How Savvy Businesswomen Dress For Success

The question "How should I dress at work?" comes up at every women's conference I address.

Sharon Stone is a fashion stylist and personal shopper based in Dallas, Texas. She has a flair for style that's made her a top pick of celebs like Sarah Jessica Parker and Ellen DeGeneres. I asked her advice.

Carol Kinsey Goman: There are many different types of work places ranging from open creative offices to more traditional corporate environments. Do you have some general guidelines about appropriate dressing for a professional woman?

Sharon Stone: While we all know how to dress in our time off and for special occasions, often times appropriate dressing in the workplace can often be a bit of a "grey area." The basic guidelines to follow are simple: proper fit, classic style and neatness.

* In general, a proper fit goes a long way towards a professional look. This may mean updating your wardrobe if you've changed sizes, as we all do, or if you haven't replaced your wardrobe in a while. Dated and faded attire bely your professionalism.
* Keep it simple. Trends are great and lots of fun to follow, but the workplace is an environment where the understated is more appropriate. In such an environment it is better to have your great performance command the attention, not your wardrobe.
* Cleanliness and neatness are always in style, and never more so than in a professional environment.
* Do some research on Pinterest, Instagram and online for business dressing for inspiration. Or if you have the ability to work with a personal shopper, take advantage of that objective opinion.

Goman: I've presented my "Body Language for Women Who Lead" program at several of the most successful firms in Silicon Valley - and I am amazed at the array of low-cut necklines I see on women in the audience. What are your thoughts about this?

Stone: The workplace should be a cleavage-free zone. While there is absolutely a time and a place to embrace a plunging neckline, the workplace is definitely neither of those. It is a distraction and unprofessional.

Goman: I'm all for women dressing in a fashion that makes them feel attractive and confident, but I also advise women to take themselves (and their professional reputation) seriously. When I talk about "dress for success" for women in a leadership role, I mean dressing in ways that build, not diminish, their credibility. Women in managerial positions who dress in sexy attire (low cut tops and too-short skirts) are viewed as less intelligent. Even other women take them less seriously.

Many workplaces have embraced a "casual Friday" look all week long. Does this make it easier to dress for success?

Stone: While it is important to be comfortable at work you also want to make sure that your look is a polished one. Unless you happen to work in the fitness or sporting goods industry there is absolutely no reason that "athleisure" should be present in a professional workplace. Slacks, pants, skirt or dress are the basic wardrobe from which to choose. When in doubt, a wardrobe consisting of a variety of simple black slacks paired with various blouses, sweaters, jackets, etc. and some simple well-placed jewelry, is the perfect go-to formula.

Goman: Thank you, Sharon, for these great tips.

Let me add that, as with every other piece of nonverbal communication, you need to consider first what "success" means in a particular context. Appropriate dress is a way of expressing respect for the situation and the people in it. Therefore, your look may change depending on the business circumstances.

For example: Teresa is a management consultant – and a master at dressing for the role. She loves to wear hot pink, turquoise and fire-engine red silk dresses with stiletto heels and lots of bling to work in her New York City office. But the moment she has to meet with a conservative client, or one who is going through difficult times, Teresa transforms herself into a prim professional whose outfit matches the way she wants to be perceived. (In her words, "The success I dress for is that of my client.") One member of her staff recalls meeting Teresa at the headquarters of a nonprofit religious organization where they were to conduct focus groups. The staff member barely recognized her stylish boss. By dressing more like the client, Teresa fit right in. She looked like one of the nuns.

I know it's superficial, but in a job interview, and indeed any business meeting, you are being evaluated, at least to some degree, by your appearance, clothing and grooming. If you want to be judged as a consummate professional, you need to dress the part.

Clothing has an effect on both the wearer and the observer. It has been proven that people are more likely to give money (charitable donations, tips) or information to someone if that person is well dressed. And if you ever watch actors go through their first dress rehearsal of a play, you'll see firsthand the amazing transformation that happens when the actors are in costume.

Experiment with your appearance. Notice how you feel and how people react to you when you wear certain colors or styles. Then, based on those reactions and your career goals, you can make an informed decision about what dress for success means for you.

New York's Flower District Is Dying

It's almost 6 a.m. on West 28th Street, and as the July sun rises over New York, the senses awaken to unexpected smells. Instead of warming asphalt and truck exhaust, there's the whiff of wisteria, sweet pea, and hyacinth. Hiding gum-stained sidewalks and storefront gates are carnations and roses stacked along the curb.

Though busily transforming into a playground for the ultra-wealthy, Manhattan still retains a hint of its working-class past. While the fish market, meatpacking district, and even the diamond and garment districts are all gone, going, or reduced to tiny versions of their former selves, the flower district remains. In fact, this one-block stretch of Chelsea is the centerpiece of a multibillion-dollar U.S. floral industry, shuttling flowers to the homes and offices of some of the richest, most powerful people in the world.

Among the ever-present construction sites sits a labyrinth of wholesale shops, where peonies and calla lilies spill from buckets, awaiting the discerning eyes of floral artists and decorators. From fashion to finance, the district provides scented backdrops for Fashion Week runway shows, Hamptons clambakes, and billionaire fundraisers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Even so, the historic district, like the island of Manhattan, is being overrun by a much more powerful New York industry: real estate.

West 28th Street once boasted more than 65 wholesalers. Now it's a handful of second- and third-generation shops. As nearby hotels and condos shoot up, skyrocketing rents have forced out wholesalers and florists who can't keep up, a pattern seen all over the city as bank branches and drugstore chains appear where family-owned stores once served neighborhoods. The flower district has experienced an average 15 percent increase in rent over the last 10 years, according to data compiled by brokerage Citi Habitats. The median monthly rent is currently about $4,000, among the highest in the city, according to an analysis from Bloomberg News. (However, New York did see prices decline in second quarter 2018.)

The real estate frenzy has also erased nearby parking lots, which floral customers depended on to transfer loads of flowers out of midtown's congested streets. Increasing traffic has deterred longtime buyers from even trekking into the city. Even without the fallout from construction and gentrification, the marketplace for expensive flowers has been flooding with new competitors—from Costco to e-commerce sites and even local delis—further squeezing the high-end florists of 28th Street.

“There is no viable future for the flower market here,” says Gary Page, owner of G. Page Wholesale Flowers and former president of the now-defunct Flower Market Association, which reported back in 2000 that the district raked in as much as $120 million a year. “The heydays are gone.”

U.S. floriculture retail sales—including flowers, plants, seeds, and potted plants—are valued at $35.2 billion, according to 2017 data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Nationally, imports account for approximately 64 percent of fresh-cut flowers sold by dollar volume in the U.S., the Society of American Florists says. Of the fresh-cut flowers exchanging hands in New York's flower district, the vast majority are imported.

In fact, the bouquet you bought at your local deli was likely grown on a mountainside in Colombia, where 78 percent of all U.S. flower imports originate. This relationship is a product of trade policies implemented in the 1990s to curb Colombian drug production by encouraging a legal, alternative crop. After import taxes were lowered, Colombian flowers flourished. American growers, however, paid the price—sales of U.S. roses have dropped 95 percent since 1991, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Additional imported flowers make their way to America from the Netherlands, home to the largest flower market in the world. At Royal FloraHolland in Aalsmeer, flower traders buy and sell $5.2 billion in horticultural products each year at an auction house the size of 182 soccer fields. But even the Dutch have seen growth slow, as cheaper South American flowers flood the market.

Where the flowers are from is one thing. Getting them to the buyer while still fresh is quite another. From farm to wholesaler to florist, each stem found in New York's flower district has traveled farther and faster than most people ever will. Take, for example, a simple red rose. The one you pull out of the plastic wrap in your kitchen was likely grown in Colombia. After its stem has been snipped, it's put in post-harvest hydration solution and boxed in a refrigerated room. From there, the bundle is transferred to a cooled plane in Bogota and flown to Miami. After passing through customs, the package is received by truck drivers, who shuttle it up the East Coast to New York. From start to finish, the process takes three days.

The New York flower district dates back to the late 19th century, when immigrants from Eastern Europe, particularly Greece, identified an untapped market: providing flowers for department stores, funerals, and even nearby steamships. “The flower market is a shadow of its former self,” says Steven Rosenberg, a third-generation owner of Superior Florist, which was opened by his grandfather in 1930 and then run by his father Sam. “It's still colorful to walk through, but it's nothing compared to what it used to be.”

Rosenberg's grandfather Louie arrived from Poland in the early 1920s. Living in a tenement on the Lower East Side, he eventually got a job in the Chelsea fur district—that is, until he realized he was allergic to fur. Louie crossed the street and sought out a job as a flower runner; he learned Greek to get a leg up in his new profession, supplementing his fluent Yiddish and clunky English.

In 1930, Louie Rosenberg opened his own wholesale shop and began competing with Greek, German, and Irish immigrants to sell fresh-cut flowers to retailers. This was a time when elegantly dressed men haggled with growers from Long Island. Decades before the jet age, New Yorkers had to make due with hydrangeas and gladiolus from Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island.

Many immigrants work in the flower district these days, though now they largely hail from Mexico. Frankie Mendez, a salesperson at Caribbean Cuts, has made a career out of selling to clients from Christian Louboutin and Barney's exotic bamboos or purple dancing ladies for catalog and window displays. Mendez was only 12 when he moved to New York from Mexico City. By the time he was 14, he was unloading boxes of flowers in the predawn gloom. Like the elder Rosenberg, he spoke little English, but worked hard to succeed in a physically strenuous environment.

What can we expect from Victoria Beckham's new skincare range

We officially cannot wait.

Victoria Beckham ruled herself out of the highly-anticipated (and rumoured) Spice Girls tour earlier this month, with the 43-year-old confirming, 'I'm not going on tour. The girls aren't going on tour.'

While rumours were buzzing around as to why a Spice Girls tour wouldn't be happening – at least with all five OG women – most people suspected that VB might be invested in another project – you know, aside from her mega fashion brand, charity work and being the mother of four.

Sure enough, Victoria confirmed the news on International Women's Day, announcing in a live conversation with Nicola Mendelsohn (VP EMEA, Facebook) that she would be launching her own skincare range.

'I am currently in the process of creating my own colour, my own line of skincare creams, and a perfume,' VB announced – streamed live from her Dover Street store. 'As a woman, I want to make the things I need in my life, the things that are missing.'

To VB fans this move is far from unexpected, with Victoria collaborating with Estée Lauder to create a 14-piece product collection for the past two years – going on to completely sell out.

We are still dreaming about her iconic (and again sold-out) illuminating cream, Morning Aura.

But what can we expect from VB's new skincare range?

We don't know yet whether her skincare range will be another collab with Estée Lauder, but according to VB, the products are set to be 'very scientific', as she told fans that she's 'learning a lot' in their creation.

If there's anyone we'd trust with our skin, it's VB.

CVS Bans Manipulation of Faces in Beauty Product Shots

CVS, one of the largest drug store chains in the United States, has announced that it will no longer use digitally altered photos of faces in its advertising and other marketing material for its beauty products. The company says all beauty photos will be clearly marked to indicate that they have not been manipulated.

The company introduced the “CVS Beauty Mark,” a watermark that will be used to highlight imagery that has not been materially altered. For this initiative, “materially altered” is defined by CVS as changing or enhancing a person’s shape, size, proportion, skin or eye color, wrinkles or any other individual characteristics. CVS says it will be working together with key brand partners and industry experts to develop specific guidelines in an effort to ensure consistency and transparency.

Manipulating faces has become easier in recent years, with advanced Photoshop features as well as programs such as Portrait Pro, which automates many corrections that can smooth out wrinkles, enlarge eyes, get rid of neck lines, remove zits. The results often look impossibly perfect.

As part of the initiative, CVS plans to help customers differentiate between unaltered and altered imagery. The CVS Beauty Mark will start to appear on material related to CVS-branded products starting in 2018, with all imagery (even for products sold but not made by CVS) going to non-altered by 2020. The company is working with many of the brands it sells to get them on board.

Calling it the CVS Beauty Mark Initiative, Helena Foulkes, President of CVS Pharmacy and Executive Vice President of CVS Health says the new policy is part of the company’s purpose of “helping people on a path to better health.” She goes on to say that “how women feel about themselves on the outside affects how they feel about themselves on the inside” and that the company has been listening to how both the media and their customers focus on body image.

“The connection between the propagation of unrealistic body images and negative health effects, especially in girls and young women, has been established,” Foulkes says in a press release. “As a purpose-led company, we strive to do our best to assure all of the messages we are sending to our customers reflect our purpose of helping people on their path to better health.”

CVS was the first major retailer to ban the sale of cigarettes at their stores, replacing them with displays promoting programs designed to help customers quit smoking, and the new beauty initiative is just another way the company is focusing on bettering their customers.

The 6 Best Foods for Your Skin During the Winter

This week on “Open Tabs”—an assortment of links we have on our open tabs for the week—we’re giving you a peek into our own internet habits and the stories and themes we can’t seem to stop talking about, like what happened after seven days of jade-rolling, the best foods to eat during the winter, a new SoHo café with a cause, and much, much more.

1. I Haven’t Worn a Real Bra in 4 Months—and I’m Never Going Back (via Popsugar Fashion)

It all started with an Instagram photo...

2. Hold everything. Varley just dropped their latest collection.

And it’s unreal!

3. A New Soho Café Serves Grain Bowls with a Cause (via Grub Street)

“At a time when the biggest conversation in the restaurant industry is about pervasive sexual harassment, it’s commendable when an owner advocates for employees, too.”

4. We Tried Jade Rollers to Find Out If They’re a Total Waste of Money (via Huff Post)

“They sure look pretty, but do jade rollers really deserve a place in your beauty cabinet?”

5. The Best Winter Beauty Foods to Add to Your Diet (via The Newsette) 

You can *actually* get that natural summer glow back into your skin, despite the weather!

Beauty Products Celebs Actually Love and Do not Just Endorse

Truth be told, celebrity guidance has weaved its way into various aspects of my life. Before you judge me, know that celebrities have lives outside of the public eye, too. They fight, they love, they drive, they eat— you know, a normal human life. The things they know from constant societal pressure and longer years lived than me, come in handy for this regular gal. From Bette Davis advising me what road I should take to get to Hollywood or Rihanna telling me to “enjoy all that YOU are" after a heartbreak, I feel like I can trust them.

My trust wavers in one category, though: beauty. More often than not, I come across a celeb raving about a line or product only to find out they're a sponsor with no real personal connection to it. It becomes a delicate path to traverse where I don't know if the product is as quality as they say or if they're just trying to generate revenue. No shame to the hustle of these ladies, but I'd rather know what they genuinely use—and love—to achieve their envy-worthy glow and glam.

It took a little digging, but I found 11 lovely ladies who may promote products, but also share others they use simply because they love them. From skin care to hair necessities, these products are now at the top of my list (I mean who doesn't want to have Adriana Lima's skin?). Take a look for yourself and know these celebs actually love the products which means you'll love them, too.

Teyana Taylor and Urban Skin RX Purifying Pumpkin Pore Mask
Taylor posted on Instagram a photo of herself using the product and said "loving my pumpkin purifying pore mask, this shit is the best and its self warming, keep ah bish skin feeling all nice & shit.

Shay Mitchell and Kelley Baker Brows Brow Defining Pencil
In a coordinated post with Byrdie, Mitchell raved about Kelley Baker Brows and said, "Her products are my absolute favorite. They come in cool colors and you have really good brush to brush them out." Weirdly enough, she also uses it to enhance her mole.

Gabrielle Union and Mirigal High Voltage Oil
She once told Racked, "And for day, I just started using Mirigal oil. I put it under my makeup, and it's amazing." It's an all over elixir that helps with scars and spots while also giving you a fresh glow.

January Jones and Shani Darden Resurface Retinol Reform
Jones once explained to InStyle, "I have sensitive skin, and this retinol product doesn't irritate it at all. It gets rid of blemishes and wrinkles. It's been a game changer in my skin care routine."

Mila Kunis and Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums Carnal Flower
In an interview with Style Craze, Kunis said her weakness is fragrances, with her favorite being Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums Carnal Flower. The main scents are a powerful mix of tuberose and white musk.

Olivia Culpo and Sorme Lip Liner
Revealing her five must-haves, Culpo shared with Byrdie her need for lip liner: "Lip liner for me is a staple in my beauty kit. Right now I'm loving this Sorme pencil liner in Tease. I also use coconut oil with my lip liner sometimes to create a really natural long-lasting stain."

6 Editors Share Their Favorite Selfie-Editing Apps

To say that selfies have taken over our lives and our iPhone screens would be an understatement—and, whether or not that's questionable for our mental health, it's true. I'm also not going to argue that in order to be a positive, self-loving person you have to completely rid yourself of apps that help brighten, sharpen, and smooth your photos. If having a well-edited image will make you feel good, so be it. That being said, I'm not on board with the overly airbrushed, unrealistic cyborg-like selfies that have very little basis in reality.

So there has to be a middle ground, right? A way to keep your photos well-lit and still look like you. I asked a few women around the office to give up their best selfie app secrets, ones that don't take things too overboard. Below, find their best tips.

Aemilia Madden, fashion editor at Who What Wear
"When it comes to selfies (and Instagram in general), my favorite editing app is VSCO. It allows me to adjust the brightness and general tone of my photos so that they have some uniformity. I try not to go too crazy with editing, because at the end of the day, I want internet me to look like me IRL."

Faith Xue, editorial director at Byrdie
"I hate to say it, but nothing beats Facetune. The blur tool has smoothed out my shiny forehead on many an occasion, and I also love the whiten tool to make the whites of my eyes brighter (I'm crazy, I know). The detail tool is a more subtle way to bring out features than contrast, so that's a feature I love as well. Snapseed is also great for adjusting lighting—the ambiance feature is great for lowering yellow tones and upping contrast."

Hallie Gould, senior editor at Byrdie
"To be honest, I only recently learned how to take a good selfie. I was against them for a while in favor of pictures taken by other people (it felt more effortless, I guess). But I'm not embarrassed to admit I've changed my tune. Sometimes there's nothing better than a good selfie. I don't do much to my face, I really do like to make sure everything remains true to reality, but in the case of an annoying breakout or weird discoloration, I'll patch it out using Facetune. I think pores and lines are necessary to keep your face looking like you. Why would you want people to be disappointed when they see you in real life? That's an insecurity-inducing thought for me, and I'll keep my under-eye circles and forehead creases to avoid it. Other than that, I use Snapseed to work with contrast and brightness and VSCO to help add warmth if the light wasn't great. The best answer? Natural light and knowing your angles. Those two things are better than an app will ever be."

Maya Allen, assistant editor at Byrdie
"Nowadays everyone's on this whole 'natural' wave when it comes to photos, which I fully support. But I'm also not against bumping up a photo for my personal satisfaction. The trick is to edit your photos in a way that looks like you didn't do a thing. I found VSCO in college, and it's been my go-to editing app ever since. A little goes a long way with this app—the key is to brighten, sharpen, and contrast a tad to enhance your features even more. The filters are so quality and not grainy—it legitimately makes your photo look like it was taken on an expensive camera."

Erin Jahns, assistant editor at Byrdie
"I actually just got Facetune for the first time a month ago. To be honest, I much prefer to play with brightness and filters to create a more vibrant and luminous photo. However, if I've been running on less sleep or just am having a not-so-great makeup day (happens to the best of us, right?), I love how easy it is to blur makeup creases, dark circles, or an annoying pimple with just one light swipe. Again, I'm not a huge proponent for editing photos, but this is for those emergency situations when I just don't feel like staring at my pimple on social media in addition to the bathroom mirror."

Lindsey Metrus, managing editor at Byrdie
"While unconventional, I love using the Instagram Story filters as my 'selfie-editing app.' Jessica Alba once said in an interview that her trick is to use the 'pretty filter' (the one with the little diamonds around the face) with the flash on for the most flattering pictures (even when the camera is turned around). I've now started to use this filter as often as possible but personally prefer to take a picture facing a window for natural light. I find that this smooths out my under-eyes, makes my eyes look greener, and my teeth whiter."