SPRING 2007

IN THIS ISSUE > Spring 2007 Must Haves > Fashion Trends for Spring > Look and Act Like a Winner > Workplace Survery Results > News at Gillian Armour Consulting

1. Akiko Ogawa A Blue dress for both daytime and evening wear.
2. Michael Vollbract/ Bll Blass A long matte jersy gown in Magenta.
3. Catherine Malandrino A mini folded pleat dress in cotton duchess satin in bright Yellow.
4. Cynthia Steffe A My Cobalt Blue Drigitte Dress.
5. Douglas Hannant A suede mini shift dress with a stone belt in Lapis Blue.
6. Elli Tahari A Daniella Jacket - a suede cropped jacket in a Silt hue with cinched sleeves and intricate cutout trim.
7. James Coviello A chiffon dress in a multi-colored, abstract watercolor print.
8. Kathryn Dianos/KYKLOS A very slim pant in a natural fiber mixed with LYCRA for comfort in Sand or Pebble Gray.
9. Lela Rose Saffron laundered taffeta three-tiered dress or a Chalk eyelet top with roses framing the neckline.
10. Naeem Khan Racerback top in embroidered roses.
11. Nanette Lepore A Pale Blue patent leather shoe with Black strapping.
12. Peter Som Butter Yellow Watteau-back dress in cotton taffeta.
13. Tia Cibani/ Ports Intl The tango dress in fuchsia.
14. Rachel Roy Cardigan in Navy or Ivory.
15. Reem Acra A super luxurious t-shirt in a sophisticated palette.
16. Sue Stemp The Byrd dress - a draped, wrap-over halter-neck party dress in cotton/silk/lurex jacquard with beaded Swarovski fringe in either a shimmery Cameo color of Raven Black.
17. Tracy Reese A stretch paper poplin cowl-back frock in Slate.
18. Yigal Azrouel A perfectly draped jersey chiffon dress in Slate with contrast silk moire straps.
19. Zac Posen A braided jacket in precious metals.

Fashion Trends for Spring 2007 

Women’s Wear Daily reports that the international runway shows held this past September were filled with space babes, robots, roses, dancing dames and sportif girls. And, although this was a tame season in terms of fashion TRENDS, there are still a few directions designers have given us. My pick of the crop is as follows:

1. Romance – ruffles, florals, lace, petit-point embroidery adorned Victorian Tea dresses, sweeping train evening gowns and elegant organza skirts.

2. Futurism – or “space odyssey” (WWD) the streamlined opposite of ROMANCE – gleaming surfaces, futuristic accessories, nail head details and SILVER galore make up the strongest statements for Spring.

3. See Through – layers of sheer organzas, silks and velvets fell like snow over WHITE shorts, dresses, pants, togs even. The dominant color of snow prevailed, mixed in with silver accents and a luminous quality took shape for Spring silhouettes.

4. Yo-yo Yoga – all things sporty, comfy, lycra’s and satined turned up in the collections of Dries van Noten, Missoni, Jean Paul Gaultier and Donna Karan’s DKNY line. Whether sweat jacketed in satin or boxing shorts in camouflage the look says “I am on the GO”.

5. Hot Pants – okay, for the 20 year olds amongst us, who could resist tiny briefs and shorter than short shorts? Nuf said.

 6. Silver Shine – technology is still rearing its sparking head – fabrics take on luxe and polish. The major trend in clothes is the color silver made fresh with WHITE accents. Silver accessories are back in a big way. Gold went the way of 2006!!

7. “Punk, Power Dressing, Poufs and Pop Neons” (WWD) – its back to the 80’s, AGAIN! Some of us never liked it the first time around and now are too old for the second time around. Ignore this trend if you are over 35, puleeze!!

8. Man Shirting – the white tux shirt that came on strong for Fall 2006 carries over into Spring ’07 in an even more AVANT GARDE way. Lots of asymmetry to the designs, still the tuxedo ruffle front is strong but paired with very masculine pants or straight and tailored jackets.

9. SHIFT – what could be more simple than the simple shift dress? So, naturally, it gets embellished, embroidered and textured to give it some oomph for 2007. Fresh way to wear it – with dark tights and light shoes!

10. in accessories – think BIG – Big bags, big heels, big jewels, big appliqués and big eyelashes.

 Look and Act Like a Winner, and You Just Might Be One

By Shankar Vedantam

Monday November 6th, 2006

Quick, what three issues will decide your vote in the midterm elections? (ed. note - while this article appeared prior to the national elections I reprint it now because the information is still valid).

Did you mention a sleek physique, a strong jaw and a penetrating gaze? Didn't think so.

Elections are supposed to be about issues. In tomorrow's election, those issues include the war in Iraq, terrorism and the spiraling cost of health care.

Hardly anyone mentions good looks and charisma, but a number of ingenious experiments show that how a politician looks and comes across to voters can make a huge difference in the outcome of an election.

In research that will be made public today, a pair of economists asked a large group to watch 10-second video clips of the Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates in 58 races from 1988 to 2002. Based on this limited information -- a quick, gut sense of charisma -- the volunteers were asked to guess which candidate won.

If people recognized either politician, their answer was dropped from the analysis, meaning that any knowledge about the outcome or expertise in politics was removed from the study. All the volunteers, in other words, were simply guessing and ought to have been no better at predicting the winner than someone tossing a coin.

Remarkably, the study found, the volunteers were quite good at guessing the winner.

If your jaw hasn't dropped already, this ought to do it: The 10-second video clips that the volunteers watched had the sound off, meaning that viewers saw only two white guys (all the elections featured two white guys) sawing the air and opening and closing their mouths. What the economists wanted to measure were those intangibles we pick up the moment we see someone, before we actually hear what they have to say.

The research did not show that any individual volunteers were exceptionally good at making predictions -- individuals regularly made predictions that were right and wrong. But when the answers were averaged over the whole group, the volunteers were able to spot winners more often than mere chance would dictate.

Curiously, when the sound was on and the volunteers could hear what each candidate said for 10 seconds, the viewers became much more confident in their guesses about who won, but their predictions became worse -- no better than chance.

The idea that better knowledge does not always improve judgment is sobering but aligns with previous research. In a book he wrote about expert political opinion, Philip Tetlock at the University of California at Berkeley found highly trained experts often do no better at predicting political events than nonexperts or even someone tossing a coin. Our faith in political pundits -- and the confidence these experts have in their own intuitions -- is often misplaced.

The new study is being released online today as a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, a forum where economists share ideas. The study was conducted by Daniel Benjamin at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and Jesse Shapiro at the University of Chicago.

Benjamin said that while economists have long thought the shape of the economy played a central role in elections, the study showed that it was less important than charisma.

"Economists have focused on the performance of the economy under the incumbent," he said. "Those factors explain at most 10 percent of the variation in the election outcomes and probably much less, whereas the personal factors explain between 20-30 percent."

Isn't such superficiality a bad thing? Benjamin argued that was not clear. While voters could be electing unqualified people who happen to be charismatic, he said it was equally possible charisma is an essential ingredient for leadership. If charismatic politicians were better able to get their policies enacted, wouldn't it make sense to want such telegenic leaders?

If you are a diehard Republican or Democrat, you are probably rolling your eyes. You would never vote for a candidate simply based on looks.

This is true, but no one said charisma explains how everyone votes. People with strong ideological beliefs probably override such initial reactions to support their party candidate. But charisma could play a significant role for voters with less certain views -- the swing voters who often decide who wins.

"My guess is it affects undecided voters, these are the guys who swing the elections at the end," said Alexander Todorov, a psychologist at Princeton University who has conducted similar experiments. He found that when people are shown two photographs of political candidates but given no other information, they usually have a quick feeling about who looks more competent.

Such quick guesses in the House and Senate elections of 2000, 2002 and 2004 proved not only accurate in guessing who won but in predicting who would win an upcoming race.

Todorov said that however unscientific and biased snap judgments might be, they could influence elections not only in deciding which candidate to vote for but in deciding whether to vote at all: "If it is a close race and you are undecided but you have a mild preference for the challenger, but the incumbent looks very competent, maybe you won't go in and vote."

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Excepts Chapter 2 
  Formal/ball 

Truman Capote was a man of many artistic talents. His Black and White Ball at New York’s Plaza Hotel in 1966 is a legend by now.  The dress code was simple – black or white or both. Guests were asked to wear masks to conceal their identity thus adding to the mystery of who-was-who in a time when who you were meant everything.

Today’s modern balls run the range from purely funky (Buckaroo Ball of Santa Fe, New Mexico) to the supremely elegant (The Winter Ball at the Frick Museum in New York) to the celebrity encrusted (Metropolitan Museums Costume Institutes Annual Ball).  Modern balls take place across the land but no matter where, the dress requirements are always essentially the same:

FOR MEN -Tuxedos or tails for men, for instance- black on black tuxedos, g with lapels and ties and jewels etc. 

CREATIVE OPTIONS - Black shirt, black tuxedo and black tie

FOR WOMEN -  Long, floor length dresses with trains.  Any dress in a formal fabric: silk, taffeta, chiffon, organza, ombre velvets, duchesses satins and peau de soie.  Accessories should include gloves, pearls, diamonds and a beautiful clutch purse (never shoulder strap bags for formal events).  Shoes should be very dressy evening sandals (no pumps, platforms or boots of any kind).  Wear tiaras only if you are a debutante at your coming out or you are a member of a royal family. 

CREATIVE OPTIONS - Floor length skirt with trapeze jacket top, strapless black velvet gown with lace bolero jacket, wwhite Lace mermaid dress.

• Percentage of executives who prefer to wear business casual attire at the office, according to a national fashion in the workplace survey conducted by TheLadders.com – 78 • Percentage of execs who said that employees who are dressed casually are perceived to be creative: 36 • Percentage who said that employees who are dressed casually run the risk of being taken less seriously: 49