March 2017 – Royal Jelly

Eugene Simms, chief style curator of ESA Style, LLC is a fearless stylist who weaves empowerment into his down-to-earth fashion advice and creative consultations for companies right here in Washington, DC. We chatted about everything from how to wear silk crepe pants, chic spring-weather layering and his favorite local tailors. Eugene even knows some very cool vintage boutiques in the city. There is a reason why I can’t stop talking about Eugene on this blog. Eugene has worked his own way up, at first self-taught and now expertly trained. He is fighting for his dream and has made himself peerless.

(And I have to be very for-real with you, our excellent dinner at Purple Patch in Mount Pleasant definitely helped frame the chic conversation.)

“Lead the pack, don’t follow it.”

That’s Eugene.

“Style is effortless; it shouldn’t be forced or contrived.”

Yep, that’s Eugene again.

“Each and every day you have an opportunity to make many first impressions.”

I love this theory of fashionable reincarnation.

“Your closet should always make you happy. If something doesn’t make you happy, let it go.”

Simply karmic.

“Style is everything that you are.”

And effortless style is also everything that Eugene embodies.

Eugene is slim, tall, and certainly no stranger to fashion and all that flourishes from its elegant touch. You can tell that fashion has touched Eugene in his life because he always wears something that I’d call wow-some: His outfits cause you to stand up, shake his hand right away and smile. When we met at Purple Patch the other day, Eugene was wearing cobalt blue twill pants which smouldered in the golden lighting, a high Nehru collared coat with fine embroidery and warm rose socks. His glasses were rimmed with just enough metallic cobalt to polish off the look for a posh-ish Sunday evening dinner. I say ‘posh-ish’ because Purple Patch is a wonderful Filipino-American restaurant with high-tone dishes, but the soul of Mount Pleasant in northwest Washington, DC is also alive inside the space, so things are intelligent while affordable, multicultural and very chilled-out. I’m a Mount Pleasant native, I should know.

I immediately asked Eugene what he was wearing, because this is a great outfit… Continue reading Eugene Simms: Fearless, Peerless Style

Here is how to shop and ensure that you’re getting exactly what you want, and at the best price too. Brought to you by the Posh Ranger.

Bright stars ignite the world "POW!"

You don’t realize it, but you’re holding your shopping bags on a battlefield. The other shoppers have those netted camo World War I helmets on, they’re lying in the trenches between long aisles of dresses on their hangers, and they’re holding their purses in both hands like rifles. Every time that some woman buys a blouse, or worse, a whole outfit, marked up to 200 percent or 1,000 percent of the price it cost to produce it, there’s a deafening explosion, debris flying and some banshee wail off in the distance somewhere. Even when things are on sale, you aren’t getting a deal; there’s carnage. Then, when we go home and sit on the bed, look down at all our shopping bags, the smile fades for a time. Our eyes get wide and we ask ourselves ‘What have I done?’ ‘Does this sweater really cost this much?’ Or the dreaded, ‘God, I’ll have to pay that LOFT card off in a week…’ Then, you dart into the bags that crackle like birthday wrapping paper, snatch off the tissue paper and finger your catch, feel the gently clinking beads or suave fabric of the dress until you feel better. Like Gollum.

Continue reading How to “Win” at Shopping

Month: March 2017