“Style is the mind skating circles around itself as it moves forward”

It should probably come as absolutely no shock to anyone that South Dakota can be a little behind the times. This was never so apparent as I stood in line at the Fleet Foxes concert in Minneapolis. I thought I looked pretty smart clad in my trouser jeans. Yeah, smart for 2005.

I knew that straight legged and skinny jeans have been in style for a few years now and I did a pretty good job resisting. For one, I had a job that discouraged any sort of creative styling (khakis and vneck sweaters were my uniform lest my co-workers think I was showing off). For two...I'm an apple. I gain all my weight in my stomach/back (and occasionally boobs). I have skinny little chicken legs and no ass. I had no business being anywhere around a pair of skinny jeans.

But standing in line, surrounded by all sorts of cute and hip chicks of all sizes rocking the skinnies...suddenly I wanted a pair, too. And since I recently quit my staid job, I could now dress however I damn well pleased.

The road to the perfect skinnies was tough. I tried on pairs every where I went. H&M, GAP, Old Navy, J Crew, Express. Nothing worked. They were too long. Too short. Too tight. Too loose. The low point was coming out of a room at J Crew. I caught a glimpse in the 3-way mirror. I looked like an ice cream cone.

After a few weeks, I came to three realizations:

1.) I needed a pair with a higher-rise. Low-rised skinnies were doing a great job of digging in my stomach, giving me an awful dose of muffin top.

2.) I needed the help of shapewear. Even the highest-rise skinnies were still giving me muffin top, and Spanx helped in eliminating it and giving my tummy area a "shape" (rather than round, hence the dreaded ice cream cone affect).

3.) I needed to start dressing in a way to define a waist, even though I really don't have one. I know that sounds elementary, I had never really thought about it before.

So as a 5'2", size 6 apple, this is what worked for me:

Women's Classic Rise Skinny - "The Sweetheart" Jeans

These are awesome because they aren't super low-rise. The best part about Old Navy is that they have started offering most of their jeans in short AND petite inseams. I've found that there usually isn't too big of a difference between the actual lengths, but there is a difference in the rise. I usually stick to the "short" inseam only because I have a long torso, so I need more material in the rise. They're also not quite as blue in person, they're just more of a medium-dark wash.

Women's Mid-Rise Straight - "The Flirt" Jeans

The legs on these aren't quite as skinny, and they look great with flats. They are more dressy with a trouser styling and slant pockets in the back. Again, they have a higher rise (although a little lower than "The Sweethearts") but it still works.

Spanx- Higher Power

This is probably a "no duh", but remember what I said about South Dakota being behind the times? I've tried on shapewear before (unfortunately, Spanx isn't sold locally here) and it was always a struggle. I'd wrestle it on, only for an unsightly bulge to form beneath my bra. Or, I'd find something that was comfortable and would spend all day trying to keep it from rolling every time I sat down.

I've ordered a few different Spanx products, and found that the ones that extend up to the bustline stay up with no rolling down during the day. They smooth everything out, nip in the muffin top, and they're surprisingly comfortable. I've also ordered this pair to try because I don't really need thigh shaping and find the thigh part a little constrictive, so we'll see how it goes.

Now I'm all set for Fall/Winter! If only the weather would get the hint. It was warm enough for shorts today!

Related Site
-The Mens Fashion
-Dresses Online and Cheap Clothes
-Urban Clothing For Mens

Related Videos :below I show related videos and not so related to this article.

Title: Alicia Keys Empire State Style on Natural Hair

FASHIONWITHFIFI IS THE DIVA HOTSPOT! GO CHECK THEM OUT!! http://fashionwithfifi.com/ Check out my Jewelry Line NYAMANI CHIC at www.nyamanichic.etsy.com I show you how I replicated the Infamous hairstyle Alicia Keys wore in the Empire State of Mind Video. Its cute and funky. Natural Hair divas can rock it FIERCE! Song Natalie Storm- God Bless Me G Whizz- My Life

Title: New style Theta brainwave relaxing instrumental by Paul Collier "Can you Imagine?" (55)

Enjoy smooth relaxing beautiful music, no words, a gentle instrumental, Take a break from your busy life Can you Imagine? by Paul Collier (C) 2010 (includes embedded Theta binaural tones) NEW!!! mp3 Download NOW OUT only from... http://www.PaulFromStokeUK.com This music contains brainwave entrainment technology, for more information on this cllick here... http://www.transparentcorp.com/special/entrainment.php?c=8188815 Did you know you can only feel one emotion at a time, did you know that you can only think of one thing at a time? and more importantly do you know what this means in terms of achieving a healthy mind and maintainging a healthy mind? If you have negative thoughts that you cannot seem to shake, if you are reliving the emotions of a past event you cannot think these away. What you can do is imagine something new, look at this fantastic picture for instance, See yourself there, breathe in the mountain clear air, feel the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze. Take yourself for a virtual walk around the place, through the fields, maybe even climb the mountain. The main thing is this...Distract yourself, do this long enough (research says at least 15 minutes, so perhaps play this twice) and your previous persistant negative thoughts will have been replaced. You may think that doing this would result in the negative thoughts coming straight back, but, you will find that very often they do not for a period of time, that gets longer and longer the more you practise this. I really hope that my music helps you to achieve some peace, this world robs us of all our time, it makes our thoughts so speeded up that slowing them down seems an impossible feat, even uncomfortable. I wish you much peace. Thank you for listening and reading this. Paul :) Image used with kind permission of PDPhoto.org