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BODY TYPE

Women generally have a good understanding of their body type and let me tell you that for the most part we all hate something about our bodies. This is a source of great frustration and you know it when you hear someone in the fitting room slamming hangers around and swearing. Trying on clothes can take a perfectly great day and put it in the toilet quickly. AVOID FITTING ROOM SUICIDE - you need to understand your body type (and accept that its not going to change in the next few days before that big party) and work with someone who also understands your body.

A FEW THINGS ABOUT BODIES AND FIT:
ALTERATIONS: There are boutiques that have teams of tailors on site to make you fit into ANYTHING they are selling. When you are in boutiques like this understand why:
They don’t know how to buy lines that fit and they don’t know their customer– so their alteration teams make up for it.

They are trying to sell to EVERYONE so they are like a mini department store and by golly something in there will fit you come hell or high water – they’ll even do it for free – just please buy something!

There are women who need alterations – I get it. I’m not talking about shortening a strap or taking up trousers in length. I’m talking about the perfectly normal woman ripping apart her denim to make it exactly perfect (snob appeal) – HELLOOOOO there are 500 lines of denim out there running at $200 per pair, if you can’t find one that fits, we have a problem. FIND LINES THAT FIT YOU.

BODY TYPE: Women like to accent their positive feature and hide their faults. CAUTION!!! If you have a clearly dominant positive /negative don’t you think that everyone knows it? Do you need to accent it more or should you be minimizing it a bit to look more in proportion? The answer is B. Common Mistakes:

BIG BOOBS - Honey, we all know they are big (I admit, I am jealous) but, we do not need to draw so much attention to the obvious because then you look out of proportion and all one notices are the girls (trust me whatever you wear – they will be noticed)
SKINNY WAIST/LARGER HIPS- Most women with this body type want to wear a skirt that is fitted at the waist and then balloons out with a thousand pleats – thus hiding the hips and VOILA - you have a super skinny waist and HUGE hips – you made that VERY clear!
HEALTHY THIGHS – I have big thighs so I am gong to wear baggy jeans to hide the fact that I have large thighs. Good job – now you look like a clown with large thighs.
HEIGHT CHALLENGED – I find that many petit women want to wear cropped pants and shrunken blazers - so now everything is little and cute. Is that really what you are going for?

SUGGESTIONS:
Find lines that fit you – alter in moderation
Find boutiques that carry good fitting lines and employees that have your best interest in mind If they are trying to alter everything to get a sale, that’s a problem.
Avoid fitting room suicide – bring in some things that you know will work and try those on before you dive into the skinny jean a size below your usual size.
The goal should be to make your body look in proportion not to accent or hide certain features.
EVERYONE is self conscious about certain body parts even the most perfect looking person. So when you are complaining about your own issue and someone else chimes in, don’t roll you eyes because you think your problem is way worse than theirs. Remember, someone else is rolling their eyes at you!

My Favorite Color

“What are the new Spring (or fall) colors?” This is my favorite question because I know it’s going to lead into a discussion about what colors look good on her. So I answer, “Well this Spring, its yellow.” “Oh, I don’t do yellow...” “REEEEELY?”

Its pretty safe to say that in the Spring there are lots of bright colors (pinks , greens and yellows) and in the fall there are a lot of earth tones (browns and grays). The designers just throw in a zinger every now an then to keep your toes. (oh yeah, and to make you buy something NEW)

This Spring its yellow. I really never wore yellow but this year I bought yellow and I love it. I don’t know if I “look good” in yellow – but do I really care that much? I’m 42 and I’m married and if I wear a yellow top and don’t look good for the day – oh well. There are many days that I don’t look good and it has nothing to do with the color I am wearing. Actually, from now on, when I have the fuglies, I am going to put on a RED top (I really don’t look good in red) then I have a reason why I look so bad – it’s the RED top!

I think everyone should try new colors however, I invest minimally in colors that I am not confident in (which is anything other than black) for 2 reasons: The first is I am not going to wear bright colors a lot – people remember so you can’t wear it as much without thinking about who was at the last event that you wore it to. The second is that I am always in a hurry and I have to think about a color more – the shoes, accessories & what makes it blend. I hate color block outfits – that is a solid blue top with solid black pants – yuck – you need a mixer – a jacket, accessories, a great bag, a great belt SOMETHING! Too much thought too little time which brings me to a caution.

CAUTION: In a pinch – stick with black. We get people coming in all the time at 4:30 they need to be ready by 6:00 – wanting something new and not black because they “always wear black.” DON’T DO IT – its too late -you don’t have shoes, you don’t have accessories, you need a shower and you need to order Dominos for the kids. You need to have that “go to” outfit and GO TO IT!

Some of my favorite quotes about colors...
Favorite quote #1: “I don’t wear black – it doesn’t look good on me”Me: “Yes it does, everyone looks good in black. Most people look GREAT in black”

Favorite quote #2: “I had my colors done...” Me: “Oh, what did they say?” it’s always a fun long 1980’s story.

Favorite quote # 3:“My husband doesn’t like me in plaid” Me: “When did that come up? Dear please pass the salt and I really don’t like you in plaid.”

Favorite quote #4:“I know this color is awful but it was on sale”Me: “Obviously”

Favorite quote #5:What color can I wear with these (black) pants?”Me: “Are you kidding?”

My Thoughts On Color:

• Have your “go to” outfits – colors that you like and are confident with
• Mix it up each season with splashes of colors that you may not typically wear
• Watch your investment in the splashes
• Spring/summer 2007 hot colors – green and yellow
• Fall 2007 – we’re going with GRAY (surprise) and we like green and blue
  
  That’s a page full.
  Laura
  

Gray Matters

I always wanted to write a book. I had no thought what I’d write about but I just really wanted to be on the Today Show sitting with Katie Couric discussing me “Wow so you just decided one day to write a book and now you have written a New York Times Best Seller and you did all of this with a business and 2 kids and dog and a very needy husband? You are really something.”

I realized quickly that I have no qualifications at all other than the fact that I was an English Composition major which in retrospect was a great major. You write a creative story (after drinking a bottle of creative juice) and a bunch of pot smoking frat boys read it and give you great reviews - they come up with great interpretations – whew – so you get an A. I was always good in those ambiguous classes where no question is dumb and there really is no right or wrong - in creative writing - anything goes.

So, back to my book I really don’t think its going to happen now since Katie has moved right on up to the Big Times! I’d have to write some sort of documentary that saves lives or something to get on the evening news so – NEVERMIND.

Now I’ve decided to write an E-Book – I’m pretty sure that I invented this. And, if I did – maybe I’ll be on the Today show. So, I’m going to write a book – called Gray’s Page (until I think of a better name – I’m open to suggestions) – it’s a conglomeration of thoughts, fashions tips, stories about owning a boutique and just randomness that makes you laugh – I hope.

A few things to note:

1. Despite my BA in English – my sentences run on, I insert cute punctuations when needed or not, I don’t edit and my modifiers dangle.

2. I poke fun – its fun – don’t be offended... if I laugh at you for wearing a pink and green mini skirt with a matching purse – just chuckle with the rest of the town and run upstairs and change into something that doesn’t also come in a size 6X.

3. I like to rip on husbands – I AM NOT A LESBIAN (although there’s nothing wrong with that) husbands are just easy targets. I love men and I especially love men with great taste. And I really love men who make comments on their wives clothes. I always think wow, he must really have a lot of time on his hands and he is really interested in women’s clothes plus he cares so much about his wife and really wants her to look good. So hey, I have an idea – with all of that time, why doesn’t he start doing the laundry – this way he can see what his wife is wearing to make sure it meets his expectations – plus since he loves his wife so much... well this is an entire chapter – we’ll get to it later.

That’s a page full. Watch for the next page soon!

Laura

Hello World!

For our first post, we would like to welcome everyone to our blog. Gray Boutique is located in Winnetka, IL and Old Town Chicago. Check back frequently to get updates on great deals and the latest fashion trends.

Gray