Since I can remember, it’s been a ritual before going to sleep to ask myself the question, “What am I going to wear?” And if I didn’t plan it out the night before then it was the same question in the morning, which brings me to not only what we wear but “who” we wear.  By “who” I mean the designer of course.   For instance, let’s take the red carpet.  Envision a plush red carpet ignited with paparazzi flashes and celebrities sauntering down with an air of exalted confidence only to be asked the brilliant and buzzing question, “Who are you wearing?”  We are now not only wearing animals, but people. Well, the names of people but people nonetheless or more accurately, their brand.  It’s all about who you wear these days, so much so that the basic rules of dressing seem to have been left behind.

Do we care more about what we are wearing or who we are wearing? If you subscribe to the latter, and you’re a “Labelista”, think outside the box when dressing and accessorizing.   The “leave some things to the imagination” motto of our mothers’ day holds true.  When it comes to designer clothing and accessories you don’t need to be so obvious and flashy.  Unless you are getting paid to wear these labels, there is no use in being a walking advertisement.  So how do you keep your designer labels and leave things to the imagination? If you’re shelling out cash for some designer shoes, skip Gucci’s monogram pumps and peep the red sole of some Christian Louboutins. These baby’s are gorgeous, classic pumps and unmistakably designer.  The red sole says it all without saying anything.

Another option, mix high- and low-end designers-This fall, ditch the Burberry trench for an H&M coat. Pair it with Louboutin pumps complete with a-not-so-obvious designer bag like the Marc Jacobs “Stam” and Voila! You stay loyal to your designers without yelling “LABELS!”

Most of us don’t walk the red carpet and Melissa Rivers isn’t asking us who you’re wearing. Like mama said “Leave things to the imagination”.

For anyone not around in the 1960’s, the term “Mod” doesn’t necessarily mean anything.  When I grew up it was often used to refer to avant-garde fashionable types.  We used the term when describing the appearance of cool or chic people who usually dressed all in black, with crisp and structured lines, sleek haircuts and black sunglasses.  Very London.  So it’s not a surprise that the term came about in the 1960’s in London amongst cliques of London youngsters who had inclinations toward new fashions, slim-cut Italian fashions and modern jazz.  But now there’s a new meaning to Mod and it’s actually an acronym for “Model off Duty”.  What does this mean?  It means that when you walk out the door you look so chic it’s break taking but the look is so unassuming it’s as if you didn’t even bother to look in the mirror.  And why on earth would you look in the mirror after all?  You’re paid the big bucks because you’re gorgeous.  Think Kate Moss, Bianca Brandolini d’Adda, Lily Donaldson, Agyness Deyn,  and Caroline Trentini.   

Model Lily Donaldson

Now for the rest of us earthly creatures, we must rely on subterfuge, stylist tips and tricks, and down-right scrappy ingenuity to achieve the MOD look.   But chickies you can, if you want to.  It’s not necessarily about being a stunning beauty, although having 180 cm of almost all leg really doesn’t hurt.  As I’ve said before, it’s how you carry yourself, your confidence in being a woman, and a dedication to understanding silhouettes and design.  With these things you can achieve a MOD look.  Some of my favorite suggestions for Spring 2009 follow.  And by the way, a lot of these looks don’t need to be uber high fashion, head down to Santee Alley, The FIDIM store in downtown L.A., rifle the sale jewelry box at Banana Republic, shop the discount stores online – Looking MOD is much easier when you’ve a huge checking account but by no means does it require you to be a millionaire.  Case in point, check out the youngsters that attend FIDIM in downtown L.A.  Trust me, these kids rarely have a couple of dimes to rub together and they can pull MOD off. 

Claudia Endler Wide Cuff www.claudiaendler.com

Chunky bangles.  Think African- or Asian-inspired.  And layer them.  I love thick wire bangles that you can stack.  Check out bangles at Tejani or Claudia Endler.  Tejani has super small sizes too for you tiny girls.

Looking to be brave?  If your physique can carry it off…mix patterns.  Some of the most chic outfits I’ve ever seen are mixed patterns. 

Block patterns – Look for color block prints that are layered in funky ways.  Where to find these?  Check out stores such as Zara, H&M and Forever 21.

Gucci Spring 2009

Crazy shoes – crazy heels!  Okay this is the time to indulge in off-the-hook high heels and funky shoes.   Work it while it’s hot.  One of these days we’ll go back to boring and boring (hopefully not).  And for the sake of your ankles as well as for making the MOD look appear credible, learn to walk in massive heels, or you’ll ruin the effect.

To look super chic and very  Balenciaga, flaunt clothing with zipper accents.  Very 1980’s punk and new wave.  Oh Hello WHAM!

www.bananarepublic.com

Big necklaces.  Make a statement!  Layer multiple long strands or short strands for a Coco Chanel feel.  But don’t forget to do what she used to do before going out – Remove one piece of jewelry.   For layering options check out the May Yeung Spring 2009 Collection, classic and timeless, you can mix and match these babies for multipe ROI.

This past week I had the pleasure of hearing three very talented women speak at the City of West Hollywood’s Women in Leadership panel.  Cecilia Moreno, publisher and editorial director of GENLUX magazine, Marianne Lowenthal executive vice president of development for Combined Properties and Bonnie Niijst, president and CEO of Zeesman Communications, Inc. shared with the audience how confidence plays a role in their individual images and leadership plays a role in their lives.  This engaging panel inspired me to write about The Image of Leadership.

When I think of leadership, I think of the people whose images have inspired me, such as my Father, Pope John Paul II, and Viola Vaughn to name only a few.  All of these people have four attributes that scream leadership:

Faith - Without faith what do we have?  Faith helps us wake up in the morning, faith allows a true leader to see beyond the chaos and disaster and faith keeps a leader with her feet firmly on the ground. On the leadership panel Cecilia Moreno entertained the audience by recounting the story behind the movie 300 with a great deal of energy and humor.  She spoke about how there was no room for weakness of heart and in her retelling of the story of Leonidas and his 300 warriors, I was reminded of how important faith is for a leader.  In order for Leonidas to pit his army against Xerxes’ army (who reportedly outmanned him by more than 41 times)  he had to have faith – Faith in his leadership, faith in his men and faith in his belief that they could make a stand.

Work – Have you ever met a respected leader who didn’t work hard?   They don’t exist, because in order to be a good leader, it takes hard work and dedication.  In order for people to follow you, they have to believe that you walk the talk.  I think of Nike’s tag line, “just do it”, as you’ll notice, the tag line doesn’t say “just have someone else do it for you”.

Tenacity – What leader can say that they reached a point where it seems as if there is no way that they can continue?  Every single one of them I’m sure, and what makes them true leaders is that they process that thought and move on quickly presenting an image of tenacity and resilience to those they lead.  Can you imagine if your leader was wishy-washy and said things like “I’m not sure I can go on”?  How would that fly?  Check out the Celebrity Apprentice show where Claudia Jordan gets fired, as Joan Rivers said “she’s mushy” aka lacking in tenacity – That’s how it flies.

Humility – I recently lost my father, and as expected, one remembers the many wonderful qualities of the deceased loved one.  My father was an entertaining, fun-loving, wonderful husband, amazing father, stalwart brother and a good son.  These things I have always known about him, but I had forgotten how respected he was as a leader.  At his wake I was brought to tears time and time again when people with whom he worked with for over 30 years and youngsters whom he was just beginning to lead shared with me how he made an impact on their lives.  My father had a great deal of humility – It made him a great leader and a great man.

As you present your image and personal brand to the world every day, reflect on your leadership qualities and how they make an impact on others.

The first full work week of the New Year has gone by.  You know what’s so great about January?  It’s the month when everyone is so bright-eyed about change and sticking to it…well you know where that goes?  Oh, in the bag by March if you’re lucky.  Why?  Because most of the changes that we say we are going to make require a change of lifestyle as well as stopping the incessant negotiation in your mind saying “blah!  You don’t want to get out of bed for a run?  It’s bloody 50 degrees out there and DARK!  Stay in bed.”  You know the drill.

And by now you are wondering why my image, fashion, lifestyle blog is being dedicated to this topic.  Well, it has everything to do with your image and lifestyle.  Image isn’t just the clothes that you wear or your general appearance. Image is who you are in every sense of the word.  It’s the brand that you promote to the world and as such, any changes that you incorporate into your lifestyle (negative or positive) are part of your image.

So, I’m throwing out a challenge, mostly for me, but you are welcome to join me.  You see, I’m inundated by fashion mags with these fabulously chic women living in fabulously chic places (apparently L.A. has become chic?  When did that happen?) and talking about how they are incorporating changes for  the “new them” for 2009.  So I myself have been inspired to incorporate a few of these changes.

One woman in particular inspired me.  Living in soggy England she has committed to changing the following for the New Year (she started early, naturally, or it wouldn’t have been ready for the January issue), and I’m committing to mirroring her, sort of.  For the next 30 days (the plan being much longer but starting with baby steps):
1. Eating a balanced diet.  Okay.  This woman literally weighed her food for a month.  Those of you who have seen me cook know that I’ve trouble with a measuring cup, I mean hell, who needs to have a consistent recipe as long as it tastes delicious?  In all seriousness this may be the easiest for me to do because now that I’ve imposed a draconian budget on myself, then there’s no eating out which equates great control over my food.
2. Dental hygiene. Brushing and flossing every day but I’m throwing in going to the Dentist.  Sounds easy to you but I believe there must be a phobia of going to the Dentist and I’ve a full dose of it.  To paint a picture…I should have gone in September (really much earlier than that, but we are sticking with this date).  Going to the Dentist for me is like throwing a cat into a cold bucket of water.  There’s screeching, yowling, and I come out of the Dentist looking like a wet cat.  Verrry unhappy.

What I look like coming out of the Dentist

3. Exercise.  This woman committed to a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio 7 days per week plus 3-4 days of strength training.  She actually found the running easy even with living in consistently soggy England, and you’d think that I would too given that I was an athlete for most of my life except that I gave up working out along with my gym membership in 2008.  UGH.  Even though construction starts at 5 am. right outside my window I can’t seem to pull my lazy butt out of bed for a run (reference the earlier mind conversation).  So my goal is running 5 days per week to get to a point that I can realistically run a ½ marathon in the first half of this year.
4. Quitting smoking.  Easy!  I don’t smoke.  Okay, very rarely…When my New Yorker and Danish smoker friends are around (bad friends!  That’s right, it’s all their fault).  This is what was REALLY hard for her and this will be a non-issue for me.  Et voila.
5. Sex.  Stop snickering.  She really did add it to her list.  Apparently her poor husband hasn’t had a good night of sleep since the market went ape…go figure…that actually kills sex drive.  You may be asking why this is important for your health?  Apparently the release of oxytocin is beneficial and sex reduces stress.  Well halleluiah, why didn’t tell me that!  If that’s the case, maybe I’ll take up the world’s oldest profession (just kidding Honey).  This woman committed to 3 days per week and more than achieved her goal because her husband took it on as a contest.  Ah…and me.  Well I’m testing to see if my fiancée reads my blog because he’d kill me if he were to realize that I’m speaking of this publicly.  Suffice it to say that for the sake of this experiment…there will a goal. Enough said.
6. Sleep.  Oh Lord Almighty.   This is going to kill me.  Did you know that you are supposed to sleep 7 to 9 hours per day.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I used to be one of you people who would say “I only need 4 hours of sleep per day.”  Uhm.  Yah.  And you’ll age like a prune too not to mention what you are doing to rest of your system.  But I’m the pot calling kettle black because I can’t sleep to save my life.  So, for this experiment I’m committing to 8 hours per day and getting to bed by 10 p.m.  Since I’m downtown’s lightest sleeper I don’t know how well I’ll stay asleep but I will commit to going back to my doctor prescribed diet which helps me sleep.  But I’m starting slowly so for the 1st 30 days, I’m cutting out all caffeine and all refined sugar, only eating bread once per week and indulging in alcohol only on the weekends.  The woman in England cut down her drinking to a glass and a half of wine per night (this lady is my kind of lush) so I’m thinking I’m making a difference (work with me here even if I’m not).

Okay.  That’s more than enough change for me in 30 days.  She took on wearing sunscreen every day (I already do that), getting rid of all red meat (surprisingly easy when you’re on a budget), and getting rid of salt.  If I get rid of salt in my house my fiancé will look slightly like I will when I emerge from the Dentist’s office.

This is my New Year’s Redux my dear readers and I challenge you to try something for yourself – Go realistic…deciding to run a marathon next month when you don’t run more than 2 miles now…bad idea unless you like throwing out your hip and walking like a Rottweiler with hip dysplasia for a month.  Been there…Done it…Don’t suggest it.    Try balancing your diet by having an orange a day.  Incorporate a couple of snacks (uhm healthy) into your diet so that you are eating 5 meals a day instead of slogging through 2 or 3 huge meals.  Wake up a little earlier every day and take a bath, incorporate a meditation routine which for some could be going for a walk by yourself, or actual sitting meditation.  Go to bed 30 minutes early and catch up on your reading.  Start small.  Success for most of us requires baby steps.

I wish you luck and wish me luck, although I must say that with a wedding looming at the end of this year I’ve a goal to shoot for which usually makes these things much easier for me to incorporate.   But it’s a new year and we’ll see how it goes!

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change.”
-Charles Darwin

So it’s a new year and a time to reflect and plan.   Which means scheduling a talk with my investment advisor to talk about why I shouldn’t jump out the window at the astronomical dive that my retirement accounts have taken and why sticking to investment fundamentals will eventually pay off.  Which brings me to today’s Blog topic…sticking to style  fundamentals will pay off…almost immediately.

Follow these fundamental rules and your outfits will appear like you’ve a stylist on staff:

1.     Learn what works for you.  I love slinky skinny pants but I know full well that my physique is simply not suited for them, I’ll leave them to Kate Moss.
2.    Approach dressing as if clothes were meant to showcase you – I.E. this is when people say “the clothes were wearing the woman”…try to avoid this.
3.    Learn from the experts or the people who pay the experts.  With as much as we are deluged by fashion and media blasts, take advantage of all of this free information.  Investigate which celebrities have your body type and see how their stylists dress them.
4.    Wear clothes that fit you.  This means using a tailor.  Find one now if you don’t have one.  These people make your wardrobe work and last so that you get your full investment out of it.  A word about fit.  For some reason it’s become acceptable for skinny people to live in bags (or clothing that looks like it’s been issued by the makers of Glad trash bags) and for curvaceous people to wear overly tight clothing.  For those of you wearing your clothing too big, your friends are too nice to tell you that you look like Frodo and those of you with the muffin tops…the only muffins we should be seeing are those from Sprinkles.  Make sure that your clothes fit people!  Not only will you look better but you’ll be SO much more comfortable!
5.    Understand how fabrics work with your body.  Tightly woven fabrics such as denim are best for semi-fitted looks (until you add a little spandex – thank you whoever invented spandex).  High quality knits can serve to enhance your shape and knits that fit badly can serve to make you look like an umpa-lumpa.  So test out fabrics, see which ones work best for you.
6.    Proportion is your friend.  If you are 5’3 for instance, it won’t do for you to wear a long, long skirt, unless you want to look like an Amish grandmother, which is okay if you are or if perhaps you are trying out for a part in the remake of Witness.  But if you aren’t, well then we’ve a problem.  A short, fitted jacket on the other hand will create a sharp image for you.  Proportion applies to all of us, including you tall and leggy folk.  If your legs go on for miles it might be wise to avoid wearing a micro-mini during the day.  This proportion is best left to the traipsing down a fashion runway.  Unless of course you are intent on causing an accident or being asked “how much?”
7.    Patterns, embellishments and color can be your friend or your enemy.  If you’ve seen the glorious embellishments of recent years on jean pockets on rumps that simply do not need embellishment then I need say no more.  Or the trend that I saw a few months ago in Denmark for dropped jeans pockets, which of course unintentionally dropped the behind of every woman wearing these jeans.  No bueno.  On the other hand, if your rump is flat as a door, bring on the embellishment and an illusion of “baby got back” will appear…Not quite but certainly enough.
8.    Work with your strengths.  If you’ve a gorgeous collarbone, find ways to show it off, calves like Sophia Loren, break out the pencil skirts, calves like my last quarter horse jumper, break out the long boots and sport a skirt.
9.    Develop signature looks.   Think Coco Chanel, the woman who draped herself in long necklaces and yet made it a rule to remove at least one piece of jewelry before walking out the door to make sure it wasn’t “too much”.    Diana Vreeland was renowned for her brilliantly lacquered nails.  Always wearing a statement piece of jewelry, carrying chic vintage handbags, owing unique shoes, or wearing scarves and dark sunglasses (think Jackie O) will all serve to create an impression.
10.    Wear your clothes like you’ve just won the lottery or gotten the promotion you’ve always wanted.  A silhouette that is perfectly proportioned for your physique just looks silly if you don’t stand up straight and own it.

I leave you with these thoughts on style fundamentals and I wish everyone a year full of wonderful surprises, exciting opportunities, timeless style (and great silhouettes), good health and much prosperity.

Viviana M. Rueda
Vivendi Fashionista

You’ve heard it once from me and you’ll always hear it from me.  Image has everything to do with it.  In this case I’m talking about downtown Los Angeles.  That area which Westsiders like to refer to with a sideways glance and lifted eyebrow…”Oh, I’ve been to The Standard, before, it’s cool.”  Live it up folks!

Downtown Los Angeles’ image has changed.  And it is decidedly cool.  It happened a long time ago among the avant-garde types and is now hitting main stream.  And it’s getting cooler by the year.  If you aren’t careful…you’ll miss it.  The bridge and tunnel crowd (you know what I’m referring to if you’re a New Yorker and although I’ve been trying to make it popular to call these Los Angelinos “The Canyon People”…do I really need to explain why they are the Canyon People?, it just hasn’t stuck yet, so for the time being we’ll call them Bridge and Tunnel) can be seen overtaking the line at The Edison on a weekly basis – a sure sign of the cool factor fading at this club – Although, they have instituted a recession-friendly happy hour on Fridays that I highly recommend – free sandwiches and depression era-priced drinks…Seriously worthwhile and scoot out of there before the Bridge and Tunnel show up around 9 p.m.  If still hungry, slide into the bad Chinese restaurant on the ground floor of the Higgins to watch the Edison party-going fashion disasters retrieve their cars from the valet or better yet, stroll down Main Street to Blossom which is hands down the freshest and most economically-priced Vietnamese food in town.

I’m not sure if I should be happy or slightly depressed that downtown is becoming mainstream cool because now we’ve an Urth Café.  An establishment where you feel slightly violated after realizing that you paid over $20 for a cup of tea and a dessert…really?  But their peach pie is to die for I must admit.  And if mainstream isn’t your thing, stroll through Little Tokyo, where you can find the tastiest ramen in the city at Orochen Ramen.  In fact, if your palate allows for searing spicy food, take their challenge and order the #1.  You’ll get your picture on the wall, but you may need a new stomach after that kind of spice abuse.

Although it’s become just a little trendy to know about the Brewery I’d wager to say that it’s not quite yet mainstream.  What is the Brewery you ask?  It’s a live-work art colony on Main Street.  Actually reminds me of Christiania in Denmark with less scary large dogs roaming the streets and less scowling European starving artists.  The art colony consists of about 500 incredibly cool artists who live and work in a smattering of industrial factory buildings – one loft features a hot tub that you have to walk across a plank to get to (think Peter Pan plank), and the hot tub looks more like a cauldron out of the Hansel and Gretel  children’s stories than a hot tub.  Immensely cool.  Every year the art colony has an art walk where all the residents open their doors to the public.  This year I lucked out when I unexpectedly walked into an Akiko sample sale.  And I came away with two FABULOUS dresses for $90 which were originally over $200 each!  HEllo…  Plus I found the most adorable apron (yes people, you must look good even when you are cooking and why would you ruin a perfectly fabulous frock while cooking…cover thyself with an apron please).  And if you are looking for truly cool art galleries, this is the place.  You must check out the avant-garde designs at Claudia Endler (Christmas is almost here and in case you are wondering, I’m drooling over her smoky quartz pendant with champagne diamonds, uhm champagne and diamond all in one!  So me).

The Downtown image is infinitely cool these days with fabulous restaurants that will charm your palate if not challenge the serious foodie .  You can find almost every type of cuisine including French which for some reason seems sadly represented in Los Angeles.  For a great experience check out Church and State - A charming bistro down a one-way street in front of the Toy Factory Lofts.  With the cute lights streaming above you it’s reminiscent of a Paris bistro but for me it has more of a LoDo feel to it and for me, that alone is worth the dining experience.
The city center has a ton to offer that you just don’t know about until you stroll the streets.  From phenomenal Chinese food in Chinatown where you can have Sweet and Sour soup that will actually titillate your senses (I think everyone has forgotten that Chinese doesn’t have to taste like Panda Express) to charming Olivera Street where they’ve recreated a Mexican-style plaza on the site that was the birthplace of Los Angeles.  If you’re curious about the history of Los Angeles indulge in the walking tours offered by the Los Angeles Conservancy.  It will give you a new perspective next time you drive down Broadway or walk into the Bradbury building.

And for those of you Fashionistas, well, it’s easy enough to see why you’d want to get to know downtown.  While it’s not your Melrose or Rodeo Drive where you really don’t need to think about fashion because thanks to the millions of dollars spent on branding, marketing and advertising you don’t have to think, it’s served on a pretty silver platter for you, downtown will challenge you to think.  “How can I make those $20 patent booties from Santee Alley work with my Michael Kors skirt” for instance.  I’d encourage you to hit up The Scholarship Store.  There’s a ton of inspiration there and all courtesy of the tirelessly arty students.  Are you a true fashion snob?  Then hit up the Comme des Garcons Guerilla store which is so fabulously cool that you can barely find it as it’s down a VERY obscure alley.  Although rumor has it that it’s closing in 2009 (shocker given the economy) so get your booty down here if you want to check it out.

I’ve barely touched the surface of what downtown has to offer.  There are way too many cool restaurants to talk about, a phenomenal arts and culture center, museums, nightclubs, live-music venues, gorgeous live-work spaces, a ton of free/live concerts courtesy of local city improvement organizations and if you aren’t into edge but like main stream there’s L.A.  LIVE, which is being vaunted as the The Times Square of the West (OMG, I’m not going there).  Next time someone glances askance at you when you mention the downtown cool factor, tell that person they need to get out more often.

Viviana M. Rueda
Fashion & Image Fury