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I have a friend. Let’s call her Janet. Janet used to be overweight. After years of a strict diet and tons of exercise, she looks great and feels even better.

Yet she still clings to a fashion mistake from years ago: wearing slightly oversized clothes. She’s small in stature so these outfits often make her look like she’s a child dressing up in her mother’s clothes.

Weight isn’t the only reason we often wear oversized clothes. Body shame in all its various degrees can manifest in the outfits we pick. We’re so sure that Area A or Area B on our bodies is so unacceptable, we feel compelled to hide it.

The problem (from a fashion standpoint, not a psychological one–we only have so much time afterall): oversized clothes are rarely flattering on any body type.

No, you don’t have to wear skintight jeans and drastically low cut tops. The takeaway: wear clothes that fit correctly–not undersized and definitely not oversized (except for those few exceptions like an oversized sweater with tights, for example).

A great example of a well-fitted suit on a man. Most men’s suits require the fit to be perfect (not too big or small) in order to look exceptionally good. 

With the recent passing of former First Lady Barbara Bush, we not only acknowledge her regal beauty and self-command but also her simple and stately sense of style. Has that caused the fashion bloggers to talk non-stop about multi-strand pearls (since Ms. Bush wore them so frequently)?

Or maybe its the surging popularity of The Crown on Netflix wear the Queen wears multi-strand pearls in just about every episode. (They were also a staple accessory of Princess Margaret’s wardrobe.)

Whatever the reason, we fully embrace the trend. Pearls make just about any woman and her outfit that much more special. No, pearls aren’t just for that formal occasion. On runways, oodles of pearls are paired with jeans and t-shirts, adding a certain panache to more common looks.

To experiment with a multi-strand look, may we suggest costume jewelry? The investment is small and gives you a chance to experiment with all its many wonders. When you’re ready, you can move on to the real thing!

Barbara Bush wearing her favorite accessory: multi-strand pearls.

Good fashion doesn’t have to cost a lot (of course–that’s why we love moissanite so much. More bling for your buck!).

This video provides excellent advice on fashion and jewelry that adds a certain panache to just about any look.

Here’s a fact that will truly blow your mind:

It only takes up to 4 minutes to decide whether you like someone or not.

Wow. That upends what many of us believe: that love is nurtured and found over time. And while aspects of that are certainly true, that initial pow is either there in the first mere minutes…or its not.

Scientists theorize that in those first few minutes, our body language quickly interacts to approve of the other or not. Even our tone of voice and how quickly we speak makes an impression.

But what is that deeper draw? What causes us to feel attracted to one person versus another? We may never get to the heart of that mystery. Love is a complicated and multi-faceted process that probably has more to do with our subconscious mind than we’d like to believe.

Regardless, our daily advice?

Make the most of those first few minutes. You don’t know who you’ll connect with or when, so remind yourself to maximize initial introductions by being warm, open and making genuine eye contact. This way you may increase your odds of making four minutes a very important (but short) period of time!

So you’re a Queen, right? And you have to ball to attend. Your personal dresser peeks her head past the golden archways of your cavernous bedroom and whispers, “My lady, what will it be tonight? Your tiara or your diadem?” You breath becomes shallow (but this could be because of your overly tightened corset). “Um…” you respond. “You pick.”

It’s an awkward moment. One you could have avoided. If you had only known the difference between a tiara and a diadem. If  you had checked our blog (or the Tiaras and Trianon website), you could have known the following:

So in the end, as always, it comes down to etymology. In the beginning there were only diadems.

diadem: from the Greek diadein meaning “to bind around” and thus begins the journey from ancient verb to divine headress!

Long story short, all other terms for royal headgear, tiara, coronet, chaplet, the whole shmear, are simply subcategories or more specific descriptions of a diadem.

So there you go! You fire your dresser for not knowing better (you choose not to behead her because that’s a little gauche) and wear your favorite diadem in pride to the ball that evening, looking resplendent and utterly royal.

Elizabeth wearing the Coronation Earrings and matching necklace at the opening of the New Zealand parliament in 1963. She also wore the Kokoshnik Tiara.

Before you go through the trying ordeal of having a ring cut off of your finger, think of bringing down the swelling in a finger first (obvious, right?).

First, don’t panic. Most stuck ring situations are remedied fairly easily. This means: stop pulling and yanking. Instead, take a deep breath and try these solutions first:

Try an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication, especially if your swollen finger was caused by an injury. This helps reduce pain and inflammation.

OR:

Fill a small tub or basin with a mixture of water and ice and set it somewhere higher than head level (like the top of a fridge, for instance) .

Raise your arm above your head for five minutes. This will naturally aid the fluid and blood drainage out of your hand.

Place your hand into the ice water for ten minutes. Your hand should still be elevated considerably above the level of your heart while it rests in the ice water.

How does this work: the cold constricts blood vessels,  which further reduces swelling and makes it easier to remove any rings stuck on your finger.

Still struggling with it? 

A little oil rubbed on and around the ring will help!

Valentine’s Day is maybe only second to Christmas when it comes to emotional expectations. Whether you have a significant other or not, it still can be challenging. So how can you bring it down a notch this year, without sacrificing its potential.

Keep it simple! This might be the year to forego crowded restaurants, expensive chocolates and flowers that wither and die after a few days. Maybe, just maybe, we could honor love in any of its form on Valentine’s Day.

First start with self-love. Regardless of whether you’re attached or not, self-love is the only real way to start Valentine’s Day. Dare to take a bath first-thing in the morning. Make a delicious breakfast–the kind that’s a little more time-consuming (think Eggs Benedict, for instance). Dress in red or pink which will naturally increase your appreciation and participation.

Love is free, remember. Think outside the box! Instead of buying a prerequisite gift, how about a poem (bad ones are good too!) or a call to a long-lost friend or relative? How about a smile generated to every person you see that day, regardless of whether its returned. Think of yourself as a love radiating machine–nothing can stop your heart from overflowing toward those around you.

Be sad if you choose, because that’s romantic too. If you’re nursing a heartache or feel lonely, remember: most love songs are written about the very same thing! Heartbreak hurts sure…but no one could deny its romance. Express your heart pain creatively. Draw, write, sing, cry–its all for the sake of love anyway.

Isn’t that what Valentine’s Day is about after all?

Celebrate love in all its amazing and wondrous and challenging capacities. 

“Many jewelers can do more to find out if their gold or diamonds are tainted by child labor or other human-rights abuses,” said Juliane Kippenberg, associate child-rights director at Human Rights Watch. “When someone buys a piece of jewelry for their loved one this Valentine’s Day, they should ask their jeweler what they have done to find out about its origin.”    [Diamonds.net]

We couldn’t agree more. Every day we witness firsthand a change in the diamond market as more people move toward diamond alternatives, especially moissanite.

Moissanite is an amazing stone that resembles a diamond in nearly every sense. To the naked eye it appears just as, if not even more, brilliant than it’s expensive natural counterpart. In a simple traditional thermal probe, this stone even shows up as a diamond. When it comes to the moissanite vs. diamond battle, test yourself and you will see it is nearly impossible to tell the difference.

Take a moment to learn more about moissanite. The days of yellowish, breakable diamond simulants are behind us (thank goodness). Dare to care by making your next custom design jewelry the perfect home for moissanite. Making a jewelry purchase that supports our fragile global ecology has never mattered more.