I'm out the door, but I love this thread and had to post, and while I may be too new to teach anything, I could teach "How to Have Fun With Fashion at Any Age" and "Copy Cats are Cool: Learn from Your Friends and Shop Your Closet!"

Classes I'd take are working with scarves, makeup for my color, and how to spot Angie's finds and be on the leading edge of fashion (like her beautiful holiday dress, the cute polka dot bag, etc.).

While I've never been on a cruise and would love a walking European tour with a city bike tour thrown in, a cruise or any gathering with YLF friends and classes would be the absolute best time ever! Count me in as a teacher and student!

Love this thread!! I could teach a class on "how to make a very large bust look (relatively) proportionate.". Also, something on the relationship between style and feminism.

Classes I would love to take: breaking out of ruts/comfort zone, wardrobe remixing, and how to exercise the willpower to pass on "almost right" items.

LOVE this thread! A goldmine of quick tips!

I think my classes would be:

"De-Frumping the Very Casual Dress Code"
- Creating "frame markers" within relaxed pieces prevents your shape from being obscured.
- A touch of luxe (beautiful bags, shoes, etc.) keeps the look intentional instead of sloppy.
- Statement pieces (detailed jackets, boots, jewelry, etc.) add interest to casual basics.

and, of course...

"Advanced Thrift: Shopping the Shadow Economy"
- Swap meets, ebay, garage sales, Craigslist, clothing swaps and other "non-retail" venues are a gold mine of cheap thrills.
- Never ooh and ahh at an item before asking for the price - this will hurt your haggling position.
- Always carry a measuring tape and spot stain removing pen.

Also, I would be beyond thrilled to join a YLF conference, BUT I will sadly never, ever go on a cruise. I have a terrible phobia of the open sea.

Natalie, you always start such great threads!

I'd like to take a class on intermediate clothing alteration, dress/pattern making.
Too many items that I've fiddled with end up in the donate pile because I can't do *perfect* alterations.

I could teach a class on how not to purge you wardrobe whilst sick, feverish and under the influence of cold medicine, throwing out your one pair of comfy yoga pants and warm fleece jacket leaving you to lounge about in skin tight (but oh so figure flattering) skinny jeans and new bras that raise your bustline several inches when you are bloated, PMSing and your son has football players over at the house until midnight so you don't feel comfortable getting into your PJs. Just sayin'.

Claire, sign me up for your class!

I would totally go on the YLF cruise!

Oh no, Una! Did you purge your ugly loungewear too? I'm so sorry if I led you astray!

I did! Now all I have is the uber-pricy Prairie Underground hoodie, and I'll have to be nude when it's being washed. :-0

I think you and Patty should teach a class on writing hilarious posts.

This is a great thread! I'd sign up for all of these classes.

Every cruise has a top comedian on its billing. Claire, you're it for making me LOL!

I would love to learn how to accessorise properly. Why do certain jewellery, scarves, shoes, bags etc go while others don't? And finally the magical skill some people seem to have of pulling something really ugly off the hanger and having it transform into a thing of beauty on them. How do I know what items have this potential?

Claire, recently I was thinking of writing a "how to alter clothes" article pitched to frugal fashionistas, and then I thought again - I'd much rather make something from scratch than to alter most things, it's just so fussy and a total pain.

I'd love to have more content on YLF about plus sizes, so I suppose I could teach a course on that... not that I'm the expert, but I have been doing it for a while.

I just thought of one I'd seriously teach! A course on perfume, and how to love it when you've hated it all your life; houses and noses; reformulations and why perfume should be treated like wine; and why a signature scent family might work better for you than a signature scent (hint: it stops you from being overexposed to one perfume and ending up with a visceral hatred of it!)!

Amen, Fruitful! Love the last one - learned that the hard way!

Fruitful, whenever you feel like starting a course, I'll sign up straight away.

This...

This is brilliant.

velvetychocolate said:

I wouldn't call this 'expertise', but rather...experience. I would teach YLF that it is 100% possible to heal from the outside in, rather than expecting or waiting around to fix up your thinking first, or have your feelings change all by themselves.