Trendwatch

So, here's what is jumping off the glossy pages at me for fall:

• The Modern Flapper -- mod tunic dresses over billowy blouses, paired with woolly black tights and chunky shoes
• Patent Leather -- on shoes, bags, belts, coats...
• Tulip Skirts -- I couldn't tell you why, but this strange, pleated cousin of the pencil skirt cropped up a few times in the course of my research
• Flat Boots -- more or less equestrian in style, they're a slimmer, sleeker update on the cowboy boots that have been hanging around in recent seasons
  

Of course, there the fall staples were there, too: tweed, leather, muted colours... Interestingly, although the editors are touting smooth coifs as the look to match, I spotted a few examples of real, honest-to-goodness curls in the ads. Think early Friends Phoebe; think Harriet from So I Married an Axe Murderer (a terrifically funny, if cheesy, Mike Myers movie). I'll keep an eye on that to see if it's really going somewhere.

In other news, I made the first step towards entrepreneurship the other day. I am now the proud owner of a shiny new expanding file folder. AND--I even have something to put in it. To kick off my own self-consultation, I designed a pre-consultation client questionnaire and filled out a copy for myself. Later this week, I plan to start the closet purge.