Fashion is a fun, personal thing

DEAR LUCY,

My style is classic, I am basically sweet, and I somehow always look put together. It just comes easy to me, maybe because that is my personal preference, my personal style. Simply put, I am square and maybe my style is predictable. Lately though, I have developed a liking for loose sweaters and black polish. How can I incorporate that into my look so that I  do not appear like I am trying to be someone I am not?

AGNES

I always say fashion is a fun thing and that the same should not be overly picked or analyzed. It is a personal thing and for as long as you are comfortable with what you are wearing, you can pull it off. Black nails used to be for edgy days and Halloween, but now, they can be formal and sophisticated. My take on a non-scary way to wear black polish: short with patent leather shine. Make sure to buff nails and protect with a base coat to avoid staining your natural color. It is better to do two thin even coats to make the color look rich and dense. Remember that very thick layers can chip easily.

As for boxy sweater, you can pair it with a slim skirt, sexy heels, classic but chunky accessories, for an easy yet still put-together look.

LUCY

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PACKING FOR A TRIP 101

HI, REGINA!

You seem to travel a lot. Can you share some tips for packing a suitcase? I hate packing and I tend to overpack.

SARAH

Overpacking’s not necessarily a bad thing! You never know when an emergency will pop up, or if something comes up and that dress you thought you wouldn’t wear will suddenly become necessary. The first thing I do is to consider my itinerary. What will I be doing? Will I be touring? Will the places I’m touring be in the city, or somewhere more rugged? Are there any fancy dinners I will be attending? Are there other functions that may require a little more dressing up? What kind of shoes will these require? Once I’ve assessed all the things I’m likely to be doing on the trip, I list the number of outfits I need for each kind of activity. Then I start to lay out clothes.

I always start by laying down bottoms. I spread out all the bottoms I’m going to bring (usually it’s five to six pairs, then I wear them on rotation). I’ll pull tops I want to wear from my closet and then distribute them among the bottoms that are already laid out, trying my best to keep the numbers even so that I can really rotate the bottoms. (It’s a lot easier for me to do this these days, since I only dress in neutrals like black, white, and gray.) I make it a point to have at least one or two more tops than I need. I fold all the shirts, then fold them into the pairs of pants they go with so that I don’t forget, then I stack them on top of each other in my suitcase. They take surprisingly little space; usually for a three-week trip, the main outfits only take up a little less than half of my suitcase space.

Then I select dressier outfits, usually a jersey jumpsuit (easy to pack, doesn’t wrinkle), a short dress, and a long dress. If I’m going somewhere cold, I try to bring at least two pieces of outerwear, and one of them has to be dressy enough to transition into evening. All of them have to be neutral enough to go with all my outfits.

Shoes are a little tricky, especially if you’re doing a mix of city and country, because you need footwear for both. I always make it a point to bring one pair of black stiletto pumps. Even if I end up only wearing them once, I find that I like to have them on hand to dress up an outfit. I wear my pair of black ballet flats on the plane so that I won’t have to pack them. I pack my trusty black Dr. Martens boots, because they always work for me, whether I’m doing something rugged like hiking up the Santorini caldera or something urban like walking through London. (I’ve worn them for both, and much more besides.) For outfits that look better with lower cut shoes, I bring comfortable brogues or monk-strap shoes in brown or black. (I used to bring black Chuck Taylors for that purpose, but I like to look dressier these days, so leather shoes are the answer.) I guess what I’m saying here is that black shoes are always a safe bet, and make sure that every pair covers a different function.

Throw in the appropriate number of pairs of underwear and socks, and you should be good to go.                         

REGINA

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NAILING A HOLIDAY LOOK

DEAR RISSA,

So many Christmas parties are coming up. I want my nails looking great all the time, but gel manicure is a pain to remove! It just destroys my nails. I want to avoid the harmful UV lamps, too. Please share other beauty solutions you’ve come across.

GINGER

I used to be a fan of gel manicure, too, but the removal process just isn’t worth it. The damage it causes to the nails is horrible. I also dislike exposing my hands to UV light. That’s why I would bring sunblock and ask the nail technician to apply it on my hands before the gel polish is cured under the lamp.

I recently came across Sally Hansen Miracle Gel, a gel manicure with no light needed! It’s like painting your nails regularly but with the long-lasting color and shine of gel manicure.  It only takes two steps: paint two coats of the color (it has a built-in base coat), and then seal it with the gel top coat which activates the curing. It can last up to 14 days and it removes easily with nail polish remover. Yes, no scraping necessary! I’m so excited because for those who love polish, this is huge news! Thanks to this innovation, nails are also ready to party during the holidays!     

RISSA 

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Send e-mail to Lucy Torres-Gomez at ltg@pldtdsl.com. E-mail Rissa Trillo at stylesos_rissa@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter @RissaMananquil. Send Regina Belmonte your questions at vivatregina.tumblr@gmail.com or tweet her @vivatregina.