Sweater season is upon us!

And with great trends and seasonal pieces comes the great responsibility to properly care for our garments.

I’m talking about pilling people!

Those ugly nasty balls of fluff that cling to everything and making our clothes look like ugly worn out hand-me-downs.

Everyone gets them.

My sweaters mostly pill in the underarm and down the side where my purse rubs up against it. (I also get pills on my tights when I wear boots… gross)

And since I have recently broken out some of my favorite cashmere and blended pieces, I thought I would share some of my secrets for how treat and care for your sweaters.

First is my favorite, the Sweater Stone:

If you haven’t heard of this gem, go out and get one. NOW! Made of a pumice material, the stone gently “cuts” those pesky pill balls off of your favorite garments with rough edged “broken cells”. It’s all very scientific and I can’t really explain the process, but the Sweater Stone website describes it best.

I prefer this method of grooming my sweaters because the stone doesn’t cut, snag, or ruin the sweater in any way.

You just brush the stone over the pills and they fly right off as if you were picking them up with a magnet.

Sweater Stone is so confident you will love this product too, they are giving them away for FREE, you just pay for shipping and handling.

(I am in no way connected with Sweater Stone and they have no idea I am endorsing this product, I just wanted to share one of my secrets with you!)

I also like the traditional Electric Lint Shaver/Remover:

But you have to be careful with these.

A very sharp and fast blade cuts the fibers holding the pills to your sweater.

Even though the blade is behind a mesh screen, if you push too hard or get too close they can (and will) cut a hold in your favorite cashmere piece.

I like this better for removing lint from wool or fleece coats, something not as delicate as a fine knit.

You could also invest in a lint roller and a lint brush. These come in handy during the winter months when our clothes tend to molt.

Lastly, I have gathered some helpful tips on how to properly care for your sweaters:

Never hang your sweaters, always fold. Hanging can deform and misshape a knit, making it longer, bigger, or even leaving the impression of a hanger in the shoulders.

Hand wash your sweaters with a gentile cleaning agent like Woolite. Dry by rolling in a thick towel (or multiple), then lay flat on the towel to air dry.

Give good knits a rest! Over wearing your favorite sweater can cause it to fall out of shape and can create permanent stains where you perspire most (underarms!).

Repair a sweater ASAP. As soon as a button falls off, or a snag starts to form a hole, mend your sweater with a needle and thread. Catch the loose knit and prevent the hole from growing!

Do not use mothballs when storing winter clothes over the summer months. Mothballs not only smell, but are very toxic. Use cedar balls or blocks, or even dry bay leaves to prevent your favorite sweater from becoming a feast for moths.

If you have any care or storage tips for sweaters and other winter garments, feel free to share!

Tags: care, fashion tips, fleece, lint, pilling, secret weapon, storage, sweater, winter, wool

When I first moved to New York, one of my major responsibilities at my job was to do the “daily clips”.

Every morning before 10 am (my deadline to have everything done, emailed, out the door, and waiting on my boss’ desk), I would run around the office grabbing copies of every newspaper, daily tabloid, magazine, online article, or blog post that could be in any way related to the company I worked for, one of our competitors, or the industry in general.

Then I would clip, scan, paste, and sort the articles until my fingers were stained with ink, create an index of everything included, and make a PDF. The PDF was emailed to everyone in the company, including the European office. Then I printed out the entire report, twice. (This was the hardest part as I could never get it done before everyone else showed up for work, and always ended up fighting over the printer as I had to print 200+ pages and my deadline was ticking away).

Once the report was printed, I went back through and highlighted (in pink) any quotes referencing the company and tagging them (with pretty white tags). Then the report was bound and placed on the respected executives desks, and I could finally breathe. The rest of the day was scattered with other duties, including tagging monthly magazines for ads, editorials, and similar mentions, but that’s another story.

Anyways, my point is that now, even though I don’t have to do daily clips every morning, I still find myself doing it for me. I barely watch TV, so I get most of my news from the internet. Every morning, I find myself scanning the internet (or sometimes reading the Post or the Times over someones shoulder on the subway) to keep up on the news of the day and the trending topics of the industry. Note that this is in addition to my daily blog-roll. I read blogs for fun and inspiration, not to get my news.

I wanted to share my personal daily clips with all of you, and see if you had any favorites that you wanted to add to my list!

StyleCaster (for weather and outfit inspiration)

WWD Morning Report (for industry news)

CNN (for news)

New York Times Fashion & Style (for fashion news)

Style.com(for fashion news/gossip)

BBC (for world news)

Don’t forget my twitter news feed!

@nytimes

@InStyle

@WomenSWearDaily

@DailyCareerTips

@VanityFair

@NewYorkerDotCom

@FashionWeekLive

@MediaBistro

@TimesFashion

@Wmag

@TheMoment

@MarthaStewart

@O_Magazine

@fnoNYC

@cutblog

I know this may all look excessive, but it’s really not bad (especially when you don’t have a 10am deadline). I use an RSS feed like Google Reader or Bloglovin to organize and prioritize the articles I want/need to read, and my twitter dashboard does the same. I also use Google Alerts,  you can search for any topic you like and have a daily email sent to you summarizing the internet buzz around your keyword. I love all these tools!

What are your favorite ways to stay connected and on top of all things news-worthy? Tell me, I want to know!

Girls, it’s time to dig into your costume trunks (or mother’s and grandmother’s jewelry boxes), layered bibs and glitzy bobbles are in for fall! I am loving all of the embellished, yet antique looking jewelry on trend right now.

In the midst of my move (3 more days!), I can’t really pull out all my crafting tools and do my own DIYs, but I wanted to put together a little wall of inspiration, grabbing pieces from all ends of the fashion universe, but unfortunately to my delighted surprise all I could find were absolute steals! Stores like Forever 21, Target, Urban Outfitters, and Kohl’s have the best jewelry for fall (which also happen to be the best prices). So ignore to lack of diversity in my trend board. Rejoice at the fact that you wont have to spend so much to look so good this season.

The Glamourai posted a similar post on her blog yesterday, outlining a DIY for how to create your very own fringe bib necklace using broken chains you probably have sitting at the bottom of your jewelry box right now. Check out her DIY here, and if your budget is a tad bigger than mine, check out her beautiful handmade creations at the Glamporium!

For more inspiration, check out one of my favorite DIY/crafting sites, ThreadBanger.

I am going to share my#1 top secret fashion trick that I use almost every day. Downy Wrinkle Releaser. It may seem like a simple idea, but have you used it recently?

After your clothes come back from the dry cleaner or from being laundered, it would be nice to think that everything gets hung up properly and neatly folded away. Unfortunately clothes aren’t always properly cared for, and our wardrobes quickly outgrow diminutive storage solutions. After folding and pressing and shoving and fitting just one more dress into your closet things get, well… wrinkled.

Either the night before, or in the morning when you’re getting ready (it really depends on the fabric of the garment and how bad the wrinkles are) simply spray your outfit with a mist of this wonder serum, hang it out in the open (the back of a door is best) and go about your business getting ready.

By the time you have showered, done your hair, makeup, eating breakfast, etc. the fibers in your garment will have relaxed back to their natural position and your clothes will look as though they are freshly pressed from the cleaners! Its amazing, I invite you all to try it.

Downy suggests the Wrinkle Releaser works best with “casual clothes” (i.e cotton, jersey, denim), but I primarily use it for silks, chiffon, and dry-clean only fabrics that I’m afraid to scorch with an iron.

If you use Downy Wrinkle Releaser (if dont go try it now!) or any other fashion miracle trick, tell me about! send me an email or comment below. I would love to share your tips and tricks!