future star of a bravo tv fashion show

I'm not afraid to admit that I ask my six year old daughter for fashion advice on a regular basis.

Lily's favorite show is Launch My Line or Project Runway. Her favorite time of day is when she stands at her closet and creates her own masterpiece. I love watching her expression as she does this. It's the same expression I get when I see a cupcake shop.

She notices if I am wearing something new and points out all the little details. But then realizes that I went shopping without her and scolds me.

But my favorite is when she says, "Mom, you are rockin' those boots." Because I am 42 and I need to hear I am still capable of rockin' something.

She is our in-house stylist.
Yes, I am living with a mini Rachel Zoe.

The other night she was pouring over the Boden catalogue, trying to put together her spring wardrobe. She tore out the pages with items she wanted and handed them to me.

"Mom, I TOTALLY need these things."

"OK. I'll take a look."

"No, really. I TOTALLY need these."

"We'll see, Lily."

"PUHLEEESE Mom. I'll give you a kiss AND a dollar."

Apparently, she's become aware of my love language.

But I noticed a common theme as I examined her choices. Something that usually doesn't happen with her. Everything she picked was shades of black and gray.

People, New York is really rubbing off on her.

Which means I can breathe a bit easier, knowing she will NEVER look like this.

fashion friday- edition #2

First a little background.

A few weeks ago, Lily and I were looking through the Boden catalog to pick a few things for winter. She spotted a leopard skirt and began to hyperventilate. Then she twirled. Then she declared her love for it. As she was declaring this new-found love, I checked on-line to see if it was in stock. It was not. The twirl turned to despair and she talked about the leopard skirt that slipped through her fingers for days.

In effort to lift Lily out of her fashion depression, I searched ebay and found an almost identical skirt. I surprised her and ordered it. She thinks it was the same one she saw in the Boden catalogue. I am a genius.

She sported her new leopard skirt and rocked it with some boots when we ran errands the other day. Here's a pic.



Forgive the fuzzy pic. It was a camera phone. Don't you love her Hello Kitty purse and her Yoko Ono sunglasses? She dressed herself, can you tell?

So here is this week's fashion question. It comes straight from the mouth of my six year old.

Question: "Why can't I wear leopard EVERYTHING?"

Answer: Leopard is very much a fashion statement right now, but it should be worn sparingly. As in, only ONE PIECE OF LEOPARD AT A TIME. You don't want to do a leopard skirt, leopard shoes, leopard shirt, and leopard purse all at once. Unless you are member of the musical, Cats.

I shared this fashion rule with Lily and do you know what her response was? She laughed and said that it was a very silly rule. And then she demanded to know who was in charge of making such rules. I wasn't sure what to tell her and mumbled that I know a little something about fashion because I watch the Bravo TV show, The Rachel Zoe Project.

In hopes of proving my fashion sense and feeding her new leopard obsession, I found this coat for her at Target:



Isn't it adorable? I couldn't wait to surprise Lily and show her. If she loved her leopard skirt, wouldn't she love a leopard coat even more?

When I pulled it out of the bag, she stared at it.

Then she glanced at me and said, "Uhhhh... I don't like it."

"Whyyyyy?" , I asked.

"It's too leopardy. Besides, you told me I should not wear too much leopard."

Maybe she's listening, afterall.

fashion friday- edition #1

I realize I have no real credibility to do a fashion blog entry. But the other night Rod and I were watching the Emmy fashion reviews. (I have a good husband.) And they showed a picture of a lovely actress wearing a gorgeous dress. I boldly declared to Rod: "Her bag is ALL wrong. It's WAY too big." And 3 seconds later the host of the fashion show said THE EXACT SAME THING. I know. I was amazed at my fashion sense, too.

So, I took that as a sign that I was ready to answer some of your pressing fashion questions. Plus it's my blog and I can do whatever I want on it. Feel free to send your questions here or email them.

Question #1:

When is it appropriate to start wearing my holiday sweaters? Do I have to wait until the actual day of the holiday?

All right. I'm just going to say it. Sometimes you have to rip the band aid off quickly. Do not EVER wear holiday-themed sweaters. I will pause a minute to let that sink in.

Little pumpkins or snowmen do not belong anywhere in your wardrobe at any time. I don't care if you've had it for years and people tell you how much they love it. They don't. They are telling you that so they can laugh at you behind your back. And if your holiday sweater requires batteries, I can't even begin to describe the level of mocking going on.

Maybe some of you are teachers and you think you are exempt from this fashion rule. You are not exempt. You are impressing young minds and you should really be held at a higher standard.

Question #2

I can't go on to question #2. I've worked myself into a frenzy over Question #1.