Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2016 | Page 167

UNDERWEAR A great and professional look starts with proper underwear. This cannot be stressed enough! Invest in a good bra that offers support but does not pinch. Also invest in a good shape-wear panty that holds your stomach, waist and hip area in check. Underwire and soft cup full coverage bras are essential to wear to work. Balconette, pushups and plunge are bras for going out. Another must-have is a minimizer bra. Wear this type of bra with button front blouses to avoid gaping buttons. Make sure you have your basic undergarments in at least black, white and skin-color. If you are wearing a dark skirt or dress pants, you should be wearing dark underwear as well. Nothing is more unprofessional than walking around in black pants with a white panty peeping out. clothing manufacturers around the world differ somewhat from each other. That’s why sometimes a blouse labeled as large from a certain label is not the same size large from another label. Also, the shape and length of clothes is different depending on which part of the world the item was manufactured in. A dress from China in a size small is usually shorter than the same style and size manufactured in Europe. Dress pants / skirts… the rule of thumb here is that you should be able to put two fingers inside the waistband for a little comfort. Your underwear should never in any way or form be visible underneath your pants/skirt. Blazers… if it wrinkles horizontally in the back, it’s an indication that the blazer is too tight. If it wrinkles vertically in the back, it’s probably too big. The shoulder seam should sit right on your shoulder. Apply the D’ Loran’s ‘3 B’s Rule”. Know your Body-size, Body-type and Body-shape well. Button-down shirts… The key to a proper fit here is that the shirt should never gap between the buttons. The cuffs of your shirt should come down just below your wrist. When you go shopping, always look at the label to see where the garment is made. The measurement tables from Dresses… If in the first 5 seconds of trying it on, you do not have this, “WOW, it looks great on me effect”, it will only get worse when FITTING 163 you take it home. Sometimes, you see there are a few minor things you should alternate, but still it should be a WOW-effect. Note: As Marilyn Monroe once said: “Choose clothes that are tight enough to show you are a woman, but loose enough to show you are a lady”. GARMENT CARE The number one factor that damages our clothes is having them hang for hours in the sun. Clothes should be hung outside between 4:00 pm and 10:00 am. - If the label inside the garment reads ‘laundry’ you should have it laundered..! - Clothes should be organized by putting the same type of fabrics together when machine washing. If you wash jeans with a dress, the dress will suffer over time because the denim fabric of the jeans is too rough against the softer fabric of the dress. - The less soap, the better. Darker clothes should be washed in softeners only, because the residue of the soap will remain the clothes if not washed-out in water appropriately. This is also one of the reasons why they lose color over time.