In this poll I’m asking you to pick your team based on which one you find easier to shop for.

I’m on Team Bottoms. I find shopping for bottoms much easier than shopping for tops and here’s why. I prefer to wear woven blouses, button down shirts and sweaters (pullovers and turtlenecks) as opposed to knit tops, T’s and cardigans – so that already rules out quite a lot. I also adore wearing high necklines – another tall order in a retail world full of V-necks and scoop necks. I wear a small size but have long arms, which makes long sleeved items a tricky business. My dainty shoulder line is hard to fit and petite sized clothing does not work for my height. So there you go. I am Team Bottom all the way. I can find 10 beautifully fitting pairs of pants or skirts in one day, but it could take me a year to find 10 killer tops.

Over to you. Are you on Team Tops or Team Bottoms? Tell us why it’s easier to shop for either tops or bottoms. Sorry ladies, no batting for teams.

I had high hopes for Spring and Summer 2011 after getting a glimpse of what was in store for us at Fashion Week. But so far I’m a little disappointed. We’re halfway through the season, and although shopping with clients has been great, I’ve had to look harder than usual to help them find suitable wardrobe items. Updating my own wardrobe has been tricky too.

I’m not sure whether that’s because I become even fussier with my purchases each season, or if my expectations were too high. Maybe it’s because the dominant trends aren’t catering to my recent style epiphany, or because it’s still too early for the trends that I loved at Fashion Week to filter down to affordable retail stores.

Here are my main rants:

1. Lack of blouse variety: It’s a blouse season and there are definitely more woven blouses in store right now than I’ve seen in years. However, many of them are pastel, floral, billowing and bohemian, or overly ruffled, which is great if that’s your style (some of my clients are having a ball with these silhouettes), but it’s not so fab when you prefer a strong, simple and clean look. I love, love, love roomy soft blouses in luscious fabrications, but prefer them solid or geometrically patterned, and sans ruffles. I’m also seeing far too many neutrally toned blouses and wish that there was more colour. For now, the only way that I can get what I want is to stick to blouses in classic cuts.
2. Lack of sleeve length variety: Oh goodness. I am absolutely sick of the oversupply of cap sleeves, grown-on sleeves and frumpy short sleeves. Sleeveless garments are fine, but a gal wants a decently sleeved garment too, both on dresses and tops. Please can we see a larger variety of sleeve lengths that cover part of the top arm. Please bring back the forever flattering elbow length sleeve. PLEASE.
3. Necklines: I prefer high necklines and shirt collars so it’s seldom a great neckline season for me. But even if you prefer scooped necklines and V-necks, many of them are cut too low. Wearing a camisole is one solution, but who wants to wear a camisole in sweltering heat. A little more cleavage coverage would be welcome.
4. Hemlines are still so short: This is my biggest gripe. I tried on 8 dresses last week, each of them too short to wear on their own. I’m regular height at 5ft 6 so tall gals have my sympathy. We’re supposed to see midi skirts make a comeback. Where are the affordable midi skirts — a price point below $500 would be nice.  I guess we’ll have to wait until the trend filters down to mainstream stores. Hurry up!
5. Flared skirts are scarce: I love pencil skirts, but enjoy a roomy skirt just as much. There has been a severe shortage of flared skirts for several seasons and this must change.
6. Cardigan overkill: 2010 was all about the cardigan and this year is the same. Granted, I’m on Team Pullover, and not overly fond of cardigans to begin with. My clients are all on Team Cardigan though, so I’m thankful that we’ve had a great variety. But I’d also like to see a good assortment of Spring weight jackets and trench coats, both in colours and neutrals – keeping it light on the soul-sucking beige.

I must also give credit where it’s due: jeans, casual pants, dressy trousers, shorts, button down shirts, cardigans, knit tops, sheath dresses, layering T’s, formal suits, bangles, belts and handbags generally look good at the moment. Although soaring heel heights still reign supreme, lower heel heights are available. Stock up if these items tickle your fancy.

There are still a couple of months left, so I’m not writing off the season just yet.  Also, these rants are based on what I have experienced in the US retail market, so things might be different in your neck of the woods. Over to you. There’s nothing like a good rant to get the energy flowing on a Monday morning.

Midi skirts and dresses, that finish somewhere between the bottom of the kneecap and the bottom of the calf, are making a comeback and I’m really happy about the emerging trend. My only complaint so far is that there aren’t enough midi length skirts and dresses in US stores.

Wearing skirts and dresses at this length can be tricky because it’s not universally flattering. But if you like midi skirts and dresses, these guidelines will help you de-frump the silhouette. Sometimes you’ll apply a few of the guidelines, and sometimes you’ll apply several to one outfit:

• Tuck a top into a midi skirt: Exposing the entire skirt from natural waistline to hem lengthens the leg line, which to my eye looks more flattering. There are ways of wearing a short un-tucked top over a midi skirt, but this is more tricky.
• Layer with a cropped jacket or cardigan: To keep a long leg line, layer with an item that doesn’t go below your waistline (see my outfit here).
• Choose the right length skirt or dress: Petite ladies look best in midis that are just over the knee, while taller ladies can wear them longer.
• Voluminous midi skirts are easier to de-frump: In my experience, midi skirts and dresses with interesting flared design details and tulle-petticoat-volume look more hip and less frumpy. Think of amazing All Saints skirts. Straight midi skirts are a little harder to pull off unless you wear high heels, but they do have a fabulous ‘40’s appeal.
• Wear low vamped heels: Low vamped shoes extend the leg line without the added height of soaring heels. Sky scraping platform heels are still very popular and they look great with midis. But I really like the look of a flared midi skirt matched with kitten heels (think Audrey Hepburn). This is one of the newest and freshest looks in fashion at the moment and I’m all over it.
• Wear shoes that create a low colour contrast with your legs: You’ve heard this a million times over. Wearing low colour contrasting shoes with skirts and dresses, as seen in the photos below, makes your legs look longer. And extending the leg line with this length of skirt prevents the dumpy and stumpy feeling. Nude shoes are a no-brainer, but metallic and light coloured shoes work just as well on bare legs.

Imogen and I were on the same wavelength because she just posted a set of guidelines on how to wear the tricky midi length skirt too. Stop by and have a look.

I REALLY want to add a killer flared midi skirt to my wardrobe asap. I am in love with the look and thoroughly bored with shorter skirts at the moment. Can you believe it! And I have a cupboard full of knee length skirts. I might need to hem a maxi skirt to get what I want.

I mentioned in an earlier post that sizes 6 to 10 are the most purchased sizes in America. The interesting thing is that the most common size is a 14, but relatively few women purchase clothes in a size 14. How can this be?

Last year an article on Cleveland.com quoted the fashion industry newspaper WWD on this fact (I haven’t been able to locate the original piece) and offered some theories to explain it: Perhaps women who recently gained weight to reach a size 14 are reluctant to shop. They’d rather wait until they are back to a size 10 and in the meantime just make do with what they have. Or they might purchase smaller sizes hoping that they will fit into them later. Women sizes 20 and up, on the other hand, may have accepted their size and are happier to shop their size.

The author did her own informal study by observing people in a downtown area and concluded…

“yes, it was those “average American women,” the size 14s, who seemed to ignore style the most often, at least in my informal survey. In the past, I assumed this was because the majority of people simply aren’t all that interested in fashion. But could it be that this reluctance to shop for their current size 14 is what keeps so many women on the sidelines, and not a lack of interest?”

I can’t say that my own experience supports this explanation. I haven’t noticed a general trend for women in the most common size range to be less stylish than larger or smaller  women. Still, the fact is that size 14s are under-purchased and therefore under-stocked.

The deemphasis on size 14 at retail obviously has a negative ripple effect on size 14 women who enjoy shopping at that size. Retailers stock fab items in sizes that sell out the fastest, not sizes that sell slowly. In turn, manufacturers are reluctant to design for sizes that sell slowly. This leaves a huge gap in the marketplace — no killer stuff for size 14’s.

Could it be a catch 22, that the lack of retail variety is another reason why size 14’s don’t shop nearly as much than other sizes. If it’s not available, it can’t be purchased.

The irony is that there should be much more variety for size 14s because they are represented in both regular and plus sized retail assortments. Granted, a regular size 14 fits a little differently than a plus size 14, but still, the retail market covers the size twice.

There must be more to this than meets the eye and I’d love to hear your thoughts? Have you had trouble shopping for size 14? Do you have a theory as to why the most common size in America is one of the least popular sizes at retail?