Undergarments...some answers!

Good questions on the comments yesterday. Kelly had the best advice for what to wear under shorts so take a look at that. For undergarments, the more seamless, the better, no bulky stuff either. Underwear is such a personal thing. Some like cotton, others silk and others nylon/poly. Dr twanda wanted to know about matching....I kind of like that! For years I always matched bra and panties....had mutltitude of colors. Now I tend to buy the same color so I don't have to think much about it, yet it matches! I do recommend everyone have some light colored sets and some dark colored sets, though, depending on what you're wearing on the outside. Buying a good bra is essential.....when you look at yourself in the mirror, your bustline should sit evenly between your shoulder and elbow. Most are hangin' too low! I suggest a good dept. store where you can get a good fitting. Seems that some of you like Victoria Secrets, just make sure you are getting a proper fitting. If your straps keep falling off, Julie, then something's wrong....they may need tightened, or it's the wrong style for you. Are you an A body type? With narrow shoulders, gaining weight in hips and thighs? If so, you may need a racer back type bra so you won't have slipping. For a good tummy control AND bra in one, Wacoal makes a camisole/bra you slip over your head, and the body of the cami fits over your belly and sucks you in....it's awesome! Make sure it is longer than the fullest part of your tummy....know what I mean? Cause you don't want your fluffy stuff coming out the bottom of it....it should be smooth all over. It's pricey (about $68) but is a all in one dealy. I also saw a Hanes "waist cincher" at Target that looks like a tube top. You just step into it, pull it up, it flattens your belly and makes you look like you have a waist! Pretty neat! You gals are full of good ideas! Okay, tell me this for today's topic....who's wearing hose these days???? Anyone? Beautiful blessings! Shari

Ohhh, I'm back!

Ohhh, it's a new day...and week. And one with much less stress. Thank you for all of your prayers last week for The Modest is Hottest event. It was a great success and God did His thing and showed up big time! We had pre-sold 650 tickets and another 160 moms and daughters (and one dad and his 2 tween girls) bought tickets at the door! Whew....so over 800 were there. I still haven't taken the time to figure out the directions that Lisa B. taught me (thank you!) on how to post pictures but soon I'll have something to show you.

As for this week, I am mostly resting. I will speak Tuesday night to Joe Gibbs Racing...it is an outreach event and the women of the racing community have been invited....it will be fun! But other than that, I've just planned a few lunches and coffee with friends and also am planning a bridal shower for another friend so pretty much this is a relaxed week.

As for fashion and/or beauty advice this week, I'd like to open up to a few questions. I really am quite brain warped from last week so I am going to turn it over to you girls.....let's talk about undergarments this week.....what are your challenges, faves, and questions about them? Let's get it started...anyone? Beautiful Blessings, Shari FYI: April asked me a question last week on how to bring the Modest is Hottest event to her town....all you have to do is e-mail me at Shari-P31@earthlink.net and I'll forward the information to you!

The Modest Is Hottest Fashion Show

This is a big week. Friday night is the 2nd annual Modest is Hottest Fashion Show at Hickory Grove Baptist Christian School being held at Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Main Campus, in Charlotte, NC. I am telling you about this event because you won't be hearing from me after today until this event is over!

It was almost 2 years ago when I felt the leading of God telling me to do an event for girls and teens about Modesty. The first time I did it is a blur and I'm hoping it is for the church I did it at as well cause I'm sure it wasn't very good. But with each event, this thing has gotten bigger to where I now do about 15 to 20 of these per year. The reason the one this week is stressing me out is that I run the whole thing, even down to the logistics, publicity, you name it. I am soooooo not a logical person....I don't do numbers very well and I certainly don't put on huge events. Except that my son goes to this school and since there was no budget for it, I pretty much do it from start to finish. Cause I'm tryin' to get the girls that go to his school to dress modestly...nothing in it for me...noooooo! Except this event has gotten way bigger than I planned. But then, God is like that. As of today, we have sold over 500 tickets....yikes!!!!!!

Our local dept. store, Dillards is providing the clothes and have made arrangements for every early bird ticket holder to receive a FREE gift from Clinique! Today ends early bird, but I know more will show up at the door...they always do....cause God is like that. Our local radio station called me and asked to sponsor it....cause God is like that. Remember, I had no budget. All that said, I am excited, nervous, scared and know this is God's way of touching our youth and I get to be a small part of that....thru fashion, which is so cool, really. So I ask you, please pray that God speaks thru me, that girls and their moms hearts are touched, and that the models don't fall off the runway! And pray that I don't get all hung up on "me" and that God just does His thing....cause He is soooo like that! I am coveting your prayers this week. If you live anywhere near Charlotte, I'd love to see you there as I believe it will be a powerful event for our young girls. Beautiful Blessings today and this week......Shari www.ModestIsHottestFashionShow.com

What lipcolor should I wear with RED!

Happy Valentine's Day! As you don your red sweater today you will look in the mirror to apply your makeup and you will say out loud...."what color lipstick should I put on?" That is one question I hear pretty often. In fact, at one of the last conferences I spoke at a woman approached me with a bright red sweater on and shiny pink lipstick....this my friends, is a no-no.

Since there are so many different shades of red, you have to be careful. With the trend in makeup today being a more natural look, my suggestion is to wear a slightly beige- tinted neutral lipgloss. You will look more stylish, on-trend, and not mis-matchy. When you try to match your reds, it looks kind of silly, kind of like you are "trying" too hard and the fact is, you probably were! But we don't ever want to come off like we did, we should look like dressing and makeup is just the most natural thing for us...even if it isn't!

So have a terrific Valentine's Day today, hug and kiss on your kids, your cats and your dog, tell your hubby how much you love him and call your best girlfriends and tell them how much you adore them and make plans to go see that movie "Fool's Gold" together! All that, of course, after you dress up in red, you pretty woman! Beautiful Blessings, Shari

Feeling Good Today!

Oh my, it's been a few days since I've blogged but I'm sure the world is no less fashionable because of it. I had a whirlwind thursday, friday and saturday in Kinston, NC speaking at a teen event and women's event, then home all day sunday only to be without power and phones from 4:30pm to 6am Monday morning and out again last night to speak in Charlotte.
Someone asked me tonight how I do it....what do you mean, I ask? She wanted to know how I wasn't completely exhausted and there really is only one answer. It's called "calling". I really feel called to this stuff. I can't help it...I love it, I get exhillerated by it and I don't get tired...till I drop in bed and realize my feet really hurt. I prayed saturday morning that God would make my boots the most comfortable I'd ever had on my feet, cause they were killing me. And He did...honestly. I didn't feel them until I was walking in the airport to find my car at the end of it all.
All this to say, I love what I do. I love that God has called me to this. I am grateful beyond words to be able to have my passion and ministry all rolled up into one. Just feeling good today! Tomorrow I'll answer another fashion question. Until then...Love you, Shari

Sons and Moms

As my son Luke (13) was heading out the door for school today looking super sharp in his kakhi cargo shorts, polo shirt and Duke sweatshirt (sorry if you are a Tarheel fan) I reached up (he is almost 6'3") to hug him and he pulled away to take one last glance in the mirror hanging near the front entrance. Mind you his ride was waiting outside, I am leaving for 48 hours to speak at a conference and wanted a lingering hug. But noooooooooo, he needed to check his hair. Seriously folks, what have I created? He made sure his hair was in its proper place, gel in the right spot in front and then gave me that hug and kiss I wanted. Oh my goodness, I have created a male me.

When Luke was in the first grade, I showed up in his classroom to volunteer one day. I stayed for a few hours and then headed home. When he arrived home at the end of the day Luke said he had to ask me something.

Luke: Mommy, why don't you dress like the other moms?

Me: How do the other moms dress?

Luke: They wear sweatshirts and jeans and you always dress up too much.

Me: (Gritting my teeth) Hmmmmmmmm...okay honey, I'll try next time.

Several weeks passed. Time to volunteer again. I spend more time in my closet than ever before as I am going to impress my 6 year old son with my "dress like other moms" ability. I tried 3 different outfits on, no kidding, trying to find something to wear. Seriously, please don't laugh at me and I know you are. I finally found some jeans I didn't know I had, put on a sweatshirt. I was so proud! Off to school I went.

Me: Hi honey! (In my head I'm saying, Look at me, Luke, I dressed like the other moms, are you happy, not embarrassed of me, so excited to see I have jeans on?!)

Luke: (With a look of horror on his face) "Why are you dressed like that?"

So, here's to tell you, you can't win. However, your kids eventually will do like you do. Notice my kid going off to school making sure he looks good. Agh! And on some occasions I catch myself saying to him, "You're not wearing that, are you?

Tomorrow I won't be here to see Luke head off to school in the morning. It's friday and it's game day. The last of the basketball season. I love game days because he has to wear dress pants, dress shoes and a shirt and tie. I won't be here tonight to iron his shirt. I better go do it now because we don't want him calling in sick. Smile. Have a wrinkle-free, dressed up day today! love, Shari

The 4 Seasons of Color and How it Relates

Some of you may remember when you had your colors "done" by the seasons. You were either a winter, spring, summer or autumn. You got to wear either gold or silver jewelry, never both. I was originally trained in this method by Color Me Beautiful and it was great. Problem happened a few years later when we got a notice from them that there was a problem. Everyone was turning up as either a Winter or Summer and not all were looking good! Back to the drawing board they went and discovered that doing color by women's dominant color characteristic (DCC) was the best way. Once DCC was determined, we then analyzed you to determine what "type" of season you were. Instead of just 4 seasons, now there were 3 types of each season. Here is what it looked like:

Winter: Deep, Clear, Cool
Summer: Light, Soft, Cool
Spring: Light, Clear, Warm
Autumn: Deep, Soft, Warm

Notice that each DCC had 2 seasons in common. So after knowing your DCC, then we determined which season you ended up in.
After speaking to hundreds of women the first year of my ministry, I realized that women didn't need to go into the season category. If we stopped at the DCC, it gave a woman more choices and didn't pigieon hole her so much. And she was just as beautiful if not more so. It also gave most women (except for Warms and Cools) the opportunity to wear both silver and gold accessories, which women like to do. Now that I speak to thousands of women a year, I see this as the only way to determine the best colors for a woman. It just makes sense...on many levels. So if you were analyzed as a Winter before you will most likely be a Deep, Clear or Cool now...hoping you were analyzed correctly as a Winter. Some of you were not analyed correctly the first time, so look at the DCC's from yesterday's post and see where you fit. I hope this clears this up!

Remember, this week you can get your swatches for the $20 blog special...so click here to order yours. You will receive 36 colors that work for your DCC and there are 2 sheets of explanations with them. One is an overall description of what to do with the colors and the other has each color classified on how to use it....near your face, as a wardrobe neutral, or a pop color (pop color is one that always looks good near your face!) It also gives tips on the correct makeup colors to wear for your DCC. Have a beautiful day! love ya, Shari

Colorful Tuesday!

I tried to look at all the comments from Thursday and answer them all but it got too messy. So I'm gonna try to address them as a whole here. I really wish I could go to everyone's blogs and analyse you personally but I'd never get any work done! So, here is my best shot at trying to explain some tips on color.

Color falls into 6 categories...it is based on your dominant color characteristics...of your hair, skin and eye color, usually 2 out of 3 are the same, making it dominant. For example if you have dark brown hair, brown eyes and light skin, you are Deep...even though your skin is light, your eyes and hair are darker...so that wins. Sometimes, though, your eye color is so vibrant or deep, this one thing becomes dominant. What we want to do is dress to compliment our natural coloring. Think of your hair color as a clothing item...look at what you have on right now. Would you wear your "hair" with your top? Do they go together? If you would wear your hair color as a shirt with another item of clothing you have on, then it is a good color for you. Does that make sense? We tend to forget about our natural coloring and just put on clothes we like, but if you think about it, your hair is the first thing most people notice about you, so make sure it compliments the clothing you put on your body!

Here is a rundown of the categories:

Deep: Darker hair color, darker eye color and any skin color.

Light: Very light blonde or white hair, very pale skin and usually light to medium eye color.

Soft: Dishwater blonde, dirty blonde, medium brown hair, medium eye color, usually hazel, blue, or light brown, and medium to light skin tone.

Clear: Dark hair, bright eyes (blue or green) and light skin. There must be a high level of contrast between hair and skin color.

Warm: Redheads, strawberry blonde, auburn hair, any eye color, any skin color. Cool: Silver gray, Dark or black with gray, white hair, pinkish skin tone, blue, green or brown eyes. Hair is dominant here.

I hope this explains a little. Black is good on all but Soft. Warms can wear it, but Brown is much better...I don't wear black at all. Any dark color will make you look slimmer, it doesn't have to be black!
For a look at the color swatches for each category or to order a set, go to this link. Normally, the cost is $25 plus shipping for web orders but if you order a set this week, you'll get a blog special of $20, no shipping! Have a beautiful day! love, Shari

New York...and Color

New York was fabulous! It was the first time I've done an event there and even though I told you we'd discuss color this week I have to tell you about this weekend.

First, I traveled on JetBlue for the first time...loved it! The seats are bigger and great for my long legs (I'm almost 6 foot, taller with my high boots I had on!) and each seat had its own personal tv and remote! I was able to spend the 2 hour flight watching 3 different college basketball games and was so excited about that....I LOVE a good b-ball game! I know, I'm strange. Once I landed, I got to the baggage area and had my own "driver" awaiting me with a sign that had my name on it! hehehe! I felt so famous....God is so cool! Dennis whisked me through 5'o clock traffic and got me to my event on time...early, actually.

As the models and event coordinator and volunteers arrived, in came this man who was sent to help me. You see, I've never had help before like this...not since I lived and worked in Miami in the secular world. The salon who provided all the hair styling for the girls also provided a wardrobe stylist from NYC to come and accessorize and style the girls' clothing. Oh yes indeed! His name was Sali. He fixed and primped and took on and took off....belts, bags, scarves, jackets, no, yes, this, that, and so on. It was like being on the set of a movie. And did he have them looking good! Wait till you see the video and pics...coming soon.

Then David showed up. David, you might ask? Oh yes, David who teaches photography at Parsons School of Design, home of Project Runway! He came to photograph all the models and also came Friday night and set up a complete fashion shoot and photographed every single girl in attendance! It was amazing. At the finale of the night, he put together a slide show of every photo and I had them play a song by Aleysha Woods about true beauty and every girl and mom was riveted in her seat as she waited to see her photograph.

The fashion show was beautiful, I had choreograhed it the night before with the models. They looked sweet, innocent, and modest.....and absolutely in high style, baby!

The over 200 girls and moms in attendance were taught that they are beautiful, to see themselves in a fresh way, that God doesn't make mistakes with us, that we are made exactly the way He wants us to be and that modesty is good...and in style. It was a sweet night....God is so good like that. The only hitch was at the very beginning, when I was telling them about Psalm 139:14 (which I do at all my events), you know, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made", I went blank. Completely blank. Now this is a scripture I have deeply embedded in my heart... and I couldn't remember it. Finally someone grabbed a bible and found it and yelled it out. I looked at the audience and said, "I guess you needed to know I am a real woman!" They hooted and hollered and applauded really loud. I guess someone in the audience needed to know that so God allowed me to look stupid for a minute.....I guess He knew I'd get over it! Funny how He allows stuff to happen like that. It reminds me and others that only He is the perfect one. Never us.
Thank you for praying for the event. I could honestly feel your prayers. I felt covered and loved. I wish you all could have been there. As I travel to Kinston, NC this week to put on the same event, there will be a much smaller crowd, "Sali" won't be there, David will be photographing real models in NYC but the message will be the same. Girls lives will be touched. Moms will look at themselves differently, and God will show up. He always does. I hope I come to a city near you soon. I love to see Beauty in all the different places. I promise Color will be discussed tomorrow....but I couldn't help but tell you about my colorful adventure and to say thank you for praying. love ya, Shari