Do you feel like you are in a fashion rut? You buy way too many clothes in one color, everything you have in your closet looks the same and you struggle to find something to wear, let alone find something that makes you feel good? If this is true, it’s time to add some excitement to your wardrobe.

Every morning when you leave your home you deserve to feel great about what you’re wearing. This doesn’t mean that you have to be dressed in expensive or designer clothing; it does mean that you will have chosen a clothing style that suits you and is in a color that makes your skin glow. To jazz up your style start with:

1. Getting to know the colors that look great on you. When you wear colors that suit your skin tone your skin looks more radiant, fine lines, dark circles and wrinkles are less apparent. Wearing the wrong colors (a mistake many women make) will make your skin look sallow, drab and lines and wrinkles will stand out. Before you purchase an outfit be sure the color will make your skin look radiant. If you are one of those women who always buy the same color, use that color as a starting point and add a few colors at a time (from your color palette) to create interest in your wardrobe.

2. Wearing clothes that are flattering for your body shape: Choose clothes that bring out your positive features. Get to know your body shape and choose the styles that are best for it. When your clothing purchases are based on how the garment affects your body shape getting dressed is a thrill. Choosing the styles that suit your shape will make you look thinner, taller and younger. If you are wearing the wrong clothing styles you will look larger, frumpy and matronly.

3. Choosing accessories that complement your outfits. Accessories such as scarves, handbags, shoes, gloves and necklaces will bring any outfit alive – accessories have jassability!

4. Bringing the whole look together. Now that you have the right colors, style and accessories your hairstyle and makeup cannot be overlooked. Makeup should match in occasion and color. For example, lighter lipstick, eye shadow and blush for day and darker for evening. Lipstick and blush colors should be in the same color family (cool or warm) as your outfit. Your hairstyle should complement the color of your skin and also be in harmony with what you are wearing.

There are few and far in-between occasions during which we get to wear feather boas. They just aren’t as popular as they were back in the good old days of the silver screen. You could host a movie party as an excuse to break out the boas and everyone can walk around the party looking like a diva strutting their stuff, though you just can’t have a movie themed party every time there is a holiday occasion. Go ahead and throw off the chains of fashion and give feather boas out for every party no matter what the theme.

There are plenty of different types of feather boas for all ages. Kid’s love the small four foot rainbow feather boas that are made just for them. These boas go well as an accent for any little girl’s party. Regular adult boas are available in just about every single color, because it is so easy to dye them. You’ll find that most feather boas are made of turkey feathers, which are plentiful and take to dyes easily. Popular colors are red, blue, orange, yellow, green, white, black and pink. They are often intensely chromatic in color, but you will find the occasional pastel blue boa available.

Boas are also popular in multicolored versions. The rainbow boa is perfect for any sixties party. Also the Super boa comes in two colors, white with accents of another color usually pink, red or green. If your party is going to be held in a darker atmosphere, then you can pick up the flashing boa. This is a feather boa with several small LED lights in it, so that it starts flashing red when you turn it on. Or you can dress up your New Year’s Party with a black and silver boa or a white and gold boa. These boas contain small shiny strands of silver and gold Mylar for a classy look.

When you are shopping for plus size women's special occasion dresses there are a few things to consider before you buy. The most important thing is the occasion that you are going to need the full figure dress for and how quickly you will need it. You need to buy a dress that fits the occasion. Even if you buy the best dress that makes you look good and feel great it still won't work if it is not appropriate for the event that you are going to. If it is a formal event then something a little understated may be called for, in fact, you might be better with more muted colors, but that doesn't mean that it has to be boring. You can still have a classic cut with a great look that will turn heads when you walk into the room.

But if you are buying plus size women's special occasion dresses for a party then you can go a bit wilder and possibly even slightly extravagant. Especially if it's summer, then you can really go overboard on the prints. Busy patterns do not always show off the fuller figure to it's best so you might be better off with some designs that make more use of bold blocks rather than something too complicated like a floral pattern.

If it is a party that you are attending and need the plus size dress for then you definitely want to pay special attention to the cut. The reality is if you've got it there is no point in hiding it. If you get your plus size women's special occasion dresses from a specialist plus size designer then they usually seem to have a better understanding of what makes the fuller figure really look good. You know that you are not just wearing a scaled up dress that was originally made for a slim model. If you go to someone that really understands plus sizes as well as the latest fashions then you can be sure that will be getting something that is good for you and cut to impress those around you or in your social circle or group.

Plus size women's special occasion dresses are available in most of the major retail stores and although they were often not made for the plus size market some of them look really great and they can be really cheap as well. You just have to be careful and try on everything to make sure that is suits your figure tastefully. There are probably some great plus size dresses in the stores at this very moment, you just have to choose the right style to go with the occasion.

Fashion and the regular best-dressed list that pop up regular several times a year are usually associated naturally with models in the fashion industry and actors and actresses of film, television, theater and the like. But wouldn’t it be interesting to now who’s the best-dressed non-fashion and non-showbiz personality out there today? For example, who would you consider to be the best-dressed US government official today? And who would you consider to be the best-dressed member of royalty.

If you ask the magazine Vanity Fair, they would immediately point to Condoleezza Rice. The US Secretary of State was recently named among the magazine’s list of 10 best dressed women.

In choosing Rice, Vanity Fair hailed her “renegade” fashion sense as seen through her obvious fascination with “dominatrix” boots that she seems to favor a lot and which seem to have grown on her. Vanity Fair said that Rice was almost always "immaculately groomed" and that she radiated "an audacious renegade streak, not to mention her black knee-high dominatrix boots." To our knowledge, that was the first time that an international best-dressed list has ever contained the name of a US Secretary of State.

It must be noted that Rice is also one of the most skillful and well-rounded public figures in US politics today. Ever since she assumed office in January, she has slowly revealed different facets of her personality to the public, including a rigorous fitness routine which she undertakes at dawn every day, superb skill at the piano which learned observers say is concert level and, of course, that published photograph of her wearing the knee-high “dominatrix” boots mentioned earlier.

Truly, there is more to Condoleeza Rice than meets the eye. Here’s hoping that her vast array of talents can help lead to a peaceful solution to our problems in the Middle East.

Completing Vanity Fair’s list of top 10 best dressed women are Renee Zellweger, talk show icon Oprah Winfrey, actress Selma Blair, filmmaker Sofia Coppola, rock singer Gwen Stefani and Charlotte Casiraghi, the daughter of Monaco's Princess Caroline, as well as model Kate Moss.

Wearing leather clothes makes such a strong fashion statement, especially during night-time affairs. Sprucing up your clothes with leather shoes and accessories is an effective way to be stylish and to project your personal taste. Aside from its aesthetic value, leather is also durable and sturdy, but you must take great care of your leather clothes and accessories to make sure they retain their sheen and impressive appearance.

The most important thing about maintaining leather clothes is cleaning them. If you use the wrong kind of cleaning material, you could ruin that leather jacket permanently. The cleaning agents to avoid are solvents and abrasives, including saddle soap as well as household soaps and cleaners. Yes, they will succeed in cleaning the leather but these products don’t mix well with many water-based leather finishes and may cause discoloration and severe cracking. It is not advisable to directly expose your leather clothing to the sun or other sources of heat.

If ever you accidentally spill a drink on your leather pants, the best thing to do is to gently blot out the moisture using soft absorbent cotton. If any residual stains remain, you can rub it off using a mixture of water and a mild soap. Don’t try to rub off the stain vigorously because this can affect the leather’s color. Instead, dab at those stains gently until they are gone. Afterwards, hang the clothes to dry so that the leather can air.

The best way to remove ink stains is to address them right away with an effective ink or stain remover quickly followed by a cleaning product for leather. Once again, remember to dab gently.

This approach won’t work on bubble gum. In this case, dry the bubble gum by gently heating it with a hair dryer, then get a clean white cloth and rub the gum off. Grease will work effectively on any residual marks.

This season, black is the new black. That's right. Black is in. Black is always in. That's one of the great things about it. Black never goes out of style. Part of its timelessness is the fact that it goes with almost anything. From jeans to a tuxedo, black always works. When it comes to shoes, all those statements still apply. You may not want to wear black shoes all the time, but no wardrobe is complete without them. Man or woman, you should own black shoes.

In the past, when people thought about black shoes they thought about formalwear. Well, that's no longer the case. These days, many athletic shoes are black. It's tough to predict popular fashions or explain them, but at some point professional athletes started switching from white shoes to black shoes. Soccer players have been wearing black sneakers for a long time. Football players and baseball players soon followed suit. But it wasn't until professional basketball players started wearing black sneakers that the trend really caught fire. Now it can be hard to find white athletic shoes. Some athletes think black shoes make you look like you're moving faster. Others point to more practical reasons. Black shoes don't show dirt and scuffs as much as light colored shoes do. Popular fashion tends to follow the lead of the elite and athletic shoes buyers are no different. Once the pros started doing it, the masses followed. Black athletic shoes match almost any color and work well in a variety of environments. Black basketball shoes look just as good with blue jeans as they do with a pair of polyester mesh basketball shorts. Women athletes are wearing black shoes, too.

Of course, their real-world female counterparts are doing the same thing. Of course, when it comes to formalwear, black shoes are an absolute necessity. Men can get away with own one pair of nice shoes and odds are that one pair of nice shoes that guys own are going to be black. You can't go wrong with a nice pair of black loafers, or oxfords, or wing-tips, or even formal boots. Black dress shoes are integral to that classic black tuxedo. They go great with jeans and a blazer for that rugged, yet chic look. When attending a funeral, those black shoes will work perfectly.

Women, too, need a nice pair of formal black shoes. Unlike most men, it's probable that women will have more than one pair of nice black shoes. Whether they're flats or high heels, a lady must have some black shoes to choose from to go with that elegant evening gown, beautiful cocktail dress, alluring skirt, professional pants suit, and even blue jeans.

Canvas shoes are an excellent addition to any wardrobe. Men, women, and children can all enjoy the comfort and style of canvas shoes. Perhaps the most famous of all canvas shoes are the legendary Converse All-Stars. Converse first released this seminal athletic shoe in 1917, and people of every age and gender have been wearing them ever since. All Stars are relatively inexpensive and always make a fashion statement. They can be punk rock and they can be preppy. They're available in innumerable colors and prints. All Stars aren't the only canvas shoes out there, though. Keds, Nike, and many other companies manufacture canvas shoes. Most canvas shoes are not what would be considered performance apparel. They once served a serious athletic function, but modern advances have pushed them out of competition and retired them into the everyday fashion scene.

The word "canvas" is derived from the Latin word "cannabis" which means hemp. (It's not the stuff people smoke!) Canvas fabric was originally made from hemp and that's how it got its name. It's now made from a variety of materials such as flax or cotton. It's a coarse fabric originally made for sails, tent material, and a medium on which to do artistic paintings. It's a strong, durable fabric well-suited to the rigors of the outdoors. It was a logical step for manufacturers to start using it for shoes.

Canvas requires relatively little maintenance compared to other popular shoe materials such as leather. You never have to polish canvas, and if your canvas shoes get dirty you can just toss them in your washing machine. If you don't want to throw them in the wash, you can clean them by hand in the sink with a rag or a gentle brush and some detergent. If you do throw them in the wash, it's best to not put them in the dryer and just let them air dry as they may shrink in the high heat. Canvas dries quickly which is another good reason to consider buying canvas shoes. For example, when shopping for a new pair of deck shoes to wear on your boat, consider canvas shoes instead of the popular leather ones. You'll appreciate the canvas the first time you get them wet and you see how quickly they dry.

A nice feature of canvas shoes which you may not have been aware of is that they are quite excellent for dying. That's probably a big reason why All-Stars and other canvas shoes are available in so many different colors and prints.

Before you don your new pair of canvas shoes you should think about treating them with some fabric care spray made specially for canvas. These sprays help repel water and dirt. It's unlikely that such a spray will make your canvas shoes totally water-proof but it will do an excellent job of keeping your feet dry in the rain.