The Second Opinion

Friends, when you put an outfit together -- be it for work or for play, using clothing you've sewn yourself or just fished out of the local dumpster -- who do you turn to for an objective (i.e. honest) opinion about how you look?

Do you make the final call, or is there someone else -- a person real or imagined -- whose approval you seek?  Maybe a real-life panel of judges (who live in your house) or a book you consult? 

I am lucky.  I have all of you.  I know if something really doesn't look right, you'll tell me -- and most of you don't mince words.

I don't know if you ever peek at my bloglist, but if you're not familiar with Eugenia, you should be.  Eugenia lives in her own "(fabulous) world of fashion" and what a little fiefdom of chic it is.

Readers, I have never met Eugenia in person, but she has always struck me as the Julie Christie/Susannah York type: British, blonde, and with that casually sophisticated glamour that makes us Americans pull our hair out by the polyester plugful.  Why is life so unfair?  She's Jaeger, Burberry, British Airways and the carefree, jet-setting lifestyle they evoke, all wrapped up in one.

Now while I receive a great many fashion tips from readers -- and I'm grateful for all of them -- some comments will inevitably carry more weight than others. Wouldn't you value a fashion directive from effortlessly elegant Eugenia over, say, deliberate-to-the-point-of-exhaustion Elaine?

Anyway, yesterday, generous, stylish Eugenia suggested I might try pairing my new Western side-lace boots with shorts. 

Shorts. 

Well what do I know?  Not as much as Eugenia, obviously.  So I gave it a try.  I combined my striped cabana set bottoms with my treadled Western shirt, and added the popular psychedelic pocket square that was such a hit at my high school reunion.





What do you think, readers of exquisite taste and sophistication perhaps even surpassing that of Eugenia?

Do you think the blogging English Rose is onto something?  Don't just tell me, however, let Eugenia know over at her "(fabulous) world of fashion."  She needs to hear it as only you can say it.

In closing, fashionistas and shlubistas -- I don't discriminate -- Whom do you trust when it comes to how you look?

Whose advice do you solicit when you need a second opinion?  Husband?  Partner?  Mother?  Daughter?  Arlene Dahl?  Your tattered copy of What Not To Wear: The Rules?

Face it: we all have those moments of uncertainty and fashion risk.  Who tells you when it just ain't working?  (And how do you handle the news?)