Kelly Cutrone: One Bad Ass Mama

Maven of the Dark Arts, Kelly Cutrone, has made a name for herself as a balls-to-the-wall force of feministic power and success. Representing names such as Vivienne Westwood and Valentino, the PR guru has been called a few names herself. The name that I can relate to the most is b…

Kidding. It’s “mom.” She’s a mom. A single mom in the crazy fashion industry. How does she do it? Granted my life isn’t as hectic as hers, nor my paycheck as large, but I’m always intrigued to find out how moms get through their To Do list with their sanity (relatively) intact.

When I heard that Cutrone was going to be at Borders, I wanted to check her out. Naturally whenever I have any kid-free time planned, there’s always a kid-tastrophe that makes me leave the house 20 minutes late.

But I made it. And it was good. She was there to plug her latest book, Normal Gets You Nowhere, but she was talking about anything and everything. She’s a big believer in finding your personal truth, so to speak. Very follow-your-dreams kind of stuff. I know, not what one might expect from a tough-talking bad ass.

Yet Cutrone revels in being unexpected, or the anti-normal. In the uber chic, uber skinny, uber everything fashion world she sits upon her throne with flat black tresses, hardly any makeup, a regular woman’s body and clothed in all black (though at Borders she wore navy blue.)

What struck me most was she talked about figuring out what you’re passionate about and going from there. Even as a mom, focus on what’s important to your heart and let the rest fall into place.

I think that’s so easy to say, so hard to do. I wonder if I follow my passions, will the other plates I’m spinning come crashing to the ground? The thing about Cutrone is that she didn’t make it seem easy, but she made it seem possible. And she doesn’t let her fear get in the way.

What about you? Are you following your passion? If not, do you have the courage to make that change?

“You can develop a whole world around what you want to do once you find your truth.” –Kelly Cutrone

Maternity Fashion: It Doesn’t Have To Be An Oxymoron

You’re pregnant and your growing belly, butt and boobs let you know it won’t be long before you’re bursting at the seams. It’s time for some serious maternity shopping, but what do you buy?

The obstacles are many. Your shape is changing every week getting curvier, bigger. It’s hard to anticipate what your size and shape will be down the pregnancy road. Also, since growing a baby is a nine and a half month venture, that’s two, possibly three seasons of clothing that you’ll need. And you don’t want to break the bank for clothes that you don’t plan to wear much after the baby is born. (Warning: In the weeks, sometimes months after baby, you could still be wearing your maternity clothes.)

Some girls are lucky enough to have a batch of friends or family who just pass a collection of maternity clothes among themselves so they only need to get a few items to personalize their wardrobe. The rest of us have to hit the shops.

First off, handle the basics. You’ll need staples. Cute jeans, black pants, khakis and if you wear them: a versatile skirt and dress. I found it helpful to buy classic styles and colors of shirts so that they could be swapped out with pants as well as not look out-of-date for a pregnancy down the road.

I do like my fashion though and some of the really fun maternity fashions can be pricey, so I admittedly would buy a handful of trendy pieces to mix it up. I’ve found most of my cute affordable stuff online. There’s scads of great boutiques and they have sizing charts that can help you get the right fit. Google your heart out.

There’s also these wonderful things called maternity pant extenders that helps you stay in your pre-preggo pants for quite some time. I have the BellaBand in three colors.

Don’t buy all of your maternity clothes in the beginning. I know it can be exciting to build a new wardrobe, but don’t get carried away. I mean seriously, who knows how large you’re going to get or what your needs will be.

Broaden your personal style. (No pun intended.) For this pregnancy, I was glad leggings were back in. I didn’t wear them much before I was pregnant and in my first trimester, I scoffed at the maternity jeggins thinking, what pregnant woman would want to pour herself into those? Fast forward to the end of my second trimester and that preggo pop was me. I caved and got my own pair of jeggins, size large from Kohl’s.

And paired with my chocolate leather knee-high boots, I must say: they’re pretty boss.

Simply because you’re sporting a new, shapely body doesn’t mean you have to forsake your fashion sense or your finances. Just be creative and have fun with it.

The catwalk on the sidewalk

While in New York I dragged my hubby to quaint boutiques, poor chap. And the clothes, obviously, were fun to check out. But the most fun was the fashion not on the rack, but prancing down the street. Sure an amazing couture dress hovering above stilts as they teeter into a hushed restaurant snags my eye, but what makes me openly stare is people in their daily wares and how they choose to spice them up. It’s the middle of the week, in the middle of the day and they’re going only Lord Knows Where.

By Salvatore Vuono

I saw a scene usually reserved for Chinese paper fans now printed on leggins paired with blue sequined shoes, a cheap prom dress or layers upon layers of a top so deconstructed, I wasn’t sure if was a blouse or a scarf extraordinaire. All of it interesting, all of it fun.

Then there was inner ware as outer wear. Bras, nighties, lace, lace and more lace. Southern belle skirts with black leggins. Black skinny jeans. Leopard skinny jeans. Black skinny jeans with leopard booties. Black skinny jeans so tight she had to lay down to zip them up. Go ‘head girl.

And the belts. Big belts, flat belts, skinny belts, braided, leather, pleather, plastic. I won’t even get started on the shoes.

Yet let me not forget the short short. One morning, a woman in her late 40s/early 50s was rockin these black short shorts with red heels and a peasant top. She didn’t have cellulite. Isn’t that against some law? If I had cellulite in my 20s, why can’t *she* have it in her 40s? And it wasn’t that she had crazy muscles, there was jiggle, there just wasn’t any cottage cheese. To me she looked like she needed to put more clothes on, but mostly I was proud of her, go ahead with your great gams at 40+. Clearly, she still had *it.*

Do I see this in Chicago? Sure! Of course, but for the most part, we’re more reserved. A little more black and khaki with bright spots of red, not many covered in sequins or faux prom dresses while straddling a 10 speed.