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I love ankle boots, but need more support around the ankle.  How can I get the form and the function?

Thanks,

Bootie Call

Dear Bootie,

For more support, try a style that laces up.  This way you can adjust the tightness to your needs.

Here are a couple of styles I like.

Nine West around $179

From MukLuk about $149

And above in featured image, GoJane for$39.95

Your’s bootieliciously,

Luke

(Photo credits:  GoJane, NineWest, Onlineshoes.com)

I can’t believe I’m writing you but I’m in a total state. I’m in my junior year in HS. Been in class for over a month and I have nothing to wear.  Nothing that fits me anyway.  I gained twenty pounds over the past year.  I have a lot of cute clothes I can’t wear so I’ve been surviving in jeans that are way too tight and my brother’s hoodies.  I need new clothes but hate the idea of buying anything my current size.  I’m on a diet but it’s slow going.  I want to hide in a cave until I lose the weight.  I’m a mess!  What should I do?

Carrie W.

Dear Carrie,

Oh girl, do I know your pain–as do 95% of those reading this blog entry.  Hiding until you lose weight is not the answer.  Caves are damp and you can catch God-knows-what from the locals.  (My version of this is “working out at home so I can lose weight before I go back to the gym.”)

You have a choice here.  You can continue your misery or give yourself a freaking break. I’m all for self-improvement but this much I know:  predicating your happiness–or for that matter your participation in the world–on a magic number, be it the read-out on a digital scale or the size printed on a dress label, is a recipe for sorrow.

I’ve learned this in real-time.  I dress hundreds of actors a year, most of whom go in front of the camera within hours of when I meet them.  I can’t afford to wait until they’ve dropped a stone to make them camera ready.  I’ve got to work my magic on what’s in front of me.

The best advice I can give you is this:  Dress the Body You Have. Waiting until you’ve lost the ten, twenty, whatever pounds sets up a finish line that, believe me, you never cross.  You don’t have figure problems.  You have a figure.  By styling yourself in clothes that make you happy, you can have a good time on your way to your ideal weight.

The way to do it, and still retain some of your wardrobe purchase power is this: Buy some inexpensive, versatile pieces that work together as basics, and then accessorize the bejeezus out of them!

A  couple of tops, a skirt, jeans that fit you and the ubiquitous drape front cardigan can be worked into a vast number of combinations.  If it makes you more comfortable, keep the colors dark-ish and flattering. Black is okay, but Navy is livelier.

The following items are little pieces of heaven because they will never make you feel fat:  shoes, bracelets, necklaces, scarves, earrings.  And just think!  When your down to your fighting weight, you’ll have a stunning array of goods to accent any style.

Take some joy in what you can do now.  Make dressing fun NOW.  It’s a skill you can use at any size.

Your partner on the treadmill–at the gym and in life,

Luke

I’ve noticed that on Castle, (Stana Katic as) Beckett has a killer outerwear wardrobe.  Where can I find a quality leather coat that is relatively affordable?

Cate

Dear Cate,

“Relatively affordable” is a relative term.  Will you only pull the trigger at $49.95 or do you hover breathlessly, waiting for the Gucci/Prada/Dolce piece goes on sale for $1999?  Maybe you have a black Amex and can wield it without compunction!

To Style it Like Beckett, do what I do.  Make a preliminary search on Google and go to “Shopping Results”.  This will give you the lay of the land and a pretty good idea of what’s out there.

I found this range in under ten minutes.

Google on and Be Your Own Celebrity Stylist!

Your patron saint of shopping,

Luke

Follow me on Twitter @RedCarpetLuke

(Photo credits:  Levi-Strauss, Black Rivet, Wilson’s Leather, Fog City, Gucci.com)

While working with one of my patients today in the rehab gym, and a large discussion broke out between my patient, several other patients, my co-workers, and myself.  Upon hearing that she would need to purchase new shoes that would accommodate her new custom leg brace, my patient asked, “do your shoes need to match the lower half of the outfit you are wearing?”  While we came to the consensus that it does not matter if your shoes and lower extremity clothes match for more casual clothes (i.e. jeans), we were divided as to more dressy/work/formal wear.  So…the question we would like to know…is there a rule regarding whether or not your shoes need to match your pants/skirt?

Thank you for your help & guidance!

A grateful group of rehab patients & therapists

Dear Rehabulous,

There are rules and there are rules.  It all depends on what you want to achieve.         The more you want a shoe to disappear, blend in or “go away,” as we say in a fitting, the closer you would match it to the pant or leg.

Certainly for formal wear it’s recommended to match the pant or fabric of the dress.  Although when I recently attended the Emmy’s I wore a white dinner jacket and black tux pants with purple suede Ferragamo loafers because they matched my tie and cummerbund.

Shoes are a great way to make a statement and show your personality.  Mademoiselle Sedate et Poised may want to match and blend while Sister  Look at Me will to go with high contrast and quirky styling.

Shoe color is very important if you are petite and want to look taller.  Here, matching is the way to go.  I think that the current success being enjoyed by the nude shoe can be traced back to the fact that it blends with the leg, (on white girls anyway,) creating a continuous uninterrupted line.  This makes for a very long leg due to added visual height.

The other thing about shoes is this:  The are the best friend of the high/low shopper.  A fabulous pair of shoes will bring up the level of a simple and/or severely casual outfit.  Think Jimmy Chou’s and tattered jeans.

Matchlessly yours,

Luke

(phtoto credit:  Folk at porhomme.com)