Black 60s Shift Dresses - Little Black Dresses - LBDS

Baby's in Black

No female over 16 is too young to own a little black dress. Younger girls and women can opt for little black evening dresses like these mini dresses, which can be teamed with opaque tights or leggings or just show lots of leg. I especially like the youthful quality in this black evening dress right from the USA company Shine.

LBDs - we all need several, so start collecting now!

Choose from trapeze styles with added hemline flare or empire lines. These styles have child like baby doll elements and being shorter very much suit the young.

Always take every opportunity to wear these 'baby doll' styles when you are young, as all too soon the stage will come when you simply cannot get away with this look. Woe is me!

There are so many shoe styles on offer, from the gold platforms from River Island seen at the top of the page, to these high black ankle strap shoes from Matalan.

You will be spoilt for choice and will be able to totally indulge whatever personal style preference for footwear you have.

The black shoes from Matalan have a real vintage feel to them and would create a totally different look to that of the ballerina shoes.

Velvet

Yes, you can wear any combination of skinny jeans and trousers, but autumn occasions are just that - occasions that offer you a chance to dress up a little more than usual. As an alternative to jeans and trousers, wear a classic velvet coat like this Matalan version on the left. As a result you will have a luxury, but low cost evening look.

Velvet offers romantic looks that can move from day to evening with ease. This rich midnight blue velvet dress from Boden would suit many girls and women. It's a real party frock.

You could give it a quirkier edge by pushing the skirt out with a visible net petticoat. Midnight blue is one of the best colours for velvet, as it retains a richness lost on pastel velvets which are horribly fattening.

Velvet is a lush fabric that is perfect for Christmas and New year celebrations.

Brown shades are one the colours trends of autumn 2006 with earthy natural tones being important. This velvet V-neck evening dress is from John Lewis.

Learn how to care for velvet and how to press it without damaging the pile. With the proper care you can keep your velvet party dress looking in good shape for years.

Separates

Boden

If a dress is not for you, then seek out a skirt with an embellished hemline. This skirt with a folkloric decorated hem from Boden may be an option.

Boden have teamed their skirt with matching ballerina flats. In UK we see ballerina flats in every shoe shop and people skipping around town in them.

Or you may prefer more of a clubbing look that follows a trend not yet worn by everyone. Bubble skirts are just coming into mainstream fashion.

Shine New York

This pretty creamy bubble skirt from Shine New York fits the bill for young women's fashion. This is one of the few bubble skirts I've seen that I really like.

The matt fabric deep golden ochre top is a very good choice and also a strong colour for autumn 2006. This is a very refreshing change from the looks of the Teri Hatcher floaty tops and jeans with which we are now very familiar.

If you prefer a dress to separates, Shine New York has this classic red mini bubble dress which would be a perfect colour choice for the festive season.

The red style by Shine is very similar to a dress Paris Hilton has been photographed wearing.

Again like the golden ochre tone, red is another strong colour for fall and I've written a page about Lady in Red as a colour choice in detail.

Images all courtesy of Matalan, Oasis, New Look,House of Fraser, French Connection, Boden, John Lewis, River Island Dorothy Perkins image courtesy of Arcadia UK. In USA Shine New York. Header image courtesy of River Island.

Gold Brocade Looks

River Island - Young Women's Fashion

As Christmas draws nearer and festive party dressing makes the agenda, watch out for the glimmer of gold with brocade. This brocade look is in every range no matter what your age.

The golden brocade dress, to the left, is youthful especially, when teamed with the unusual, such as thick dark tights and gold platform shoes.

Left is a young women's dress by River Island, Jacquard Brocade Mini Shift Dress - bow detail at £59.99. This is a jacquard brocade dress in soft gold that is cut in a 60’s shift shape and finished with a simple bow for a romantic ethereal feel.

At River Island, accessories continue to play an important fashion role and reflect the overall mood of the season. The shoe collection features metallic wedges and stacked leather court shoes. You may also consider patent cutwork shoes and round toe ankle boots with chain and animal print trims.

Dorothy Perkins

At Dorothy Perkins, young women's fashion takes its inspiration from the 1960s and 1980s with hints of C17th romanticism in a collection that ticks all the trend boxes this season. You can see that the youthful look is achieved with a beret.

For the festive season, Dorothy Perkins have subtle metallic evening wear with both vintage inspired jacquards and shimmering Lurex.

Left - Image courtesy of Dorothy Perkins - Deep Gold Brocade Dress £50/€80. Cream and brown striped beanie £8/€12.

This gold brocade dress is one of the prettiest high street brocade dresses that I have seen whilst viewing PR images this season. You can see lots more gold tone colours and styles on the gold tone accessory page.

Gold is not the only metallic on offer, there are plenty of soft silver toned clothes around, from the palest shimmering dove grey ivory, to steel magnolia. Dorothy Perkins has a whole range of grey clothes, but my favourite is this slinky, silver jersey, sixties shift dress with a silver thread running through the knit fabric. See below.

Silver Looks

Sweater dresses are a big look this fall 2006. This simple long sleeved 60's straight knit shift, in silver grey and from Dorothy Perkins has a Lurex thread running through it. Silver Lurex mini dress £25/€40. Leopard print envelope bag £8/€12.

It is perfect for relaxed festive winter evenings and could look great showing plenty of leg just as the model does. Or, it could be teamed with leggings and worn like a tunic or gain a more kooky twist with any type of boots.

Slinky and shimmering, this straight empire line shift right from French Connection can be worn belted as show here or unbelted if you prefer. Silver fully sequinned dress from French Connection is £150. Fabulous and a classic to add the party wardrobe!

Team it with classy jewellery and a brocade or a black velvet cropped jacket, feather shrug or cape.

To make this French Connection liquid silver dress right more versatile over Christmas, you could wear it 60's style as a pinafore dress over a black polo neck cashmere or skinny rib sweater.

Leggings and Footless Tights

Use the layering technique to add warmth through a festive day like Christmas Eve. Wearing boots with the silver dress would add a different dimension. You can play the glitz up or down. Play it down with opaque or lace tights.

Make sure you have some footless leggings like these from Shine New York, so you can play dress-up at home to work out some fresh new looks for fall. Or get some three quarter leggings like these from Marks and Spencer.

Footless tights and footless leggings will have different wearing qualities so make sure you understand the difference between these when you shop. Price reflects the thickness, quality, depth of dye, laddering, comfort factors, extensibility of the fabric and wearing elasticity. Footless tights can be priced around £2- £5, footless leggings are more likely to cost £10 to £20. Check the quality of samples the shop displays. Leggings should fit like a second skin and not be prone to bagging.

Silver and Gold Shoes

These inexpensive silver shoes right are from Matalan. These fashion shoes would team well with many silver grey outfits. Metallic block heel shoe at £14.

Different shoes can make the appearance of an outfit look quite altered and present an opportunity to reflect your personality.

These gold ballet flats below are from Marks and Spencer and would look good teamed with brocades too. The silver peep toe ballet flat is also very girly. You can buy any of these three shoes from the picture links.

If you would like to see more details of these snakeskin effect shoes, with cone heels, there is a link to Marks and Spencer in the above picture.

PSS Pre-Audition Concert Photos!

Project SuperStar kicked off its promotional campaign last Saturday (August 26) with a free Pre-Audition Concert attended by Project SuperStar, SuperHost, Campus SuperStar and SuperBand alumni like Tan Wei Lian, Hong Junyang, Kelly Poon, Chew Sin Huey, Jason Tan, Charlyn Lin, Wu Luoyi, Ng Chee Yang, Teresa Tseng, Geraldine See, Renfred Ng and MiLu Bing.

Needless to say, the huge atrium was chocked full of happy eager beavers screaming and snapping away at the favourite idols. Relive the day again with our photos here!

Can't get enough of them? Then go on down to the HDB Hub at Toa Payoh this Sunday Sept 3 at 9am for a string of performances by Sun Ho, Van Fan, Tong Eng, SOUL, Juz-B, Teresa Tseng, Renfred Ng, Geraldine See, Hong Yu Yang, Ng Imm Khim, Chia Wei Choong and Jason Tan! Click here for more details!

Looking good to go: give you two ways to get pretty built, pretty damn fast

Men's Fitness by Jason Mittelman

Nobody likes a pretty boy. You know, the kind of wuss who shows up to play tackle football wearing elbow pa&, thinks Jake Gyllenhaal makes a good action hero, and boasts that all he needs to do in the gym to see his six-pack is "abs and cardio." The sad thing is, he might be right. Not about the first two, of course. But some guys, given their genetics, don't have to do much to keep their beach bodies year-round. For that, you should hate them--but you don't have to envy them anymore.

A lot of weight-loss programs are built for show, but they can actually reduce your muscles, too. (Notice how they're called weight loss.) And, yeah, they call help you lose weight and "get toned." but they often don't give you the option of what kind of weight you lose--meaning you could be burning just as many calories from hard-earned muscle as you are from fat. Such plans may leave you lean enough to pop an ab or two, but they also leave you weak, and ripe for putting the weight back on again.

This program is built to go. It employs two of the most effective fat-burning methods known to man: heavy resistance and circuit training. In Workout A, you'll train your whole body in unstable positions--this will hit a ton of muscles, including those you never knew you had, as you work to keep your body balanced. In Workout B, you can really pile on the weight (which will keep your muscles big and strong, even when you're cutting calories from your diet) as you perform more-familiar exercises. You'll do both workouts as a circuit, performing one set of each of the six exercises before resting. Not only will that help you burn more calories than conventional weight training, you'll find that the amount of rest you get before repeating an exercise will keep your strength levels up, At the same time, the rapid transition from one exercise to the next will work your heart and lungs extra hard.

The combination will allow you to save your strength while scraping out that six-pack once and for all. Ultimately, you'll come out of the next four weeks with the body of a celebrity underwear model--and the strength to kick one's ass.

FREQUENCY: Alternate this workout with Workout B (page 114) three days a week for four weeks, resting no more than two days between each session. (So you'll do this workout two times the first week, then one time the second week, and so on.)

HOW TO DO IT: Perform the exercises as a circuit, doing one exercise after the other, with no more than 15-20 seconds' rest to set up between exercises. After you've completed one set of each exercise, rest for 60-90 seconds--that's one circuit. Complete three circuits each workout.

WEIGHT: Use the heaviest weight that allows you to perform 10-15 reps per exercise.

[1] SINGLE-LEG ROMANIAN-DEADLIFT DUMBBELL CURL TO PRESS Reps: 10-15 (each leg) Target: Core, Total Body

* Keep your back naturally arched for the entire exercise.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[2] MEDICINE-BALL WOODCHOP Reps: 10-15 (each side) Target: Core

* In the down position--eyes forward, chest up, back straight (natural curve in the spine).

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[3] PLYOMETRIC LUNGES W/MEDICINE BALL

Reps: 10-15 (each leg) Target: Legs, Core

* Switch legs in mid-air and raise the ball over your head to the opposite side.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[4] SWISS-BALL ALTERNATING-DUMBBELL CHEST PRESS Reps: 10-15 (each arm) Target: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Core

* Your body should form a straight line from your head to your knees.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[5] SINGLE-LEG ALTERNATING-DUMBBELL ROW

Reps: 10-15 (each leg) Target: Back. Biceps

* Keep your back in its natural arch.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[6] SWISS-BALL JACKKNIFE

Reps: 10-15 (each leg) Target: Abs

* Pull your abs in and bring your knees toward your chest.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

FREQUENCY; Alternate this workout with Workout A (page 108) three days a week for four weeks, resting no more than two days between each session, (So you'll do this workout one time the first week, then two times the second week, and so on.)

HOW TO DO IT: Perform the exercises as a circuit, doing one exercise after the other with no more than 15-25 seconds' rest to set up between exercises. After you've completed one set of each exercise, rest for 60-90 seconds--that's one circuit. Complete three circuits each workout.

WEIGHT: Use the heaviest weight that allows you to perform 10-15 reps per exercise.

[1] ALTERNATING-DUMBBELL LUNGES W/CURL TO PRESS Reps: 10-15 (each leg) Target: Legs, Shoulders, Biceps

* Your front knee should be perpendicular to the floor.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[5] BENTOVER BARBELL ROW Reps: 10-15 Target: Upper and Middle Back

* Squeeze your shoulder blades together for the entire movement.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[6] OBLIQUE CRUNCHES Reps: 10-15 (each side) Target: Obliques

* Don't let your knees touch the floor.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Fat-Loss Log

Workout 1 Workout 2
Wt/Reps Wt/Reps

WORKOUT A
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
1. S-L Romanian-Deadlift DB Curl to Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each side)
Rest: No More than 15-25
2. Medicine-Ball Woodchop seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
3. Plyometric Lunges w/ Medicine Ball seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each arm)
Rest: No More than 15-25
4. Swiss-Ball Alternating-DB Chest Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
5. Single-Leg Alternating-Dumbbell Row seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
6. Swiss-Ball Jackknife Rest: 60-90 seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3

WORKOUT B
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
1. Alternating-DB Lunges w/ Curl to Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
2. Hanging Knee Raises seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
3. Bench Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
4. Full Situps seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
5. Bentover Barbell Row seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each side)
6. Oblique Crunches Rest: 60-90 seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3

Workout 3 Workout 4
Wt/Reps Wt/Reps

WORKOUT A
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
1. S-L Romanian-Deadlift DB Curl to Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each side)
Rest: No More than 15-25
2. Medicine-Ball Woodchop seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
3. Plyometric Lunges w/ Medicine Ball seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each arm)
Rest: No More than 15-25
4. Swiss-Ball Alternating-DB Chest Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
5. Single-Leg Alternating-Dumbbell Row seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
6. Swiss-Ball Jackknife Rest: 60-90 seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3

WORKOUT B
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
1. Alternating-DB Lunges w/ Curl to Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
2. Hanging Knee Raises seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
3. Bench Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
4. Full Situps seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
5. Bentover Barbell Row seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each side)
6. Oblique Crunches Rest: 60-90 seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3

Workout 5 Workout 6
Wt/Reps Wt/Reps

WORKOUT A
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
1. S-L Romanian-Deadlift DB Curl to Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each side)
Rest: No More than 15-25
2. Medicine-Ball Woodchop seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
3. Plyometric Lunges w/ Medicine Ball seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each arm)
Rest: No More than 15-25
4. Swiss-Ball Alternating-DB Chest Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
5. Single-Leg Alternating-Dumbbell Row seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
6. Swiss-Ball Jackknife Rest: 60-90 seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3

WORKOUT B
Reps: 10-15 (each leg)
Rest: No More than 15-25
1. Alternating-DB Lunges w/ Curl to Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
2. Hanging Knee Raises seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
3. Bench Press seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
4. Full Situps seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15
Rest: No More than 15-25
5. Bentover Barbell Row seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3
Reps: 10-15 (each side)
6. Oblique Crunches Rest: 60-90 seconds
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Circuit 3