Chic in the Heat

Summer brings sunshine, and you can finally break out your miniskirts and brights.

But dressing for the varieties of summer activities, from beaches to air-conditioned offices and cinemas to barbecues, to poolside cocktail parties can be daunting. It requires a fair amount of creativity and strategy.

Summer Essentials:

A printed dress, a basic shift cardigans galore, a smart tote, a flat sandal or a cork wedge and oversize sunglasses will take you from the beach to a five-star in style.

- Sundress: They're light, summer hued, comfy and airy. Nothing can beat the heat like a nice summer dress. It's not only fashionable but your respite from the callous heat. Wear a nice summer dress in white or the hot neutral hues and accessorise with necklaces or go for floral or tribal prints. Make sure you pick the right fabric, cottons or linen, to beat the heat ad keep you cool.

- Cardigans or smart blazers: darting in and out of air conditioning can attest to the frustration of runnin hot and cold. Smart cardigans in array of colours or stylish blazers (boyfriend blazers are huge this season) are your saviour and summer staples.

- Oversize Sunglasses: Yes, a nice pair of oversized sunglasses are a total must-have for Summers. Not only they immediately upgrade your glam factor but also protect your eyes and the delicate areas around your eyes from the harmful UV rays.

- Roomy Bag: Summer requires your bag to have the extra space to fit in your glasses, sunscreen, facial spritz, gloss, wallet and a small bottle of water. It's useful to have something roomy like a smart tote.


Colours Trends for Spring Summer 2010

White - White spells class, serenity and SUMMER!!!!! No spring/summer wardrobe is complete without the soothing whites. The summery white does the trick of cooling you off and bringing in the chic to your look. Come Summer and a LWD replaced the LBD, wear all white monochromatic look or add a punch of colour to your ensemble using brights. At the very least, a crisp white shirt should be on top of your shopping list.

L-R: Michael Kors, Fendi and Gucci

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Blush - This ultra-feminine shade is THE COLOUR OF THE SEASON. The pastel shade works for all skin tones, giving fair to dark complexions a rosy glow. It looks best when paired with soft neutral separates during the day and bright iridescent accessories at night. Experiment with lace or chiffon or for a more statement look pick a blush-colored dress or blouse with embellishments. Other neutral hues like nudes, beiges are also in this season. Wear them with the same mantra as Blush and remember playing with layers and textures and mixing the neutral hues would look great.
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Helena Christensen and Sarah Jessica Parker in Stella McCartney Blush Dress

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Acid Yellow - Most of the girls would probably shy away with the thought of adding yellow to their wardrobe, but don't let Acid Yellow intimidate you. Make a sunny statement in a neon shift paired with heather grey sandals and a matching clutch. The color even works at the office—brighten a dark suit with a lemon-kissed camisole or a blouse with a splash of citrine. While acid yellow looks ideal against olive and dark skin tones, fairer complexions can opt for softer versions of the eye-catching hue.


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Victoria Beckham's Designs

Victoria Beckham's luxury dress label has quite the celebrity following. Ever since the launch of her label, celebs from J Lo to Cameran Diaz to Blake Lively to Jennifer Hudson have been spotted in her classy chic dresses and praised her work.

Such is the popularity of her designs that her Fall 2009 collection completely sold out on the luxury online shopping store Net-a-Porter.com. Her designs are classy, simple, chic and stylish - forever pieces.

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Gwyneth Paltrow in Victoria Beckham

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow attends the 2nd Annual Bent on Learning Benefit at The Puck Building in NYC in a shimmering gold Victoria Beckham's minidress.

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J Lo in Victoria Beckham's Creation
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Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow were spotted in a beautiful body-flattering pencil dress by Victoria Beckham. Gwyneth wore VB's dress in grey for an Iron Man 2 photocall while J Lo picked the dress in lovely blush colour and was seen wearing in Washington D.C. with a pair of nude Louboutins. Both the ladies looked gorgeous in their respective dresses.

Looks like Gwyneth has fallen head over heels for VB's dresses, as she wore two of her designs in a short span of one week.
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Rumour has it that Victoria Beckham would be designing a few outfits for Beyonce for her next series of concerts, as Beyonce completely loved her designs.
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Good work Posh, but we wish she creates some affordable line for other fashion savvy females, who don't want to loosen their bags as much.

Image Source

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Christian Louboutin Spring/Summer 2010 Ad Campaign

Christian Louboutin's creativity now running in their advertisements too. Inspired by the fairy tale, Christian Louboutin's has come out with some very unusual adverts for its Spring/Summer 2010 Collections.

Shoes, sandals and boots have become fairy tale characters - Alice in Wonderland with its White Rabbit and Mad Hatter, Cinderella and her white mice, Thumberlina with her colorful butterflies; and even Mermaid and her underwater castle.

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Style your Hair

Shoulder-length
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Shoulder-length hair suits all face shapes and hair types. But if your hair is very curly, this is the shortest you should go.
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This haircut can be a little high maintenance, as it is neither long nor short and hence needs some time to put it together. But it is an all-season style, never goes ou of fashion.

To give it an edge and make it interesting try some stacked layers in the back.
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Bangs
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Bangs, or fringes, is the most popular and very versatile. It suits all textures, except the curly hair. They're particularly flattering on women with long, oval and heart-shaped faces.

Women with round face can use bangs to cut the width, but it has to be done very carefully as a wrong job can be disastrous. If you have round face then make sure the layers are long and a little chunkier to make your face look long and slim. Avoid front bangs (blunt style) as it will make your face appear wider.
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Front and blunt bangs are best-suited for women with oval face.

Bangs are a great way to soften a strong jawline and look best when they're long.
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If you have fine to medium hair, go for the side-swept bangs, it looks great as it adds volume to your hairstyle. Thick hair? Side-swept can work well even on thick hair. Adding layers often gets rid of some of the weight of thick hair, but can also make your hair appear really heavy and chunky.

High Maintenance style, they require a trim every three weeks.

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Bob Cut

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This style is appealing on every face shape, except round and is ideal for straight or wavy hair. Bob looks very chic and sophisticated and lends a sweet appearance. A more conventional way to go Bob is asymmetrical short haircut, that is somewhere between tousled and messy, and smooth and sleek.

A bob draws attention to your neck, collarbone and jawline. Katie Holmes, Victoria Beckham and Bipasha Basu had recently brought back the Bob on the fashion radar.

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Long and Layered
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This is one style that is classy, suits all face shapes and hair type. It's ideal for hair that's medium to thick.
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Layering is a great way to make them look interesting and gives you varied options to style your hair.

Twist the ends of the hair with a straightening iron to achieve a gentle curve at the ends of your hair.

Low-maintenance and very versatile.

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Gamine Styled Hair
This style originally emerged in the sixties and seventies as a style fitted for small framed individuals with sharp features
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This short-layered cut is best suited for women with petite frames. Boyish yet feminine. Avoid it if you have very curly or wavy hair. It brings in texture and excitement into your hair.

A gamine style complements all face shape, except a long and narrow one as it will only accentuate the shape further.

It's a great style for summer, practical and looks gorgeous.

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Sunglasses for your Face Shape

Pick the right sunglasses to suit your face as you brave the summer.

Oval -
If your face is longer than wide and chin is slightly narrower than forehead then you have an Oval Face. This is the most versatile face shape because of its balanced proportions. Most frame shapes work with Oval face. However, it is advisable to look for frames which are wider than the broadest part of your face.

What will suit best: Square, rectangular and geometric shapes which add angles to soft curves.

Avoid: Frames that are too long for your features.


Square -
Strong jawline, a broad forehead and wide cheekbones define a square face. This face shape is usually proportional in length and width.

Because square faces are so angular, Reduce the angles with soft, curvy styles that will give the face some definition. The classic ovals also works well for this face shape.

What will suit best: Choose round, oval or cat eye glasses to soften and add contrast to the face.

Avoid: Geometric and square shaped frames that accentuate angles of the face.


Round -
A rounder face has an equal width and length and is characterized by soft curves with few angles, if any. For round face, choose sunglasses equal to or slightly wider than the broadest part of the face. Angular frames with rectangular or geometric shapes create balance, minimise the curves and add definition to a round face. These frames als help to minimize the fullness of the face.

What will suit best: Wider frames with angular/rectangular styles. Rectangular and horizontal Frames.

Avoid: Round frames as they make your face rounder and large frames as they shorten your face.


Heart-shaped Face -
High broad forehead and a narrow jaw line define the contour of a heart-shaped face.


What will suit best: Narrow rounded or square frames, aviators.

Avoid: Styles wider at the top.


Small Face -
If you have a small face, don’t wear oversized sunglasses because they’ll make your face look smaller.


Tip: As a general rule of thumb, you should always choose a style that is opposite your face shape.

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