Grown Up Girl's Guide to Style

Tonight I had the pleasure of listening to a delightful presentation by Christine Schwab, renowned style expert, fashion consultant and author of a new book, The Grown-Up Girl's Guide to Style. Christine was the keynote speaker at WomanSage, an organization for middle-aged women like me that serves to nurture and support us through all kinds of mid-life challenges. One of those challenges is style. I knew of Christine from her work on the "Live with Regis and Kelly" morning show. She's now 60 and proud of it; she looks 45 and has a great personality. I bought her book and am looking forward to learning more about style for those of us over 50. Christine likes "cosmetic dermatology," but says the jury is still out on those eyeliner tattoos. And she is adamantly against eyebrow tattoos. I was glad to hear that because I just don't want to submit to it. Christine doesn't like "trendy," either. But she also says that good pieces don't last forever because when they come back in style, the style is just a tad different than it was when you bought your original. Speaking of trendy, I shared with Christine that recently I traveled to see some old friends who hadn't seen me in a few years - years during which I had gained 25 pounds. So I created a diversion, thanks to a Kelly Ripa trend, and painted my fingernails black. It worked - everyone noticed my nails and talked about them. Yes, of course I know they also noticed my extra padding, but hey, the nails worked for me. I'll consider shedding the 25 pounds after the holidays. Thankfully, the black nails will disappear before Thanksgiving, but they served a great purpose in their short-lived existence. Grown-up girls love fashion diversions.