My way of passing the time when I wait in long lines at the airport is to sass out what other people are wearing. It’s fascinating. Everyone has their own unique “traveling uniform”. For reasons known exclusively to them, they’ve carefully chosen a specific set of clothes, shoes and accessories to wear for their journey. After many years of spending time in international airports, I can safely say that I’ve seen just about every type of traveling ensemble imaginable. The only thing I haven’t seen are tuxes and ball gowns, but I’ll probably see those at some point too.

In the melting pot of airport style, some fabulous looks are repeated time and again:

• Immaculately polished flight attendants from some of the airlines. Singapore Airlines is the standout example. I don’t know how these working lasses manage to stay looking professional and perfect throughout the flight. Not a hair out of place. Mind boggling.
• Well turned out businesspeople in fabulous suits, shoes and coats.
• Women sporting the pseudo equestrian look with jeans tucked into boots, a tailored jacket or top, scarf and killer handbag. Sometimes it’s leggings and boots with a tunic and huge pashmina. So chic and sophisticated.

From bright Indian saris to spice toned African kaftans and headgear, I also love to see men and women in their regional dress. We refueled at Dakar on the way back from Cape Town, South Africa last week and watching the women board our flight in traditional Senegalese dress as their traveling uniforms was a real treat. They looked so effortlessly stylish and pulled together. I know that part of the reason these outfits appeal to me is that they are exciting and different from my point of view, but that doesn’t stop me enjoying them.

Of course, you also see everything else: sweats, pajama bottoms, short-shorts, big baggy T-shirts with moon bags (fanny packs), leg shortening capris with socks and athletic sneakers, crotch-scraping mini-skirts, head sweatbands, spiked 5-inch stiletto heels, Crocs and beach flip flops.

Some of this is just the variety of life, but it also represents different travel style philosophies. It wasn’t too long ago that people generally dressed up for air travel. Some people still do. There is also the other end of the spectrum where people dress for comfort at all costs. The best example of this approach was the businessman we saw in his pajamas under a long coat. At a glance he was businesslike, with the coat and briefcase, but then at security all was revealed.

Personally, I like to wear comfortable items when I travel, but I also have to feel good about the way I look. I usually wear jeans with ballet flats or boots and multiple layers on top to keep warm during a freezing flight. I also wear a huge scarf to keep doubly warm. What is your approach when you dress for long flights?

Retail chains have a real challenge designing garments that will fit the wide range of body shapes out there. I was recently thinking about this variability and it reminded me of something I first heard from a school teacher when I was in primary school. When you reach adulthood, she said, your arm span will be almost the same as your height. Also, the length of your foot will be the same as the length of your forearm, measured from wrist bone and to elbow bone.

This sounded like it had the makings of a great Monday morning experiment here on YLF, so I decided to take my own measurements and ask you if you would like to do the same.

I know I have long arms, so I was convinced that my arm span would exceed my height. I stood against a wall and measured my height which came to 66 inches (167.5 cm). Next, I extended my arms and measured from middle finger tip to middle finger tip, allowing the tape measure to lie flat across the bottom of my neck. It came to 65 ½ inches (166 cm). To my surprise, I was wrong. My arm span is about half an inch shorter than my height. I re-measured but the results were the same. It turns out that I do have long arms for my size (long sleeved items are often a little short on the sleeve), but my dainty shoulder width decreases my arm span. It’s interesting that arm span can be a valid measure of height, particularly after puberty and before menopause when your height is pretty constant.

I then asked Greg to measure my forearm from wrist bone to elbow bone and it came to 9 ¾ inches (25 cm). I measured my own foot, being sure to measure the entire length of my foot by including the very tip of my longest toes and the back of my heel bone (which is above the ground when you are standing). My feet measured about 9 ¼ inches (23.5cm). Small-ish feet comes as no surprise.

Overall, my schoolteacher’s rules of thumb were pretty close in my case. How about you? If you’d like to take part in our little bit of research, take measurements of your height (standing straight against a wall, without shoes and not including hair), your arm span (finger tip to finger tip with arms stretched out horizontally), forearm length (for an arm bent at 90 degrees, from the end of the elbow to the middle of your protruding wrist bone) and foot length (from longest toe to the back of your heel).

Post your measurements in the comments below. Are you surprised? Are the results what you expected?

My rants are minimal because it was particularly easy to find stylish, flattering options for myself and my clients this season. Perhaps mainstream retail collections are improving. This came through in one of the comments about yesterday’s post on my raves for Spring and Summer 2009:

“It seems right now there is a return to flattering clothing for all shapes. I see this in a lot of your list items, and I’ve been very glad about it, as evidenced by my AmEx bill”.

But I can always muster up a few complaints because there is no such thing as a perfect retail season. It’s impossible to please everyone.

Here are my general rants:

• A weak start to the season: Clothing product mixes weren’t overly compelling despite their superb pricing structures. But I feel that fashion got more exciting as we hit mid season.
• Another poor footwear collection: I’m tired of seeing 4 to 5 inch heels as the fashion norm (sorry to sound like a broken record). We’re entering our fourth year of having little choice when it comes to heel heights. Heels this season were once again either super flat or sky scrapingly high. Not so fab seeing as a good footwear season is about ample variety. Bring back comfortable and fashionable lower heeled shoes. PLEASE. It can’t be that hard!
• Sleeve length frustrations: The industry’s obsession with cap sleeves was disappointing. I’m glad we’re moving into a cool weather season where I hope to see plenty of elbow and long sleeved tops and jackets.

More specifically:

• Casual maxi dresses: I have not had a change of heart on this one. Ankle length,  casual frocks worn with flat sandals do not make it through my filter. They look like nighties. But as I’ve said before, I won’t hold it against you if you love the look.
• Some harem pants: The styles with super sagging low crotches look unattractive, but I’ve got my head around the styles with regular crotch lengths.
• Leg shortening ankle-length pants: Pants that end somewhere between the end of the calf and ankle bone are desperately unflattering UNLESS they’re extremely tapered and sleek at the hems like skinnies or leggings AND worn with high, high heels. The reason the latter works is because heels and the tapered effect of a silhouette visually raise the length of the hemline, elongating your look.
• Jumpsuits: I’m not as wildly opposed to this style as I am to the first three, but I’m generally not a fan. Loo practicalities aside, there’s something too matchy-matchy and pajama-like about the top and bottom part of an outfit in identical fabric, especially if it’s in a knit. Just not my cup of tea.

Missed opportunities:

• Cropped elbow length V-neck cardigans: There seemed to be a shortage of universally flattering V-neck cardigans this season. Loads of cru-neck availability, but few V-neck. I wonder why.
• Higher rise jeans: The situation is improving but it’s still not enough, especially in the premium denim category. Let’s hope Autumn is better.

Bring on the rants for Spring and Summer 2009 ladies and don’t hold back. We’re putting this topic to rest today. What have I missed and do your rants differ to mine?

The pictures speak for themselves. I won’t be surprised if these silhouettes trend again next season, which means I’ll rant about them all over again.

If you live in the Northern hemisphere you’ve seen the last of the warm weather collections for 2009. Even as many of us fight through a heat wave, retail stores are about to stock up on Autumn and Winter merchandise. Absurd I know, but that’s the nature of the crazy retail cycle.

You know the drill. YLF closes every retail season with a “best and worst”. Raves today, rants tomorrow. I would also like to hear your closing thoughts on the last six months of fashion.

Here are my general raves:

• Superb recessionary pricing structure: In all my retail years, I’ve never seen a fashion season as heavily discounted as this one. So many bargains!
• Brilliant accessory selections: Accessories are the fasted and cheapest way to inject a bit of new into an existing wardrobe. Scarves, bracelets, belts, handbags, hose, headbands, watches, wallets, hats, pins, necklaces and earrings have been particularly strong this year. What a clever retail reaction to our tough economic climate.
• Delicious 80’s revival of fashion: Designers have taken inspiration from “the decade of anti-fashion” and made it killer. I’m blown away with how creatively and successfully the best of 80’s styling has been re-interpreted.

More specifically:

• Dresses and tunics: Stores have generally shown an excellent assortment if you were prepared to dry clean, hand wash and wear sleeveless. I’ve managed to do major frock and tunic shopping with clients this season, which is not the norm.
• Leggings: We’ve seen the best selection of leggings ever: zippered, studded, ruched, embossed and stirrup styles in all sorts of fabrications, colours and leg lengths. The perfect accessory to dresses and tunics and a totally fabulous look.
• Biker inspired styles: Tough edge fashion looks continue to trend and they are close to my heart. The huge assortment of both subtle and overt motorcycle detailing on all sorts of wardrobe items has been inspiring. Something for everyone.
• Boyfriend items: I’m not drawn to boyfriend jeans, but enjoyed boyfriend-inspired items like cardis, jackets, watches and shirts. I got a nostalgic kick out of the shoulder pad trend in boyfriend blazers and hope to find a version that works for me.
• Volume: Banded tops, sack dresses and cascading cardigans have been winning waist-less pieces. They are an excellent way to camouflage muffin top and add a fun, arty element to your look.
• Silver grey: This has been the season for grey. As popular as black and white, I’ve enjoyed seeing grey function as another versatile neutral.
• Sea of green, yellow and turquoise: It’s nice to see how this fresh Summer palette has been embraced by retailers and consumers.
• White items: Warm weather is about adding white items to ensembles. With the fab selection of white tops, jeans, dresses, skirts, shoes and accessories, it’s been easy to incorporate an instantly fresh Summery look into your style.
• Gladiators: The sandal of the season has been stellar, making it possible to refresh past season’s outfits with the addition of this single item. Even I managed to get a comfortable pair, which was a tall order.
• Colourful non-patent handbags: Loads of magnificent handbags in matte fabrications and interesting textural tones have made a welcome change to the sea of patent we’ve seen over the last three years.
• Deeper assortment of higher rise jeans: While there is still a shortage of fabulously fitting jeans with higher, girdling rises, stocks have improved. Let’s hope this trend gains momentum next season.

Bring on the raves, ladies. I’m excited to hear your impressions.

The house of Valentino came out with a collection of sculptured handbags that was second to none this season. Just for fun, here are my insanely unaffordable dream handbags that represent the very best of Spring and Summer 2009. Perhaps I’ll find them on eBay one day.