It makes a big difference to the overall look of an outfit when you wear a white camisole under a white or cream button down, blouse, knitted top or piece of knitwear. It makes your white top look richer, crisper and whiter. The result is a more polished appearance.

I see many women wearing nude or white bras under their white tops and nothing else. Although the color of the bra works, it doesn’t look so fab. White tops are usually more transparent than other colours and the addition of a white cami gives the top the appropriate coverage and extra visual interest.

I’m all for creating contrast, but I don’t fancy the look of other colours under white. It never looks quite as magical as the crisp, clean impact of white on white.

Wallets should be stylish accessories just like specs and watches. It’s great when they reflect our fashion persona because we whip them out many times a day. They are also an extremely functional accessory that carries things of great value to us. All the more reason to make our wallets a wonderfully visual and sensible choice.

This is what I look for in a wallet:

• A bright colour. This is the first and most important requirement. I have never owned a wallet in a neutral shade. I need to identify my wallet in my handbag in an instant so that I don’t have heart failure. At the moment I’m sporting a tomato red, textured patent wallet that I absolutely love. It makes me smile every time I pull it out.
• A lightweight style. I do not like to carry heavy things in my handbag, so a plain style with little hardware is a must.
• Functional compartments. I need sufficient card compartments for my credit cards, driver’s license and other identity cards. I also need a large coin compartment that’s easily accessible. Unlike many people, I like to carry change and I do use it.
• A small size. I usually like a compact shape (3×4 inches) because I do not carry a cheque book and my wallet must fit into a clutch. However, a dear friend recently gifted me with a larger wallet shape that I would never have previously considered (3.5 x7 inches). But it’s only a quarter of an inch thick, and being so sleek keeps the wallet “small” and efficient. It’s still lightweight and fits into my clutches.

Wallets needn’t be branded, leather or expensive. They can be cheap as chips and just as fab. A client of mine sports a great white cracked patent wallet that she bought at Forever 21. It fetches a compliment each time she takes it out. But if you’d prefer to buy an expensive wallet that will see you through for 5-10 years than that’s great too.

I see loads of sad, boring looking wallets that are overly stuffed and completely dysfunctional with broken zips, torn corners and loose stitching. Retire those poor wallets and opt for a better wallet system. I’m willing to bet that it will make a difference to your day.

An assortment of fun and practical wallets. I am currently using the red Lodis on the top left. Thank you Lori for making me try something new. I love my red wallet.

I was given a beautiful white ceramic Michele watch for my birthday a few months ago. I could wear a black dustbin bag with my new white watch and still feel fabulous. That’s how much I love this statement piece.

As I was hastily putting on my watch yesterday morning, I fumbled with slick hand-creamed fingers and it fell hard onto the tiled bathroom floor. The ceramic strap shattered into a hundred pieces. I felt ill at the sight of my smashed watch on the floor. I wondered whether I’d be able to get a new strap, or whether it could be fixed at all. I could scarcely believe what had happened.

I gathered the pieces and went immediately to the Nordstrom watch counter where the watch had been purchased. I told the sales attendant that I had a watch crises and explained how I had clumsily dropped my watch. I asked whether there was anything they could do and went on further to say that I would need my watch back by Wednesday because I was going on a trip on Thursday. I knew that I was pushing my luck.

The sales attendant replied: “Oh! I’m so sorry! Please don’t worry. If we can’t get you fixed up with a new ceramic strap by Wednesday, we’ll give you a brand new watch today”.

I gasped. “Really? Nordstrom would do that? But I dropped the watch.”

“Of course we’ll do that”, she said. “We want you to have your watch on your trip.”

I was speechless.

It turned out that my watch would take six weeks to fix, so I was wearing a brand new Michele watch a few hours later. I thanked the sales assistant profusely and she said: “Sure! I’m glad you’re happy. That’s a great watch and you should not be without it”.

This must be the best customer service in the world. I can’t imagine it happening in any other retail store. There would be little empathy and certainly NO replacement. I’ve been a loyal Nordstrom shopper for a long time, but this experience takes my loyalty to a new level. Thank you, Nordies.

Do you have a great customer service story to share?

As you have probably noticed, we’ve made some small changes to the site. First, Lisa Henderling updated my look to reflect current reality. Cropped hair, new specs and my typical uniform of skinnies, a girly woven top, tailored jacket and chunky pearl necklace. Even Jasmine and Rosie had a collar change. And although I’m wearing my red patent Kate Spade heels, I’m kind to my feet when I walk our girls. I’m either in flats or Converse for sure. We let Lisa have artistic license on this one.

Second, we’ve added some functionality to the forum.

• Profile links: Wherever they appear, the names of forum members now link to their profile page. Here you can find information about the member (whatever they choose to include in their profile) and see a list of their recent posts.
• Online members: The list of members currently online is displayed in the forum sidebar. These are also linked to the member profiles.

We love the sense of community in the forum, and we hope that making the profiles more accessible will allow members to learn a bit more about each other. It is very easy to add more information to your profile: just click “edit” alongside “Your Profile” in the forum sidebar.

As always, let us know if you have any comments or notice any bugs.