Before and After:

Here is another dress makeover to shed weight without a diet! Many of us don't have fringy dresses but we DO own puffy, clingy, less-than-flattering pieces! Trade yours in for a wrap - the summer ones are on clearance now and the fall ones are moving into stores already! A short or 3/4 sleeve wrap dress will take you through seasonal changes and weight fluctuations. The strong diagonal line is slimming, angled gathering can camouflage, and poly's are easy-care and always ready for looking your best without effort!

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT: THE POWER OF PRETTY

I'm a Ghost Whisperer fan.  I admit it.  I was instantly enamored with Jennifer Love Hewitt.  Instantly enamored with her now husband played by David Conrad (and am every single time he walks on set...I've tried, really hard not to be, but alas) and then again, I'm enamored by Camryn Manheim. They are all pretty and lovely... but back to Jennifer.

What is it about her?  What is the draw that put her on the cover of Maxim three times. It's not a perfect figure or a perfect face, but it is the perfect sense of charm.  She just makes you feel good.  Which is the ultimate power of pretty.  To make you want to open her door.  To make you want to send her flowers. To make you want her.  Without appearing to try.

It's loveliness at it's most girl next door.  The girl next door who knows naughty and listens without judgment.  She is, or at least the image we are shown, what I call lovely.  To further the point, she offers young women something to aspire to that raises the bar.  

It is no wonder she was chosen to play the role of "Audrey Hepburn," one of the worlds most recognized ladies of lovliness, because sh e is, or at the very least appears to be, this generations' model of grace, elegance and humanity.

Christopher Hopkins

4 Amazing Beauty Makeovers Four women in need of a little image counseling hit the salon, the makeup counter and—most importantly—the couch. See the transformations of both mind and body »

just for fun:

Sandy's Makeover

Photos: 1978 Paramount, courtesy of MPTVImages.com

MAKEOVER MONDAYS: VISIBLE SLIMMING AND LIFT AT 53

Kayce was a lot of fun.  She was a NYC theater girl who hadn't really found her own style.  We decided to reflect her more dramatic and innovative personal style with clean lines and a touch of drama with a duster.  Given the budget of under 300.00 per outfiit, we were happy to find something that worked for a short waisted, short torso, pear shape size 12.  

I was just at a party recently, where again I was asked what I'd do to a woman who was 56 with hair below her bra strap.  I explained how long hair can drag you down.  It fell, as it usually does, on her boyfriend's deaf ears who could only see length.  (Hands over ears...la la la la la!)  But this is a good illustration of lifting the face when lifting the hair.  Also,  by opening up the neckline, creating a monochromatic head to toe color and widening the legs of the trouser she looks visibly slimmer.  (The tighter the taper the bigger the butt, ya know.)  

Pushing up the sleeve brings the eye up from the hips to the waist.   The long pendent help elongate the torso (Kayce has longer legs to a shorter torso).  We kept the hair dark, but explained she needs to balance the dark with more eyes and brow.    

And of course there is the power of slimming and lift with the new bra and shaperr that lies beneath.  

This entry was written by Christopher

“Fashions fade, style is eternal.”

Yves Saint Laurent

MAKEOVER MONDAYS: BRIGhTENING UP AT 62

Cynthia is 62 in these photos.  She was chosen as one of the AARP Faces of Fifty Plus Model Search.  What I love about this visual is that you can see that with just a few slight tweaks a refreshing difference can be made.  

Now granted it's apples to oranges between a sweater and a summer dress.  But that isn't really the point.  The point is what a few changes of line and proportion can do to enhance.  

Cynthia has a body type I categorize as an I2 :  a rectangular body type (bust waist and hips are proportionately the same) with short legs to a longer torso.  Her big issue being a widening waist and protruding abdomen.  

I chose a raised diagonal waistline (diagonals slenderize and raised waist elongates legs) with a a bit of gathering (camouflaging a tummy).  The dress could have been about an inch or two longer.  

The tulip (or slightly pegged) skirt helps give more shape to the hips.  In other words, if you want to slenderize your hips, tulip or pegged styling is not the most flattering.  But, in this case we wanted to add some curves.  

And, as always, that's a shaper under there.  Some dresses may have enough structure to cinch in your waist, but if you have a thicker waist line a waist cinching undergarment will help create the illusion of a younger midriff.   

Hair was highlighted, curled and brought "UP."  Up and away to lift the face.  Generally bangs are more youthful, but with a shorter forehead it was more flattering to lift the fringe off the face.  

Overall a nice fresh lift.  - Christopher Hopkins

Carol LeAnn

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