Link Love: The Hair Edition

The Guardian’s Sali Hughes is impressed with Shrine, a new eco hair dye.

If you’re interested in all things hair, the second season of Allure’s ‘The Science of Beauty’ podcast — with topics like hair thinning, and busting myths about silicones — is worth a listen.

With hairdressers closed for most of the pandemic, more women stopped dyeing their hair. Earlier this year, The Guardian asked some of them about the impact it’s had.

Fab Links from Our Members

RoseandJoan found the idea of this leather alternative fascinating, especially, how it can be grown to the spec for less waste, and apparently feels luxurious.

L’Abeille directs us to this article about how luxury brand Chanel is being roasted online for their $1,025 Advent calendar.

Runcarla thought this was a good review on laundering options, or even non-laundering care. She adds: “Last year I learned (via my wear counting exercise) the toll laundering takes on clothes. I’ve made a concerted effort to be gentler with my garments, in particular hanging much more on the lines strung across my laundry room.”

Shevia has long admired Robin Givhan’s interpretation of the power and cultural/symbolic significance of fashion. She likes her take on the Elizabeth Holmes trial.

Suntiger reports that Pantone has revealed its colour of the year for 2022.

She also enjoyed Bridgette Raes’ blog post on wardrobe building.

Matching Socks and Sweaters

It can be fun to match socks with your sweater. I’ve noticed people in the Netherlands do this quite frequently because they commute on bicycles. When you cycle, your socks are visible unless your pant hems are extra long, so why not create a cohesive match. My 75-year-old Dutch aunt is a skilled knitter and does just that. When she knits a complicated Fair Isle sweater for herself, she sometimes knits a pair of socks to match. She commutes on her bike daily to do a quick errand or grocery run, and sometimes sporting her matching socks and sweater.

Here are some casual and playful examples:

Stripes, Dots and Fair Isle

Whippets

Of course, you can create a dressier match with solid socks and a refined sweater that isn’t very chunky. We will cover those looks in the outfit formula post tomorrow. In the meantime, who matches socks with their sweaters?

Weekly Roundup: A Little Fancy

Here’s a short list of festive pieces that were winners on my clients, or just caught my eye. Sometimes adding one or two festive items to your style can change the landscape of your wardrobe. Dress the items up or down, wear them in beautiful classic ways, or create interesting juxtapositions that pander to your mood. Wear a sparkly necklace with a sweatshirt, a sequin skirt with a graphic tee, or stompy boots with a formal dress. But most importantly, wear what makes you feel comfortable, happy and appropriately turned out for holiday celebrations. And have fun with your look.

You can see the pictures alongside the items on the collection page.

UNIQLO
Women +j Down Jacket
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Top Pick
2
Boden
Cotton Crew Sweater
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Top Pick
4
Roundups

Simpler Items

This week's list of top picks list is about basic pieces.

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Assorted Items

Items for Summer, both in and out of air conditioning.

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Casual Summer Vibes

This week's top picks are good for a casual Summer vibe.

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Summery Earth Tones

These items are for those who like to wear casual earth tones in warm and hot weather.

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Hints of Spring

Some tried-and-tested winning items to refresh your style for Spring.

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Dressier Items

An assortment of dressier top picks might be just what the doctor ordered.

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Casually Glam for the Holidays

A new outfit from Dorrie Jacobson of Senior Style Bible, whom we introduced to YLF in September 2015. At age 86, Dorrie continues to inspire us. She is still having fun with fashion every day, and knocking it out of the park!

Here’s a bit of comfy pattern-mixed bling for the festive season! Black is present in every item Dorrie is sporting, apart from her jewellery. This brings cohesiveness to the gorgeous maximal outfit. The green snakeskin midaxi pencil skirt is a versatile piece that can be dressed up or down for the holiday season. Here Dorrie casualizes the skirt by pairing it with an on-trend fluid fit black slogan sweatshirt. Her black and white block-heeled booties add graphic pattern to the look, and lengthen the leg line. Our blogger’s clutch with a different black and white pattern cleverly echoes the footwear. Her vintage silver YSL necklace is a showstopper that adds lightness and sparkle around her face. Dorrie’s spiky ’do adds tons of pizzazz and works perfectly with the statement necklace. Oversized sunnies, a sleek coctail ring and pink lipstick complete this casually glam holiday look.

Dorrie Jacobson

Spotlight: Gentle Herd

Gentle Herd is a clothing and accessory brand that is about gentleness and love. Their mission is to deliver the finest cashmere and wool garments ethically and sustainably to consumers. The sheep and goats that produce wool for their collections are protected through strict codes of conduct. Through standardized and meticulously cared for breeding, shearing, feeding, and transport practices, animals are kept safe and healthy. And the farming community is thriving and prosperous. For example, only the goat’s underlayer is collected during the annual shearing process so that the goats stay warm during Winter. The wool is collected, combed, and trimmed by hand in a delicate and precise process.

The brand is transparent about their production and pricing model. The vertical operation from factory to consumer seems equally impressive. I do not know where the Gentle Herd factories are located, but they have overseas warehouses and offices in Denver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Inner Mongolia, Paris, Frankfurt, Vancouver, Sydney, London, Shenzhen, and Hang Zhou.

Their website has an interesting section about fabric, where they talk about worsted cashmere, cashmere, blends, merino wool, and worsted wool. They also explain that by using LONG micro fibres to create the yarn that is knitted into garments, the brand is able to improve softness and quality. These long fibres prevent garments from pilling. It’s when micro fibres are short, that garments tend to pill easily.

As I browse the items, I am struck by the very large assortment across women, men and kids. They offer solid knitwear, pants, skirts, suits, sets, outerwear, and accessories across many classic and on-trend silhouettes. There are dressier items too. Most of the offerings are fairly neutral and run from sizes XXS to XXL. It is my hope that they include larger sizes soon. Gentle Herd encourages you contact them if you can’t find what you’re looking for. Who knows, you might get exactly what you want if you ask them. The prices seem more affordable than the industry norm for similar products. There is a good sale section too.

I like what this company is doing and want to support them. But first I need to figure out which item I want and how it will fit into my wardrobe and budget.

Gentle Herd Oversize Wool Peacoat

A-Line Wool Cashmere Pocket Skirt