Happy holidays, happy holidays,
While the tinsel keeps blinding
Happy holidays to you.
No, we're not being snarky with the song Bing Crosby helped put on the map. The Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's season is all about celebration, and what is celebration without a little glittery glamour ... especially after all that black and orange?
If you're seeking ways to add some shine to your end-of-year holidays, here are a couple of possible sources.
Caboodles has a new holiday collection of beauty organizers, which come in silver and gold. Caboodles is the company offering a plethora of novelty containers, ranging from about $10 to $40, to help a gal keep her cosmetics, polishes and other beauty items stylishly organized. If you're a mom who packed a Caboodle during your youth in the 1980s, this would be a nice carry-on-the-tradition gift for a daughter or granddaughter. Note: Select pieces from The Caboodles Holiday Collection are available in Target, Ulta and Wal-Mart stores, and online at Ulta.com; not every style is available at each retailer.
And you need something to put in that beauty organizer, right? How about some products from Mac's (Makeup Art Cosmetics) holiday collection? Glittery textures and cameo images adorn the company's specialty compacts this year. Some specifics:
• Heirloom Mix That's the theme name for the holiday color line, "royally rich colour that exudes an aristocratic allure. ... [a] collection of hues that casts the classic cameo in a contemporary, glittering light."
• Keepsakes Face Palettes ($49.50) These are in color-coordinated hues in two palettes, Natural and Smoky. Each kit has three eye shadows, one Iridescent Pressed Powder, a Cream Colour Base and two lipsticks. Glittering compacts in black and cream are accented with a cameo medallion.
• Keepsakes eye-shadow kits ($39.50) Three limited-edition compacts each contain eight coordinated shades in palettes of Smoky, Beige and Plum (Plum had recently sold out online). The mirrored compacts are glittery gray, black and cream, and again, each is accented with a cameo.
• Keepsakes Lip and Eye Bags ($39.50) Coordinated sets bear Lipstick, Lipglass (lip gloss) and Lip Pencil in three color palettes: red, nude and coral (online only). In Extra Dimension Eye Shadow, In Extreme Dimension Lash and Eye Pencil come together in smoky, plum and brown palettes. There's also an Online Exclusive Keepsakes/Coral Lip Bag. For $59.50, get the Silver lip and eye bags at stores only and the Gold lip and eye bags at nordstrom.com.
• Keepsakes Brush Kits ($52.50) in Mineralize, Studio and In Extra Dimension.
• Objects of Affection ($35) These are mini kits filled with gilded versions of Lipglass, Pigment and Glitter in glitterized boxes adorned with a cameo medallion. Choose from Blue, Rose, Beige, Coral, Plum and Red. Mac is sold at Dillard's stores and maccosmetics.com.
Ah, but you still need something to wear, and you're a woman of a certain size, which makes the search a bit more challenging.
I was dazzled by Isabel Toledo's Holiday 2014 collection, exclusively for Lane Bryant (lanebryant.com). These are dresses, skirts and coats, higher-end than the chain store's usual fare, but unforgettable; pieces that look like misses-size-gal fare and in some luxe fabrics. A personal favorite: the Sequin Dress With Sash, available in Madeira Red (stunning!) or black, $208. It's stretchy with deep V-neckline, a high-low hem and satin trim and sash. Oh, and be sure to check out the sassy black-over-nude Lace Peplum Dress, $198.
THE BASICS
Arkansas was recently hit with its own slice of the early, Arctic blast that chased any fuzzy memories of the previous summer out of Americans' eyes. So any of us ladies who hadn't been thinking about buying up some pairs of winter tights are probably seriously considering them now.
Hanes Hosiery introduced a plethora of tights styles for fall 2014 that are not the regular fare. All styles sell from $12-$28 at hanes.com and stores where Hanes is sold.
Plain tights include the Matte Opaque Tight with control top panty; the Seasonless Tight, a "perfect mixture of sheerness and opacity" for year-round, lightweight coverage and also with control-top panty; and the Super Opaque Tight, a control-top pair with "blackout" coverage and control top.
From here it gets fun, with tights whose textures and patterns include ribbing, cable, diamond pattern, pin-dot, pinstripe, animal-print and even plaid.
Leggings include not just a Matte Opaque Legging and a Cotton Legging, but a black Corduroy Legging, an indigo Jean Legging and a Jean Legging With Colorblocking.
I recently tried Hanes' Silk Reflections Luxe Sheer tights along with Silk Reflections Luxe Sheer High Waist tights and Silk Reflections High Waist Blackout tights (with both high-waist-ers having a control top). The tights have a great feel ... smooth and delicate, but substantial enough not to have to worry about ruining them with one wrong poke of the fingernail.
Scale weight-wise, if you're a bit beyond the most generous size range for these tights, which go up to IJ, and carry most of your weight below the waist, there's still a chance for you to get a decent fit ... and some durability. These have impressed me more than the considerably more expensive tights carried by another, more famous shapewear brand whose size range for hosiery is much larger. The Silk Reflections non-high-waisted Luxe Sheer tights may ride a little low on the bottom-heavy woman's "bum," as the British say, but a bodyshaper should help hold it comfortably in place.
Modern heirlooms
The wares of Lydia Frank, a jewelry designer from Memphis, are now being carried at B. Barnett in Little Rock.
Frank's Pindi House Collection (pindihouse.com) combines antiques and vintage treasures with a contemporary style to create one-of-a-kind handmade pieces featuring repurposed Victorian, Edwardian or Art Deco shoe buckles, brooches, and pocket-watch chains and fobs. Oh, you thought you wanted sleek, contemporary jewelry only? Wait until you feast your eyes on items so dazzling, even the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Downton Abbey, PBS-TV) might want to borrow them from anyone owning them. The price range is $50-$350.
Native Memphian Frank, a wife and mother of three, has been creating jewelry since the age of 10. She developed her love for antique and vintage elements while accompanying her mother to antique fairs and estate sales in Tennessee. That love deepened while Frank lived in England at The Pindi House, a Tudor-style dwelling shown on the website. It was throughout her travels in England that Frank found her 19th-century pieces at street fairs and estate auctions.
Got fashion and beauty news? Contact Helaine R. Williams, Dressing Room, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203, or email:
hwilliams@arkansasonline.com
High Profile on 11/23/2014