Neutral Colors For A Base Wardrobe

With Summer coming to an end, (can you believe it?!) it's time to start thinking about what color to base your Fall wardrobe around so I'm going to give you some advice when seeking the best neutral for you. Here goes:

Black: Is always a classic and is the easiest neutral to work with because you don't have to think too much about this color...and it's everywhere. It always looks stylish and is easy to mix and match. On the down side of things, black drains the skin of color so it's usually best with a little color worn near your face. Black also looks good with both silver and gold accessories.

Brown: A "can't go wrong" color. Looks good on most everyone and is very trendy right now. It flatters warm skintones brilliantly and goes well with most medium intensity shades. Brown will look best with gold jewelry. If you like leopard prints, brown is a great neutral to go with these.

Navy: This neutral has the thinning power of black but is gentler to your skintone. It's harder to mix tonally, though, so your navy jacket will be better worn with your jeans than it will with your navy slacks. It's a more updated look, too. Silver accessories look best with navy or go with a silver/gold mix.

Gray: This is an elegant color that flatters most skintones except the very warm. Mixing grays is easy as it goes with so many colors. A pair of charcoal slacks is a must for every wardrobe and is wonderful when worn with red. Wool flannel pants are the sharpest! Wear your grays with silver accessories.

Beige: This is called the classic "blonde" neutral and is best when pieces are paired with varying textures. Beige coodinates well with cream, kakhi, olive, browns and black. This soft hue looks best with gold or gold/silver mix accessories and tortoiseshell jewelry.

Think about what neutral you feel best in (and look beautiful in!) and start strategizing your fall wardrobe. Choose 3-4 colors to accent your best neutral and find matching shoes and boots to complement your base color. It's fun to plan ahead! And don't you just love fall clothes? I do!

WeightWatchers!

I am on WeightWatchers...I am in the middle of my 14th week so that's a little over 3 months. This time. Okay, so this is my fifth time trying this...but you know, it is here to stay this time. I made up my mind when we were in Florida over spring break and realized in the 10 years my hubby and I've been married that he's gained 50 lbs. (please don't tell him I told you) and I've gained 25. Okay, people, we've been married for 10 years...if this keeps going we are going to be huge....I am 5'11" so people tell me they can't tell when I gain weight...the problem is, I didn't notice my husband gaining weight either because when you gain 2-5lbs a year, you just don't notice. But then you wake up one day and go, "Oh my goodness, who Is that?" Oops...it's just a reflection of myself in the mirror! Okay, I know I am not the only one this has happened to. So, I decided right then and there that we were going to join WW. We enlisted one of my stepdaughters to join us as well. So, off we went to our first meeting. I LOVED it, Carly tolerated it, and Dave just plain hated it. Have you ever been to a Mary Kay meeting where they give out all kinds of prizes...just for showing up? Well, I was a Cadillac Director with MK for 6 years (I'm still a director, but not a very good one, cause God's got me travelling all over the place doing this What Not To Wear thing, hence, NO pink caddy anymore.) So, for me, those meetings are funnnnnnnnn! I am the first one to holler out when the leader, Theresa, asks who has good news for the week...I don't care if I've only lost .2 (that is point 2 NOT 2lbs, ladies) I am getting that star sticker she's handing out! My husband hasn't been back to a meeting since. But that's okay...Carly still goes and so do I. I am doing the flex program (I don't know why they just don't call it what it is, Points) and keep track every day. I'm allowed 25 points a day. I've lost 14 lbs. so far...so that's like one pound a week, so I'm very happy! I started exercising, too. I dragged out my old (I mean, OLD) exercise bike and put it in my office and get on it most days for about 30 minutes. I use this time to pray and listen to worship music...I LOVE this time! My friend, Pam, is doing WW, too, and she's gonna report on her progress on this blog every so often....keep it up, Pam, you can do it! I look at it this way, in 11 more weeks, I'll have reached my goal and I KNOW I can do this the rest of my life. Cause you really CAN eat whatever you want, but you end up learning how not to eat ALL of it. Okay, I'm trying to decide if I'm gonna go weigh in tonight, it's not my regular night, but I missed it this week, so wish me luck! love ya, Shari

I gave my purse away

I gave my purse away on Thursday. Now, I don't want anyone to pat me on the back and say, "Wow, that was so nice of you", etc. etc. Because, honestly, I really didn't want to. But God told me to. So what's a girl to do? Let me tell you about it.
I just finished speaking at Eastway Baptist Church giving my testimony and was heading to my car when I spotted my friend Zoe. She was talking to her friend that she invited who is a single mom with three kids. We were chatting and I looked down and noticed she was holding her purse with her hands kind of covering it. It was in pretty rough shape. I mean really rough shape. So, my mind started wandering as I thought about all the purses I have at home that I am about to take to the battered women's shelter, thinking, I wish I could run home and give her one of those because they are in really good shape. Then God whispered to me, "Give her your purse." And then again, "Give her YOUR purse." It was clear. It wasn't even really a whisper to my heart, it was more like a shout. So I excused myself from them, walked over to my car, dumped everything into the back seat and walked back to her and said, "God told me to give you my purse." She just looked at me and burst into tears. She told me that when she found out what I normally talk about at churches (What Not to Wear) she tried to hide her purse from me so I couldn't see how ripped up it was. She actually put it on the chair under the table where she was sitting, but when I was finished speaking, I came down from the stage and went to sit in THAT chair. So, she had to pick it up and move it so I wouldn't sit on it.
Do you believe that God cares about EVERY detail of your life? He cared about her purse. He knows that as women, we care about those things. So He does, too. She was embarrassed about her purse, and God cared about that. We serve a living and REAL God, one who knows every detail of our lives, He even cares about the little things....He cared about the fact that she was embarrassed about the way her purse looked, so He asked me to give her mine. Well, He really didn't ask, BUT, I had a choice to make. I could either be obedient in that moment or not. I didn't have time to go home and pray about it. I had to choose to act then. I wonder, is God asking you to do anything today that is an act of obedience for you? Sometimes it really isn't about the purse, the meal, the phone call He is asking you to make or give....it is about you. He wants to see what shape your heart is in. How is yours today? I am going right now to spend time on my exercise bike (for my physical heart and those next 10 lbs. I gotta lose...agh) and for my spiritual heart as I turn up my new MercyMe CD and worship for the next 3o minutes or so. It is a crucial part of my day cause left to my own rotten self, I would have kept that purse...cause I really liked it. Serving a God who cares about purses, Shari

The Colors You Should Wear!

Color is an important issue when it comes to getting dressed. Depending on your natural, (yes, I did say natural!) hair color, your eye color and the intensity of your skintone (based on your ethnicity), there are certain colors that will look better on you than others. The color analysis system first got started years ago by Color Me Beautiful which is where I originally had my training with color. A few years later, they changed it because everyone was turning up as summers or winters and they weren't looking good! Soooo, they went back to the drawing board and re-designed it based on a woman's dominant coloring. They then took those 6 characteristics and turned it into 12 different types. It got too confusing for women, plus it put women in a catagory that was too pigeon-holing (is that a word?) to me. Therefore, about a year ago, I re-designed the 36 colors for each catagory but stopped at the six dominant colors, giving women a few more choices than they had before. This new system has worked out beautifully. The colors are terrific and there is no guess work involved. In fact, for most women, (if you tell me the truth about your coloring!) you will be able to take a look at the catagories explained and determine your dominant coloring. Once you do that, let me know and I'll direct you to the right colors. It is so easy to begin to build a wardrobe with lots of mix and match options once you know what colors look best on you! Please go to http://www.sharibraendel.com/dominantcolors.html and determine your coloring. Have a wonderful, blessed day! Shari

Nancy's trip to the mall

Yesterday I spent the day with a new friend helping her sort thru her existing wardrobe before we hit the mall to get her some new things. I had never met Nancy before so it was a first time meeting for us both. When I first saw her I thought, "Oh, she is so pretty!" But later when I heard her laughing with her daughter, I could tell she was not only pretty on the outside, but she was beautiful on the inside, her laugh was so heartfelt and I could tell she just loved spending time with her pre-teen...I love to hear happy laughter between family members. Anyway, whenever I go thru a woman's closet it's always fun as I get to see her true clothing personality. Nancy works in a CPA office as the marketing director and has stayed very "safe" by wearing classic clothes. Classic is okay, but it's alot like the color black. I've found women wear black because it's easy, it mixes and matches very well and it's easy to find... in every store, AND on every woman you see. Black looks good on a lot of women but it looks bad, I mean, very bad, on many more. As Nancy and I finished in her closet (with LOTS of clothes headed to the Battered Women's Shelter!) she agreed with me to add some not-so-black things to her wardrobe AND to go bigger with her accessories. As we left the mall, tired feet and all after 8 hours, I think she had a new idea of what looks good on her (softer colors and a few less classic pieces) and more confidence in the beautiful woman she is! Graced with His beauty, Shari

A place to talk about beauty

I am so excited to finally have a way to talk to you about beauty stuff! My prayer is that you will feel comfortable to address your fashion, beauty and modesty issues here so we can get real with girl stuff. I know sometimes I just want to ask someone if they like my new jeans so hopefully this will be a place we can all do this!

I am new to the blogging world, and honestly, I'm not really sure I'll write everyday, but I really wanted a place on my website where women and girls would feel comfortable asking questions that they might not know who else to ask. You know, like where to buy the right bra, or why don't most women look good in capris...or even questions like, what does the bible have to say about beauty. I can't promise I'll have all the answers, (I'm sure I won't!) but I will give it my best shot. I really hope I get to meet you one day! Until next time...

Graced with His beauty,
Shari
www.ShariBraendel.com