How to Avoid Looking Like a Cougar

NP Girls of all ages can be overwhelmed by the prospect of putting together age and location appropriate outfits that reflect the current fashions.

The lines are blurred and we are as terrified of looking like our mothers as they are of being mistaken for us from behind.

Herewith a few tips for all ages:

1.         Create a personal profile in your mind of who you are and what you stand for and always stay true to that image.  Ask a good friend to describe your style and see if you’re projecting what you intend.

2.         Envision the occasion at which an outfit will be worn.  Run through the demographic of other attendees and decide whether your clothing would blend in or stand out- in a bad way.

3.         Stay away from the most attention getting get-ups.  Avoid loud patterns and colors that can easily strike the wrong chord and will be remembered vividly impairing your ability to wear again with the same group. 

4.         No matter how toned and fit your body, don’t overexpose it other than when you are seriously clubbing, or lounging poolside in Martinique.

5.         Consider even perhaps appropriately bare areas and ask yourself honestly if anyone else wants to look at them.  Even if skin is twenty and taut large expanses of it may not be the most appealing at the dinner table. 

6.         At some level ask yourself if you look your age.  Today that should mean look REALLY good for your age, but not as though you’re trying to look a decade younger, or older and more sophisticated.  It’s just as much of a turn off to see a fifty year old woman wearing Uggs as it is to see a twenty year old wearing St. John.

7.         Research the prevailing color palette and style of a given area when traveling.  While this is no time to buy a completely new wardrobe for a weekend if you’re lucky enough to be going away, you do want to look like you belong.  Is it Pucci or Pulitzer- wouldn’t want to get that one wrong. 

8.         Seasonless is safest.  A quick turn of weather could make white linen disastrous whereas taupe will go with the flow. 

9.         Look at your rear view and decide whether someone looking at you from behind would be surprised by what they see when you turn around.  A great term for this is the 16/60.  You may have a great body and look like a young woman from behind but you don’t want to dress in such a way that seeing a sixty year old face attached to the great butt is a shock.

10.       Never look like you’re trying- at anything.  If you don’t look like you’re trying to dress your hippest, sexiest, richest, chicest- and you will be 10 times hotter!

So Rich, So Pretty

“Money is related to class only in the minds of people who have too much of the former, too little of the latter, or none of either.”

-Doug Robarchek

-Devon C.

“A Girl Should Be Two Things: Classy and Fabulous.” -Coco Chanel

Fabulous Woman.. Wise Words

Some mornings, it’s tough to get out of bed and get yourself going. I’m new to the world of offices, having been abruptly thrust into work when I moved across country, took a gap year, and then my school-fund ran out (more on that another time). Being a recent inductee to the club, I’m unused to the concept that on a dull day, I can’t just throw on sweatpants and roll into work with my Uggs on - yes, I know they’re out of style by virtue not only of the current year, but of the fact that they were never really in to begin with. Alas, the work environment requires just a little bit more effort.

On days like this, I’m tired, I didn’t sleep well, and it’s just about all I can do to get out of bed, never mind facing the application of makeup, a reasonably tidy hairstyle, and stylish garb fit to see me through the day.

Luckily for me, a while back, I came across this quote from the very wise Ms. Coco Chanel, who said:

“I don’t understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little - if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that’s the day she has a date with destiny. And it’s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.”

And really, after reading a thing like that, who can think anything otherwise. And so, my fellow NP’ers, I had no choice but to throw on a great chiffon blouse, my favorite pants by Genetic Denim (Shane Cigarette, Black), and some funky accessories, and head off for my date with destiny… or at least a better-looking day at the office!