New Year ...........New You

                            Invest in yourself: Put your best foot forwards with a new you!

Now that the parties are over and you’re once more hit with reality, you’ve got choices to make. Here’s one more resolution to add that will be very easy to keep, see the good in others and do not be so hard on yourself. Think happy thoughts and resolve to smile more. A smile is the most economical addition to any wardrobe, never costing anything but always paying big dividends. Resolve to work on your image and you’ll have an awesome year.

 Here are 12 easy and budget-friendly image resolutions that will make reaching your other goals that much easier:

1. Stand, walk or sit straight.  

When you’re standing, for best alignment, your ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles should be in a straight line. When you’re walking, a straight, but relaxed posture is essential. Sagging shoulders, rounded backs, and drooping chins not only create a down-trodden and underprivileged image, it also ruins the drape of good clothing. When you’re sitting; sit with your hips as far back as they will go, and preferably in a straight-backed chair.

Now, I have to tell you, if you’re not used to good posture, it will take time to master. Your muscles won’t be used to the new position, so they may get a little tired at first. Stick with it, remember, this is not a 100 yard dash, it is a journey. You’ll only be uncomfortable for a short time and the benefits far outweigh the discomfort. Soon people will notice you looking taller, thinner younger and more confident. You’ll also have a stronger back and stomach muscles, giving the illusion of a trimmer waistline.

2.  You can never go wrong with a winning smile. Even if you’re not feeling in a particularly cheery mood, you’ll find that smiling can really make you feel better, and those around you will feel better too. So let’s start an epidemic, as it’s very contagious.

3. Get properly Fitting Undergarments. Would you like to look ten pounds slimmer and ten years younger immediately?  A great-fitting bra should be comfortable but supportive, should fit snugly without binding, or creating unsightly bulges. If your bustline doesn’t hit midway between your shoulders and elbows, you need a new bra.

4. Organize your closet.  Wear what gives you pleasure, style, and confidence. When your image reflects your best you, you beam the message that you’re on top of your life and doing just fine. If you haven’t worn it in over a year because it doesn’t fit, or you’re just plain tired of it get rid of it. Organize what’s left and make a list of things that you need and call CGs Couture Designs.

5. Get in shape.  There are so many benefits to having a healthy body! Not only do you look better but your energy level goes up and you feel better from resting better and having more endurance.

6. Develop an attitude of gratitude. Be generous enough to give, but humble enough to receive. Grumbling and complaining will fill your life with barrenness so let your waiting time become your worship time as it’s your attitude that determines your altitude.

7. Develop an air of elegance. True elegance is a combination of style, fashion, an affluent air, bearing and attitude. While fashion changes from season to season, the words used for elegance remains constant: like graceful, intelligent, kind, good-humored and determined. These essential qualities are free of charge and available to anyone who cares enough to put theory into practice.

8. Good humor are notable characteristics of prosperity and optimism. Even in the face of extreme adversity, do not panic. Things have a way of working out. God is still in control.

9. Be optimistic with what you have----your spiritual, mental and physical health, combine all these together and improve and grow. In other words, love and believe in yourself and that will give you the self-confidence to go out into the world as if you own it.

10. Be a true friend and you‘ll have true friends. A friend is like a good bra….Hard to find, but supportive and comfortable….Always lifts you up. Never lets you down or leaves you hanging; and is always close to your heart. Sort of like Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey.

11. Invest in a great bag.  It doesn’t have to have a designer label, but big enough to hold your stuff, work with most of your clothes, and fits you proportionally. Buy the best quality you can afford.

12. Get proper clothing for every occasion.  Ever wondered how you keep buying clothes yet never seem to have anything to wear. Get the core wardrobe; it will take care of your shrinking closet.  Do not be influenced by just the price as the bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten. If you resolve to make 2011 the year you change your image and make the time and effort you will be astounded by the results. Packaging yourself as you will attract people and opportunities like nothing else will. You were created an original, don’t become a copy! Make it an awesome year because quality is a race with no finish line.

Fashions That Fit

Wouldn’t it be great to try on a pair of pants and have them fit right over all your curves?  And how about your blouse, does it gape at the neckline, is it a bit too snug over the bust, is the dart in the right place or is it missing one? Is the armhole too low, too large, is the sleeve cap too tight, is the sleeve too long/short? Where does the shoulder end? Ladies it’s time to stand up and demand what you want. If you continue to settle, they won’t change the way they operate.

Now’s the time for a long, loud yell, where are the styles?

Thirty years ago, in the 80s a new breed of women, labeled-plus size but confident and secure with her size and curves, started demanding fashion for her taste level and lifestyle, and got it. Now we’re once more at an impasse. If you’re a plus size, you’ve got a fair choice, but a plus petite, we’re back in the 80s, or so it seems.

Fit Expert and patternmaker, Claudette Grant says the most common misconception about petite fashions is that they’re designed for the tiny woman 0-4. Petite sizing has nothing to do with size but is actually based on height. So a woman 5-ft-4 or under, regardless of wearing a size 2 or 22, is still a petite. So many women are petite without realizing it, actually about 67% of the female population, the last survey done.

It is said that majority rules and if that’s the case, why do we have such a hard time finding fashionable, stylish clothing

Most high-profile manufacturers have a plus size line and there are even specialty stores but we’re still left out in the cold if you’re not one or the other. If you’re ready for a change, have it custom made. If you’re tired of trying on clothing that’s too long or too tight or just disproportionate to your body-or styled too young for your 50 something body, try Couture +. Designed by a petite, who knows the challenges petites face to find that (1) piece that transforms your look into what you’ve always dreamed it could be.

  Pick your strongest fashion asset and concentrate on that. Do you have great legs-----show them off in a tailored pencil skirt? Do you have great skin------find your best color and show it off in draped, Grecian styles for the curves you have. Gorgeous clothing for the curvaceous, voluptuous, Rubenesque, a woman who just happens to be petite and wants options.