How to always look elegant | 5 easy and cheap tricks 

I wash my silk items in my machine’s hand-wash cycle, just not very often, they don’t need it, nor do they need ironing. Silk repels dirt and odors, it just stains easily with food and beverages and oily substances like cosmetics and stains often can’t be removed with home products. If I do get a spot, I take it to the cleaners within a day, they can get virtually anything out if done right away. So, barring any spills, I find this fabric very easy care. I send my wool and cashmere to the dry cleaners occasionally, I can’t do hand-washing because of a back injury. I always wear a silk jersey, long-sleeve tee underneath my wool and cashmere sweaters, it stops itching and keeps the wooly fabrics clean and fresh (if no spots or grime). It’s so much easier to toss a silk tee in the wash cycle every time than to cold-water hand-wash or dry-clean a cashmere sweater (I wouldn’t recommend even the gentlest machine-cycle for these, they’ll shrink and pill). I also wear a silk petticoat under my cashmere dresses. I can’t wear any synthetic fibers or other plastics like faux leather, so my silk items, including all undies and socks, are essential for my wardrobe. I wish I could still get silk tights, but I haven’t seen them for years.

You forgot viscose as an alternative to silk. It is amazing and so breathy in the summer, all I wear is viscose in the summer. And that shirt was not too big on you, just sleeves too long.

Great tips/reminders of how we can always look tip top 😊

I do most of my own alterations. But, since it’s been so brutally hot, nearly 40C in my sewing/laundry area, I just took two nee summer items to my tailor. I want to wear them this sumner, but should just have batched them to shorten myself over the winter. He’s charging me $100 US for two simple, not-long, hems, in a linen dress and a pair of cotton trousers. Every time I go in, he raises his prices, yikes. I bought a very full-skirted silk dress from Banana Republic that is too long. I know he will charge me nearly the price of the dress, $300 to shorten it, there is a lot of yardage in it. I hate working on silk, it takes the patience of a saint and the skill of a pro, but I’m neither! My sewing skills are only average. I couldn’t get this printed dress in petite, they only offered petite length in the boring black version. Maybe the in-store tailor will do it for me, they do offer free basic alterations, but when he sees how long that hem is, he won’t want to!

Do you have any recommendations on where to get cotton no show underwear ?

I do iron all my woven linen and cotton items thoroughly. But, then I try not to worry about the creases when I wear them, they just happen when wearing these cool, natural fabrics, especially linen. I wear only linen in summer, even cotton is too warm for our blistering California summers. Today I’m wearing my favorite linen dress, a white Safari-style mini one from Equipment, last year. I know I’ll stay cool and fresh all day, if a bit creased! It’s simply not possible to prevent linen from creasing during wear, but other linen lovers get it. I never put my clothes in the tumble dryer and they stay new-looking forever.

I never liked the oversized look on petite, tiny-framed me, but slightly relaxed is ok. Fit is super-important, I agree. I love a classic, body-skimming, but not tight, nor loose, fit. Most of my fellow American women wear clothes that are much too small, but this only makes them look heavier and squeezed-in. Clothes should have some ease in them. Those horizontal strain lines across the body means the size is too small. I was shocked at what I got from the big Nordstrom sale, everything is enormous! I double-checked my measurements, no change there, and used the specific size chart provided for each item, but everything is two sizes too big, I never had such a flop rate in my life. I can’t now exchange all the items because the smaller sizes I need are already sold out, it’s frustrating. I think it’s that American vanity-sizing that most brands are doing to reduce returns by women who order much smaller than their true size. But, it’s making shopping so difficult for everyone. I wish there would be global size standardization. I shop a lot of French and UK brands, in addition to US and Chinese ones like Lily Silk and Goelia. I don’t care what sizing standard they use, so long as it’s consistent. I think the waist measurement in cm would make most sense, or bust measurement for tops and jackets and waist measurement for dresses and bottoms.