Delicate Pink

ImageCube Color Insight: Pink reflects feminine, delicate, and nonaggressive.

If you have a delicate discussion coming up, wear pink accent colors.

Clarity. Confidence. Growth. ImageCube, LLC

Tribal Your Way

ImageCube Trends to Try: Choose your own way to wear the tribal or ethnic inspired

fashion trend. The easiest way to wear the trend is as a print. The print can inspire

your overall color palette, shown here in blue, yellow, brown, or turquoise. For a

less bold look, wear the trend in your choice of accessories.

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Straw + Leather

ImageCube Trends to Try: Break away from a fabric spring tote and try a handbag,

shoes, or a hat that mixes leather and straw.

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Burgundy Class

ImageCube Color Insight: Burgundy reflects class and sophistication. It attracts similar minded individuals. Wear burgundy as a dominant color.

Clarity. Confidence. Growth. ImageCube, LLC

Are Shorts Ever Appropriate?

I created the Ask Sola tab on my website to provide an outlet for people with their own personal image related questions.  However, the recent Wall Street Journal article Short and Sweet: Short Suits for the Office and Beyond set off a firestorm of questions through Ask Sola.  Here are my responses to the article based on a series of questions from various individuals:

• Yes, the Wall Street Journal has every right to write about fashion. The “fashion industry” is a myriad of producers and consumers including apparel, textile, personal care (make-up), and even hospitality.  The economic impact of the fashion industry is 100′s of billions of dollars.  The single largest sectors that utilize textile and apparel products are auto industry, rubber & plastic manufacturers, and health service providers. So, fashion is a big business that’s worth covering by the WSJ.

• Before you go buy your short suits, know your audience.  The article’s writer is a Boston native that lives in New York City, is a contributing writer for the WSJ, and a fashion editor for Elle magazine.  Short suits are appropriate for her role as a fashion writer because they convey her knowledge of fashion trends and developments in the industry. Plus, her workplace environments are creative and fashion oriented. Since I live in Indianapolis, I called a few human resource contacts that work in various industries to ask them whether or not short suits would be acceptable for their office. Overwhelmingly, they said “no”.  Short suits would violate their dress standards. They sited the more conservative culture of the Midwest and the distraction caused by visible skin. The best quote was, “It’s work, it’s not a fashion show”. Before you wear your short suit, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What is your professional role?
2. What are the dress expectations in your work environment?
3. Will your ability to convey a trendy fashion sense actually improve your results?
   

• There are times when shorts are appropriate.  If your company’s summer outing will be a baseball game, a picnic, a day at the Jazz Fest, a lake or harbor cruise, or anything that’s outdoors, then short suits could fit the bill perfectly. In such environments, short suits communicate an awareness of the environment and weather, while also maintaining your professionalism and polish.  However, pay careful attention to the fit and length of your shorts.  Bermuda shorts (first row below)  are the safest length since they tend to stop near your knees; they’re also quite universally flattering.  Anything shorter than Bermuda shorts will raise eyebrows. Consider the styles in the first row below, they all send a stylish message that won’t undermine your professional strengths.

- Sola Adelowo
Clarity. Confidence. Growth.

*** http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432304576371394017983926.html