I’m a tad upset that no designers invited me to their Fashion Week fashion shows.  I’m a bit peeved that all the fashion publicists resisted sending an invitation to their shows.  I’m  feeling a little jilted that no one called me last minute to save a prime runway seat for me.

Tom, Diane, Vera, and all the rest, why didn’t you realize that you (or your publicist) left my name off your list?  I know you aren’t focused on designing great clothes for baby boomer women like me, but let me tell YOU that WE are the majority not the minority.  You should really cater more to baby boomer women.

That’s okay, I can’t think that far ahead anyway.  Spring 2011 is not on my fashion calendar right now.  Spring 2011 is more than seven months away.  It’s time to do some Autumn shopping.   And now that I’ve completed my ‘fashion fitness for Fall 2010,’ reading the September issues of Vogue, InStyle, More, and T–New York Times Women’s Fall Fashion magazines, I’m here to give my take on some of the Fall trends.

After lifting and turning more than 2000 pages of style advice these past few weeks. I’m exhausted and I haven’t even done too much Fall shopping yet.  (Ooh, I forgot, I did go to Nordstroms’ pre-sale. Does a pre-sale count?  Ooh, and I did just go buy five, yes, five pairs of shoes at Lord & Taylor this past weekend. But, they were having a sale and if I bought at least three pairs of shoes I received 30% off each pair.  And since it was truly amazing for me to find five pairs of shoes that fit me…I just had to buy all five.  I’m soooooo glad that kitten heels and ballerina flats are in style this season.  I bought two of the same pairs of shoes in two different colors = four pairs of shoes plus the one pair of brown shoes that I originally needed.  Am I becoming a shoe-a-holic??? I never bought this many pairs of shoes when I was in my 20’s, 30’s, or 40’s.)

Enough about shoes.  Now for my take on some of the other Fall trends.  I can tell you that I don’t have too much positive news to share.  I didn’t fall in love with many of the Fall fashions.  According to Instyle magazine’s reader poll, the top trends are:

– Painterly prints. (I did like prints on some of the dresses I saw in the mags.  But, since I am shrinking, I’ll have to keep my prints to a petite size.)

– Extreme nail art. (Not for me. No crazy colors on my nails.  At my age, I need to keep my nails simple.)

– Beehives and back-combing. (I think I’ll keep my short, pixie cut.  Wonder if I can put a fake beehive on my head for Halloween?)

– Red and purple lips. (Perhaps I’ll try the red lips.  Purple is my favorite color…but, no purple lips for me this Fall. I’d rather have a purple skirt or a purple dress.)

– Minimalism vs. Volume. (I prefer the pared down look for my petite figure. I do like camel colors and I now wear black too, as long as I accent it with one of my preferred colors. However, I think I’ll pass on the volume.  I don’t want to go back to the 1950s shaped clothing.)

– Bold, bright hues for makeup. (Bold and bright colors are not flattering with my wrinkles.  I need to keep a matte finish on my eyes and face.)

– Thigh, high-heeled boots. (I did look at some of these boots during the shoe sale this past weekend.  Nope, not for me.  I think some of these boots would hit my waist.  I am only 5′-2-1/2″ tall now.  I’m shrinking…remember?)

– Military fashion dominates. (Okay, I like olive green.  It is one of the colors in my Color Me Beautiful color pallette.  (I had my colors done more than 20 years ago and I still carry the pallette with me when I shop.  I like the colors and agree with the CMB professional’s recommendations.)

– Gray, rich gem tones, and black-on-black are all trendy colors for Fall. (No gray for me, it’s not in my pallette.  Ooh, ooh, I love rich gems, especially purple amethyst crystals. Did I ever tell you that I read that amethyst crystals are said to help a person “overcome anger, hate and fear, heighten emotional strength, boost energy, help insomnia, bring meaningful dreams, enhance creativity, knowledge and wisdom and bring contentment?  So glad I bought those purple suede shoes with gems on top – I knew I felt better when I was wearing them last week.  Okay, I forgot, these shoes are also new.  That’s right – I bought them during the pre-sale. Now I have six pairs of new shoes for Fall.  I am a shoe-a-holic!!!)

Now that I have all these shoes, I’ll definitely need to go shopping for more clothes to go with them.  According to Vogue, some of the other Fall trends include: tweeds & plaid, rocker girl styles with lots of leopard prints, country weekend sweaters and mitts, and twenties attire. Twenties attire was my favorite – I so want the Dagmar pink velvet dress with the gems on it.

Finally, I was so glad to read the T feature about “New York’s most exotic fashion creatures” – Suzanne Golden, Patricia Fox, Lynn Yaeger, Iris Apfel, and Tziporah Salamon – most of whom are boomer women with incredible style.  Each is unique in her own way, especially Iris Apfel, the elder state woman of the bunch. Iris is 88 years old and quite a fashionista.  I don’t know Iris, but I hope I’m as fashion conscious as she is when I’m in my 80’s. As she says in an article from The Observer:

“You learn as you grow up, if you’re intelligent – or even three-quarter witted – that there’s no free lunch. You pay for things in various ways. Living, loving, everything else is a matter of the same principles: you learn to work with what you have. And there’s nobody today who can’t do something to help herself.”

Iris, you’re absolutely right. I can help myself. 

Autumn begins this Thursday. Is my closet ready for Fall?  Ooh, I better go get last season’s clothes out of summer storage and see what fits.  I think it may be time for a shopping trip.  It’s all part of my “fashion fitness” and trying on clothes makes a great exercise routine.

Judi

P.S. – I’ve decided to donate money to my local Food Bank every time I go clothes shopping.  This way, I will not only look good, but I will also help feed the hungry.  And I’m going to donate my old clothes to GoodWill, so those less fortunate can look good too.