WANT list: new shoes, vintage style for the home and an optical boutique that loves my face.
Serendipity Hair Design presents the 3rd annual spring Hair and Fashion Runway Event. This New York-runway-style show is held April 19 at Thousand Oaks Golf Club and benefits The Multiple Sclerosis Program at the Saint Mary's Hauenstein Neuroscience Center. "We want to do something that our clients can enjoy. We can share a big night together and support a great cause close to our heart," said Event Director Alyssa Locke, who describes the event as "electric, epic and worthwhile." Expect a silent auction, giveaways, food and a cash bar, among apparel from LBD Exchange and Elizabeth Halsey Boutique. Clothing designs by Kirk Johnson of bVAINcouture II are custom made according to the theme of the show and the finale comes from Alyssa Locke with hand-sewn and refurbished avante garde creations. The bottom line is hair and makeup are extreme and if you're a die-hard fashion show groupie you've got one more for that list. More details are available at serendipityhairdesign.com.
Shoe girls are confidant girls, according to Gina VanGessel and Rosa Piccione. They are transforming Lia Rose in Grand Rapids into Head Over Heels, your new favorite shoe boutique. Seeing a need downtown, the women envision the shop to be a perfect match for the clothing at Gina's Boutique, so look for a variety of flats, heels, sandals and boots. From casual to dress, shoes are from small boutique lines, and the girls anticipate at least 50 different styles, along with jewelry, purses, hats and scarves (hey, one good accessory deserves another and another...). Full transformation is scheduled for the first week of April so stop in to see what all the fuss is about. As both women explain, shoes are like putting a bow on a package. It's the finishing touch.
Quickly, Quick Thrift is your source for fabulous vintage items. Owner Lisa Kae Ruff, who has a taste for "that old style," finds them and sells them on Facebook and Instagram, and it's a first-come-first-served deal (items will post and whomever comments first gets it). Think melamine, quilts, knick-knacks, pillows, milk glass and vintage bar items. The rules are that it must be cool, thrift and one-of-a-kind. Ruff describes her treasures as sort of an "Antiques Roadshow" gone wild. "I realized Etsy was missing the social media aspect. I'm trying to mix the two and create a sense of urgency – yet it's not an auction, not eBay," Ruff said. Follow this source for home fashions with "vintage flair" to style your home with Ruff's recipe of history, nostalgia and pops of color. Holla at your girl at
Sight Optical Boutique in Grand Rapids wants to school you on selecting frames. Matching up the customer's face shape, skin tone and style preferences with the shop's large selection sounds like a tall order. "One of the things we most frequently hear from people walking in the door is that nothing looks good on them," said Owner Michael McConnell. "We have to laugh because once we walk them through the process, they are amazed at how much they are actually capable of wearing."
Try this on for size: Oval shapes have balanced proportions with the chin being slightly narrower than the forehead and high cheekbones. Jackpot! Most frame shapes work but consider square, rectangular and geometric shapes to add angles to your soft curves. Heart shapes feature a broad forehead and wide cheekbones narrowing into a small chin. Bottom-heavy frames work well adding width to the lower face. Round faces—where the length and width are in similar proportions (with full cheeks and few angles)—can benefit from geometric frames to sharpen facial features, or try rectangular and horizontal styles to make the face appear longer, thinner. Square faces that are angular with a strong jaw line, broad forehead and square chin look best when paired with oval and round shapes.
Then, there's skin tone. If you're fair, stay away from bright colors that might draw attention to skin paleness and seek out neutral hues. Medium skin can experiment with rich, bold colors such as purple, blue, green and red. Darker shades should stick with lighter tone frames that stand out from the face.
"While there are always exceptions to every rule, and rules sometimes overlap, some basics do apply when selecting the right pair of glasses," McConnell said. With expertise like that, you can slip on styles with confidence. Cat-eye frames anyone?
