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The alligator shirt is back. Loafers
are popular. Khaki has been revamped into modern shapes.
And Bermuda shorts are women's must-haves for the summer.
Do we see a preppy wave here?
Here's more evidence. Seersucker is just about everywhere.
The word "seersucker" is from India, which adapted
it from the Persian expression shirushakar, meaning "milk
and sugar." The Southern California Lindy Society
report on men's fashion history describes it as "puckered
cloth resulting from ... two layers of yarn, one taut
and one slack." It's usually made of cotton, rayon
or linen.
The history, of course, goes way back. In World War I
female nurses wore seersucker. It became part of the dapper
man's uniform in the '30s with the introduction of the
famous Palm Beach suit. That style soon became the summer
wardrobe worn by American presidents and Wall Street businessmen
on hot summer days. And in the tropical climate of the
American South, it was a man's uniform.
Segue to the summer of 2005.
It's a big part of the women's look and available in a
wide price range. You'll find it at the Gap in shorts
and at Nordstrom in jackets, pants and skirts from lines
as varied as Elie Tahari, Liz Claiborne and BCBG.
For men and women, Brooks Brothers has a formidable selection.
Haspel, known for the traditional men's suits, also touts
the seersucker suit.
When high temperatures set in, we may all welcome the
idea.
You drop, it mops: The first arrival was the robotic vacuum,
a little flat disc named Roomba that scooped up dust and
hair as it scooted around the floor all by itself. The
manufacturer, iRobot, says it has sold 1.2 million.
But mopping the floor may be an even less appealing chore
than running the vacuum. It's not surprising to see a
Wall Street Journal report that the same company is about
to introduce a robotic mop. It's called the Scooba and,
like the Roomba, it vacuums debris, but then it releases
cleaning fluid and water, scrubs up the mess and -- the
best part -- it then channels the dirty water into a separate
chamber. It covers the floor multiple times in a 45-minute
cycle while you lunch on the terrace.
It is expected to be on the market this year at a slightly
higher price than the $280 Roomba.
Bamboo lumbers in: Maybe it's because of a growing environmental
awareness or the ongoing reach for something unique?
Perhaps for both reasons, bamboo is getting high marks
as a natural material used for a range of products. It's
not just for stuffing into a pot to decorate a room.
Newsweek magazine puts it at the No. 10 spot in a recent
"Design 2005" feature on top innovative ideas.
It is used for economical, eco-friendly flooring and plates.
It's also showing up in the natural clothing market, often
combined with organic cotton. Bamboo fiber fabrics are
said to be softer even than cotton, which makes it especially
appropriate for the baby clothes and blankets made by
Bamboosa, a South Carolina company.
Bamboo is also emerging as a high-fashion textile. Los
Angeles designer Linda Loudermilk, who used to show in
Paris, is putting bamboo-fiber clothing decorated with
sea images in her upscale eco-themed 2005 collection.
Cellulite be gone: Just in the last decade, dozens of
beauty companies have offered treatment creams with the
promise of ridding women of the dreaded cellulite, the
dimply fat that clings so lovingly to one's thighs, hips
and posteriors.
Women have tried massages. They ingested potions. And
still it stays like a bad debt.
Now the New York Times reports a treatment has gained
support (and detractors) among many American doctors.
It is mesotherapy, which French doctors have long used
to treat cellulite, weight loss and even migraines.
The procedure involves an injection of various medicines
mixed together into the layer of fat beneath the skin.
The substances are expected to dissolve cellulite, which
then drains through the lymph system. It sounds good in
theory. Too bad doctors have no conclusive scientific
evidence that it is effective.
Apparently only limited effort has been made to research
the treatment. Four studies are said to be under way with
no clear results. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration
has not approved any drugs for mesotherapy, although they
may have been approved for other purposes, such as treating
lung disease.
As for the procedure, the patient remains conscious during
the injection, which takes 30 minutes to an hour. The
cost, the Times quotes, is $800 to $1,500 a session, and
six to 10 treatments are usually recommended. On the upside,
it's cheaper than liposuction. On the downside, liposuction
doesn't do much for cellulite.
More help on the way: When clients ask Betty Halbreich
if certain colors "go together," she tells them
what her mother told her: "The sky is blue, the grass
is green and every flower has a different hue." Her
point is not that women should dress like a garden but
that nature kind of has a knack with color. Many shades
can be mixed together.
It's the kind of observation Halbreich passes out in "Secrets
of a Fashion Therapist: What You Can Learn Behind the
Dressing Room Door" (HarperCollins, $14.95). Halbreich
is the fashion consultant at Bergdorf Goodman, New York's
pricey department store, where she has been helping a
wide range of women, including socialites and actresses,
since 1976. The book, written in 1997, was recently updated
and reissued.
Certainly with many how-to-dress books and television
shows out there, no one should lack for help. But unlike
many of the experts, Halbreich has not even a soupcon
of pretension or mean spirit. Her book is practical and
straightforward.
Among her updates:
• Use eBay to sell the clothes you are no longer wearing.
•Go bare-legged in the spring if the legs can take it,
and if not, look for light, pale, sheer stockings (skip
the blacks).
•Whether brooches are in or out, and they have been both
in the past year, invest in pins wherever you find them.
They inevitably spiff up a look.
•On larger sizes, she says boxy jackets make you look
bulky. A lean, elongated jacket is slimming.
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