Eternally Sassy Style

Still waiting on summer like weather to wear this!

In the meantime, I am pulling together some HOT styles that are comfortable and stylish. This shirt and white T-shirt is simple yet chic by adding a stand out gold bag sandals with gold details and a gold necklace that ties it all together H2T

• Skirt- Twik Simons
• T-shirt- Winners
• Bag- Ralph Lauren
• Sandals- Michael Kors

Two weeks away from my first vacation since the pandemic, and I couldn’t be more excited!! Showcasing some awesome luxe I’ve pulled together for the vacation. This trip will be more casual in nature as were taking my 14-year-old and my 23-year-old stepson. Well we’ll have snice dinners out, but minimal opportunity for nightclubs.

Check out this cute look for a night out!

Check out all these great looks for Easter 🐰 I’ve got long sleeve, short sleeved, with heels and even boots! What are you wearing this weekend?

Dress up! We spent two years wearing sweatpants, it’s time to celebrate life, so put on a party dress, grab your lipstick and connect with your family and friends.

A great childhood memory for me was the joy of putting on a new dress for Easter with ruffle socks and white patent Mary Janes. I felt beautiful as I twirled around in my dress. What fun! I still feel that way when an outfit comes together.

This Easter, after a couple crappy lock down years of peering through a door at loved ones to celebrate, 😒 it looks like we will be finally gathering and celebrating together! We are headed to church and brunch after. What to wear?

A dress, of course! I’ve got a few I have been stock piling over the last 2 years, never worn, tags still one, it’s now time to shine! I will showcase a series of Easter outfits this week. Here’s look 1. I love the look of long sleeve dress in the spring, I am always cold, so this gives me a little bit of extra coverage to keep me warm. This is paired simply with kitten heels and a classic bag. I would throw a trenchcoat over top, and good to go!

I have a secret weapon in meetings- style. More specifically the confidence I get from a well thought out outfit and how I am perceived without saying a word. I see clothes as an opportunity to connect with people and increase communication. Your appearance and body language represent 60-80% of your communication- also it’s not so much what you say, it how you make people feel while you say it and what your body language conveys. This is powerful- you can put people at ease, increase trust, increase openness all by wearing the right outfit during a meeting.

The key- know your audience. I work in National Sales and connect with a wide range of people each day, with zoom calls business attire has gone by the wayside but as things open up and we connect face to face again, it’s time to SHINE! Dress to impress!

Meeting with a CEO? Dress for that level- depending on sector, match their level of formality. Meeting with marketing? Let your creativity shine with a quirky piece- they will appreciate the artistic nuances of your outfit. And an event with staff? Depends on activity but usually more casual. Look polished from H2T- hair done, makeup, accessories, nails groomed and quality bags/coats. This all works in synergy with your outfit. And as an added bonus, when you put energy into looking polished it increases your self-esteem and confidence and you will be able to command a more powerful presence in meetings which leads to deeper trust and confidence in your abilities. Try it next meeting, you won’t regret it!

• Shirt- #monteneau
• Pants-
• Bag- #coach
• Shoes- #amazonfashion

The shift to everyday casual began long before pandemic lockdowns, but was really amplified the last 2 years a full shift from business casual to very casual. Working from home has changed us in many ways especially how we dress each day.

Most days I am in a nicer top and leggings. To be fair, I work for CPG company, that is already very casual and I can wear more liberal interpretations of business casual. So if I am heading out for a lunch with customers and their staff I don’t want to look to corporate or stuffy here’s a casual look that is perfect for spring (once the snow melts).

• Jacket- #Levis
• Black body suit-
• Skirt- #shein
• Bag- #marcjacobs
• Shoes- #splendid
• Hat- #h&m

Old. What a powerful word. It evokes and interesting response in people when you talk about what being “old” means. Literally every human is aging- every second of every day, we are incrementally older. Ageing is a constant in everyone’s life, and you would think it should create comfort in that predictably. It is often a fearful process that many try to stop, erase or change.

First of all, what is old? Depends who you ask and their age at that time. Of course, the younger you are- more likely you perceive bring old at a different timeline than someone who is older. Millennials perceive old age as 60’s. GenX- 70’s and Boomers- 80’s. No surprise there, it’s a sliding scale and perspective that determines reality.

Why the fear of aging? For some, it’s frightening, beyond the vanity- fear of illness, pain, loneliness, and mortality. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Positive aging is defined as “How we choose to define, view, and accept the changes is crucial to our ability to “age gracefully.” Positive aging allows us to weather the expected and unexpected changes we experience.” According to https://positivepsychology.com/

Many cultures around the world revere and value to wisdom of elders. They are highly respected and valuable to society. Culturally in North American we are predisposed to value youth and beauty more than the life experience.

We, in particular women, are conditioned to be obsessed with youth- looking effortlessly young forever yet penalized and judged for your vanity if you try to hard to look young or get any cosmetic surgery or enhancements. Or penalized and judged for “letting yourself go” if your hair has grown naturally grey, forgoing treatments and embracing your lines and wrinkles, you are perceived as giving up and being haggard and tired. So you are damned if you do, dammed if you don’t. We are all ageing everyday, nothing can stop the hands of time..except the alternative to life, death. Whoa, that got dark.

Moving on. Let’s take a look at what is aging? “Aging is a gradual, continuous process of natural change that begins in early adulthood. During early middle age, many bodily functions begin to gradually decline.” Aging has far reaching implications on our physical abilities as well, that also effect us psychologically. We can’t do the things we could in our youth- dexterity and flexibility changes, bones become more brittle, daily aches/pains. New lines show up on our faces because of drier skin and environmental factors, we need reading glasses, hearing starts to go, grey hair that’s thinner and more brittle. We shrink. And yet our noses and ears still continue to grow-what? Why??? Who knows. None of it sounds that appealing.

Point being- these are things happening to all our bodies in all due time and it harms our self esteem especially in a youth=beauty culture. So what can we do? Relent to the ravages of time? Fight back calling every plastic surgeon in town? Or simply accept and mitigate what we can to look and feel our best?

If you have been following me for sometime I bet you can guess my approach…I am accepting of the changes not fearful of the different stages in life yet I want to look and feel good everyday! I found this article- HTTPS://bestlifeonline.com/look-younger-after-40/ offers great tips for over 40!

Here’s what I do to age gracefully and look my best on the outside:

• Update Wardrobe -2x year- go through your closet and create two piles keep and toss, and analyze every single item. If it doesn’t fit, is more than three years old and you haven’t worn it (exceptions are vintage or keepsakes), damaged beyond repair, and does not make you feel great when wearing- TOSS. You can consign, donate or say toss if irreparable. Now in your KEEP pile- create new combinations for outfits, make note of any items missing or that you need. Sprinkle in a few trendy items if the season (SS22 top trends- Y2K, big bags, fringe/feathers, platforms, bold colour, suits) and add a few trendy pieces to keep you looking fresh and current.
• Skin- moisturize like crazy! I love to look tanned. I know, I know- I still love the look. Now it mostly comes out of bottle! I spent most of my youth in the sun or even worse in tanning beds. Now as I approach 50, a few sunspots are starting to crop up and the damage I did is rearing it’s ugly head! But there’s lots of topical products to help skin look supple and smooth- dry oils, shimmer lotions, body makeup. I use spray tanning oil for my face and décolletage- in the winter and I use it 2x’s a week. In spring/summer I do full body 1x week. Faux glow all the way!! I use Bronze Tan Facial Tanning Water and St Tropez for full body application.
• Face- Thanks to decent genetics, a very oily complexion and a medium/ light olive skin I do not have a lot of wrinkles. I have some fine lines around eyes, very minor crows feet and minimal lines on rest of face. I am leery of injectable’s- in particular filler. It frightens me to drastically alter my appearance. Now I know, it’s all about the injector and how much they use. But its a slippery slope snd one I don’t wish to slide down. I reserve the right to change my mind! For now, I will forgo. If you are brave enough and use filler, and love it- that’s great! Happy for you! My daily/weekly skincare routine is robust- I will do a separate post on that.
• Hair- it took years to recover my hair from decade of bleaching, I used to be very blonde. During my pregnancy with Dominic, I got my hair back to healthy by switching back to brunette, cutting it shorter to grow it out, washing once a week, less heat, lots of masques, using professional product. As I turned 40, there was significant greys, thinning and texture changes. I colour my own roots every 3 weeks, I use Igora, professional products. I get balayage once sometimes twice a year as that’s all my hair can take. I get trims every 2-3 months. I also use halo extensions when I want extra volume when going out- I get mine from Amazon.

Tomorrow we will talk about the internal ways to age gracefully.

St. Patrick’s Day ☘️ is here! Cheers to all things Irish- Guinness, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Irish Coffee….yummm! Honestly, it’s been over a decade or more since I have been to a St Paddy’s Day party, such fun! I used to go from the office to the pub around 2 pm. If you have the luck of the Irish to go to a pub or party today, what to wear?

Clearly the colour GREEN is a given. Traditional Kelley green is standard but if you prefer to go more low key than being decked out in a leprechaun gear, top hat, suspenders, and carrying a pot of gold, try something like this olive green shirt with jeans combo.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love a ruched top, v-neck, and a puffed sleeve? Boom 💥 this one has ALL THREE! Why do I love these elements= ultra figure flattering. The central ruched line draws eye to centre of body, the pleats blur any imperfections. A v-neck is the most universally flattering style as showing your neckline aka Décolletage, brings light to the face appearing more youthful. Try a gold necklace with it. And a puffed sleeve, how very Anne of Green Gables of me. I too adore a puff on my sleeve. This balances out broader hips for a more symmetrical look. Remember beauty is perceived by the human eye as symmetry 😉 Happy St. Paddy’s Day 🌈☘️

• Shirt- #forgottengrace Nordstrom Rack- Medium
• Jeans- #Abercrombie Curve Mom Jean- size 28
• Belt-#Kendall&Kylie Nordstrom Rack- size medium
• Blazer- #rachelzoe Winners- size Medium
• Bag- #calvinklein The Bay
• Shoes- #katespade Kate Spade size 6.5

I know, I know – bright colours for spring…ground breaking. But colour is back! The last 2 years have been…in a word, awful, for everyone. I feel the weight of the pandemic lifting and more optimism in general.

From a fashion perspective you will see a sense of optimism reflected in current trends- being playful and fun bold colour palettes. Top colour trends-

• Fuschia/hot pink
• Yellow- mellow to bright
• Bright Reds
• Kelley and Neon Green
• Periwinkles and Sky Blue
• And still going strong caramels/nudes

Here’s the thing about trends- the older I get the more selective I am in wearing trends. Some are just a hard no, especially if it is unflattering to my mid-size. hourglass shape (hello low rise jeans!) or if it’s a trend I have worn in my youth (literally all of 90’s and Y2K trends). I like to look fresh and contemporary but not a slave to overtly trendy looks. Why? Adopting every trend often you wind up looking like you are trying to hard to look young and it has the opposite effect and actually ages you. I like to sprinkle a trend into my wardrobe instead of head to toe

All that said, my top 3 favourite colours trends are pinks, yellows and greens. Here’s a few examples from runway and how I incorporate it into my existing wardrobe.

GREEN

YELLOW

FUCHSIA/HOT PINK

Today is International Women’s Day. A day of celebration got how far we have come and a time to reflect on how much there still is to do. The glass ceiling still exists though there are some serious cracks in it. There’s still work to be done.

Admittedly, I am one of the lucky ones who works in a very liberal, aware, and progressive industry where there is plenty of representation of women in our executive management and middle-management.

Like it or not- as women, we are still judged on appearance, and it’s a razors edge we have to walk. I work in a customer facing role, as a National Account Manager, I am judged on my appearance every day. In the work from home world being more casual in nature, I am conscious about being presentable- it’s a sign of respect for myself and my customers. As restrictions continue to lift, there will be more times when I am meeting customers face to face and need to goal is to look pulled together and polished.

Ever heard of dressing got the job you want, not the one you have? Perception is a powerful thing, and dressing for success is an effective way to evoke your internal power. Business attire has shifted to more business casual everyday but there is something to be said about more formality on occasion.

This is very basic office attire- worn with or without a blazer. Blouse, black pants, and pumps. You might be thinking- “Big deal Cass” but what makes it pop are the details. The puffed, ruched sleeve of the blouse, the paper bag waist, and the Mary Jane pumps with bow detail. Also, this mustard yellow top looks great on brunettes.

When I’m preparing for bigger meetings I love finding outfits that give me a sense of power. Outfits that make me feel great, that stoke my confidence. So feeling less than powerful today? Trust me grab a blouse, nice pants and throw on a pair of heels…you will feel better immediately.