Many of us faithful bloggers suffer not only from a mild case of  carpal tunnel, but once in a while we reach the blogger plateau; blogger boredom. I’m guilty of this, which can be obvious from the date of my last posts, and many other bloggers are guilty as well. After my several month hiatus (overworked, overplayed, and overtraveled) I finally feel my creative tank full once again and I am ready to pour my heart back into what I love, writing and fashion. Here are a few tips I’ve gathered that can really help bored bloggers renew themselves and get their blogging tanks back up to full.

1)Remember the passion that got you motivated enough to first begin your blogging rituals. Your love for a topic, desire to tell others about it, or even the selfish act of just venting your feelings in an online-diary formate.

2)Read your old posts. Editing old posts (grammar, punctuation, photos etc.) can help you get inspired to write again. Reading old posts can also help you realize why you got into this game into the first place.

3)Travel, read, explore. Traveling may be a very obvious break from your internet hobbies, but it can also be a source of new information and inspiration. When on the road one is able to have conversations that can help gain insight into perspectives and lifestyles that may be fresh and new to one’s own life.

4) Remember that you aren’t doing this just for you. There are readers, fans, family and future bloggers who are turning to your blogs, websites, and online posts for their own inspiration.

After the recent devestation in Haiti many people around the world are asking what all mighty power would allow so many people to be left homeless and stranded amongst all the rubble. Although it may be “hubris” (as Rabbi Harold Kushner recently said in Newsweek) to try to speculate why the people of Haiti, or people in the past in Indonesia, or even closer to home New Orleans have been plagued with natural disaster. One fact does remain despite all this speculation, it has happened. People have lost their homes, their belongings, and often their hope. We can sit here and cry, we can sit here and pray, or we can sit here and try to do our part to help.

I urge everyone to be in the giving season not only from November to January every year, during the holidays, but all year around. As Americans, we have more space than our friends in Europe, and this greater space equates often to having accumulated more and more crap that we don’t need. Why do we hold onto a pair of jeans that we haven’t worn in 4 years? Why do we keep buying new jackets, coats and shoes when we don’t plan on throwing anything we have out? We are a careless, wasteful and disposable culture. If we have something we don’t like all that much even when we are purchasing it we think to ourselves “Well the price is good, and if I don’t like it, I can just throw it away”.

Don’t throw things away, give them away, donate them. Although it may be hard to send things to Haiti right now, we can always put ourselves in the giving spirit, to not be so attached to our belongings and be willing to give our extra jackets, our dust collecting jeans to people who really could use them. Many people don’t know where to begin when sifting through their closets, the emotional attachment they have to their belongings make the idea of “giving things away”, no matter how great the cause, an emotional disaster. I’ve organized a few tips for people to use when creating their donation piles when going through their closets, and some common excuses when people resist donation:

1) If you haven’t worn something in 10 months (this means you’ve seen every season of the year, and are yet to wear the item): donate it.

2) If you are holding onto an item because “I will lose enough weight some day to fit in these again…”: donate it. Our body shapes change through out our lives, so even if we get back down to the weight we were 9 years ago when we could squeeze into these jeans chances our that our body stores fat in far different ways then it did at the time of purchase, and the jeans may never fit again. Donate.

3) “My first boyfriend got me this blouse…” Who cares. Take a picture of it, put it in a scrap book, if it’s a wearable good: donate it.

4) “I spent $300 when I bought this jacket 15 years ago!” Well guess what, chances are it’s worth maybe $20 now, so don’t cling on how much you spent on it then: donate it.

I know this all may seem ironic, or even hypocritical coming from someone who writes about fashion and what to buy and what not buy, but gluttony is never classy. Take a tip from our European counterparts, buy a few shirts and a few pants at the begining of every season, wear them while they are fashionable, wear them to pieces, then donate, start anew the next season.

Here’s a list of a few trusted organizations who are taking donations, call your local chapters for more details.

http://www.redcross.org/

http://www.safehorizon.com

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org

Television seems to be bombarded with ads for diet regimens and gym memberships. Companies know that people may have packed on pounds during the holiday.  Americans use the new year as an excuse to trim down and as much as I appreciate the dedication that those who set to lose weight as their new years resolution, betting from point A to point B can take a while. Here are a few tips for guys and girls on how to dress around holiday pounds. For the sake of variety, gentlemen first:

5) It is all about the fit! Skip out on the Ed Hardy/Jersey Shore style inspirations, if you are a bigger dude, wearing tight clothes brings attention to areas that you may not want to bring attention to. On the other spectrum, don’t go overboard and try to cover up your size by wearing clothing that is all too big. This can make you look larger than you are. Pick clothing that hugs your body gently, doesn’t suffocate or drown you.

.(photo from collegecandy.com)

4) Don’t wear bold patterns! If your problem area is your upper half of your body, bold pattern tops such as large horizontal stripes can widen your appearance. If you are absolutely crazy about pattern tops, try a light colored checker or vertical line pattern with a loose cardigan on top.

3)Your tailor is your new bro! Make sure you have a good tailor who can customize your pants and make them perfect for your size and shape. Often times men get pants hemmed 2-3 inches above where their foot touches the ground  (presumably in an effort to avoid their pant leg dragging and tearing on the ground). However, wearing a longer hem line, one that is just a few centimeters above where their shoe hits the ground can really elongate and slim the leg. Also, avoid cuffing your jeans it can make your legs look wider and shorter. Furthermore, when picking out the right pant make sure it is one that has flat pockets in the front and avoid overstuffing your pockets with stuff, rock a messenger bag.

(photo:moderncohomes.com)

2) The neckline! Avoid wearing turtlenecks or rounded neck tops if you have a thicker neck. This can make your neck seem thicker than it is and if the neckline is too tight can even push your neck up and give you a larger chin area. Button downs and polo shirts can be great alternatives to the traditional V neck Tshirt  because of their neck line and are a great casual item.

Now for the lovely ladies:

5) Pick clothes that fit you and your body type! Avoid getting stuck on a NUMBER! You are not defined by some single or double digit ratio that designers project upon you. Pick clothes that fit you, don’t try to squeeze into a smaller size just for the sake of saying you are a smaller size. A sample size dress on a full portioned women is not flattering.

(photo:clevver.com)

4) Proportions! Even if you have gained a few pounds you can make a good illusion that can hide it. If you gain weight in the stomach or hip area, wear longer shirts that are loose over these areas paired with tighter jeans. If you gain weight mostly in your midsection and top half (although most women don’t seem to complain about weight gain in the bosom), embrace your new enlarged love balloons and wear a dress that is tighter on the top, and flows out from the mid rib area down such as the dress bellow from Forever21.com, paired with a thick belt it can be a great style:

3) Avoid pleats! Yes, pleated pants may be fashionable but they are incredibly unflattering on larger and hippier women. Wear flat pocket front pants and be very picky about the jeans you select. Avoid denim that does not have back pockets, this makes the bottom look very large and often times lumpy.

2) Avoid chunky fabrics. Yes I know, Alexander Wang’s amazing chunky knits seem to be a must-have this cold winter season, however, these knits can be incredibly unflattering. As warm and comfortable as they may seem, opting out on the thicker knits and sticking to thinner yet warm fabrics such as cashmere can be a great choice.

Okay and the #1 tip for ladies and gents is ..drum roll please…

1) CONFIDENCE! Stand up tall! You are beautiful you. Your shape and size are all subject to change but you are still amazing you regardless of what the scale says or the inside label of your jeans read. Stand up tall and be proud of yourself. Beautiful, full figured and sexy celebs with amazing style, Big Boi from Outkast in a gorgeous suit and Khloe Kardashian (photos from upscaleswagger.com and denimblog.com):

“The Boyfriend Cardigan”, “The Boyfriend Sweater”, and more particular to this season: “The Boyfriend Jean”. Unisex wear has never looked so good. I was recently asked what I thought the best items for this winter season are what stores are best to buy these items in, and all I could think of was my dad’s closet (the boyfriend’s clothes inaccessible). Baggy jeans, loose cardigans, over-sized cashmere vests. The same items that are must haves for men this season can be feminized with some tight shirts, ballet flats, and jewelery.  A warm comfy cardigan, nice and  loose (But not 1990’s gangster style loose) jeans, a pair of comfortable mocassins, and a nice leather bag scream winter and chic. Some photos of my favorite “boyfriend” styles:

Photo Courtesy of streetpeeper.com

On a rainy day like today, I tend to want to steer clear of mascara (and most makeup) out of fear of a melting face. Despite my fleet from makeup for my visage, the one part of my daily ritual that never lets me down is my perfume. Rain, snow, sleet or shine, it seems that a splash of perfume always makes me feel ready to take on the day. There seem to be trends with perfume just as with hair styles and jean cuts. You may recall the Calvin Klein, Cool Water, and Pleasures days of our past. Some people find a scent and wear it for decades, sometimes out of fear of nothing else being better out there, and sometimes they just like the stability of marking a perfume as their own. It seems that even the same perfume smells quite differently on every individual skin. Perhaps it’s everyone’s unique body chemistry that mixes with these bottle scents to make each perfume unique on everyone who wears it. Whatever your scent of choice is, let it be one that becomes yours.