THAT occasion

Different occasions may call for different dress codes. Below are a list of some occasions and the appropriate dress code for each of them.

Black Tie

A Black Tie invitation requires formal attire. Gentlemen would wear tuxedos while the ladies would wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.

Formal usually means the same as Black Tie, but in some trendier cities like New York or Los Angeles, it also mean a black shirt, no tie with a tuxedo. Ladies would wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.

Black Tie Optional

Black Tie Optional or Black Tie Invited gives you the option of wearing a tuxedo or formal dress but it should clue you into the formality of the event, meaning a dark suit and tie would be your option. Ladies would wear cokctail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.

Creative Black Tie

Creative Black Tie leaves room for trendy interpretations of formal wear. Gentlemen can go more modern with a tuxedo, a black shirt with no tie. Ladies would wear long or short dresses or evening separates.

Themed parties may call for dress codes like Texas Black Tie or other kinds of Creative Black Tie. In that situation, you can have more fun with it, choosing a dressy look that complements the theme (for him, it could be a tux with boots and for her it could be a long dress paired with Southwestern style silver belt and jewelry).

Cocktail Attire

Cocktail Attire means short, elegant dresses for the ladies and dark suits for the gentlemen.

Festive Attire

Festive Attire is an occasion usually held around the holidays, with the mood of the party being Informal or Semi-Formal. For the ladies, it means to choose looks with a bit of sparkle or holiday bent (i.e. a beaded sweater with black pants, a red silk blouse with a black skirt).

Casual

Dressy Casual requires dressed-up versions of casual looks. For the gentlemen, it could be trousers and a sport coat, for the ladies a dressy pants look. Jeans, shorts, T-shirts and other casual looks are not appropriate for Dressy Casual.

Casual generally means anything is appropriate but you should ensure you keep in mind the fundamentals of dressing "appropriateness”, “aesthetics" and "attitude" even for casual events.

Smart Casual would mean anything in between casual and business. The main goal of the grooming is to look smart.

Choosing a Tie

Since I covered make-up for ladies very deeply, I shall now cover on how to choose a tie for the gentlemen. Our tutor once said that since ladies can play with their make-up, gentleman can play with their ties. I agree very much with her and this this post is dedicated to contribute to what she said during that tutorial.

The most crucial thing to focus on when choosing a tie is the pattern. There are so many different styles, designs and patterns available. With so many ties to choose from it may seem overwhelming. However, if you are trying to make a good impression, just remember these few things.

You will never go wrong with a solid tie that matches your shirt and coat. If you are in doubt over the pattern to choose, the best idea is to have no pattern at all.

If you need to choose a tie with a pattern, the basic designs include stripes and polka-dots and geometric shapes. The more outlandish designs feature logos, cartoon characters and even landscapes. Some ties are clearly designed with fun in mind. They might be great at family reunions, but not in the boardroom.

The next critical point to think about is the material when you choose a tie. It needs to be strong to make a good knot. This strength typically comes from the lining of coarse fabric that is sewn into the lining of most ties. Silk makes the best material of of tie, but without a good lining, silk ties can be too thin to make firm knots. Ties made from a fabric that blends silk with polyester will be your next choice. The most common materials to make ties are wool or cotton, however fabrics typically do not wear quite as nicely.

Dressing for formal business occassions

It is actually rather easy to dress yourselves once you have gone for several BESE sessions.

You just have to:
1) Make sure you iron your blouse, suit and pants before coming.
2) Comb your hair neatly, such that it looks pleasant to see.
3) For ladies, please use a small earring (no danglers or hulla hoops) and a business watch, you may want to use a necklace too.
4) For gentlemen, please use a business watch, you should match your cuff links to your watch.
5) For those of you wearing spectacles, it is preferred that you do not use glasses with tinted lenses. Your spectacles should not have fancy frames.
6) Contact lens users should keep their lenses color neutral.
7) Fingernails should be short to medium in length
8) Ladies wearing skirt need to ensure skirt is at least knee length.
9) Ladies must use black high heels
10) Gentlemen's shoes must be highly polished with thin soles, preferravly black.
11) Gentlemen's socks must blend with trousers and shoes
12) Gentlemen's socks must be long enough to cover calf

There are a lot more do's and don'ts out there but listing all of them will just make it boring to read.

The key about dressing right is just to ensure that you look pleasant.
For example, please look at the difference between the 2 pictures below.


Imagine that you are a lady, which would want to go out for a date with?

Imagine if this 2 person turned up for an interview with the same dressing they have in the picture, which would you have a better first impression in?






It is rather obvious that the gentleman on the left hand side is better dressed than the other gentleman. Dressing is as easy as that- you just have to make sure you look pleasant.

The below pictures shows some ways in which a tuxedo could go wrong.

DRESSING right for THAT job

Now that we are done with the facial part of our appearance alteration, we shall touch on the dressing.

However, I should remind you that be it the dress, the make-up or the accessories, what you choose should take into account the following:

1. Aesthetics (Flattering)
You should wear only things that makes you look good. For example, you may want your suits specially altered so that it will flatter your body shape and fits you best. You should also coordinate the colors of what you are wearing.

2. Appropriateness
Use your imagination. Does what you wear complement the occasion, the time of day, the location, climate, culture and expectation of the people you will meet? If you are unsure of what to wear, ask those who are going to the same occasion as you and match what most of them will be wearing. One good example of the trouble you will get into if you do not follow this golden rule can be seen in the picure below.

(Anyone feeling windy?)

3. Attitude
Since you have spent so much time on your grooming, be confident about how you look. What you wear should also reflect your personality and position. Have the right attitude for the right occasion.

Taking care of your face

Make-up is not the only element that can make your face looks nice. It is also necessary to take care of your facial skin.

You should clean your face every time you take a bath, every time you're returned from the outdoor and after you engaged in strenuous activites that makes you sweat.

You should clean your face with the following:
Cleansing
It removes dirt and renews your cell. It might be lathering or non-lathering.You should cleanse your face once or twice a day. You should also cleanse it after you came back from a tiring activity or a dirty outdoor environment.

Toning
Contains water and alcohol or plant extract. It removes traces of cleanser and tightens pores temporarily. Facial toner should be used twice a day.

Moisturizer
It is an emulsion containing oil and water. It may be water/oil based. You should buy a morning/day moisturizer and a rejuvenating night moisturizer and apply each once a day as according to the time of the day.

Exfoliating
As you grow older, the more often you need to exfoliate your skin. This is because skin cells die and new cells keep getting regenerated. These dead cells come to rest on the top layer of our skin, making our skin look dull, and even patchy. Although dead skin is replaced naturally by new cells, this process takes longer as we age, making our skin look duller and patchier for greater lengths of time.
If you are in your twenties, you should exfoliate skin twice a week with a granular face scrub. These are gentle on the skin. In your thirties, you should exfoliate skin every alternate day, or daily.

Masking
This helps to remove dead cells from the skin surface and tighten pores. Face masks are usually meant to be used up to three times a week. However, there are some that recommend that you only use them weekly. Your skin type plays a role too. For dry skin, you should stick to using a mask which is used once a week as otherwise you could really dry out your skin. For oily skin you can use one up to three times a week in order to control the oil (sebum) within the face.

Steaming
This helps to soften the plugs that caused whiteheads and blackheads. It is advised that you steam your face two or three times a week. If you do it more regularly, you risk drying out your skin and your sebaceous glands will compensate for this by producing more oil which can clog pores, resulting in more problems.

All the makeups in the world

I figured that some of you may wonder on what brand to buy for your makeup kit, So I will write here what brand I used for the different make-up tools:





Foundation: I obtained mine from a skin doctor, it is nameless. I would not give any brand reccomendation, just choose one which complements your skin colour.

Powder: Marcks

Eyeliner: Dramatic Parfums

Mascara: ZA Cutie Curl Mascara

Eye shadow: VOV

Lipstick: Menard

Lip Balm: QV

You may ask why I would need a lip balm for...
Well, my lips are usually very dry so I would need to apply lip balm before I apply my lipstick so it would look nice. For those of you who likes to bite on your lips and thus ruin its skin, you should use a lip balm too, and try to kick that bad habbit.

To all single eye lids people

YOU! Those of you who have single eyelids and would really like a way to get your single eyelid to double eyelid but do not want to go for surgery?

Here's a new way!
We have heard of eyelid tapes but most people would know how to use that, I tried to use the eyelid glue instead. This is how to apply it:




The video may look really scary at first but once you try it, it is not so scary after all. You will definitely get the double eye lid after you've done as what the video shows you. This is a screenshot of the one I bought:


It comes with 2 toothpick-like object (theres 1 more in the box, thats why you only see 1 in the photo).
The one I used is from the brand DIANA. Its quite good and easy to use.

By the way, you can get eyelid glue in stores like Watson, I can't remember how much it costs but it is definitely below $20. They would also have the manual on how to apply it inside the box, so you need not worry about it.

By the way, if you keep wearing it everyday, you may realise one day that you had double eyelid without applying the glue :D