Strappy, special occasion heels are hard to find because most of them are uncomfortable, which makes us feel like giving up before we’ve even begun the search. But I came across this T-strap sandal style recently and it’s a win. I had three clients to prepare for uber formal occasions recently (one of whom was actually going to the Oscars), and they all ended up with this sandal, each in a different colour.

Remember that you’re not looking for an 8-hour walking shoe for these occasions. It’s 2 hours maximum with lots of sitting in-between. With that in mind the comfort level of this sandal is manageable. The straps are soft, the toe box is roomy and the support is fairly good. It’s also the type of shoe that can be stretched for extra comfort. The elastic inset on the slingback part helps and the heel is only three inches high (not four inches as the site information implies).

The aesthetics of this strappy heel might not be your cup of tea, but don’t rule it out completely. It’s a flop proof, classic strappy sandal that will do the trick in a pinch, especially if you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on shoes and need something basic. Give this sandal a go if you’re after a strappy heel for an upcoming wedding, or formal function. It will look equally fab with a suit or pair of jeans.

The “Empire” sandal comes in a few extra colours and black, retailing from $59.95 to $69.95. Paint those toes to make this sandal pop.

On Saturday afternoon our hosting provider had a technical problem that impacted YLF and many other websites. Not only was the blog and forum unreachable, but our email server was also down. For the first time in almost 3 years, youlookfab.com was completely dark for longer than a day. What made this even more frustrating was the fact that there was no way for us to provide an error message to explain the outage.

After many anxious hours, the issue was resolved and full functionality is restored with no data loss. There may still be hiccups, so if you do experience bad performance, please use the contact form to let us know.

We apologize for the outage. Our provider, Media Temple, is recognized as being one of the best in the industry, so this should be a rare occurrence. If the site is down in future you can use our gmail mailbox to get in touch with us. Our gmail username is “ylfsupport”. Just append “@gmail.com” to the end of that to get our email address.

Thanks for your patience and/or your passion for YLF.

Today we have uber stylish Mum, writer and forum member Laura reporting on how my original Mum-on-the-go outfits worked for her. Laura will do three posts on this topic and I’m excited to hear what she has to say.

As the working mother of two young sons, I have a true confession: As much as I love YLF, I was skeptical about Angie’s flop-proof outfits for “mom on the go.” (outfit 1, outfit 2, and outfit 3). The prospect of so much wardrobe change left me bewildered. Wear dresses during the day? Try skinny jeans and their warm-weather counterpart, clamdiggers? I hadn’t worn skinnies since the 80s! And casual skirts? Skirts were reserved for dressing up, in my world. My “mom” uniform consisted of boots, jeans (and yes, corduroys!) and sweaters. In warm weather, that was translated into sandals, lightweight cargo pants (often with pockets in the most unflattering locations) and t-shirts. No button-downs. No scarves. Other than wearing a cami under a sweater, I did no layering, period.

Since then, I’ve road tested a slew of Angie-recommended casual and smart casual outfits to see how they worked in real life. Moms are notoriously hard on their clothes (think toddlers smearing smashed banana on your premium denim) and notoriously discerning about their budgets. My sons’ need for new jeans usually trumps mine, since my jeans rarely get actual holes in the knees or become three inches too short overnight. As a writer, I work from home or from whatever cafe will have me (thank you, Starbucks!), so mom-on-the-go clothes are the bulk of my wardrobe. Sometimes I dress up to meet a client, but the majority of my clothes are smart-casual and casual. My clothes need to work hard, be comfortable, and fit into my family’s budget. The ensembles must be appropriate and stylish. A tall order!

Six months later, you can imagine that I am as surprised as anyone to admit that Angie’s flop-proof formulas covered my most demanding “momwear” requirements, and then some. Best of all, I feel better about myself in these ensembles than I did in my boots-jeans-sweater uniform. I’ve learned how to dress my outfits up or down a notch to fit whatever my day demands (one tip: if you want to make an outfit instantly more casual, add a pair of hoop earrings and/or a piece in denim, if you aren’t already wearing jeans). I am now a mom-on-the-go-flop-proof-outfit believer!

In the first of a three-part series, I’ll feature the best of the best. These are the outfits that have taken me from school parties, to coffee with friends, to working and running errands, and to the playground or play dates.

The most worn ensemble in my wardrobe for winter, hands down, has been this one: Tall boots + jeans (if jeans are skinnies, tucked into boots) + girly blouse or graphic t-shirt + cardigan or jacket + tote bag. Wearing boots over jeans is not for everyone and might not be for you, but it works well for me and was especially practical for our snowy Chicago winters.

This ensemble has taken me everywhere in my daily routine, with style, and feeling completely appropriate. And it’s an ideal transitional outfit, as boots are still practical here until at least mid-April, and I can easily pop a trenchcoat over the outfit, or leave off outerwear entirely, as we ease into the first days of spring.

Here’s how I’ll update the formula as Spring officially arrives and temperatures rise: Flats + jeans + girly blouse or graphic T-shirt or tank top + cardi + tote.

In summertime I’ll be swapping jeans for clamdiggers in dark or white denim, and trading my long-sleeved cardi for a short-sleeved, cropped version, or for a vest (check out this post from Angie on the graphic T + vest look).

Don’t worry if the colors in these ensembles aren’t your favorites, or the styles don’t suit you. Simply substitute items that fit your color preferences and body type. For more inspiration, check out some of the fashion-forward moms who post their outfits on the forum, like Patience, Dani, Shiny, and Nicole, or others who aren’t moms, but have the casual look nailed, like Tanya.

Let’s hear from all the stylish mamas out there. What are your favorite go-to ensembles? How can I improve my outfits?

There is a lot I’d like to see changed in the retail world of clothing, footwear and accessories. The area I feel most passionately about is footwear and in a blog entry last week I dreamed about an online shoe store that would achieve style AND comfort by providing shoes that were tailored specifically to my needs.

This generated a lot of great discussion, so I thought it would be interesting to brainstorm other ways that we could change retail. Here are some wild ideas to get us started:

• A chain store that specializes in tops to wear with skirts. That way we’d eliminate the “orphan skirt phenomenon”. I see closets full of beautiful orphan skirts and when I try to match them up with tops in store, it’s always hard to do. A destination “tops for skirts” shop would fly.
• A line of trendy and tasteful tops, bottoms and frocks designed to camouflage a thickening mid-section (muffin top). After fussy feet, getting items to drape stylishly over the mid-section is my next most common challenge with clients. We can’t layer and hide ourselves with tailored jackets all the time because it gets hot and uncomfortable. There has got to be a better design and fabric solution. Raising pant rises is a good, girdling start.
• The distribution of free fliers at cash registers explaining the concept of perfect pant lengths. It’s easily achievable and makes the world of difference to your look. I’d also have fewer apoplexies each day.

I could go on and on listing missed retail opportunities for petites, talls and plus sizes. But the ideas above cover the majority of what I deal with daily so they get priority.

In the spirit of brainstorming, there are no bad ideas! If your fairy godmother could wave her magic wand and make your retail dreams come true, how would you change retail today?