Tone on tone success for Collins

Senator Susan Collins was on PBS News Hour last week to talk NSA, causes of the shut down, and bipartisanship. She wore green:

 http://youtu.be/a4YMgiIWUF0


If you were ever looking for a model of good style in the Senate, here she is. This green top and jacket are just the right shade for Senator Collins and the color looks good both under the TV lights and against the pale marble backdrop of the Capitol. Her makeup is tasteful - notice how she has chosen to add color on the cheeks and lips but not the eyes, for balance.

My favorite part of this outfit is the necklace. It hits her first balance point just right, and the shape of the pendant softly echoes the shape of her face. 

Day or evening?

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake held a press conference this week on her ten year fiscal forecast.  She wore gray: http://youtu.be/oNEfEN9kRgo


This would be a really lovely look for an evening out to dinner or the theater. This cool gray compliments the Mayor's skin tone, and the necklace hits her first balance point perfectly. But the richness of having multiple textures and patterns, a grosgrain ribbon edge to the jacket, and shiny rhinestones on the necklace take this outfit out of the "work" space and into something more social. The high neckline keeps us out of "date night with Fox" territory, but I would have still recommended a much more businesslike look for such a businesslike subject.

Just a little bit longer

Hillary Clinton recorded a message last week about the 2011 Hours Against Hate campaign last week. She wore red:

Her necklace is attractive and visually interesting, but it's much too short for her. At this length, it cuts off the line of her neck, emphasizing the loose skin there. It almost looks uncomfortable. If this necklace were longer, reaching down near the top of her red blouse, it would work much better, emphasizing her second balance point.

Highs and lows of the budget debate

So it turns out that we won't be writing this week about what our elected officials wear in a government shutdown after all. Here's what Senator Claire McCaskill and Rep. Marsha Blackburn were wearing on CNN on Friday night:

These women have opposite challenges: McCaskill's neckline is a bit too high and Blackburn's is a bit too low.

For McCaskill, we can see readily where her neckline should be - right along where her necklace is. The fact that her necklace does sit there helps this look, but it would be better if we didn't have that extra sliver of white above it, hiding the lower part of her neck.

For Blackburn, her neckline isn't so low that we're seeing cleavage (thankfully) but it's still not at the optimal point. For the shape of her face, she would be well served by a neckline that's 1.5 to 2 inches higher. Sometimes a camisole is a very simple way to achieve this, and that might have worked here.

Longer isn't leaner

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers appeared on ABC News last week to discuss Congressional spending. She wore navy blue:

The Congresswoman paired this jacket with a cowl neck blouse and a long necklace. The neckline of the blouse is just right, meeting her first balance point nicely after her new hairstyle. But the necklace is very distracting. Not only does it drag well below the best length for her face, it competes with the detail that the cowl neckline of the blouse already adds to the outfit. I would skip it, especially with the dangling earrings.

Many women gravitate towards long necklaces and scarves post-pregnancy, feeling self-conscious around the midsection. But it's worth remembering - if you weren't tall enough or bohemian enough to carry off these accessories before, your baby hasn't changed that. Long necklaces, like black, can be "slimming," but not automatically.

Striking the balance

We already know that the neckline on our clothes matters - we don't want to show too much cleavage, and we want to choose the right shape to compliment our faces. But your neckline and your jewelry can also highlight another feature: your balance points, or the "magic" focal points below your chin that are most flattering for your particular face shape. It's a concept that's a bit difficult to explain, but easy to illustrate.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn gave us a great example last week:

The pendant of her necklace draws our eye directly to her first balance point: it falls at the same distance from the bottom of her chin as the distance from her hairline to her chin (i.e. the length of her face). Would anyone ever look at her and realize that's why it looks good? No, of course not. But you know it looks good, don't you? Now you know the secret. Try it out in the mirror.

Less is more

Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper had a great outfit going here. And then something attacked her necklace:

The Congresswoman's face is a nice long oval shape. The neckline of her top hits her at just the right point to balance the length of her face. The curve of her necklace hits at just the right point to balance the width of her face. All good. And then the extra embellishment on the necklace mucks up those nice clear balance points. It's too bad.

Don't get me wrong. I like this necklace trend in general. I like stuuuuff. (I promise this is the last time I will quote Clueless in this forum.) Necklaces with multiple embellishments can add significant visual interest to your look. But if they draw that interest to the wrong spot, you haven't accomplished anything.