Plum Lucky! Wear The Hot New Color With Style!

By CountryDutchess

If you've spent even five minutes glancing the latest Fall fashion trends then you know that PLUM is one of the hottest colors around. From accessories to full frontal fashion, from lips and eyes and cheeks to the polish on your fingers and toes varying shades of this dusky purple hue are EVERYWHERE!

And we love this color. We really, really do.

BUT ... the truth is, as gorgeous as it is, it's also one of those colors that you can easily overdo. And when you do ....uh oh ... suddenly you go from femme fatal to Barney ( not the store, the dinosaur!) . So before you plunk down those hard earned fashionista dollars on trendy buys that end up in the back of your closet, here's a little plum advice on how to make the most of your Fall fashion dollars!

Fashion Plum Do's & Don'ts !

1. Do not do head-to-toe plum. Matching sweater and skirt - fine. Matching shoes and bag - good. Sweater, skirt, shoes, bag ,tights and make-up - all in plum - no. You're entering dinosaur territory.

2. Wear plum make-up sparingly. Again, the two out of three rule applies best here: Lips and cheeks - good. Cheeks and eyes - even better. Lips, cheeks, eyes all in plum ? Nope. See dinosaur reference above. :)

3. Use plum as an accent color - just be careful what you're accenting! It's great as an accessory or trim shade for black, brown, navy, camel, grey, denim, white, and some shades of very dark olive green. It's a Fall Fashion " Uh Oh!" when paired with red, hot pink, bright green or yellow.

4. If you can't afford to buy major pieces in this hot new color, update last year's little black coat with a chenille plum scarf and gloves. For that little black dress type a smoky amethyst plump chandelier earring or a plum crystal beaded necklace. All you really need are touches of this color to seem right in style!

5. Plum looks great with every shade of hair color - just not the same shade of plum for every shade of hair. Don't know what to pick? Here's your guide:

Yellow Blondes: Choose lighter, warmer shades of plum with a red undertone.

Beige Blondes and Cool Brunettes: Go for the dusky plums with the blue undertone.

Reddish Brown or Highlighted Brown : Go for a pure plum with a neutral color base

in darker hues.

Redheads : You can wear plum! Just be sure to choose a shade that has neutral

undertones. Warm plums will clash with your hair; cool plums will

wash out your sparkle. Also try for darker more pure colors - skip

the heather shades.

6. Plum Jewels - One of the best ways to accent plum fashions is either with a smokey shade of amethyst or with sparkling silver. While we know some of you are die-hard gold fans - and we love it too. But nothing sets off plum style like the wintry shimmer of silver - and the minute you try it on you'll see the difference! For extra pizazz try plum and silver chandelier earrings!
WOW

For round-the-clock fabulous time & money saving beauty and style advice visit CheapChicDiary.com - or visit us anytime at CountryDutchess.com - Your Source For Fabulous!

Copyright by Colette Bouchez 2009 - All Rights Reserved.
In addition to US Copyright, the text of this CheapChicDiary article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. All
Formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.

6 Tips For Wearing Statement Earrings

By CountryDutchess.com

They're big, they're bold, and they're hard to miss! They're called "statement earrings" - named so for a reason: They make a statement! From their bold designs to their dazzling colors, these are the earrings you wear when you want to get noticed!

On the other hand ....you do want to get noticed for all the right reasons! Unfortunately, if don't wear your statement earrings in quite the right way, well, your statement could end being "I'm fashion clueless" !

Well, we don't want that to happen! So we asked our designers to come up with a few guidelines for making the best possible fashion statement with your "statement earrings!"

How To Wear A Statement Earring

1. Keep other jewelry to a minimum. And we do mean minimum! If you wear a necklace, limit it to a thin chain with no more than a small pendant. You can add a couple of bangles and maybe a ring - but you want the earrings to do all the work - so don't distract the eye with other baubles!

2. Statement earrings look best with simple outfits - like that little black dress or pantsuit or even jeans and a tee. If your clothing is garnished with lots of sequins, sparkles or other embellishments there's just too much going on for a statement earring to take center stage.,

3. If your statement earring is in a color , then choose one other accessory in that same color - and no more than two. If your statement earrings are red, for example, you can choose a red bag and red shoes - or red shoes and red belt - but not all three. Again, you want to keep the focus on the earrings.

4. Statement earrings look best when there's not a lot competing for attention - so try to keep necklines lower than your collar bone. The other option is to wear them with a solid color turtleneck to act as a "frame" for the earring. Neutral colors such as black, white, cream, tan, plum or navy form the most attractive frame for most statement earring styles.

5. Put on your earrings before you put on your make-up. More so than any other style of jewelry,a statement earring is right next to your face, so it's almost like part of your cosmetic look. That means you probably want to skip the glittery eye shadow or blush and opt for a cleaner simpler look. Having your earrings on while you apply your make up will help you build a total look without overdoing it.

6. Scale down your other accessories. If you're wearing a statement earring, skip the "statement bag" or "statement belt". You only need one outstanding item per outfit - so let your earrings shine!

For more round-the-clock beauty and fashion tips, visit CheapChicDiary.com - or for the best in statement earrings - including clip on chandeliers - and lots and lots of jewelry galore - visit CountryDutchess.com - Your Source For Fabulous!

Copyright by Colette Bouchez 2009 - All Rights Reserved.
In addition to US Copyright, the text of this CheapChicDiary article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. All
Formatting and style elements of this page are not available under this license and Colette Bouchez retains all rights in those elements.