By pajama-esque, I mean styles that have been inspired by traditional pajama silhouettes and prints. They are not meant to be worn as sleepwear, although they look very similar to pajama tops and bottoms. It’s the lack of structure, silky fabrication, piping detail, and overall silhouette that makes these items pajama-esque. 

The fringe trend has been around for a few seasons, although in some cases the solid blouses look like seasonless classics. The pictures here provide an accurate visual of the look. The first model is wearing pajama-esque items both on the top and bottom, and the rest have incorporated one pajama-esque item into their outfit. 

The vibe reminds me a lot of the early ’90s. I remember wearing soft viscose pull on pants with an untucked matching blouse, patterned from head to toe. It was like wearing a waist surrendering jumpsuit, but one that was a lot more practical in the restroom. 

I liked the vibe then and I like the vibe now, both head to toe and remixed with non-pajama separates. But the bottoms must have tapered hems because I have poison eye for pant styles that are wide around the ankle or a few inches above it. I prefer the patterned versions as opposed to solids, especially when wearing pajama style both on the top and bottom. That said, I’d wear a collared pajama blouse in a solid colour with jeans, belt and pumps. 

I love pajama blouses and can’t believe I don’t have one yet! There is something about these silhouettes that is alluring and pretty. And I don’t mind the elastic waist on this style of bottom, as long as the elastic part is covered, or worn uncovered with hard and structured toppers. 

I think pajama-esque clothing has the potential to be fab, even if it’s just for the novelty of it. But most of my clients would probably vote drab. A handful of them enjoy re-mixing pajama blouses and pants with other separates, but none have ventured into the look from head to toe. Choosing to wear items that look like silky sleepwear generally seems like an off style concept. How on earth can it be fab, most people think. What’s your verdict?

I’m giving the tough rock chick vibe a break with an assortment of pretty tops. Some are great for business casual and relaxed settings, and a few are fab for a fancy night out. 

1. Catherine Malandrino Melody Blouse: I adore the cut of this blouse. Elegantly voluminous with a great amount of structured drape. It’s short, so ideal with a skirt, or blousoned over trousers or jeans. 
2. Maison Scotch Toile de Jouy Shirt: Pretty in pink. A soft shirt that glides off your curves and looks fab half-tucked. 
3. Dolman Sleeve Cardigan (Juniors): More pretty in pink, although white and taupe are other options. The cropped cascading cardigan looks a lot fresher than the longer silhouette to my eye. 
4. Trouvé Cold Shoulder Sweater: Cool, covered and alluring. 
5. Topshop Geometric Lace Blouse: A vintage vibe worn best with modern pieces. 
6. Wildfox London Heart Sweatshirt: Fab Flashdance flashback. 
7. Edista Dash Top: The elusive V-neck! Sweet flutter sleeves and fun back pattern. 
8. Evans Embellished Cold Shoulder Bubble Blouse (Plus): Sultry and comfortable. Perfect over a black pencil skirt. 
9. Sleeveless Drape Front Knit Top (Plus): An easy layering piece for under a jacket, or fab on its own with a pair of shorts. 

I enjoy wearing a soft pretty top as much as wearing a stiff masculine button down shirt. It’s nice to have the option of feeling great in “opposing” silhouettes and mixing things up. How about you? Do you enjoy wearing pretty tops?

Recently LG asked me to participate in a project that showcased how I would use their new smartphone, the LG Optimus G Pro, in my work as a fashion stylist. This was a perfect match because my smartphone is an indispensable part of my workday, and an invaluable tool when I work with my clients. So for about 3 weeks I used the new smartphone exclusively and then we captured how I use it in two short videos. 

Creating an efficient wardrobe is hard because it is not only about individual items, but also the whole collection of items in your closet and how they relate to one another. The smartphone is a tool that my clients and I use to record, collect, compare and share items and outfits throughout the process of closet review, shopping and outfit creation. 

Here are a few specific examples of the pictures we take:

• Existing wardrobe capsules: It’s great to have a flexible shopping list to keep us focused while we shop, but having photos of my clients’ wardrobe capsules on hand is even better. So I snap pictures of the most important capsules during a closet review and refer back to them when we shop. That way we make more informed mixing-and-matching decisions, work within a colour palette, and prevent unnecessary duplications. 
• Items that need to be replaced: These are my clients’ wardrobe workhorses that are worse for wear but cannot be passed on until there’s a replacement. Having a photo of these items on hand keeps them top of mind. 
• Items for reference: I snap photos of items that need to be incorporated into an outfit. For example, if we’re looking for a formal frock, but my client wants to use the shoes she has already, I snap a photo of the shoes and make sure they work with the new frock. 
• Winning items that are put on hold: I cover many brick and mortar stores when shopping with a client. Instead of purchasing potential winning pieces straight away, I snap photos of the items before we put them on hold and move on to the next retailer. That way we have a reference of items we’ve loved that we can remember and compare with other items along the way. 
• Items we need to find elsewhere: I’ll snap photos of items that were not available in the size and colour we wanted so that we can find them online back home. I’ll also snap photos of items that my clients want to stalk until they go on sale. 
• Outfits: My clients usually use their own phones and cameras to document the outfits that we create together. But once in a while, I’ll document the outfits with my phone and send them back to the client. 

Occasionally, I’ll shoot a short video of a client wearing an item she’s fitting on in stores so that she can see it in motion. Seeing an item move can make all the difference and I think I will probably do this more in future. The large screen on the LG Optimus G Pro makes this particularly worthwhile. 

Another thing I noticed is that it takes great close-up pictures, not blurring the shot when I took photos of the inside of a shoe from just inches away.

Beyond taking photos and shooting video, the smartphone is also very useful for browsing online stores while we are shopping in brick and mortar stores. Sometimes for price comparison, but more often to look for sizes, silhouettes and colours that aren’t available. And more and more I find myself referring to things like my Pinterest boards while I’m out with a client.

My gorgeous friend and client Meredith, who you’ve met on YLF before, agreed to let us use one of her sessions to shoot video of the smartphone in action. Meredith is a natural in front of the camera and it’s always a pleasure to work with her. A very big thank you to Nordstrom for allowing us to film in their beautiful flagship store, making Meredith and me feel right at home. Enjoy the video!

If you are using Google Reader to get your YLF fix then you probably know by now that Google is retiring the RSS feed reading service on July 1, less than a week from now! Hopefully you have already found an alternative feed reader, but if not, there is still time to switch. 

One very easy option that will be ideal for a lot of people, but not all, is a service called Feedly. Feedly offers most of the Google Reader features you probably care about, but if you use Internet Explorer or if you use your feed reader from work where the IT department doesn’t allow you to install browser plugins, then it might not work for you (yet). 

Perhaps the biggest advantage of Feedly is the ease with which you can migrate from Google Reader. They have a one-click migration tool that worked like a charm for me.

Feedly started out as a mobile app. So arguably you get the best experience by using their free Android or iOS (iPhone and iPad) app. When the demise of Google Reader was announced, they also started working on a web version for the millions of people that would be looking for something to replace it. If you use Chrome, Safari or Firefox, then this web version will give you all the features you cared about on Google Reader and then some. It has some nice additional features, like more visual feed layout options and ways to register feeds.

One important point is that making the switch to Feedly (or an alternative) will be much easier before July 1. After that there will still be ways to migrate some of your data but it will definitely be less convenient. 

Of course, you also have several other ways to keep up with YLF if you aren’t into RSS feeds.

• Daily updates and newsletters via email: We send daily updates for both the Blog and Finds, and a monthly newsletter. You can subscribe to any combination of these email updates.
• Twitter: Angie sends notifications when she publishes new posts and also tweets some of her thoughts on new trends and what she’s seeing on the street and in stores.
• Facebook: Angie notifies FB readers about new posts on YLF and also posts some thoughts. Often when what she has to say is a little long for Twitter’s 140 character limit.
• Pinterest: Angie keeps boards on street style, trends, outfits, items she loves, and of course, Yorkies.

If you have any questions about Google Reader, Feedly, RSS feeds or any of the other options above, please feel free to ask them in the comments and I will do my best to answer.