According to Ruth La Ferla  of the New York Times

“The profusion of hothouse colors and patterns popping up on New York streets this month suggests a new buoyancy, as women shake off the constraints of a lingering recession and stock up on fashions more lively and vivid than they’ve seen in years.”

Good, and about time. I have no idea why navy and black are such popular colors. Like every other fat woman I know that my edges blur in dark colors, that I can merge with the background and loose a few pounds in visual illusion, and yes there are times when I have, but really is it worth it when the fabulous, exuberant joy of color is there to lift you mood, your day and everything around you? I often wonder how many women use color and aromatherapy in their lives, but stick to boring dark, dull clothes.

The effect of colorful clothes can be startling. Like wearing a jacket in a meeting (it gives you authority – try it if you don’t believe me) some colors have instant effect on those around you. Want to be seen as feminine? Wear pastels, pale pink is best, but lilac and aqua are almost as good. If you want attention – red is easy, suits almost everyone and will grab you every eye in the room. Why does it work? Usually because everyone else is too chicken to wear it.

Blue is a peaceful color – strange given it’s use in military uniforms and green is a way to say ‘I’m different’ combined with whatever version of different you’re looking for. The most interesting colors – the non colors like cream, gray, fawn, beige and taupe can make you look mousy and insignificant or fabulously rich – it’s all down to how you wear them, and what you wear them with. A good outfit uses two colors, a great outfit uses three,  Clowns use more.

But what about the bedroom. Is there a color code there? Nightgowns and robes have more scope that you might imagine from viewing most collections. A great outfit uses three colors. This is fine if you can add a scarf, shoes and a handbag to your basic outfit, but in the bedroom these accessories are just a little out of place.

The best way to get color into your nightwear is to look for prints rather than the cliched  plain colors often available. Silk is a fabulous fabric which dyes beautifully, and hand painted silks are available in a kaleidoscope of colors – there is simply no reason to feel restricted to only one.  Softest cotton is also available in beautiful delicate prints, in both cotton pajamas and a cotton nightgown designed to life your spirits.

So don’t settle for boring – challenge yourself and the fashion industry to give us the colors we need to feel good, to lift our spirits and be ourselves.  Out with the old – in with the new!  Color is king.

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Long sleeved silk nightgown

Is it cold where you are? I can’t believe I’m in Florida. We’ve had some really cold nights recently and this morning I woke up really cold and don’t seem to be able to get warm again. Of course cold is a relative term. Coming from Scotland, I’m well aware that what passes for a disastrously cold day in Florida isn’t much to talk about in terms of cold, no snow for a start. No digging out the car, no skating on the path. Yes, despite my present luxurious circumstances as I blog from pool side, I  once struggled with snow rain and freezing fog, and I suppose in a way, that’s why I’m here. I really don’t like the cold.

There is also the amazing leg of doom. Have I told you about my leg? I don’t want to go into details but it’s not a pretty sight, and as someone pointed out to me the other day, may well be the reason we concentrated on full length nightgowns for quite a while. Anyway the amazing leg of doom doesn’t like the cold either. It aches, a lot, which brings me back to today. Sitting here I am bathed in glorious sunshine, which is great, but still cold. Its the same silly situation you can see in this picture of what we call internally, the ‘Sound of Music‘ nightgown. But look again. What do you see? Long sleeves. A full skirt. What could this mean? You guessed it. This nightgown, like many nightgowns we make, is made from a type of silk, but the great thing about it is that it is warm, warm, warm!

Please don’t rush all at once. I want to get my order into the workroom before you. I’m fed up f being cold. It may not be really cold here in Florida, but it certainly feels like it because our heating isn’t as good as yours. I need a warm nightgown, and come to think of it, a nice warm robe wouldn’t go down too badly either. How about you?

To know more about the nightgown just click on the picture!

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Image via Wikipedia

We’ve been here in the USA now for almost 18 months and finally have our own home. It’s been a big step, the house buying process is quite different to what we’re used to. We completed the purchase and were surprised to have to ask for the keys to our new abode. We were even more surprised when the closing agent said they didn’t have them. Surely we didn’t want to move in immediately? Like many things in the USA, I just don’t ‘get’ the house buying process. Having agreed to  a closing date, why wouldn’t I want to move in? All ended well as our home was new and the builders were able to let us in, but I still think the whole thing was handled in an extraordinarily incompetent manner, but maybe real estate isnt important in the USA?

So we have a home and have had to come to understand the concept of the Home Owners Association. For those not familiar with the notion the HOA is a bunch of people who are allowed to dictate to you what you can do with your own property. This is a concept so foreign to us (British) that we can’t even imagine coping with it. Our new ambition is to own another home far far away from a home owners association. You think I’m over-reacting? You need to get permission to put up a fence, and it has to be one of an approved kind.  That’s actually not too bad, some of the houses we looked at came with Home Owners Associations manuals that were several inches thick and even specififed exactly what type of plant you were allowed to have in your garden. The land of the free? No. At least not here in Florida.

Which for no reason at all that I can think of brings me to interior decoration. One of the great joys of the USA is the huge variety of home decor available at fairly reasonable prices. For years we have enjoyed purchasing museum quality replicas of ancient carvings and statues, these are the ornaments which decorate our home. We have a particularly lovely copy of an ornamented bull which we bought in Crete and a really good copy of the rosetta stone (though sadly a lot smaller than the original) as well as several bits and pieces picked up in our travels around the Mediterranean.  So far we have not ventured into Eastern culture for our home, however the discovery of more than one stunning buddha statue from BigBuddhaStatue.com may change all that. Take a look at their buddha statue video and see what you think. I have a balcony which is just crying out for some bamboo, a Japanese fountain and a Buddha statue, ideal to give me a sense of tranquility when dealing with the complete madness all around.

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