, away she went! When she was confronted she used the excuse that it’s just how she is and she can’t help it. Eventually she shut up, but not before irreversible damage was done!
It’s no consolation that a soft heart lies beneath hard comments. It’s the out-there-mean words that are remembered.
Refrain from articulating unkind thoughts and never write them down!
Focus on all the good points in the relationship your child shares with the partner and elevate and magnify those.
Loving and sharing, giving and kind.
Finding acceptable an gift for your child’s partner can often be a challenge; the most well-ntentioned gift can so easily be misinterpreted as criticism or disapproval.
• A magazine subscription is a reasonably priced present that indicates you’ve put thought and effort into. Pop the subscription notification inside a really great card, not one of those one dollar photographic cards that every young person knows cost a dollar.
• Check out weekend markets for interesting and unusual tems. Look out for potpourri sachets or lavender pillows, jewellery (a bracelet is less personal than a necklace, ring or earrings), scarves, key holders or handcrafted items such as sunglass cases, jewellery or travel pouches, belts, or scented candles in simple, attractive candleholders.
• Items such as handmade soaps can be tricky; apart from the implication the recipient might be slightly on the nose, if the soap has been made from scratch and contains lye it could react upon the recipient’s skin.
• A plant in a pot is a neutral gift. Do resist the temptation to follow up a few weeks later with solicitous enquiries about the plant’s wellbeing! Bonsai trees are best left to the experienced Bonsai enthusiast who knows how to care for them and has the time to do so.
• Photo frames are items people tend not to buy for themselves and therefore make a great gift. Locate (or download) a photograph of the partner with your child to put into the frame.
• Failing all else, a gift voucher is a rather unimaginative but quite acceptable present. Check the store has a branch or outlet nearby where the voucher can be redeemed, and give the voucher in an attractive card, not a tacky white envelope! A surprising statistic from one of Australia’s leading department stores – 35% of the gift vouchers sold annually are never redeemed.
• Keep the receipt when you give a surprise.
Grandchildren
If you want your grandchildren to wear a garment you’ve knitted, crocheted or sewn; or if you want them to use or play with an item you’ve made; discuss the project with their mother before you embark on it.
If you lovingly create something and the mother doesn’t like the colour, fabric, texture or anything else about it, the article may never see the light of day once you’ve handed it over. So, involve the mum. Ask for colour preferences, show her samples of materials you intend to use and reconfirm sizes. If she seems non-committal, disinterested or unenthusiastic, then read the signs she doesn’t want her child to have the item. You could suggest an alternative, but in all honesty it’s better to abandon the idea, keep your money in your pocket and think of something else to make later.
Women’s secrets – the heads up
• To retain the of depth of colour in black clothes launder them in fabric softener or Radiant Black Clothes Wash. Washing powders and washing liquids often contain bleach.
• Check out $2 (one pound) stores for interesting stocking fillers such as headbands, lip gloss, belts and eyebrow tweezers.
• Safety pins are our secret little treasures! Secure the underside of a cross-over top to one cup of your bra with a small safety pin; it is undetectable and infinitely more preferable than pinning the cross-over in the centre at your cleavage where it is very obvious.
• Use a couple of small safety pins to secure shoulder pads to the shoulder seam of a dress or top to prevent the shoulder pads slipping around. Velcro damages your bra straps.
• Dab a little toothpaste on sudden skin break outs. Toothpaste also bleaches nicotine stains around the mouth. Quitting smoking works better!
• A squirt of hairspray temporarily halts a ladder in pantyhose.
• Use a nylon net ball (from a clip-strip in the supermarket aisles) to clean shower tiles and the shower screen.
• Soap-free gel such as ‘Radox Oxygen’ won’t build up soap scum on the tiles or glass shower screen.
• A golf ball stuffed into the toes of too-tight shoes can help to stretch them.
• Remove chewing gum by hardening the item it is stuck to in the freezer. If the article won’t fit into the freezer (such as a chair!) run ice over the chewing gum in situ and then scrape it off.
Cosmetics – Down to the last drop!
We expect a certain level of commitment from cosmetic products and it’s a nuisance when they stop delivering – this usually happens when they’re nearing the end of their life and about to break up. Here’s how to eek out the max from some cosmetics:
• If lipstick, eye liner pencils and lip liner pencils soften and start to melt in the heat use your fingertips to re-shape them then pop them in the fridge overnight to harden.
• Put lip liner and eye liner pencils in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to sharpening them and you won’t waste that soft chunk of colour that gets stuck in the sharpener blade.
• To realign a lipstick that’s snapped heat the broken sides of each half over a candle flame for a few seconds (no more, or the lipstick will get sooty from the candle) and press the warmed sides together. Set it in the fridge.
• A drop or two of nail polish remover poured into thickened nail polish will allow you to use it one more time. Give it a good shake.
• If the cap of a nail polish bottle glues itself shut, wipe a smear of Vaseline around the top of the bottle before you close it next time and it will open easily.
• Clean a mascara wand with a dab of Vaseline applied with your finger, then wipe it off with a clean fabric rag (tissues flake and get stuck to the brush). Don’t use soap and water to clean a mascara wand however tempting it may be, soap can irritate the eyes and water can carry bacteria into the mascara. Mascara should be replaced every four months.
• To get the last drop from a plastic tube of liquid foundation or tinted moisturizer when no more can be squeezed out, cut the tube in half. You’ll find at least another spoonful clinging to the sides of the tube. Scoop it out and store it in a mini travel pot.
That's it for the moment! Next time we enter the world of High Flyers - Intrepid Travel. We look at getting the most out of your suitcase space, how to combine 13 garments and create 114 outfits, altitude with attitude, air travel and how to arrive at your destination looking a million dollars plus a few of the pitfalls we can encounter during our travels. We also delve into the world of shopping for swimwear and re-vamping swimwear you already have. So, until then, kisses. Dawn.
Retail details and magic products
Hair thickening products
Salt Spray by Fudge, $18, from Priceline.
VO5 Surf Style Matte Effect Texturising Paste $5, from Coles
Diva Extensions, natural hair extensions that can be cut, coloured and styled just like your own hair. They come in different lengths – 12inches, 16 inches and 20 inches and cost from $230 to $480 plus the cost of a cut and style. Available from professional hairdressing salons. Contact www.g12hairstudio.com for a quote.
Add-on 40cm 100% Human Hair (2 extensions per pack) by Headlines Hairpieces $158 ph 1800 251.215 or www.headlineshairpieces.com.au
HairUWear 10 piece Clip-In Synthetic Extensions, $120 by Hairdo. www.hairdo.com.au
Body Lotions
Sorbelene Cream, fragrance free with 10% glycerene 600mls $3, Priceline’s own brand
Alpha Keri Lotion Dry Skin Treatment 1 litre, $16, Priceline and pharmacies
Sun Protection Products
Cancer Council Tinted Moisturizer contains SPF30 $12, from Priceline or The Cancer Council stores.
Face of Australia Tinted Moisturizer contains SPF25 in three colours – Light, medium and dark $12, from Priceline
BreastScreen is operated by every state government health service. There is no central national number. The New South Wales BreastScreen website is www.bsnsw.org.au and so on. Or try: www.cancerscreening.gov.au or phone 13 20 50 freecall.
Blueberries
Creative Gourmet Frozen Blueberries 500g $7.20 from Coles and Woolworths or try their own home brands which are a little cheaper and equally as good!
Frozberries, Frozen blueberries, 1kg $9, discounts available for bulk purchases, organic blueberries (frozen) 350g $6.50. www.frozberries.com.au
Friday, May 4, 2012
Day 14. Savvy Shopping
Day 14. Savvy Shopping
Bargain hunting the smart way
• Check out the sales rack or bargain table the moment you walk into a store. Sales racks and ‘special reductions’ are usually prominently displayed inside the store entrance in the area known as the ‘compression zone’ or ‘transition zone’. This area is so named because it’s where we tend to pause and orientate ourselves when we’ve stepped inside a store; it is known to be the area where we are most influenced by promotions.
• If the sales rack isn’t at the front it’s likely located at the back, leading you through the shop and past all the current (non-sale) stock. Stay focused! Check out that sales rack first - wherever it may be!
• Neutral coloured items are the best buys because they are wardrobe basics. Neutrals are versatile and can be styled up with accessories - jewellery, belt, scarf, and handbag or shoes you already possess.
• A bargain is not a bargain unless it is in a colour and style that flatters you and you know you’ll wear it.
• Ask yourself: Will the item coordinate with garments you already possess? The gorgeous yellow silk skirt is not a good buy (even if it is drastically reduced) if the perfect top and footwear coordinates are not already sitting in your wardrobe at home! We’ve all wandered around the shops clutching an impulse purchase, searching for something (anything?) to team with it. Don’t make that impulse purchase in the first place unless you’re absolutely positive you already possess its soul mate to team it with. Search out coordinating garments such as a skirt and top at the same time (and in the same store) and buy them together.
• When you find a bargain item take a moment to think about the accessories you already possess - shoes, belts, handbags, jewellery etc. and whether they will enhance the item. Nothing is a good buy (no matter how great the price is) if other garments or accessories have to be purchased to enable you to wear it.
• If you really must have a garment and it’s not available in your size, go up a size. Do not buy a smaller size and hope it will fit because believe me, it won’t! Obviously it’s easier to alter a garment that’s too big than to alter than one that’s too small.
• Take the tailoring costs into account when considering something you know will have to be altered. If you don’t sew and the garment needs extensive alterations the chances are that it will not be such a bargain after all.
• An inexpensive too-small garment bought with the proviso “I’ll start the diet on Monday and slim into it” is never, ever a bargain! Give the garment a miss and go back to the store when you have gone on the diet and have lost the weight.
• Jackets and coats that are too small are usually too short in the sleeves and too tight across the shoulder blades. Lengthening sleeves is complicated and expensive; generally seam allowances within ready-made garments do not have enough fabric to be let out. Inserts constructed from different fabric become a costly exercise for a bargain jacket that may well end up looking like a patchwork quilt!
In the fitting room
Regardless of your size, weight or body shape, clothes that fit you properly are the most flattering. Just because you can get into a garment doesn’t mean it fits well.
A well fitting inexpensive garment can look a million dollars; a poorly fitting expensive garment will look cheap.
You owe it to yourself to ensure that your clothes fit perfectly; it’s the most important step on your journey to gorgeous.
Shop when the stores are quiet. You’ll receive better service and more attention if you hit the shops early on a weekday morning; and the beginning of the week is better than towards the end. If you can’t avoid shopping in the weekend, be waiting outside the stores when they open! Late in the evening is an alternative.
The more crowded times are lunchtimes, just before schools get out and about half an hour after schools get out.
Allow plenty of time and go alone. It is easy to get side tracked when you’re shopping with a companion. This is about you. You don’t want to be rushed and you don’t need someone hovering outside the fitting room fidgeting around and loudly wondering when you’re going to be ready to go for a coffee.
If you do shop with a companion (friend or family) don’t ask the companion to hold up garments or accessories against themselves so that you can see what the garment looks like against the body - unless your companion is your identical twin! Chances are that your scale, size and colouring will be different, and something that looks good on your companion may not look as good on you and visa versa. Also your companion may instinctively dislike a colour or style because it’s incorrect for her - and pull a face or say so, which could put you off it when it may just be the perfect one for you. Take the garment to a mirror and hold it up against yourself.
If you intend to buy items in the sales, suss out the garments you’re interested in and try them on beforehand thus avoiding wasting time standing in long queues at the fitting rooms. Most stores will not hold items until the sales for you.
• Get to sales early.
• Wear loose, easy to remove clothes (separates are ideal) and comfortable shoes. This is not the time to wear a shirt with zillions of buttons or a skirt with a difficult zipper, or buckle-up boots!
• You’ll be pulling garments over your head so ensure your earrings are secure and wear an inexpensive necklace. Lost property departments are full of items abandoned on fitting room hooks.
• Take an old chiffon scarf to cover your face when you are pulling clothes over your head. It protects garments (yours and the shop’s) from make-up stains.
• Find a large fitting room containing a couple of mirrors – ideally one will be adjustable so you can get a back view of the garments you are trying on.
• There is no stock standard garment size. Sizes are approximate, some companies cut their designs generously and some do not. Take a couple of different sizes of each style into the fitting room. Some shops provide a buzzer arrangement with a sales consultant available to fetch alternative sizes for you, but most do not.
• Examine the garment thoroughly to establish whether the quality, the workmanship and the finishing of the garment is satisfactory.
• Are the seams and hems secure without any loose threads? Embellishments such as buttons, pockets, topstitching and zips should be stitched securely, in working order and correctly placed for your figure. Are spare buttons or thread included – they’re usually attached to the washing instructions label. And make sure the care instruction label is there too, you’d hate to ruin a dry clean only garment by throwing it through a hot wash.
• Check how the fabric pattern is placed on the garment. If the centre of a flower or swirl falls directly over your breast, if lines or whorls lead the eye to your nether regions or if a large circle lies smack bang in the middle of your tummy, crotch or butt (don’t forget to check the back of the garment) return the garment to the rack and find another one with better pattern placement.
• Wrinkles, whiskers or folds in the garment when you put it on are indicators of poor fit.
• Tight whiskers occur across the body when a garment is too short or too small or both. Loose folds occur when the garment is too long or too big.
• Does the garment actually feel comfortable?
• Move around the fitting room in the garment. Bend, squat, stretch and sit down. How does it feel in action?
And now for the million dollar question… Does it flatter you?
No matter how classy, trendy or hot of-the-moment the item might be, if it’s not in proportion to your body shape - don’t buy it.
If it doesn’t look good on you – don’t buy it.
If it doesn’t make you look slimmer or younger – don’t buy it!
This is the hardest fashion lesson to learn. Many of us have wasted money on unflattering items that have languished unworn and unloved at the bottom of our cupboards until we’ve bitten the bullet, forgiven ourselves and slung them out. Sometimes it takes years to muster the courage to do this, and in the meantime the item is a reproachful reminder of our folly. We have to confront enough in our lives without elements of guilt, annoyance, discouragement or frustration tempting us into wearing anything that doesn’t flatter us.
If you don’t love it, then don’t buy it.
Forget the brand name on the label.
Forget the size tag (no matter how enticing it might be) and forget what the price ticket says.
If the piece doesn’t flatter you, if you don’t love it, if it doesn’t empower you and if you don’t feel absolutely great in it - walk away!
Keeping up-to-date and current
Shops showcase their coolest and most recently arrived stock on manikins; they’re a fantastic source of imaginative coordination ideas. Check out the accessories displayed on the manikins; you might have something similar at home.
If your favourite boutique or preferred clothing brand regularly accessorizes displays with the same handbag, shoes or jewellery you’ll know they have been carefully coordinated by professional stylists. Do you own similar accessories? Would they work with your wardrobe? Accessories can make or break an outfit. Stylists and window dressers do get it right.
Another great way to keep up with current fashion is to pay attention to brand posters on the walls around the stores. It’s a pleasant surprise to find you already own similar garments that can be coordinated to imitate a hot-looking outfit on display in the store.
Where to shop?
You may have a store you can always count on to deliver exactly what you want in terms of size, colour and the level of appropriateness you require. However, most of us purchase a piece here and a piece there in the hope that when we get home it will team with what is already in the wardrobe. The established fashion houses have recognized the spending capacity of the mature age market and tailor at least a portion of their seasonal ranges to meet those demands.
Be smart when you are shopping;
Will a garment allow you to showcase your jewellery?
Will you actually wear a sleeveless top?
Remember that you don’t have to have full body cover-up just because you are dancing in your summer years. The number after your name doesn’t make you who you are!
Factory outlets are discount constants and most major cities have a cluster of them somewhere. Don’t approach factory outlets with high expectations of finding items that are currently available (or recently available) in retail stores. Such items are unlikely to be heavily discounted at the outlets. Treat your visit as a fun outing, factory outlets are lucky-dip places where you could come across bags-full of amazing bargains or you could leave empty handed, it depends on the day and what’s in stock. Tuesday is a good day when the weekend rush is over, the stores have re-stocked on the Monday, and extra discounts might be offered to further tempt you.
At the outlets be prepared:
• To search through disorganised racks and racks of clothes.
• There will be junky and tatty items and you’ll wonder who on earth would buy them (the answer is no one; the store needs to have a clear out!).
• To check garments or accessories that you’re interested in buying are fully intact without bits (buttons, zips, embellishments) missing or broken and fabric ripped, pilled or damaged.
• That you are likely to be walking a long way on concrete flooring or other similar hard flooring.
• To keep an eye out for items (such as the LBD) that you aren’t specifically shopping for.
• That there will be a lot of items in sizes that don’t fit you.
• Not to have high expectations, treat any item you find as a bonus and have fun!
Brand Sales
Do you have a favourite clothing brand (or two) you can pretty much rely on? It might be the cut of the garments, the quality of the fabric, the styles, the sizing or the colours, whatever it is you know that label usually works for you.
Not all brands or labels operate factory outlets. Many have warehouse clearance sales a couple of times a year (or more) when they jettison last season’s unsold stock. If you do have a favourite brand of clothing it is well worth enrolling on their preferred customer list to be notified by email or post when special promotions, end of season sales and product events are coming up. Google your favourite brand and have a snoop around the website to see what they are doing, or call the marketing department. Some fashion houses offer very generous discounts that bring items that were price prohibitive during the fashion season down to an affordable cost.
Mass Retailers
It is always worth checking out mass retail stores for garments and accessories. These stores have their fingers on the fashion pulse and prices are competitive. Mass retailers are a great source for of-the-moment items that you’d love to wear for a season or two but you don’t want to spend a lot of money on because you know they will quickly become outdated. Mass retailers are always good for a tee shirt or two, slippers, exercise pants, underwear and shapewear, sleepwear, socks, etc. Some of the wardrobe basics – black skirt, white shirt, black pants, can be smart purchases from a mass retailer. Sizes aren’t particularly generous; you may have to go up one or two sizes depending on how loose-fitting you wear your clothes.
Hair and beauty products and some of the light pharmaceutical product (non prescription) prices are almost unbeatable so it is well worth stepping into the stores to purchase these items. While you’re there you might as well have a look around! Footwear
We don’t want ugly orthopaedic nightmares or boring practical classics, or shoes we can hardly walk in, or anything so sensible that we feel elderly and Nanna-ish. What we do want is stylish sexy footwear that fits. We should wear fabulous footwear and we can! It’s all in the buying!
What to do?
• Have both your feet measured next time you go shoe shopping. Chances are that you’re wearing the wrong size footwear and could have been doing so for years! Our feet change shape and size as we progress through life, when we hit the middle years most of us should be wearing one size bigger than we wore when we were twenty. Interestingly, most of us don’t buy shoes that fit properly.
• If you have one foot larger than the other (this is not uncommon) fit shoes to the larger size and use a padded insert, heel grip or insole in the other shoe.
• Lunchtime to mid afternoon is the best time to go shoe shopping when the feet have settled into the day.
• Uncomfortable footwear is not worth buying. Many of us have a pair (or several pairs) of shoes lying unworn in the wardrobe. These are the shoes that are so incredibly gorgeous that we can’t bear to part with them but we can’t bear to wear them either - because they totally kill the feet. There is no miracle cure for these shoes. Frame them, ditch them or give them to your daughter!
• Width is important – footwear that’s too narrow will pinch (it never stretches properly no matter what the salesperson says when they are pushing you to buy the shoes), paving the way to painful long-term foot problems.
• When you are trying on shoes wear the leg wear (pantyhose or socks- especially if you are test driving sports shoes) that you intend to wear with them.
• Ask for a new pair of shoes out of the box. Floor stock can become misshapen, stretched, discoloured, scuffed or mismatch the mate in the box in the storeroom.
• Stand up when you try on footwear. Walk around on different floor surfaces and look at your feet in the mirror from all angles.
• If you decide to buy two pairs in the same brand and style take the time to try on both pairs. Occasionally the fit can change from colour to colour even when the style, the size and the brand are identical.
• Once you’ve brought new footwear home and worn it outside and scuffed the soles, unless there is a manufacturing fault, the footwear is yours! If you have doubts about your purchase walk around inside on carpeted areas until you have reassured yourself that you want to keep it.
Retail details and magic products
Here are some of the labels who produce chic, simple, stylish and youthful-looking garments in the medium to lower price bracket in Australia: Most brands are available in larger shopping centres, or have a boutique counter in one of the department stores. To find them on the internet do a www. Then type the brand name in lower case without any spaces followed by dot com dot au.
Aero – knitwear, casual jackets and vests
Andiamo – classic casual pants that launder well, in a range of current styles and a choice of lengths, widths, fabrics, sizes and colours. They are well worth paying a little extra for. Available in boutique shops, not department stores
Anthea Crawford –this label can be relied on for elegant and chic garments in the medium price range.
Country Road – all garments but not all styles!
David Lawrence – conservative garments, generous sizes, worth checking out!
French Connection – edgy and well priced, great for tops, bottoms and jackets, some accessories
Gordon Smith – laid back casual garments and some accessories
Howard Showers – pants, glamorous eveningwear
Jump – knitwear, skirts and dresses – well priced and great colours
Just Jeans – jeans, boots, belts, some jewellery, trendy and casual, if you used to shop this label and stopped, re-visit it, offering lots of clothing appropriate for the mature person.
resort report – classic knits, tops and casual jackets
K-Mart – skirts, some knitwear, underwear, sleepwear
Marco Polo – knitwear, pants
Perri Cutten – it’s hard to go past this label for trendy, detailed, interesting quality garments in the medium price range.
Peter Alexander – up-market pyjamas
Portmans – jackets, straight skirts, jewellery- some edgy styles has this label back on the radar.
Queens Park – glamorous clothes for the over 30’s. Medium price range, spectacular colours, lots of bling and embellishment, great separates, jackets, dresses and accessories.
Re-launch – all outerwear, great seasonal colours, forgiving fabrics and of-the-moment styles.
Sportscraft – casual classic white shirts, pants, tops and jackets – this label has undergone a sexy style makeover. Check it out
Sportsgirl – jackets, some tops, skirts and accessories
Supre – great, inexpensive tee-shirts, some jewellery, pants if you have slender legs.
Sussan – basic garments such as black pants, tee-shirts and tops (always!) sleepwear, knitwear.
Target – skirts, swimwear, tops, some footwear, lingerie, you may need to go up a size, prices are excellent.
Trenery – Country Road’s new spin-off for women aged 40 plus
Veronika Maine –outerwear
Witchery – jackets, tops, some shoes, jewellery, belts
Wombat – pants, some shirts, some knits
Plus sizes
Maggie T. – great casual jackets, shirts and straight legged pants and underwear. Tend to be a little pricier – but the quality is fantastic.
Piper Woman – dresses $129 upwards, lovely colours and reasonably priced.
ts+14 – gorgeous colours, interesting textiles mixes and youthful styles at very reasonable prices – a great label for the goddess and diamond curvy shapes. Wear ts+14 pants with consideration as they tend to be wide legged; straight legged pants are more flattering to the curvaceous figure.
The following labels have seasonally affordable accessories:
Barcs – jewellery
Diana Ferrari – footwear. The ‘supersoft’ label is part of Diana Ferrari, comfortable, stylish footwear in wide fittings.
Diva – jewellery
Equip – jewellery and hair accessories
K-Mart – swimwear, sunhats, casual tote bags
Nine West – footwear and bags
Sportscraft – scarves, belts
Sportsgirl – jewellery and flat summer sandals
Target – sunhats, some footwear, lingerie, some swimwear
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles – jewellery, bags, hats
Trenery – belts, bags
Wanted – shoes, boots and sandals
Bargain hunting the smart way
• Check out the sales rack or bargain table the moment you walk into a store. Sales racks and ‘special reductions’ are usually prominently displayed inside the store entrance in the area known as the ‘compression zone’ or ‘transition zone’. This area is so named because it’s where we tend to pause and orientate ourselves when we’ve stepped inside a store; it is known to be the area where we are most influenced by promotions.
• If the sales rack isn’t at the front it’s likely located at the back, leading you through the shop and past all the current (non-sale) stock. Stay focused! Check out that sales rack first - wherever it may be!
• Neutral coloured items are the best buys because they are wardrobe basics. Neutrals are versatile and can be styled up with accessories - jewellery, belt, scarf, and handbag or shoes you already possess.
• A bargain is not a bargain unless it is in a colour and style that flatters you and you know you’ll wear it.
• Ask yourself: Will the item coordinate with garments you already possess? The gorgeous yellow silk skirt is not a good buy (even if it is drastically reduced) if the perfect top and footwear coordinates are not already sitting in your wardrobe at home! We’ve all wandered around the shops clutching an impulse purchase, searching for something (anything?) to team with it. Don’t make that impulse purchase in the first place unless you’re absolutely positive you already possess its soul mate to team it with. Search out coordinating garments such as a skirt and top at the same time (and in the same store) and buy them together.
• When you find a bargain item take a moment to think about the accessories you already possess - shoes, belts, handbags, jewellery etc. and whether they will enhance the item. Nothing is a good buy (no matter how great the price is) if other garments or accessories have to be purchased to enable you to wear it.
• If you really must have a garment and it’s not available in your size, go up a size. Do not buy a smaller size and hope it will fit because believe me, it won’t! Obviously it’s easier to alter a garment that’s too big than to alter than one that’s too small.
• Take the tailoring costs into account when considering something you know will have to be altered. If you don’t sew and the garment needs extensive alterations the chances are that it will not be such a bargain after all.
• An inexpensive too-small garment bought with the proviso “I’ll start the diet on Monday and slim into it” is never, ever a bargain! Give the garment a miss and go back to the store when you have gone on the diet and have lost the weight.
• Jackets and coats that are too small are usually too short in the sleeves and too tight across the shoulder blades. Lengthening sleeves is complicated and expensive; generally seam allowances within ready-made garments do not have enough fabric to be let out. Inserts constructed from different fabric become a costly exercise for a bargain jacket that may well end up looking like a patchwork quilt!
In the fitting room
Regardless of your size, weight or body shape, clothes that fit you properly are the most flattering. Just because you can get into a garment doesn’t mean it fits well.
A well fitting inexpensive garment can look a million dollars; a poorly fitting expensive garment will look cheap.
You owe it to yourself to ensure that your clothes fit perfectly; it’s the most important step on your journey to gorgeous.
Shop when the stores are quiet. You’ll receive better service and more attention if you hit the shops early on a weekday morning; and the beginning of the week is better than towards the end. If you can’t avoid shopping in the weekend, be waiting outside the stores when they open! Late in the evening is an alternative.
The more crowded times are lunchtimes, just before schools get out and about half an hour after schools get out.
Allow plenty of time and go alone. It is easy to get side tracked when you’re shopping with a companion. This is about you. You don’t want to be rushed and you don’t need someone hovering outside the fitting room fidgeting around and loudly wondering when you’re going to be ready to go for a coffee.
If you do shop with a companion (friend or family) don’t ask the companion to hold up garments or accessories against themselves so that you can see what the garment looks like against the body - unless your companion is your identical twin! Chances are that your scale, size and colouring will be different, and something that looks good on your companion may not look as good on you and visa versa. Also your companion may instinctively dislike a colour or style because it’s incorrect for her - and pull a face or say so, which could put you off it when it may just be the perfect one for you. Take the garment to a mirror and hold it up against yourself.
If you intend to buy items in the sales, suss out the garments you’re interested in and try them on beforehand thus avoiding wasting time standing in long queues at the fitting rooms. Most stores will not hold items until the sales for you.
• Get to sales early.
• Wear loose, easy to remove clothes (separates are ideal) and comfortable shoes. This is not the time to wear a shirt with zillions of buttons or a skirt with a difficult zipper, or buckle-up boots!
• You’ll be pulling garments over your head so ensure your earrings are secure and wear an inexpensive necklace. Lost property departments are full of items abandoned on fitting room hooks.
• Take an old chiffon scarf to cover your face when you are pulling clothes over your head. It protects garments (yours and the shop’s) from make-up stains.
• Find a large fitting room containing a couple of mirrors – ideally one will be adjustable so you can get a back view of the garments you are trying on.
• There is no stock standard garment size. Sizes are approximate, some companies cut their designs generously and some do not. Take a couple of different sizes of each style into the fitting room. Some shops provide a buzzer arrangement with a sales consultant available to fetch alternative sizes for you, but most do not.
• Examine the garment thoroughly to establish whether the quality, the workmanship and the finishing of the garment is satisfactory.
• Are the seams and hems secure without any loose threads? Embellishments such as buttons, pockets, topstitching and zips should be stitched securely, in working order and correctly placed for your figure. Are spare buttons or thread included – they’re usually attached to the washing instructions label. And make sure the care instruction label is there too, you’d hate to ruin a dry clean only garment by throwing it through a hot wash.
• Check how the fabric pattern is placed on the garment. If the centre of a flower or swirl falls directly over your breast, if lines or whorls lead the eye to your nether regions or if a large circle lies smack bang in the middle of your tummy, crotch or butt (don’t forget to check the back of the garment) return the garment to the rack and find another one with better pattern placement.
• Wrinkles, whiskers or folds in the garment when you put it on are indicators of poor fit.
• Tight whiskers occur across the body when a garment is too short or too small or both. Loose folds occur when the garment is too long or too big.
• Does the garment actually feel comfortable?
• Move around the fitting room in the garment. Bend, squat, stretch and sit down. How does it feel in action?
And now for the million dollar question… Does it flatter you?
No matter how classy, trendy or hot of-the-moment the item might be, if it’s not in proportion to your body shape - don’t buy it.
If it doesn’t look good on you – don’t buy it.
If it doesn’t make you look slimmer or younger – don’t buy it!
This is the hardest fashion lesson to learn. Many of us have wasted money on unflattering items that have languished unworn and unloved at the bottom of our cupboards until we’ve bitten the bullet, forgiven ourselves and slung them out. Sometimes it takes years to muster the courage to do this, and in the meantime the item is a reproachful reminder of our folly. We have to confront enough in our lives without elements of guilt, annoyance, discouragement or frustration tempting us into wearing anything that doesn’t flatter us.
If you don’t love it, then don’t buy it.
Forget the brand name on the label.
Forget the size tag (no matter how enticing it might be) and forget what the price ticket says.
If the piece doesn’t flatter you, if you don’t love it, if it doesn’t empower you and if you don’t feel absolutely great in it - walk away!
Keeping up-to-date and current
Shops showcase their coolest and most recently arrived stock on manikins; they’re a fantastic source of imaginative coordination ideas. Check out the accessories displayed on the manikins; you might have something similar at home.
If your favourite boutique or preferred clothing brand regularly accessorizes displays with the same handbag, shoes or jewellery you’ll know they have been carefully coordinated by professional stylists. Do you own similar accessories? Would they work with your wardrobe? Accessories can make or break an outfit. Stylists and window dressers do get it right.
Another great way to keep up with current fashion is to pay attention to brand posters on the walls around the stores. It’s a pleasant surprise to find you already own similar garments that can be coordinated to imitate a hot-looking outfit on display in the store.
Where to shop?
You may have a store you can always count on to deliver exactly what you want in terms of size, colour and the level of appropriateness you require. However, most of us purchase a piece here and a piece there in the hope that when we get home it will team with what is already in the wardrobe. The established fashion houses have recognized the spending capacity of the mature age market and tailor at least a portion of their seasonal ranges to meet those demands.
Be smart when you are shopping;
Will a garment allow you to showcase your jewellery?
Will you actually wear a sleeveless top?
Remember that you don’t have to have full body cover-up just because you are dancing in your summer years. The number after your name doesn’t make you who you are!
Factory outlets are discount constants and most major cities have a cluster of them somewhere. Don’t approach factory outlets with high expectations of finding items that are currently available (or recently available) in retail stores. Such items are unlikely to be heavily discounted at the outlets. Treat your visit as a fun outing, factory outlets are lucky-dip places where you could come across bags-full of amazing bargains or you could leave empty handed, it depends on the day and what’s in stock. Tuesday is a good day when the weekend rush is over, the stores have re-stocked on the Monday, and extra discounts might be offered to further tempt you.
At the outlets be prepared:
• To search through disorganised racks and racks of clothes.
• There will be junky and tatty items and you’ll wonder who on earth would buy them (the answer is no one; the store needs to have a clear out!).
• To check garments or accessories that you’re interested in buying are fully intact without bits (buttons, zips, embellishments) missing or broken and fabric ripped, pilled or damaged.
• That you are likely to be walking a long way on concrete flooring or other similar hard flooring.
• To keep an eye out for items (such as the LBD) that you aren’t specifically shopping for.
• That there will be a lot of items in sizes that don’t fit you.
• Not to have high expectations, treat any item you find as a bonus and have fun!
Brand Sales
Do you have a favourite clothing brand (or two) you can pretty much rely on? It might be the cut of the garments, the quality of the fabric, the styles, the sizing or the colours, whatever it is you know that label usually works for you.
Not all brands or labels operate factory outlets. Many have warehouse clearance sales a couple of times a year (or more) when they jettison last season’s unsold stock. If you do have a favourite brand of clothing it is well worth enrolling on their preferred customer list to be notified by email or post when special promotions, end of season sales and product events are coming up. Google your favourite brand and have a snoop around the website to see what they are doing, or call the marketing department. Some fashion houses offer very generous discounts that bring items that were price prohibitive during the fashion season down to an affordable cost.
Mass Retailers
It is always worth checking out mass retail stores for garments and accessories. These stores have their fingers on the fashion pulse and prices are competitive. Mass retailers are a great source for of-the-moment items that you’d love to wear for a season or two but you don’t want to spend a lot of money on because you know they will quickly become outdated. Mass retailers are always good for a tee shirt or two, slippers, exercise pants, underwear and shapewear, sleepwear, socks, etc. Some of the wardrobe basics – black skirt, white shirt, black pants, can be smart purchases from a mass retailer. Sizes aren’t particularly generous; you may have to go up one or two sizes depending on how loose-fitting you wear your clothes.
Hair and beauty products and some of the light pharmaceutical product (non prescription) prices are almost unbeatable so it is well worth stepping into the stores to purchase these items. While you’re there you might as well have a look around! Footwear
We don’t want ugly orthopaedic nightmares or boring practical classics, or shoes we can hardly walk in, or anything so sensible that we feel elderly and Nanna-ish. What we do want is stylish sexy footwear that fits. We should wear fabulous footwear and we can! It’s all in the buying!
What to do?
• Have both your feet measured next time you go shoe shopping. Chances are that you’re wearing the wrong size footwear and could have been doing so for years! Our feet change shape and size as we progress through life, when we hit the middle years most of us should be wearing one size bigger than we wore when we were twenty. Interestingly, most of us don’t buy shoes that fit properly.
• If you have one foot larger than the other (this is not uncommon) fit shoes to the larger size and use a padded insert, heel grip or insole in the other shoe.
• Lunchtime to mid afternoon is the best time to go shoe shopping when the feet have settled into the day.
• Uncomfortable footwear is not worth buying. Many of us have a pair (or several pairs) of shoes lying unworn in the wardrobe. These are the shoes that are so incredibly gorgeous that we can’t bear to part with them but we can’t bear to wear them either - because they totally kill the feet. There is no miracle cure for these shoes. Frame them, ditch them or give them to your daughter!
• Width is important – footwear that’s too narrow will pinch (it never stretches properly no matter what the salesperson says when they are pushing you to buy the shoes), paving the way to painful long-term foot problems.
• When you are trying on shoes wear the leg wear (pantyhose or socks- especially if you are test driving sports shoes) that you intend to wear with them.
• Ask for a new pair of shoes out of the box. Floor stock can become misshapen, stretched, discoloured, scuffed or mismatch the mate in the box in the storeroom.
• Stand up when you try on footwear. Walk around on different floor surfaces and look at your feet in the mirror from all angles.
• If you decide to buy two pairs in the same brand and style take the time to try on both pairs. Occasionally the fit can change from colour to colour even when the style, the size and the brand are identical.
• Once you’ve brought new footwear home and worn it outside and scuffed the soles, unless there is a manufacturing fault, the footwear is yours! If you have doubts about your purchase walk around inside on carpeted areas until you have reassured yourself that you want to keep it.
Retail details and magic products
Here are some of the labels who produce chic, simple, stylish and youthful-looking garments in the medium to lower price bracket in Australia: Most brands are available in larger shopping centres, or have a boutique counter in one of the department stores. To find them on the internet do a www. Then type the brand name in lower case without any spaces followed by dot com dot au.
Aero – knitwear, casual jackets and vests
Andiamo – classic casual pants that launder well, in a range of current styles and a choice of lengths, widths, fabrics, sizes and colours. They are well worth paying a little extra for. Available in boutique shops, not department stores
Anthea Crawford –this label can be relied on for elegant and chic garments in the medium price range.
Country Road – all garments but not all styles!
David Lawrence – conservative garments, generous sizes, worth checking out!
French Connection – edgy and well priced, great for tops, bottoms and jackets, some accessories
Gordon Smith – laid back casual garments and some accessories
Howard Showers – pants, glamorous eveningwear
Jump – knitwear, skirts and dresses – well priced and great colours
Just Jeans – jeans, boots, belts, some jewellery, trendy and casual, if you used to shop this label and stopped, re-visit it, offering lots of clothing appropriate for the mature person.
resort report – classic knits, tops and casual jackets
K-Mart – skirts, some knitwear, underwear, sleepwear
Marco Polo – knitwear, pants
Perri Cutten – it’s hard to go past this label for trendy, detailed, interesting quality garments in the medium price range.
Peter Alexander – up-market pyjamas
Portmans – jackets, straight skirts, jewellery- some edgy styles has this label back on the radar.
Queens Park – glamorous clothes for the over 30’s. Medium price range, spectacular colours, lots of bling and embellishment, great separates, jackets, dresses and accessories.
Re-launch – all outerwear, great seasonal colours, forgiving fabrics and of-the-moment styles.
Sportscraft – casual classic white shirts, pants, tops and jackets – this label has undergone a sexy style makeover. Check it out
Sportsgirl – jackets, some tops, skirts and accessories
Supre – great, inexpensive tee-shirts, some jewellery, pants if you have slender legs.
Sussan – basic garments such as black pants, tee-shirts and tops (always!) sleepwear, knitwear.
Target – skirts, swimwear, tops, some footwear, lingerie, you may need to go up a size, prices are excellent.
Trenery – Country Road’s new spin-off for women aged 40 plus
Veronika Maine –outerwear
Witchery – jackets, tops, some shoes, jewellery, belts
Wombat – pants, some shirts, some knits
Plus sizes
Maggie T. – great casual jackets, shirts and straight legged pants and underwear. Tend to be a little pricier – but the quality is fantastic.
Piper Woman – dresses $129 upwards, lovely colours and reasonably priced.
ts+14 – gorgeous colours, interesting textiles mixes and youthful styles at very reasonable prices – a great label for the goddess and diamond curvy shapes. Wear ts+14 pants with consideration as they tend to be wide legged; straight legged pants are more flattering to the curvaceous figure.
The following labels have seasonally affordable accessories:
Barcs – jewellery
Diana Ferrari – footwear. The ‘supersoft’ label is part of Diana Ferrari, comfortable, stylish footwear in wide fittings.
Diva – jewellery
Equip – jewellery and hair accessories
K-Mart – swimwear, sunhats, casual tote bags
Nine West – footwear and bags
Sportscraft – scarves, belts
Sportsgirl – jewellery and flat summer sandals
Target – sunhats, some footwear, lingerie, some swimwear
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles – jewellery, bags, hats
Trenery – belts, bags
Wanted – shoes, boots and sandals
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Day 13, The Wardrobe Audit
13. The Wardrobe Audit
Did you know that most of us wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time?
A great wardrobe is one that is full of clothes that you like and want to wear! When your wardrobe is great choosing garments each day is simple, mixing and matching is easy, all the accessories work and everything suits your lifestyle. What bliss!
Some people possess just two or three outfits that they wear to the max before the next season rolls around when they buy three new outfits to replace the three they’ve worn out! These are the disciplined people!
Some people never get rid of anything and have forty years worth of clothes in fluctuating sizes (and interesting styles and colours!) squirreled away behind their cupboard doors. Yes, these people are the hoarders!
Most of us fall somewhere in between, we buy a few garments now and then and we dispose of a few now and then, and we keep a lot of garments we seldom wear!
Most people have made a fashion purchase mistake at some time. We all know how it happens. With the wallet stuffed full of money and the credit card ready to roll we hit the shops running. We’re full of high spirits and hopes and we’re absolutely burning to buy something new and incredible, an item that will feel different and set us apart. The day wears on; the step becomes heavier, that special something just does not pop and we either end up buying a ‘desperation dud’, or return home fed up and empty handed. The dud gets shut away in the closet and there it lurks, sometimes for years, as a disappointing reminder of a frustrating day.
When this happens to you take heart, forgive yourself, get rid of the dreadful desperation dud and move forward.
De-cluttering the wardrobe
The first step towards a youthful-looking wardrobe is to cull the clutter and eliminate items that haven’t seen daylight for years. It’s the most important step to take, and it is one of the most difficult tasks to undertake.
Auditing the wardrobe is particularly relevant to those of us who have held on to garments from times past when we felt our most sexy and feminine. If this is you take a deep breath and haul those clothes out, bag them, tag them, and then admire the space you’ve created for their gorgeous, wearable replacements!
Vintage – trendy or tragic?
Essentially when you wore an item the first time it came into fashion you were trendy. If you’ve hung onto that item for years and when it has finally come back into fashion you’ve taken it out, dusted it off and worn it the chances are you have become a fashion tragic!
When we see a young person wearing a pair of pre-loved retro platform boots that she’s probably picked up at a vintage outlet we tend to think she’s clever and quite trendy.
When we see a mature woman wearing those same pre-loved platform boots we wonder why she’s clinging to youth. We also think it’s about time she overhauled her wardrobe!
Garments and accessories making a comeback are never quite the same as their original incarnation because modern designers tweak the styles to look fresh and current.
However, don’t confuse vintage with classic. Vintage garments are those worn in fashion moments. Tie-dyed garments, baby doll dresses, power-pads, colour-dyed dried bean necklaces and clog shoes were incredible, exciting fashions that lasted for moments.
Straight skirts, court shoes and dark denim jeans are designs that have endured the years and still look current. These are fashion classics.
It is important to recognise your lifestyle before you begin editing your wardrobe.
What are your clothing needs in terms of your personality? For example are you an outdoorsy person? Your wardrobe may reflect open-air activities and contain walking boots and anoraks, whereas a sporty person might have a wide selection of sneakers and tee shirts.
Be realistic. You might love sparkly evening dresses but do you actually wear them?
Do you want to project a new image? This is a great opportunity to update your appearance.
What sort of budget can you afford, what lifestyle do you currently lead?
A change in circumstances often renders a number of your clothes redundant.
Have you opted out of the corporate world for a more relaxed and casual lifestyle?
Your current clothes should reflect how you are presently living.
When your wardrobe is audited it’s easy to add a few extra garments to suit any alteration in circumstances.
Effective planning and organization takes determination, and depending on the number of clothes you own, it takes the best part of a day to create harmony in your wardrobe.
Before you begin put on your makeup, do your hair and wear comfortable, uplifting, flattering underwear. This is important and it will help your decision making - you’ll be trying on some of your garments and scarecrowing together a few new outfits.
Pull all your clothes out of the wardrobe for assessment .
Include everything in your appraisal – outer wear, underwear and all your accessories such as shoes, scarves, bags, gloves, hosiery, lingerie, belts etc.
Put sentimentality aside and examine each item individually. Don’t think about what the items cost or where (or who) they came from. Consider each item on its merit and sort them into one of the following three categories:
Keepers, Maybes and Discards.
Keepers:
These are the clothes that you wear often, that you like wearing and there is no question about returning them to the wardrobe.
These are garments that:
don’t require alteration
are comfortable, fit well and suit your personality
are flattering and make you feel good when you wear them
are in good condition and don’t need repairing.
Maybes:
These are the clothes that need some attention.
The ‘Maybes’ are garments:
that have bits missing – buttons, lace, rips, dragging hems etc.
that are soiled
that need to be altered to fit you
you like but never wear
that you need to purchase something else to wear with
that you are unsure about the fit, shape or colour
Sort the maybes into colour piles on the bed.
Discards:
Identify and liberate any garment:
that’s too small or too big
that pushes you together and gives you a mono-boob
that is really dated (fabric, style, pattern)
that is worn out, ripped beyond repair or stained beyond redemption
that has not been worn for the last three years (two years isn’t long enough!).
that is too short, too old or too young
that is not of the quality you currently wear
Any grotty underwear
Ancient smelly trainers, evening shoes that you’ve worn once (fifteen years ago) and any footwear that doesn’t fit or has bits missing
Any bag that’s stained, quilted or patchwork (unless it is a fantastically expensive label in a truly timeless style).
Any freebie make-up bags, or frayed, dirty, ripped, scuffed or torn bags
Put the discards in a pile on the floor, and place any obvious throw- aways into a large plastic bag to go out on rubbish bin night.
The condition of each remaining item will establish its destination - op shop, local markets, recycling store, vintage store, or whether to sell it on eBay. Make piles accordingly.
The maybes that you have sorted into rough colour piles on the bed are the most fun. With a little lateral thinking these garments can present you with outfits you’ve never thought of, or combinations you’ve vaguely considered might work but haven’t tried out!
Examine each garment and determine why you don’t wear it.
Do you love the design but aren’t so keen on the colour?
Is the item worth having professionally dyed? (did you break the bank when you bought it?)
Are the sleeves a flattering length? Could they be shortened or chopped off?
Can the hem be shortened or lengthened? An unflattering dress can be shortened to make a great tunic top.
Would changing embellishments such as buttons update the garment to current and wearable?
Does it fit you?
Is the style is classic or current? Would a fresh approach lift it?
A short damask evening jacket can work over dark jeans and a casual shirt.
You may have never found the perfect camisole to complete the stunning outfit you envisaged when you bought the hot pink silk sarong skirt in the sales. Maybe you could switch down the skirt to casual wear by teaming it with a navy and white narrow striped sleeveless tee shirt. Would a crumpled white linen jacket add Boho chic and pull it all together?
Metallic belts are useful to ramp neutrals up a notch or two.
A bright scarf injects a blast of colour when neutrals look too neutral!
Try wearing wear a shirt in a different way. Make it do double-duty as a loose jacket worn open over a dark tank and dark capri pants. Add metallic wedge heels and a squashy hobo bag to pull the outfit together.
Do you have a pair of high heeled ankle strap sandals lurking in the bottom of the wardrobe? Wear them with black pants or dark denim jeans for a bit of glam.
If you and your clothes are different sizes take them to an alteration expert. Too big garments can often be taken in, shortened or altered to fit.
Too snug garments are more difficult to alter. Clever experts can put inserts into the undersides of sleeves and lengthen a hem a little with tape, but you really have to ask yourself if the garment is worth it or if it’s time to go shopping!
Very often the maybes are the garments that you have loved and worn to death. They are most likely the right colour and the right fit for you.
Garments over five years old are likely to look dated. If you really love something and can’t bear to part with it, take it to a tailor and have it copied.,Stop at the shops on the way to see if you can replace it with an item that’s more current!
Accessories benefit from auditing too!
Mix, match and co-ordinate your jewellery.
It’s chic to wear a swathe of necklaces with related textures and layered in different lengths. Add a medallion or pin a broach onto the side of the swathe to lead the eye upwards.
Jewellery clusters can work youthful wonders and are useful to update rarely worn items.
Wear several unrelated textures together, try wearing hard and stretchy bracelets such as crystal, pewter, wood and bone in a cluster.
Pin a group of small broaches on the lapel of a jacket or to the shoulder of a sweater. This is an uber-modern look for denim jackets. Uneven numbers work best. Link them together with small chains. Lapels are great show boards for clusters of pieces that are otherwise insignificant when worn solo.
Any items over a decade old could be candidates for a vintage shop. You will get more if the label is still attached or you have the original packaging.
Vintage shops usually only accept good quality designer clothing from the 1980’s and good quality clothing from the 1970’s and before.
Making a bit of money eases the pain of saying farewell to old clothing friends; and think of the fabulous new fashions you can buy!
If you have a collection of long, floor length gowns you no longer wear, could you have them restyled into cocktail length dresses? At least then you could wear them out to dinner!
In the opening scene in the movie “Sex and the City” Carrie Bradshaw walks through the streets of New York in an amazing short white dress embellished on one shoulder with a gigantic fabric flower. The dress is accessorized with a pair of serious gladiator heels and a tiny clutch bag.
The dress was originally a vintage floor length evening gown that Patricia Field, the movie stylist and costume designer, had chopped down to skim the character’s kneecap. Whilst that particular dress might not appeal to you, you can pinch the idea and adapt it!
Hit Parade
Some items are perceived as straight out of Matronville. Other garments are just too young for the mature woman.
These are the top 20 clothes that have to go. They’ll date you. Do not keep them. They will not do as “round the house/round the garden” clothes. You will not slim back into them and even if you do they are NOT RIGHT FOR YOU!
Do these items lurk in your wardrobe?
Any sweater embellished with bells, reindeer, teddy bears, appliqué, crocheted flowers, pompoms dangling on crocheted wool chains, etc.
This is a difficult candidate because a sweater is warm even if it looks dreadful. Put it in a charity bin to be passed on to the needy.
Necklaces with your name written on them (in any language), or necklaces with little children cut-outs dangling from a chain. Retain a little mystery please! Who really needs to know your name or the number of children or grandchildren you have?
Tee shirts.
How many tee shirts do you own? Do you ever actually wear the souvenir tee shirt you bought on holiday because you felt sorry for the vendor?
Tee shirts printed with brands and slogans provide free advertising for someone you have probably bought the tee shirt from. And even if it was free do you want to be an unremunerated human billboard?
Tee shirts with meant-to-be-funny sayings are only amusing the first time, and are best worn by young men and children. Ditch the baggy, the daggy, the faded, the greyed, the ripped, the tight, the over-decorated and the stained.
Overalls
Bras and Knickers
Our bust fluctuates in size more than any other part of the body due to pregnancy, weight gain and weight loss – and many of us tend to keep our bras from year to year. If you spill over the top of a bra, if the straps dig in, if you haven’t worn it for two years, if it has lost colour or if it’s way too sexy or provides no support; give it the flick.
Bikini knickers and cami-knickers give VPL beneath pants, skirts and jeans. And granny bloomers, no matter how comfortable they are have gotta go, Bridget!
Mummy jeans – any jeans that are too short in the leg, too high in the waist, too loose in the leg or too baggy in the butt.
Jeans with pleats in the front, embroidery, acid washed, grungy, rips, lace, holes, studs, drainpipe, stone washed, boyfriend, or so tight they give you camel toe.
Big shoulder pads. Purge big loose soft-foam shoulder pads that you tuck under your bra strap. While you are at it, bin any tops with sewn-in shoulder pads unless you are certain you need them to balance your body shape (if you have wide hips and narrow, sloping shoulders then shoulder pads will balance your shape). Check jackets for too-big inbuilt shoulder pads. 1980’s power pads are a twenty-first century fashion tragedy.
Some skirts are perennial fashion classics. The following skirts are dated. If you own any of these consider the colour, length, fabric and condition and then decide whether it is a ‘keeper’:
Dirndl or folk dancing skirt, gored denim skirt, tiered skirt, tartan kilt, any tartan skirt, thigh stitched pleated skirt, yoked skirt (no matter the colour, fabric or condition, this one has got to go!) and divided skirt (culottes).
Fingers full of estate jewellery.
Handbags with photos of your children, grandchildren, movie stars or pretty chocolate-box scenery screen-printed on them
Three quarter length cargo pants
Any cargo pants
Bum bags
Back packs
Pants with pleats at the waist and/or tapered legs
The evening gown that hasn’t been on your back for a decade.
The sundress that was cool and loose when you bought it on holiday but is no longer cool, the looseness is questionable, and the bright colour has faded.
Big owlish reading glasses
Lycra bike pants
Black trakkie daks with a white stripe down the side
Batwing sleeves and cowl necklines
Safari jackets
Anything with smocking.
Patchwork anything
Not your daughter’s clothes!
Just as some of the wardrobe relics date us, other fashion items can make us appear to be trying too hard to look young.
When a woman in her prime wears the following items it compels people to wonder if she is coping with her maturity:
Too young, too teenage, too tragic
Ankle bracelets
Belly rings and toe rings
Body piercing (anywhere) and multiple piercings on the ears
Visible tattoos
Anything mini or micro-mini (skirts, dresses or shorts)
Baseball caps and newsboy caps
Girlish ruffle hemmed skirts
Knee to thigh split skirts
Spaghetti straps (as stand alones)
Bolero jackets
Puff sleeves
Halter neck tops or dresses
University sweaters, tee shirts or caps
Ruffle top swimsuits or triangle bikinis
Ankle strap shoes (unless you are Elle Macpherson)
Ballet flats that reveal toe cracks, actually, any shoes that reveal toe cracks
Peter Pan collars
Grecian necklines (one shoulder)
Low rise jeans with button openings and thousands of studs
Ripped jeans no matter how expensive they were
Tie-dyed anything (didn’t you wear it the first time around?)
Neon coloured tights
Anything too small, too short, too revealing or so tight that you end up with a muffin top or camel toe
Skinny leg jeans, drainpipe jeans or leggings when worn alone without a butt-covering top
Some of us make the mistake of revealing a lot of flesh in our quest for youthfulness.
An old chook’s bare boobs, bare midriff or butt cleavage are unattractive no matter how many hours were spent developing them at the gym or how many dollars were forked out to buy them.
Another ‘try hard’ revelation is clothing bought from a shop targeting teenagers. The reason teenage fashion is inexpensive is that generally it is made from cheap fabrics that are not made to last the distance. Cheaper fabric is bulky, creases easily and are likely to contain fabric starch or fabric sizing to give body and weight. These finishes wash out the moment the garment is laundered, leaving it limp and misshapen.
Only teenagers can get away with garments made from cheap fabric and that’s because their bodies are young and their skin is plump and fresh. Teenage garments are never, flattering to the mature body. Give them to your daughter!
Scarecrow your outfits:
Smart style starts with the wardrobe audit.
It’s well worth taking the time to scarecrow a few outfits together.
Make a note of them in a little book to keep in your wardrobe.
Start with a garment from your piles of ‘maybes’ – something you like and that fits you, but a garment you seldom wear.
Stand in front of the mirror (with your make-up on and your hair styled) and hold the garment against yourself. Try to define exactly why you rarely wear it.
Do you like the colour and does it suit you?
Is the style flattering and age appropriate?
Does it need to be altered – lengthened or shortened, taken in or let out?
Can you accessorize it from your existing accessories?
Now, considering only the colour, take the garment to your wardrobe and run it alongside the clothes hanging there. Look for different colour combinations. For example the garment may be a silvery grey dress. While black is the obvious (and boring!) coordinate, a solid coloured russet scarf tied as a sash could add spice and interest.
Step out of your comfort zone, try lots of combinations, some will work and some won’t, and you may not be entirely comfortable wearing all those that do work, but you are in your own home, there’s no one watching or judging you so go ahead and have some fun!
When you find an outfit; scarecrow it on your bed and accessorize right down to the last detail. Decide what definitely works and then play with some alternative garments and accessories - hosiery, footwear, bags, jewellery, hat, gloves, scarves, wraps, eyewear, and belts.
Write everything in your little notebook. Include the alternatives and make a note whether an item dresses the outfit up or down. This can be achieved simply by changing the footwear. Making notes is invaluable for those days when you can’t quite decide what to wear, or for those CRAFT moments when you can’t remember what went with what when you put the outfit together in the first place!
Closet Clues
Once you’ve audited your wardrobe, weeded out the ‘discards’, saved the ‘keepers’ and sorted the ‘maybes’ there are a few smart tricks to retain law and order within your closet.
When you have a higgledy-piggledy wardrobe presentation it’s easy to assume you are bereft of clothes or accessories. And so off you go shopping, whack down the credit card and come home with your purchase only to find the twin to the black skirt or whatever you’ve bought, languishing under the mountain of clothes piled in your closet.
Remove out-of-season clothes from the closet and store them in airbags beneath the bed. It is surprising how many garments can be squeezed into one airbag, and even more surprising how flat it lies once the air has been sucked out!
When the non-seasonal items have gone, the contents of your wardrobe will be clear making selection of outfits a breeze!
Accessible clothing displayed on orderly shelves and hanging spaces saves time in the mornings. Organized shelves and tidy drawers assist you to create new and imaginative combinations from some of your old friends. A plus is that you’ll know not to buy that fourth pair of black pants!
Underwear, lingerie and shape wear are the base on which you build an outfit, so the lingerie drawer is a good place to start sorting.
Line your drawers and shelves with pretty paper – recycled gift wrap or white tissue paper, or purpose-made perfumed drawer liners can be bought.
While you are into tidying you could sort items into piles and section them with Perspex or cardboard drawer dividers. Storage specialist shops stock an amazing range of storage solutions. Alternatively use shoe boxes – trim down the sides to fit the depth of your drawers and line the boxes with white tissue paper.
A lavender bag imparts soft feminine fragrance to your lingerie and it’s easy to make your own:
Stitch two squares of natural fabric together (inherited linen or cotton handkerchiefs are ideal). Leave a pocket open on one side.
Fill the bag with dried lavender flowers. Alternatively use a combination of dried lavender flowers and scraps of polyester wadding (batting).
Stitch up the hole or tie the bag with a pretty ribbon.
Every now and then rub the bag to crush the flowers so they release some oil, or add a few drops of bought lavender oil.
Dangle lavender bags from coat hangers, nestle them in amongst your lingerie and scarves, or stuff them into the toes of shoes.
What is your closet personality?
The Hanger
You like to hang garments whenever you possibly can!
Ask for the coat hanger when purchasing clothes, many retailers are pleased to give it to you, others might offer an alternative coat hanger, but do ask, the worst a shop assistant can say is ‘No’!
Hanging is quicker and easier than folding and one glance will immediately establish what’s there.
If your wardrobe is fitted with custom-built rails, shelves and drawers hanging everything together may be impractical. The solution is to categorise your garments and hang them together in colour codes. Group skirts together with the black skirts beside each other, the jackets together with those of similar colour next to each other, pants together, tops and dresses together etc.
If your wardrobe a standard shelf and one rail arrangement hang all the red garments together, all the white garments, all the blue garments and so on.
A couple of elastic bands wrapped around each end of a coat hanger give grip for slippery silky fabrics, or use padded, fabric covered coat hangers. Another oldie, but a goody is to cover a wire coat hanger with strips of tulle. All you do is cut tulle (the cheaper and stiffer the better) into lots and lots of 2cm wide by 10cm long strips. Tie each tulle strip side by side onto the coat hanger along the length.
The Folder
Tee shirts, sweaters, knits and jerseys store best when they are folded simply because hangers tend to leave unsightly lumps and bulges in the shoulders of knitted fabric.
If you have a slippery knitted garment (made from metallic thread for example) that’s irritatingly difficult to fold, place a rectangle of double or triple-folded white tissue paper over the garment and fold around it.
Use white tissue paper. Coloured tissue paper is not colour-fast and the dye can rub off or bleed onto garments.
Here’s the thing:
Sweaters, tee shirts, knits, or any garments that are put away with even a smidgen of dirt can provide a tasty banquet for moths or invite mildew to settle. Moths love to devour food-encrusted wool and cashmere and are extremely partial to the natural fibres of linen, cotton and silk. Once they’re in the wardrobe they lay eggs in the folds of your garments, and munch their way through all the good stuff - basically they grow fat feeding on your clothes.
Mildew and mould grow on moisture, dust and dirt. Leather and suede items (jackets, pants, skirts, belts, footwear and bags) are particularly subject to mould and mildew, especially in tropical and sub tropical areas. Remove plastic dry cleaning covers from your garments when you bring them home, humidity, dark wardrobes and plastic covers are not a good combination. Ventilated shelves promote airflow around clothes.
In areas of high humidity an electric damp-chaser stick with a sealed 15 watt bar helps keep mildew at bay. Or place a couple of tubs of Damp Rid crystals on the base of the wardrobe to soak up excess moisture.
A scattering of lavender bags, citrus leaves, bay leaves, cinnamon or cloves helps deter moths although nothing beats a weekly blast of fly spray into the wardrobe!
Shoe Storage
If you are blessed with the luxury of plenty of wardrobe space to hang, fold and store your clothes and have a wall packed with racks of shoes you are the envy of the rest of us mere mortals!
Shoes, boots or sandals are an integral part of an outfit so it makes sense to look after our footwear.
Assuming you’ve riffled through your shoe collection and discarded any footwear with parts missing (heels, buckles, straps or embellishments), and any that is uncomfortable, too small, too high, too scraped or too smelly, the remaining items deserve to be well treated.
Are you making the best of the available space for footwear?
Most of us don’t have walls on which to fit rows of bespoke shoe racks. Do you have space to fix some rails on the inside of a sturdy wardrobe door?
Protect shoes from dust by stacking them in the boxes they came in or clear perspex boxes available at reasonable prices from variety stores.
An old trick used by models is to store shoes in each foot of an old pair of pantyhose.
Plastic shoe racks from storage specialists come in flat packs, are easy to assemble, reasonably priced and will take 9 – 12 pairs of shoes. Rack them with the heels hooked over the rack and store flat shoes underneath on the floor.
Peg boots together, use large butterfly clips from stationers or use clothes pegs.
Stand boots upright with a rolled up magazine inside to avoid them creasing down.
Dangle rubber thongs and flat sandals from commander hooks stuck down the wardrobe edge, or drop a wide linked plastic chain from the top of your cupboard and attach light-weight thongs, sandals etc. with plastic hooks (shower curtain hooks are ideal) to the links.
Crumple dry newspaper and stuff it into wet shoes or boots to reshape them. Allow them to completely dry before you put them away in the cupboard. Shoe polish helps to repel water and keep mildew at bay.
Hook, Line and Sinker
Use every available centimetre of your wardrobe space – walls, posts, ceilings, the undersides of shelves and the wardrobe doors. Commander hooks are your best friends when you are pushed for space. They’re available from supermarkets, mass retailers and from hardware stores. Commander hooks come in a range of sizes and some hold weights up to about 3kg. They are repositionable, stick onto most clean surfaces including tiles and can be removed from painted or papered surfaces without leaving damage or any marks.
Closet clues
Stick hooks inside wardrobe doors, and on walls and posts to hang necklaces, bangles, belts, boots and bulky handbags you can’t fit onto the shelves.
Inexpensive purpose-made plastic hangers with slots, slats and hooks for ties, belts and shoes are available from mass retailers and hardware stores. Use them to hang belts, jewellery, scarves etc
Variety stores often sell big inexpensive stackable boxes that are ideal for storing hats. Fiddle around and fit 2 or 3 hats into each box, separating them with a layer of white tissue paper. Stuff crumpled white tissue paper into the crown to retain the shape, and make small sausage-like rolls to maintain curves or curls in the brim.
Tie racks are a great storage solution for long scarves. Fold the scarf lengthways then drape it over the rack. Alternatively attach a small towel rail or round towel hoop inside the wardrobe door to drape a collection of scarves and belts.
If you are a handyperson (or know someone who is) a small towel rail upended and attached to the underside of a shelf or the wardrobe ceiling is a great little additional rail from which to hang scarves, belts, or to hook bulky bags. Use shower curtain hooks or rings– again! They are useful little gems that come in packs of 12 and can be bought separately (without the curtain).
A decorative display board can be a practical storage solution for jewellery. Try making your own from an old framed picture and corks from wine bottles.
Ask a couple of local restaurants to save used wine bottle corks for you. Provide them with a clean plastic ice cream container they can throw the corks into. Champagne corks are an awkward shape, plastic corks and stoppers are no good, they’re too hard and you can’t stick drawing pins into them.
Remove the glass from the framed picture, but leave the picture in the frame to form the base for the corks. Don’t use a picture you want to keep; it will get wrecked because you’ll be gluing the corks directly onto the picture.
Use Aquadhere Glue to stick the collected wine corks over the picture in a herringbone pattern.
Cut the corks with a craft knife to fit around the edges and into the corners.
Leave the board to dry for a few hours or overnight.
Attach a strong commander hook onto the wall (near a mirror if possible), hang up the cork board and push in large shiny drawing pins to dangle necklaces, chains, bracelets and bangles from. Use long thick pins to dangle rings.
A cork board dripping with jewellery is much more creative than hiding necklaces and jewellery away in forgotten boxes!
Jettisoning pre-loved clothing
A recycling store may agree to sell your clothes on consignment. Recycling stores accept good quality, current clothing (maximum 2 years old) and expect garments to have been dry cleaned before accepting them so attach the dry cleaning docket to your garment. Recycling stores are not the place to attempt to offload an inherited fifteen year old, sad and tired kilt of questionable tartan.
Recycling stores generally sell items for about half the original cost (if the article is in excellent condition) and give you a percentage of that – so you’ll get back a lot less than you paid on the original purchase price.
Consignments are accepted for an agreed period. If your consignment does not sell, it’s your responsibility to collect it within a specified (usually short) time. Uncollected consignments are donated to charity. Every recycling store has a different policy so read the fine print carefully to understand the exact terms and conditions and what you are up for.
Local markets are excellent venues if you want to sell your stuff yourself. Many councils and churches hold markets at least once a month where you can set up shop for a nominal fee. Sometimes trestle tables are available for hire. Public liability insurance is a consideration, many organisers insist you have it and some offer it at cheap daily rates.
Clearly marked, reasonably priced, clean items are the best sellers so it is worth taking the time to wash and press your garments and attach the price.
Present items in the condition that you would expect to buy them yourself.
Have some price flexibility, market shoppers are looking for bargains and are more likely to buy when they are offered a discount! Also, you don’t want to take everything back home with you when the markets finish!
Some markets offer casual spaces inside a hall or under cover which are worth paying a premium for if it’s likely to rain.
Some hire companies rent clothes racks to display garments on.
Save up carry bags for a few weeks beforehand and take them with you to put your sales into.
Take a cash float, keep your money on you (this is the one instance when we do ‘bum-bags’!) and have a marking pen to mark-down the goods an hour and a half before the market is due to close (most organisers will expect a full day commitment).
It’s worth personally checking out the market prior to taking a stall, just to ensure it will be the best venue for your goods. Local newspapers carry details of markets, if you intend to sell outside your area jump online and Google “Local Markets”.
Many people have success selling clothing and apparel on eBay. Go online for more information.
Op shops and charity stores accept clean clothing that still has wear in it but is not current or new enough to be sold on consignment.
Clothes given to op shops and charity stores are donations; you won’t receive any money for them.
Most charities have arrangements with rag merchants. If your donation is not good enough for sale in the shop, it will be sold on to a rag merchant.
Don’t feel embarrassed about taking clothing into an op shop. It is unlikely the person who receives it will ask you to open the bags, or go through them while you wait. Just turn up and ask where to leave your goodies. Explanations are not required or expected. The assistants working in op shops and charity stores have seen it all, generally they are volunteers who are there for a short time, and are so busy they don’t have time for judgments.
Some charities don’t accept items such as underwear, socks, hosiery, make-up or pierced jewellery unless it is brand new, unworn, unopened and still has the original price tag attached. All charities appreciate clean items. Post bagged items into a local charity bin if you want anonymity.
The infants department of your local school or after school care centre may accept donations of clean used garments and accessories for their “dress up boxes”. Separates are more sought after than dresses, and they love hats, gloves, scarves and bags, male and female. Sometimes the local high school drama department is interested in vintage or unusual clothing for role playing or stage productions. Get on the phone!
Check all the pockets before you dispose of clothing, particularly any handbag pockets and compartments that could be harbouring lost lipsticks, business cards, loyalty cards, crumpled tissues or loose coins.
Mend and makeover
Sweater Snags
If you cut a snag off a knitted garment it might unravel. Use a snag needle to repair pulls and snags. Turn the garment inside out and push the ball point of the needle through to the other side (the right side of the garment) at the base of the snag. When the rough end of the needle is at the garment’s surface twist it to catch the snag. Pull the needle back through the garment to the wrong side, pulling the twisted snag with it.
Static Cling
Rub hand cream into your legs (through your tights if necessary).
Anti static spray can be applied to the inside of your skirt if static is a persistent problem. Test a small area of the fabric first to ensure the anti static spray doesn’t harm it.
Fallen hems
Body tape is an effective temporary fix for fallen hems. It is double sided tape formulated to stick fabric to the skin, but works just as well fabric to fabric!
Iron-on hem tape is strong and it is easy to use. If it becomes detached, just iron on some more.
Hair Dye Stains
Spray spilled hair dye immediately with hairspray to neutralize it. Wash the garment in soda water as soon as possible.
Retail details and magic products
Storage: K-Mart, Big W, Target, IKEA, Freedom Furniture, Howards Storage and Bunnings all offer a range of innovative, reasonably priced and practical storage solutions. Go on-line.
Cork boards, $7 to $20 from Bunnings Hardware
Check the Yellow Pages under ‘Recycled Clothing’ to find the nearest recycling store, charity store or op shop.
Snag Needles from Spotlight. Set of 3 in individual plastic sleeves $4.50
Hollywood Fashion Tape $20 per roll from Myer. A roll of Hollywood tape lasts a long time
Iron-on hem tape around $4 per roll from Lincraft or Spotlight
Good luck with your audit, it's hard to do, but worth the effort in the end.
Next time we're going to look at savvy shopping - smart bargain hunting, how to cope with the fitting room blues, where to shop and what to look for, plus shoe shopping which to me is a form of purgatory! Kisses, Dawn
Did you know that most of us wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time?
A great wardrobe is one that is full of clothes that you like and want to wear! When your wardrobe is great choosing garments each day is simple, mixing and matching is easy, all the accessories work and everything suits your lifestyle. What bliss!
Some people possess just two or three outfits that they wear to the max before the next season rolls around when they buy three new outfits to replace the three they’ve worn out! These are the disciplined people!
Some people never get rid of anything and have forty years worth of clothes in fluctuating sizes (and interesting styles and colours!) squirreled away behind their cupboard doors. Yes, these people are the hoarders!
Most of us fall somewhere in between, we buy a few garments now and then and we dispose of a few now and then, and we keep a lot of garments we seldom wear!
Most people have made a fashion purchase mistake at some time. We all know how it happens. With the wallet stuffed full of money and the credit card ready to roll we hit the shops running. We’re full of high spirits and hopes and we’re absolutely burning to buy something new and incredible, an item that will feel different and set us apart. The day wears on; the step becomes heavier, that special something just does not pop and we either end up buying a ‘desperation dud’, or return home fed up and empty handed. The dud gets shut away in the closet and there it lurks, sometimes for years, as a disappointing reminder of a frustrating day.
When this happens to you take heart, forgive yourself, get rid of the dreadful desperation dud and move forward.
De-cluttering the wardrobe
The first step towards a youthful-looking wardrobe is to cull the clutter and eliminate items that haven’t seen daylight for years. It’s the most important step to take, and it is one of the most difficult tasks to undertake.
Auditing the wardrobe is particularly relevant to those of us who have held on to garments from times past when we felt our most sexy and feminine. If this is you take a deep breath and haul those clothes out, bag them, tag them, and then admire the space you’ve created for their gorgeous, wearable replacements!
Vintage – trendy or tragic?
Essentially when you wore an item the first time it came into fashion you were trendy. If you’ve hung onto that item for years and when it has finally come back into fashion you’ve taken it out, dusted it off and worn it the chances are you have become a fashion tragic!
When we see a young person wearing a pair of pre-loved retro platform boots that she’s probably picked up at a vintage outlet we tend to think she’s clever and quite trendy.
When we see a mature woman wearing those same pre-loved platform boots we wonder why she’s clinging to youth. We also think it’s about time she overhauled her wardrobe!
Garments and accessories making a comeback are never quite the same as their original incarnation because modern designers tweak the styles to look fresh and current.
However, don’t confuse vintage with classic. Vintage garments are those worn in fashion moments. Tie-dyed garments, baby doll dresses, power-pads, colour-dyed dried bean necklaces and clog shoes were incredible, exciting fashions that lasted for moments.
Straight skirts, court shoes and dark denim jeans are designs that have endured the years and still look current. These are fashion classics.
It is important to recognise your lifestyle before you begin editing your wardrobe.
What are your clothing needs in terms of your personality? For example are you an outdoorsy person? Your wardrobe may reflect open-air activities and contain walking boots and anoraks, whereas a sporty person might have a wide selection of sneakers and tee shirts.
Be realistic. You might love sparkly evening dresses but do you actually wear them?
Do you want to project a new image? This is a great opportunity to update your appearance.
What sort of budget can you afford, what lifestyle do you currently lead?
A change in circumstances often renders a number of your clothes redundant.
Have you opted out of the corporate world for a more relaxed and casual lifestyle?
Your current clothes should reflect how you are presently living.
When your wardrobe is audited it’s easy to add a few extra garments to suit any alteration in circumstances.
Effective planning and organization takes determination, and depending on the number of clothes you own, it takes the best part of a day to create harmony in your wardrobe.
Before you begin put on your makeup, do your hair and wear comfortable, uplifting, flattering underwear. This is important and it will help your decision making - you’ll be trying on some of your garments and scarecrowing together a few new outfits.
Pull all your clothes out of the wardrobe for assessment .
Include everything in your appraisal – outer wear, underwear and all your accessories such as shoes, scarves, bags, gloves, hosiery, lingerie, belts etc.
Put sentimentality aside and examine each item individually. Don’t think about what the items cost or where (or who) they came from. Consider each item on its merit and sort them into one of the following three categories:
Keepers, Maybes and Discards.
Keepers:
These are the clothes that you wear often, that you like wearing and there is no question about returning them to the wardrobe.
These are garments that:
don’t require alteration
are comfortable, fit well and suit your personality
are flattering and make you feel good when you wear them
are in good condition and don’t need repairing.
Maybes:
These are the clothes that need some attention.
The ‘Maybes’ are garments:
that have bits missing – buttons, lace, rips, dragging hems etc.
that are soiled
that need to be altered to fit you
you like but never wear
that you need to purchase something else to wear with
that you are unsure about the fit, shape or colour
Sort the maybes into colour piles on the bed.
Discards:
Identify and liberate any garment:
that’s too small or too big
that pushes you together and gives you a mono-boob
that is really dated (fabric, style, pattern)
that is worn out, ripped beyond repair or stained beyond redemption
that has not been worn for the last three years (two years isn’t long enough!).
that is too short, too old or too young
that is not of the quality you currently wear
Any grotty underwear
Ancient smelly trainers, evening shoes that you’ve worn once (fifteen years ago) and any footwear that doesn’t fit or has bits missing
Any bag that’s stained, quilted or patchwork (unless it is a fantastically expensive label in a truly timeless style).
Any freebie make-up bags, or frayed, dirty, ripped, scuffed or torn bags
Put the discards in a pile on the floor, and place any obvious throw- aways into a large plastic bag to go out on rubbish bin night.
The condition of each remaining item will establish its destination - op shop, local markets, recycling store, vintage store, or whether to sell it on eBay. Make piles accordingly.
The maybes that you have sorted into rough colour piles on the bed are the most fun. With a little lateral thinking these garments can present you with outfits you’ve never thought of, or combinations you’ve vaguely considered might work but haven’t tried out!
Examine each garment and determine why you don’t wear it.
Do you love the design but aren’t so keen on the colour?
Is the item worth having professionally dyed? (did you break the bank when you bought it?)
Are the sleeves a flattering length? Could they be shortened or chopped off?
Can the hem be shortened or lengthened? An unflattering dress can be shortened to make a great tunic top.
Would changing embellishments such as buttons update the garment to current and wearable?
Does it fit you?
Is the style is classic or current? Would a fresh approach lift it?
A short damask evening jacket can work over dark jeans and a casual shirt.
You may have never found the perfect camisole to complete the stunning outfit you envisaged when you bought the hot pink silk sarong skirt in the sales. Maybe you could switch down the skirt to casual wear by teaming it with a navy and white narrow striped sleeveless tee shirt. Would a crumpled white linen jacket add Boho chic and pull it all together?
Metallic belts are useful to ramp neutrals up a notch or two.
A bright scarf injects a blast of colour when neutrals look too neutral!
Try wearing wear a shirt in a different way. Make it do double-duty as a loose jacket worn open over a dark tank and dark capri pants. Add metallic wedge heels and a squashy hobo bag to pull the outfit together.
Do you have a pair of high heeled ankle strap sandals lurking in the bottom of the wardrobe? Wear them with black pants or dark denim jeans for a bit of glam.
If you and your clothes are different sizes take them to an alteration expert. Too big garments can often be taken in, shortened or altered to fit.
Too snug garments are more difficult to alter. Clever experts can put inserts into the undersides of sleeves and lengthen a hem a little with tape, but you really have to ask yourself if the garment is worth it or if it’s time to go shopping!
Very often the maybes are the garments that you have loved and worn to death. They are most likely the right colour and the right fit for you.
Garments over five years old are likely to look dated. If you really love something and can’t bear to part with it, take it to a tailor and have it copied.,Stop at the shops on the way to see if you can replace it with an item that’s more current!
Accessories benefit from auditing too!
Mix, match and co-ordinate your jewellery.
It’s chic to wear a swathe of necklaces with related textures and layered in different lengths. Add a medallion or pin a broach onto the side of the swathe to lead the eye upwards.
Jewellery clusters can work youthful wonders and are useful to update rarely worn items.
Wear several unrelated textures together, try wearing hard and stretchy bracelets such as crystal, pewter, wood and bone in a cluster.
Pin a group of small broaches on the lapel of a jacket or to the shoulder of a sweater. This is an uber-modern look for denim jackets. Uneven numbers work best. Link them together with small chains. Lapels are great show boards for clusters of pieces that are otherwise insignificant when worn solo.
Any items over a decade old could be candidates for a vintage shop. You will get more if the label is still attached or you have the original packaging.
Vintage shops usually only accept good quality designer clothing from the 1980’s and good quality clothing from the 1970’s and before.
Making a bit of money eases the pain of saying farewell to old clothing friends; and think of the fabulous new fashions you can buy!
If you have a collection of long, floor length gowns you no longer wear, could you have them restyled into cocktail length dresses? At least then you could wear them out to dinner!
In the opening scene in the movie “Sex and the City” Carrie Bradshaw walks through the streets of New York in an amazing short white dress embellished on one shoulder with a gigantic fabric flower. The dress is accessorized with a pair of serious gladiator heels and a tiny clutch bag.
The dress was originally a vintage floor length evening gown that Patricia Field, the movie stylist and costume designer, had chopped down to skim the character’s kneecap. Whilst that particular dress might not appeal to you, you can pinch the idea and adapt it!
Hit Parade
Some items are perceived as straight out of Matronville. Other garments are just too young for the mature woman.
These are the top 20 clothes that have to go. They’ll date you. Do not keep them. They will not do as “round the house/round the garden” clothes. You will not slim back into them and even if you do they are NOT RIGHT FOR YOU!
Do these items lurk in your wardrobe?
Any sweater embellished with bells, reindeer, teddy bears, appliqué, crocheted flowers, pompoms dangling on crocheted wool chains, etc.
This is a difficult candidate because a sweater is warm even if it looks dreadful. Put it in a charity bin to be passed on to the needy.
Necklaces with your name written on them (in any language), or necklaces with little children cut-outs dangling from a chain. Retain a little mystery please! Who really needs to know your name or the number of children or grandchildren you have?
Tee shirts.
How many tee shirts do you own? Do you ever actually wear the souvenir tee shirt you bought on holiday because you felt sorry for the vendor?
Tee shirts printed with brands and slogans provide free advertising for someone you have probably bought the tee shirt from. And even if it was free do you want to be an unremunerated human billboard?
Tee shirts with meant-to-be-funny sayings are only amusing the first time, and are best worn by young men and children. Ditch the baggy, the daggy, the faded, the greyed, the ripped, the tight, the over-decorated and the stained.
Overalls
Bras and Knickers
Our bust fluctuates in size more than any other part of the body due to pregnancy, weight gain and weight loss – and many of us tend to keep our bras from year to year. If you spill over the top of a bra, if the straps dig in, if you haven’t worn it for two years, if it has lost colour or if it’s way too sexy or provides no support; give it the flick.
Bikini knickers and cami-knickers give VPL beneath pants, skirts and jeans. And granny bloomers, no matter how comfortable they are have gotta go, Bridget!
Mummy jeans – any jeans that are too short in the leg, too high in the waist, too loose in the leg or too baggy in the butt.
Jeans with pleats in the front, embroidery, acid washed, grungy, rips, lace, holes, studs, drainpipe, stone washed, boyfriend, or so tight they give you camel toe.
Big shoulder pads. Purge big loose soft-foam shoulder pads that you tuck under your bra strap. While you are at it, bin any tops with sewn-in shoulder pads unless you are certain you need them to balance your body shape (if you have wide hips and narrow, sloping shoulders then shoulder pads will balance your shape). Check jackets for too-big inbuilt shoulder pads. 1980’s power pads are a twenty-first century fashion tragedy.
Some skirts are perennial fashion classics. The following skirts are dated. If you own any of these consider the colour, length, fabric and condition and then decide whether it is a ‘keeper’:
Dirndl or folk dancing skirt, gored denim skirt, tiered skirt, tartan kilt, any tartan skirt, thigh stitched pleated skirt, yoked skirt (no matter the colour, fabric or condition, this one has got to go!) and divided skirt (culottes).
Fingers full of estate jewellery.
Handbags with photos of your children, grandchildren, movie stars or pretty chocolate-box scenery screen-printed on them
Three quarter length cargo pants
Any cargo pants
Bum bags
Back packs
Pants with pleats at the waist and/or tapered legs
The evening gown that hasn’t been on your back for a decade.
The sundress that was cool and loose when you bought it on holiday but is no longer cool, the looseness is questionable, and the bright colour has faded.
Big owlish reading glasses
Lycra bike pants
Black trakkie daks with a white stripe down the side
Batwing sleeves and cowl necklines
Safari jackets
Anything with smocking.
Patchwork anything
Not your daughter’s clothes!
Just as some of the wardrobe relics date us, other fashion items can make us appear to be trying too hard to look young.
When a woman in her prime wears the following items it compels people to wonder if she is coping with her maturity:
Too young, too teenage, too tragic
Ankle bracelets
Belly rings and toe rings
Body piercing (anywhere) and multiple piercings on the ears
Visible tattoos
Anything mini or micro-mini (skirts, dresses or shorts)
Baseball caps and newsboy caps
Girlish ruffle hemmed skirts
Knee to thigh split skirts
Spaghetti straps (as stand alones)
Bolero jackets
Puff sleeves
Halter neck tops or dresses
University sweaters, tee shirts or caps
Ruffle top swimsuits or triangle bikinis
Ankle strap shoes (unless you are Elle Macpherson)
Ballet flats that reveal toe cracks, actually, any shoes that reveal toe cracks
Peter Pan collars
Grecian necklines (one shoulder)
Low rise jeans with button openings and thousands of studs
Ripped jeans no matter how expensive they were
Tie-dyed anything (didn’t you wear it the first time around?)
Neon coloured tights
Anything too small, too short, too revealing or so tight that you end up with a muffin top or camel toe
Skinny leg jeans, drainpipe jeans or leggings when worn alone without a butt-covering top
Some of us make the mistake of revealing a lot of flesh in our quest for youthfulness.
An old chook’s bare boobs, bare midriff or butt cleavage are unattractive no matter how many hours were spent developing them at the gym or how many dollars were forked out to buy them.
Another ‘try hard’ revelation is clothing bought from a shop targeting teenagers. The reason teenage fashion is inexpensive is that generally it is made from cheap fabrics that are not made to last the distance. Cheaper fabric is bulky, creases easily and are likely to contain fabric starch or fabric sizing to give body and weight. These finishes wash out the moment the garment is laundered, leaving it limp and misshapen.
Only teenagers can get away with garments made from cheap fabric and that’s because their bodies are young and their skin is plump and fresh. Teenage garments are never, flattering to the mature body. Give them to your daughter!
Scarecrow your outfits:
Smart style starts with the wardrobe audit.
It’s well worth taking the time to scarecrow a few outfits together.
Make a note of them in a little book to keep in your wardrobe.
Start with a garment from your piles of ‘maybes’ – something you like and that fits you, but a garment you seldom wear.
Stand in front of the mirror (with your make-up on and your hair styled) and hold the garment against yourself. Try to define exactly why you rarely wear it.
Do you like the colour and does it suit you?
Is the style flattering and age appropriate?
Does it need to be altered – lengthened or shortened, taken in or let out?
Can you accessorize it from your existing accessories?
Now, considering only the colour, take the garment to your wardrobe and run it alongside the clothes hanging there. Look for different colour combinations. For example the garment may be a silvery grey dress. While black is the obvious (and boring!) coordinate, a solid coloured russet scarf tied as a sash could add spice and interest.
Step out of your comfort zone, try lots of combinations, some will work and some won’t, and you may not be entirely comfortable wearing all those that do work, but you are in your own home, there’s no one watching or judging you so go ahead and have some fun!
When you find an outfit; scarecrow it on your bed and accessorize right down to the last detail. Decide what definitely works and then play with some alternative garments and accessories - hosiery, footwear, bags, jewellery, hat, gloves, scarves, wraps, eyewear, and belts.
Write everything in your little notebook. Include the alternatives and make a note whether an item dresses the outfit up or down. This can be achieved simply by changing the footwear. Making notes is invaluable for those days when you can’t quite decide what to wear, or for those CRAFT moments when you can’t remember what went with what when you put the outfit together in the first place!
Closet Clues
Once you’ve audited your wardrobe, weeded out the ‘discards’, saved the ‘keepers’ and sorted the ‘maybes’ there are a few smart tricks to retain law and order within your closet.
When you have a higgledy-piggledy wardrobe presentation it’s easy to assume you are bereft of clothes or accessories. And so off you go shopping, whack down the credit card and come home with your purchase only to find the twin to the black skirt or whatever you’ve bought, languishing under the mountain of clothes piled in your closet.
Remove out-of-season clothes from the closet and store them in airbags beneath the bed. It is surprising how many garments can be squeezed into one airbag, and even more surprising how flat it lies once the air has been sucked out!
When the non-seasonal items have gone, the contents of your wardrobe will be clear making selection of outfits a breeze!
Accessible clothing displayed on orderly shelves and hanging spaces saves time in the mornings. Organized shelves and tidy drawers assist you to create new and imaginative combinations from some of your old friends. A plus is that you’ll know not to buy that fourth pair of black pants!
Underwear, lingerie and shape wear are the base on which you build an outfit, so the lingerie drawer is a good place to start sorting.
Line your drawers and shelves with pretty paper – recycled gift wrap or white tissue paper, or purpose-made perfumed drawer liners can be bought.
While you are into tidying you could sort items into piles and section them with Perspex or cardboard drawer dividers. Storage specialist shops stock an amazing range of storage solutions. Alternatively use shoe boxes – trim down the sides to fit the depth of your drawers and line the boxes with white tissue paper.
A lavender bag imparts soft feminine fragrance to your lingerie and it’s easy to make your own:
Stitch two squares of natural fabric together (inherited linen or cotton handkerchiefs are ideal). Leave a pocket open on one side.
Fill the bag with dried lavender flowers. Alternatively use a combination of dried lavender flowers and scraps of polyester wadding (batting).
Stitch up the hole or tie the bag with a pretty ribbon.
Every now and then rub the bag to crush the flowers so they release some oil, or add a few drops of bought lavender oil.
Dangle lavender bags from coat hangers, nestle them in amongst your lingerie and scarves, or stuff them into the toes of shoes.
What is your closet personality?
The Hanger
You like to hang garments whenever you possibly can!
Ask for the coat hanger when purchasing clothes, many retailers are pleased to give it to you, others might offer an alternative coat hanger, but do ask, the worst a shop assistant can say is ‘No’!
Hanging is quicker and easier than folding and one glance will immediately establish what’s there.
If your wardrobe is fitted with custom-built rails, shelves and drawers hanging everything together may be impractical. The solution is to categorise your garments and hang them together in colour codes. Group skirts together with the black skirts beside each other, the jackets together with those of similar colour next to each other, pants together, tops and dresses together etc.
If your wardrobe a standard shelf and one rail arrangement hang all the red garments together, all the white garments, all the blue garments and so on.
A couple of elastic bands wrapped around each end of a coat hanger give grip for slippery silky fabrics, or use padded, fabric covered coat hangers. Another oldie, but a goody is to cover a wire coat hanger with strips of tulle. All you do is cut tulle (the cheaper and stiffer the better) into lots and lots of 2cm wide by 10cm long strips. Tie each tulle strip side by side onto the coat hanger along the length.
The Folder
Tee shirts, sweaters, knits and jerseys store best when they are folded simply because hangers tend to leave unsightly lumps and bulges in the shoulders of knitted fabric.
If you have a slippery knitted garment (made from metallic thread for example) that’s irritatingly difficult to fold, place a rectangle of double or triple-folded white tissue paper over the garment and fold around it.
Use white tissue paper. Coloured tissue paper is not colour-fast and the dye can rub off or bleed onto garments.
Here’s the thing:
Sweaters, tee shirts, knits, or any garments that are put away with even a smidgen of dirt can provide a tasty banquet for moths or invite mildew to settle. Moths love to devour food-encrusted wool and cashmere and are extremely partial to the natural fibres of linen, cotton and silk. Once they’re in the wardrobe they lay eggs in the folds of your garments, and munch their way through all the good stuff - basically they grow fat feeding on your clothes.
Mildew and mould grow on moisture, dust and dirt. Leather and suede items (jackets, pants, skirts, belts, footwear and bags) are particularly subject to mould and mildew, especially in tropical and sub tropical areas. Remove plastic dry cleaning covers from your garments when you bring them home, humidity, dark wardrobes and plastic covers are not a good combination. Ventilated shelves promote airflow around clothes.
In areas of high humidity an electric damp-chaser stick with a sealed 15 watt bar helps keep mildew at bay. Or place a couple of tubs of Damp Rid crystals on the base of the wardrobe to soak up excess moisture.
A scattering of lavender bags, citrus leaves, bay leaves, cinnamon or cloves helps deter moths although nothing beats a weekly blast of fly spray into the wardrobe!
Shoe Storage
If you are blessed with the luxury of plenty of wardrobe space to hang, fold and store your clothes and have a wall packed with racks of shoes you are the envy of the rest of us mere mortals!
Shoes, boots or sandals are an integral part of an outfit so it makes sense to look after our footwear.
Assuming you’ve riffled through your shoe collection and discarded any footwear with parts missing (heels, buckles, straps or embellishments), and any that is uncomfortable, too small, too high, too scraped or too smelly, the remaining items deserve to be well treated.
Are you making the best of the available space for footwear?
Most of us don’t have walls on which to fit rows of bespoke shoe racks. Do you have space to fix some rails on the inside of a sturdy wardrobe door?
Protect shoes from dust by stacking them in the boxes they came in or clear perspex boxes available at reasonable prices from variety stores.
An old trick used by models is to store shoes in each foot of an old pair of pantyhose.
Plastic shoe racks from storage specialists come in flat packs, are easy to assemble, reasonably priced and will take 9 – 12 pairs of shoes. Rack them with the heels hooked over the rack and store flat shoes underneath on the floor.
Peg boots together, use large butterfly clips from stationers or use clothes pegs.
Stand boots upright with a rolled up magazine inside to avoid them creasing down.
Dangle rubber thongs and flat sandals from commander hooks stuck down the wardrobe edge, or drop a wide linked plastic chain from the top of your cupboard and attach light-weight thongs, sandals etc. with plastic hooks (shower curtain hooks are ideal) to the links.
Crumple dry newspaper and stuff it into wet shoes or boots to reshape them. Allow them to completely dry before you put them away in the cupboard. Shoe polish helps to repel water and keep mildew at bay.
Hook, Line and Sinker
Use every available centimetre of your wardrobe space – walls, posts, ceilings, the undersides of shelves and the wardrobe doors. Commander hooks are your best friends when you are pushed for space. They’re available from supermarkets, mass retailers and from hardware stores. Commander hooks come in a range of sizes and some hold weights up to about 3kg. They are repositionable, stick onto most clean surfaces including tiles and can be removed from painted or papered surfaces without leaving damage or any marks.
Closet clues
Stick hooks inside wardrobe doors, and on walls and posts to hang necklaces, bangles, belts, boots and bulky handbags you can’t fit onto the shelves.
Inexpensive purpose-made plastic hangers with slots, slats and hooks for ties, belts and shoes are available from mass retailers and hardware stores. Use them to hang belts, jewellery, scarves etc
Variety stores often sell big inexpensive stackable boxes that are ideal for storing hats. Fiddle around and fit 2 or 3 hats into each box, separating them with a layer of white tissue paper. Stuff crumpled white tissue paper into the crown to retain the shape, and make small sausage-like rolls to maintain curves or curls in the brim.
Tie racks are a great storage solution for long scarves. Fold the scarf lengthways then drape it over the rack. Alternatively attach a small towel rail or round towel hoop inside the wardrobe door to drape a collection of scarves and belts.
If you are a handyperson (or know someone who is) a small towel rail upended and attached to the underside of a shelf or the wardrobe ceiling is a great little additional rail from which to hang scarves, belts, or to hook bulky bags. Use shower curtain hooks or rings– again! They are useful little gems that come in packs of 12 and can be bought separately (without the curtain).
A decorative display board can be a practical storage solution for jewellery. Try making your own from an old framed picture and corks from wine bottles.
Ask a couple of local restaurants to save used wine bottle corks for you. Provide them with a clean plastic ice cream container they can throw the corks into. Champagne corks are an awkward shape, plastic corks and stoppers are no good, they’re too hard and you can’t stick drawing pins into them.
Remove the glass from the framed picture, but leave the picture in the frame to form the base for the corks. Don’t use a picture you want to keep; it will get wrecked because you’ll be gluing the corks directly onto the picture.
Use Aquadhere Glue to stick the collected wine corks over the picture in a herringbone pattern.
Cut the corks with a craft knife to fit around the edges and into the corners.
Leave the board to dry for a few hours or overnight.
Attach a strong commander hook onto the wall (near a mirror if possible), hang up the cork board and push in large shiny drawing pins to dangle necklaces, chains, bracelets and bangles from. Use long thick pins to dangle rings.
A cork board dripping with jewellery is much more creative than hiding necklaces and jewellery away in forgotten boxes!
Jettisoning pre-loved clothing
A recycling store may agree to sell your clothes on consignment. Recycling stores accept good quality, current clothing (maximum 2 years old) and expect garments to have been dry cleaned before accepting them so attach the dry cleaning docket to your garment. Recycling stores are not the place to attempt to offload an inherited fifteen year old, sad and tired kilt of questionable tartan.
Recycling stores generally sell items for about half the original cost (if the article is in excellent condition) and give you a percentage of that – so you’ll get back a lot less than you paid on the original purchase price.
Consignments are accepted for an agreed period. If your consignment does not sell, it’s your responsibility to collect it within a specified (usually short) time. Uncollected consignments are donated to charity. Every recycling store has a different policy so read the fine print carefully to understand the exact terms and conditions and what you are up for.
Local markets are excellent venues if you want to sell your stuff yourself. Many councils and churches hold markets at least once a month where you can set up shop for a nominal fee. Sometimes trestle tables are available for hire. Public liability insurance is a consideration, many organisers insist you have it and some offer it at cheap daily rates.
Clearly marked, reasonably priced, clean items are the best sellers so it is worth taking the time to wash and press your garments and attach the price.
Present items in the condition that you would expect to buy them yourself.
Have some price flexibility, market shoppers are looking for bargains and are more likely to buy when they are offered a discount! Also, you don’t want to take everything back home with you when the markets finish!
Some markets offer casual spaces inside a hall or under cover which are worth paying a premium for if it’s likely to rain.
Some hire companies rent clothes racks to display garments on.
Save up carry bags for a few weeks beforehand and take them with you to put your sales into.
Take a cash float, keep your money on you (this is the one instance when we do ‘bum-bags’!) and have a marking pen to mark-down the goods an hour and a half before the market is due to close (most organisers will expect a full day commitment).
It’s worth personally checking out the market prior to taking a stall, just to ensure it will be the best venue for your goods. Local newspapers carry details of markets, if you intend to sell outside your area jump online and Google “Local Markets”.
Many people have success selling clothing and apparel on eBay. Go online for more information.
Op shops and charity stores accept clean clothing that still has wear in it but is not current or new enough to be sold on consignment.
Clothes given to op shops and charity stores are donations; you won’t receive any money for them.
Most charities have arrangements with rag merchants. If your donation is not good enough for sale in the shop, it will be sold on to a rag merchant.
Don’t feel embarrassed about taking clothing into an op shop. It is unlikely the person who receives it will ask you to open the bags, or go through them while you wait. Just turn up and ask where to leave your goodies. Explanations are not required or expected. The assistants working in op shops and charity stores have seen it all, generally they are volunteers who are there for a short time, and are so busy they don’t have time for judgments.
Some charities don’t accept items such as underwear, socks, hosiery, make-up or pierced jewellery unless it is brand new, unworn, unopened and still has the original price tag attached. All charities appreciate clean items. Post bagged items into a local charity bin if you want anonymity.
The infants department of your local school or after school care centre may accept donations of clean used garments and accessories for their “dress up boxes”. Separates are more sought after than dresses, and they love hats, gloves, scarves and bags, male and female. Sometimes the local high school drama department is interested in vintage or unusual clothing for role playing or stage productions. Get on the phone!
Check all the pockets before you dispose of clothing, particularly any handbag pockets and compartments that could be harbouring lost lipsticks, business cards, loyalty cards, crumpled tissues or loose coins.
Mend and makeover
Sweater Snags
If you cut a snag off a knitted garment it might unravel. Use a snag needle to repair pulls and snags. Turn the garment inside out and push the ball point of the needle through to the other side (the right side of the garment) at the base of the snag. When the rough end of the needle is at the garment’s surface twist it to catch the snag. Pull the needle back through the garment to the wrong side, pulling the twisted snag with it.
Static Cling
Rub hand cream into your legs (through your tights if necessary).
Anti static spray can be applied to the inside of your skirt if static is a persistent problem. Test a small area of the fabric first to ensure the anti static spray doesn’t harm it.
Fallen hems
Body tape is an effective temporary fix for fallen hems. It is double sided tape formulated to stick fabric to the skin, but works just as well fabric to fabric!
Iron-on hem tape is strong and it is easy to use. If it becomes detached, just iron on some more.
Hair Dye Stains
Spray spilled hair dye immediately with hairspray to neutralize it. Wash the garment in soda water as soon as possible.
Retail details and magic products
Storage: K-Mart, Big W, Target, IKEA, Freedom Furniture, Howards Storage and Bunnings all offer a range of innovative, reasonably priced and practical storage solutions. Go on-line.
Cork boards, $7 to $20 from Bunnings Hardware
Check the Yellow Pages under ‘Recycled Clothing’ to find the nearest recycling store, charity store or op shop.
Snag Needles from Spotlight. Set of 3 in individual plastic sleeves $4.50
Hollywood Fashion Tape $20 per roll from Myer. A roll of Hollywood tape lasts a long time
Iron-on hem tape around $4 per roll from Lincraft or Spotlight
Good luck with your audit, it's hard to do, but worth the effort in the end.
Next time we're going to look at savvy shopping - smart bargain hunting, how to cope with the fitting room blues, where to shop and what to look for, plus shoe shopping which to me is a form of purgatory! Kisses, Dawn
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