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Wednesday, August 01, 2007

10 GREAT Fashion Websites - shared with permission

I love to snoop ready-to-wear for what's 'new' and 'in' (whether I'd ever wear, much less buy it is another thing!), just for ideas, and the internet has made that SEW MUCH FUN!

My favorite fashion newsletter (free) is that by former model, Diane Pemberton-Sikes called Fashion For Real Women.

Here is a link to her GREAT website where you can read about her amazing fashion e-books...which I can personally attest to are absolutely WONDERFUL!
click HERE .

Diane is a wardrobe and image consultant and author or WARDROBE MAGIC, an ebook that teaches women how to transform their unruly closets into workable, wearable wardrobes. Visit her online here.

She gave me permission to share her last free newsletter with you, so read it below. It is chuck full of wonderful fashion websites for your enjoyment! After reading it, I'm sure you'll get the idea why I enjoy Diane's newsletters so much, and subscribe yourself! >>

The images didn't show up as I copied this, so you could also read it online at:
The Clothing Chronicles

FEATURE ARTICLE
10 Great Fashion Websites

Where can you go to learn about the latest trends? The history of fashion? Clothing care and maintenance?
Online, of course! There are lots of great sites out there that you can get lost in, reading about everything from celebrity fashion to haute couture.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Style.com http://www.style.com
The home of W and Vogue on the web, Style.com has made many of my fashion magazines subscriptions obsolete. You can learn about trends, runway reports, fashion icons, fashion designers and more just by perusing this site. Take a look.

First View http://www.firstview.com
Wish you could have a front row seat to all the best fashion shows in the world? Well, here's the next best thing. Look at the current and past collections from famous designers from all over the world, and see the "who, what, where, when" of upcoming fashion shows.
Mode à Paris http://www.modeaparis.com
Want to "dive right in" to the world of French fashion to learn about fashion history, designers, and upcoming shows? Then this site is for you! Find out which fashion houses meet the rigorous standards of the Chambre Syndical de la Haute Couture, and learn where you can study for a career in French fashion.
The Sartorialist http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/
Scott Schuman is a former fashion marketer and retail store owner who combined his love of great tailoring with fashion photography to create "The Sartorialist" blog. Sartorial, which is a term used to describe tailoring and the tailoring trade, is the main focus of Scott's quest as he seeks to photograph well-dressed people on the street. What began as a fun way to share his photos just two years ago has turned into a fast-paced fashion career that sends him all over the globe as a reporter for Style.com and as a speaker to fashion and tailoring groups.
MSN Beauty and Fashion http://lifestyle.msn.com/BeautyandFashion
MSN has lots of in-depth channels, like finance, food, gardening, and health. Their fashion channel is excellent, offering behind-the-scenes videos, interviews, and articles that you don't see anywhere else.
If you like snarky celebrity fashion reviews, then MSN entertainment writer/fashion critic Kat Giantis will have you laughing out loud. Her reports are not kind, but they do show how celebrities can still stumble fashion-wise even when they have an army of stylists at their disposal. Check out her "Undressed" reports here:
http://entertainment.msn.com/
Sienna Miller and Claudia Schiffer are "Undressed" by Kat Giantis
Instyle http://www.instyle.com
INSTYLE Magazine's website has come a long way from the days when you could just go there to subscribe to their magazine. You can still do that, but you can also look at trends, get ideas for entertaining, vote on you favorite celebrity looks, and even learn where to copy those looks for less. It's a fun site, especially if you're into celebrity fashion.
Ralph Lauren http://www.ralphlauren.com
One of the things I like about the Ralph Lauren site is that it understands what people are looking for online. While many other designer sites take a long to time to load, are bloated with graphics, and don't sell directly from their site, RalphLauren.com loads relatively quickly and is easy to navigate. You can buy clothes, subscribe to the ezine, and get TONS of styling ideas from the gorgeous pictures. They also have a style section to show you how to put things together. Awesome! Would that other designers would take some notes from Ralph . . .
Get great fashion styling ideas at RalphLauren.com
Fashion Era http://www.fashion-era.com
Love fashion history? Want to see which trend-setters have influenced fashion over the centuries? Need to do research on what people wore in 1800? 1900? 2000? Then this is THE place to find out. This comprehensive site is one of the most popular on the web, with good reason: it has TONS of information!
Fabric Link http://www.fabriclink.com
Want to learn more about different types of fabrics? Need to know how to maintain the fabrics you have? Fabric Link can help. Take a good look around their "Fabric University," and you'll learn everything you need to know about taking care of most fabrics.
Biz Rate http://www.bizrate.com
Looking for something in particular, like a black cocktail dress or sweet deals on Christian Louboutin shoes? Just go to Bizrate.com, type in your item, and it will find places on the web that are selling what you seek. It also lists price and costumer reviews. What a time saver!
So there you have it. Take some time to click around to these sites when you have some time, and either bookmark them or keep this list handy for future reference. You never know when these sites will come in handy.
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Until next time,

Diana Pemberton-Sikes
FashionForRealWomen.com AccessoryMagic.com BusinessWearMagic.com OccasionMagic.com WardrobeMagic.com TheClothingChronicles.com
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Published by:
Top Drawer Publications, LLC 256 S. College Ave. Newark, DE 19711 USA
Copyright © 2007 by Diana Pemberton-Sikes All rights reserved
Diane's Newsletter shared here with her permission