Stay cool in layers

Tag : Italian Socks

Bonnie Pollard, personal shopper with Fashion in Motion at MayfairMall, agrees with the layering strategy.
"I tell my clients to find some basic light pieces - like a nicesheath dress, tank tops and a pencil skirt - then add a lightcardigan or blazer," says Pollard, walking into Olsen Europeboutique. "Look at the pleated detail on this sweater and thethree-quarter sleeve jackets. There's a lot to play with thisseason."
Pollard says the key is to avoid synthetic "sweat-stain inducing"fabrics like polyester, and go for breathable, natural fibres likelinen and cotton, or even a viscose or silk.
"The only thing with linen is you have to be OK with wrinkles.That's how it wears and how it's supposed to look."
Not long ago, a reader wrote me to ask where professional women inB.C. could get stylish summer clothes for work, a difficult taskfor many colleagues, she said.
Pollard might have introduced me to her answer.
Femme de Carriere is a new boutique in Mayfair Mall, part of aCanadian-wide franchise by Italian-Montreal designer SandraAngelozzi. In Metro Vancouver, there are Femme de Carriere storesin Metrotown and Oakridge.
"These are unique clothes for professional women," salesperson MayaBerekoff says. The boutique is indeed stocked with distinct piecesand ensembles ranging from detailed linen skirt and pant suits tomodest cut dresses in edgy patterns and details. The styles suitthe 20- and 30-something business professional, with more of anH&M edge than the power suit of the 1990s.
When it comes to dressing down in the summer months, men might bethe worst offenders for sacrificing professional style for theT-shirt and flip-flop look.
"I see guys who look professional and well-dressed throughout theyear kind of let it all go in the summer," Dale Olsen says in hisdowntown boutique Outlooks for Men on Yates Street. "You want tokeep it crisp and cool in the summer, definitely not sloppy."
Olsen suggests investing in a cotton, linen or seersucker suit tokeep cool at the office.
"Seersucker is designed to keep the body cool. The waffling holdsthe fabric off the skin," Olsen says. He suggests wearing a cottonundershirt to absorb sweat and add warmth for cool places.Flat-front dress shorts and fitted light slacks are essentials.He's also a fan of layers.
"A paper-thin linen or wool sweater over a dress shirt gives thatprofessional look but still breathes . . . The absolute best itemto have at all times is a sport coat. People take you seriouslywhen you put one on over jeans or whatever."
For the fashion-forward man, there are the Euro-inspired trends ofthree-quarter pants, or "manpris," and not wearing socks inloafers.
"Keeping the ankles cool, surprisingly, cools the whole body,"Olsen says.
Canwest News Service