I have been in the fashion business over 20 years. I started my career at Seventeen which launched me as a freelance fashion editor. I've styled fashion stories for American and foreign editions of Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Glamour, In Style, Tatler, Harper's and Queen and Grazia. That's alot of fads and trends and Must Haves and Most Wanted clothes and accessories. What motivated me to write my first book The Pocket Stylist was the whopping disconnect between what makes exciting fashion pages and what women really need in their wardrobes to look and feel their best. A friend once said to me"I wish I could just put you in my pocket and take you shopping with me so I'd know what the hell I was doing!" And I thought -yes! So I wrote The Pocket Stylist ( handbag friendly but a bit bulky for a pocket).The speed at which style information is transmitted and the transformation of fashion from a trade to big time entertainment makes it more confusing to shop than ever. Every trend and brand and idea must be validated by celebrities wearing or using or endorsing products ( I'll admit I am a perpetrator as I have styled many celebrities in my career for fashion stories, for advertising campaigns and as personal clients for red carpet events). There is simply too much choice ( so little of it any good) and too much sameness of merchandise also makes shopping exhausting and frustrating for most women. Especially in mid-life when clothes matter more than ever in transmitting who you are and how you feel about yourself. Now that I am firmly rooted in mid-life it occurred to me that our culture is so morbidly fearful of looking old, being perceived as old and out of it. There are very simple ways to avoid this. And since women never get a day pass on this stuff I wrote Style Evolution because I believe in the idea of ageless dressing. I practice it every day. I look neither old or young. Just stylish and this takes age out of the visual equation.