Monday, April 11, 2011

Highs and lows of the budget debate

So it turns out that we won't be writing this week about what our elected officials wear in a government shutdown after all. Here's what Senator Claire McCaskill and Rep. Marsha Blackburn were wearing on CNN on Friday night:

These women have opposite challenges: McCaskill's neckline is a bit too high and Blackburn's is a bit too low.

For McCaskill, we can see readily where her neckline should be - right along where her necklace is. The fact that her necklace does sit there helps this look, but it would be better if we didn't have that extra sliver of white above it, hiding the lower part of her neck.

For Blackburn, her neckline isn't so low that we're seeing cleavage (thankfully) but it's still not at the optimal point. For the shape of her face, she would be well served by a neckline that's 1.5 to 2 inches higher. Sometimes a camisole is a very simple way to achieve this, and that might have worked here.

2 comments:

  1. I've heard you mention the shape of her face/neckline issue before. Do you have a general set of guidelines? i.e., given my face shape (which, honestly, I'm not even sure about - and definitely depends on whether I've gained or lost weight!), what neckline should I wear?

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  2. An excellent question, with a complicated answer! My philosophy is that "general guidelines" often don't work, not so much because there is no right answer, but rather because it's hard for us to evaluate ourselves. There are good and not so good neckline shapes for each face, but when you read a magazine article that says "people with oval faces should wear this" it's hard to know if your face is really "oval," or what they mean by "oval." And it's also not just about shape, it's about proportion too, which is where the balance points come in.

    The best way to get good advice is to get personalized advice. This is why necklines are one of the first things I work on in a new Style Consultation session.

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