Fashion & Beauty

Looking for the perfect gift? For Christmas 2011, we present our most inspired Christmas shopping guide ever with several unique products thrown in for GNG measure.

The list is comprised of companies, nonprofits, and fun products that can make your world a better place. It's a story of mission, passion and purpose with a clear heart and an eye toward fun.

If you have friends and relatives like ours who always want to return every one of their gifts, before you embark on your holiday shopping check the stores' return policies!  One would think we'd know this already, but even experienced shoppers sometimes get caught empty handed - or in this case, unhappily full handed.

Runway shows, designers, stylists and fashion bloggers will be blasting the full fall fashion story over the next few weeks.  It can get a bit overwhelming.  Our advice -- look those over, and take into account the fact that stores will promote fashion trends based upon their buys. Style is a very personal experience.  Save your money for those items that make you look and feel fabulous.

Temperatures are falling and our summer togs just aren't doing the trick. It's time for warmer gear. Harriet, Judy and Tamara met Roshawnda Foster, sales person extraordinaire, in the Saks Fifth Avenue dressing room for a preview of the freshest fall fashions. Clothes lined the walls, accessories were piled high and plenty of shoes sat there to complement the latest looks.

Whether you're looking to transition from summer into fall without spending lots of money on a new wardrobe, or are looking to give that classic dress a facelift...big, wide leather belts are in. They're edgy, slimming and connect separates or break up a dress.

It's after Labor Day, and time to put away your white pants and shoes ...... or is it?  There are lots of "rules" we grew up with that no longer apply. In fact, the styles coming down the runway and seen on the street, lead one to wonder if there are any fashion rules left.

This summer my SOLE SISTERS interns, Lan and Nadia, wanted to do something special that was meaningful, fun and that they could call their own. This is a time when we Baby Boomers have to realize that today's college age co-eds don't recognize the names Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem or even Ann Richards. These bright young women know so little about the battles we fought.

Our friend and Good News Girl, Cynthia Salzman Mondell, asked me to write about how I feel about my travels with the Little Black Shoe. She's hard at work on a documentary film called Sole Sisters about women and their relationships with their shoes, and it makes sense that she'd inquire. I've said a lot so far about the shoes and how they perform and how my feet feel, but very little about any emotion they evoked.

A Girls Weekend is perfect for laughing, crying and cleansing the soul.  My three BFFs joined me for the weekend in Chatham.  We are a young version of the Golden Girls - lots of laughs, a bit of banter and always honest with each other.  We cooked, drank wine, walked and shared our best advice.

Years ago while traveling in France, I passed a sign that said Thalassotherapy. French friends told me that thalasso places use seawater for health benefits and that the French government sponsors these health spas. Apparently the French government no longer pays for thalassotherapy, and that had been my favorite part of the story. I'd love to think my government would pay for spa treatments. The real truth is that the French coast is dotted with these saltwater healing plants and everyone is welcome to go and pay their own way.

Whoever told us that the southern part of Brittany is the sunny side must be selling real estate. It has rained some every day since we've arrived on the south coast, and today it poured all day long.

Refusing to let a little rain slow us down, we got up early and visited a medieval garden with Queen and Patrick.

Today we had to dress for all four seasons. We spent the day in and out of our coats and sweaters. The wind had winter fangs, but the sun was summer hot-when it was out. We had spring showers along the way, and in the evening we had an autumn fire.

I've spent years seeking the perfect travel shoe-one that will take me from a casual evening with friends to dinner at a nice restaurant or a hike in the woods. Enter the Little Black Shoe (LBS). I have finally found what is, if not perfection, then something very close. Footwear's answer to the Little Black Dress is made by Merrell and sold as a hiking shoe.

As I grew up I found it very difficult to find shoes to fit me. My feet were long and narrow. My heel was very narrow, too. In St. Joseph, Missouri, my hometown, I could find shoes only at Royal College or Steve's. I was in Royal College once having a hard time finding a good fit. The shoe salesman commented, "You are built just like a race horse."

In September 1939 a young woman signed on for her first teaching job in Presidio, a dusty border town not too far from Marfa, Texas.  She had gotten her college degree without help from her father, who did not see any need for women to go to college. With money earned from sewing, ironing, and doing manicures, she did get that degree, and she started a job a month after graduation, living with two girlfriends.