It will have been a year May 12 since Shirley Woolfitt, owner of the boutique eclectique Melange in Norfolk, died. I sorely miss the style maven, philanthropist and arts patron.
She especially comes to mind when I see stylish older women or when I'm addressing fashion issues that challenge the mature set.

Q. I enjoy your articles about people and fashions. However, as a senior, senior lady, I would like to read some articles on dress, shoes and fashions for those of us who still enjoy shopping and looking our best. I find it most difficult that stores in MacArthur mall, Macy's, etc., do not have fashions for us - only young.... I sometimes get the impression that we're second-class citizens.

Imagine being out on the town, enjoying food and drinks on the house, all while being chauffeured from point to point. It's not a bar hop or a club crawl in Los Angeles, New York or Miami. It happened right here in Virginia Beach. The Tour de Resale treated 30 ticket holders to a spot on a luxury bus and exclusive shopping at seven of Virginia Beach's finest consignment stores.

If I read one more forum, Facebook post or ad in which a woman disparages her mother for putting a relaxer in her hair when she was a kid, I am going to scream.
It often begins something like this:
If you haven't seen your natural hair since you were 5 years old...
Arrggh!

The recent fluke of warm weather has been just enough for me to declare that winter is so over and done.
The reality, however, is that we probably have at least six more weeks of unstable temperatures that will trend on the cooler side.
And that's good.
This gives us plenty of time to devise a game plan to gracefully and smartly shed the cocoon of layers and emerge freshly updated.

Many of the nation's hottest designers are banking on New York Fashion Week as a means to roll out their latest creations, but others are using decidedly different platforms to showcase their inspirations.
Count Hampton Roads native Lili Forrest among those using a capsuled approach.

You’d think you were getting a glimpse of items from the closet of a movie star – flashy jewels, plush fur coats, sparkling jewelry. But actually it’s the bounty found in police property rooms.
And those rooms are open to you to snatch up some criminal bargains, courtesy of online virtual access.

Had I not recently splurged on a pair of fantabulous purple snow boots, we probably would have had significant winter weather this season. But we haven't. And I've been a little peeved. After receiving the umpteenth Lands' End catalog, this southern belle has started to dig ski fashion.

With each YEAR that passes, it seems our time is eaten up with ever-increasing responsibilities and distractions. So maybe it’s time for less primping and for more priming. Numerous beauty and personal-care innovations will shave time off your regimen yet keep you looking professionally polished. These are my faves, 100 percent tried and true:
 
T3 Featherweight Luxe blow dryer

Several of the trends from the fall fashion forecast have really taken off. It's time for some of them to be reeled in. My take: