Summer always makes me want things that seem incredibly impractical.

With Memorial Day upon us, I’ve been thinking about what I’ll need for all the fun in the sun I plan to have, though each item might seem like a frivolous purchase.

But whenever you’re standing in front of an entire shelf of something and you think...

Every so often, I poll my family and friends for column ideas.

Sometimes they’re not all that helpful (sorry guys) but this week my friend Anne brought up a good one.

Summer trends are always the least conservative, and this includes dresses. Honestly, thanks to the first lady, sleeves are sparser year-round, but summer is the season...

Today was the first reasonably warm day of the season, and the men of Chicago looked uncomfortable in their work attire.

Summer is a delightful season, filled with beer gardens and music festivals and kickball pickup games. However, it’s not a great time for the male wardrobe. Suits get more cumbersome as the temperature increases, and...

Ever since I was a teenager, the occasional clothing purchase has prompted my mom to say, “I used to have that when I was your age!”

If I recall, it started with colorful Lacoste polo shirts and the pairing of baby pink with kelly green, both of which I used to wear liberally in high school....

Personal style goes beyond what you wear when you’re actually going somewhere important.

Sure, we all wear scrubs from time to time. But even when you’re buying clothes to lounge around in, undergarments or even pajamas, they should be “you.” For example, I have lots of pajama pants with polka dots or stripes, and lots of...

Every time I go to get a manicure, I stare longingly at Essie’s Where’s My Chauffeur.

The brand describes it as “an opulent turquoise,” and I can’t disagree. It is simply delightful. For three months I’ve been walking into nail salons, picking it up, and then at the last minute trading it for a pink or...

There is a fascinating new show on PBS called “Mr. Selfridge,” all about the creator of what is effectively the modern department store.

Selfridge traveled from his hometown of Chicago, Ill., all the way to London to try and introduce what was, at the time, quite a novel concept: a store where all the merchandise was...

Some fashion and beauty choices come with the disclaimer, “If you’re going to wear it, you have to own it.”

The fanny pack is a great example. Listen, we all see the appeal of tooling around town hands-free without a hundred-pound tote weighing us down. Carrie Bradshaw even rocked a metallic fanny pack on her season...

It appears that Punxsutawney Phil was wrong this year. Spring is definitely not coming early.

Across the nation, it is still, for lack of a more effective phrase, pretty freaking cold. I was almost blown off the street by the wind walking to my bus yesterday. This morning I didn’t put gloves on before leaving Starbucks...

The rise of designer collaborations is one of the best things to happen to your small yet stylish budget in recent years.

These partnerships are sometimes called high-low collaborations, meaning that a high-fashion designer will create a collection for an affordable chain store such as H-and-M.

Along with the opportunity to own the labels you’re lusting after...

As many of my regular readers know, spring fashion makes me angry that I’m not one of those people who take vacations.

Well, this year is different. Although I’m not heading to some exotic location that Vogue recommends restaurants in, like St. Tropez, I am actually going somewhere where it’s perfectly appropriate to wear shorts in...

Every year during awards season — or as I call it, the holidays — you can pick out at least a few trends from watching what the stars wear.

One of those trends is always “hot mess.” You can always count on a few celebs to roll in wearing dresses that are five sizes too small,...