Are wrinkles really a sin?

A few days ago I woke up, got dressed and ready for work like any other day. I was feeling pretty good this particular day, until my wife saw what I was wearing. It's cold in Massachusetts, so I thought it would be a great idea to wear a sweater over my dress shirt, wrinkled or not. I didn't even notice the wrinkles, until they were pointed out to me. If I didn't notice them, would anyone at work? I believe the exact words out of my wife's mouth were "I'm not suggesting you don't wear that sweater, I'm telling you...you cannot wear that! You look ridiculous!".

To her chagrin, I ignored the friendly advice and went to work anyways. No one said a word about it at work, and when I returned home that night, I told a little white lie that I was complimented at work on my sweater. She immediately saw through me so I fessed up that there were no compliments that day. But it made me wonder, do people really care if their clothing is wrinkled? Is it just that women are more offended by it than men? Let's face it, everyone has some wrinkles, but I guess sometimes there is a line that is crossed. I'm sure I crossed that line this week and hopefully my coworkers will forgive me.

What's In Your Bag?

Don't you just love a good bag, handbag that is? There's always so many styles and colors to choose from when shopping around for one. I can't get enough of them when I'm in a store, looking at a catalog or even on line. It's like a piece of chocolate calling my name out loud every time I look at one. I've practically run out of closet space to store all those seasonal bags, just for fun bags, it was on sale bag, couldn't live without bag, had to have one in that color too bag and let's not forget those designer look-a-likes we all know and love! What's a girl to do? It's not easy passing up all these great deals today and the quality bags you can now buy are just awesome for the price! At least that's how I justify my next splurge on a handbag, even though all true. It's doesn't get any easier either when I look at my Chadwicks catalog or on line and see all the great handbags being offered. It's a tough job but someone's got to do their part in this rough economy and buy a few good bags, right girls? Why not check out some of the Chadwicks handbags and treat yourself to a special holiday surprise or buy an extra one for gift giving. You simply can't go wrong with a great Chadwicks handbag this holiday season. That's what's in my bag!

Chadwicks featured on Good Morning America

Chadwicks was featured December 2^nd on Good Morning America when GMA and Glamour teamed up to do a segment called “Get Your Holiday Dresses for Less”. Our Sculpture Dress (originally $49.99 now $24.99!) was featured as a great alternative for the little black dress. Although this dress does come in black, GMA featured it in Forest Green. To view the video and article click here. To buy this dress click here.

Taking Better Care

Well, I’ve done it again. I sometimes try to do things the easiest and cheapest way and guess what— it just doesn’t work out the way I planned. Here’s the latest mistake that I made in the name of trying to out think the manufacturers that make the clothes.

I bought a down jacket that I was quite pleased with, especially cause I got it at such a great price. And all went well until it was time to get it cleaned. I looked at the tag and it said dry clean. Well, all of the other down jackets that I have ever bought were machine washable in a front loader and then dryable in the dryer. Why would I want to spend $$$$ on an expensive dry cleaning bill if I could do it just as easily in a regular washer?

The answer to that became apparent when I took the jacket out of the dryer. Did I mention that it had a cute faux-fur trimmed hood, emphasis on the word had. Apparently, the heat of the dryer is not a good thing to subject faux-fur to. What used to be long, flowing strands of faux fur, now resembled some kind of faux animal with a really bad perm. I did try to wet down the jacket again in a vain attempt to get the hood to go back to normal, but it stayed just as cooked and melted together as ever! I guess things might not have gone so badly if I had unzipped the hood and washed it by hand but I guess you live and learn.

So, now I have a good-looking jacket with a really bad-looking hood. And I’m ashamed to admit that it’s not the first item that I’ve destroyed in the washer, but more often in the dryer. You’d think I’d know better than to experiment with clothing care since I work with clothing; we actually have a testing specialist that works with the vendors to determine the best way to care for your clothes. And they know what they are talking about, so the next time I get a bright idea about how to wash/dry something that isn’t washable/dryable, I hope someone will stage an intervention on me and force me to read (and follow) the instructions on the tag.

Well, the bright side of all this is that I feel better about having my eye on a new jacket that’s in our catalog. And now I feel like I can buy it without feeling guilty. But, I would feel better about the whole experience if I knew I had company (misery does love company, you know) with an unfortunate washday experience. What have you done to mistreat your clothes lately?

AEL

Nude Lips

So, I have been admiring all of these famous celebrities with their gorgeous make-up and wondering how I could look like that without having 5 make-up artists touching up my make-up 3 times a day! My first step was to go to the web and see what I could find on make-up tutorials, and I found some really great stuff! YouTube offers a wide variety of eye make-up applications showing you how to have smoky eyes like Kim Kardashian or a more elegant look like Taylor Swift! It is really helpful and it gives step by step instructions to get the look you have always dreamed of! My latest tip was the nude lips that all the big celebrities are sporting these days. You basically white out your lips to have no color then put a gloss over them. It looks great with a dark and drastic eye make-up allowing all the focus to be on your eyes and not your lips. Simply use a concealer on your lips (not too much, making you look lipless), and then apply a shiny clear lip gloss. I tried it out last week and got so many compliments!!

by CoCo