Suffering from fashion emergencies? Try these handy items in your stylist kit

I’m one of those people that has everything in my purse. My friends tease me that whatever it is they need, they can find it in my handbag – it’s like Mary Poppins and her magic carpet bag. Of course, usually they need something beauty related, and I’m obviously the go-to girl for that, but now I’m carrying my own little fashion emergency kit. I’ve filled it with a few things from Hollywood Fashion Tape to make my life just a little bit easier, and now I’m walking around like Rachel Zoe with my stylist kit.

Just kidding. Mostly.

At any rate, I’ve found every single one of these things helpful at one time or another, and they are small enough to fit into one of those extra cosmetics bags you have hanging around (I cannot possibly be the only one). Here is the list of things I’m currently carrying:

• Temporary Hem Tape: These little strips of wonderful take those jeans that you can only wear with stilettos, and turn them into jeans you can wear with flats. Really, it can hem just about any article of clothing, but I use it most often with my jeans. At the end of the day (or night, as the case may be), just strip them off. Easy peasy!
• Deodorant Removing Sponge: Have you ever been pulling that little black dress on, only to find your deodorant left obvious white marks right on your dress? How about pulling something over your head only to find that there are makeup marks at the neckline? Happens often, right? No need to fret – simply use this little foam “sponge” to remove marks from clothing and put them back to new. It also does a fantastic job lifting off stubborn pug dog hairs as an extra special bonus.
• Hip Hugger: I don’t judge anyone who has the poor sense to wear a thong with jeans that show it off in the back. Well, I mostly don’t judge. But that will not be me, no matter what the underwear. It’s just in extremely poor taste, right? I knew you would agree. Also, am I the only one who has a hard time finding jeans that don’t gape in the back? The one downside of having an hourglass figure, I suppose. This cool belt (without the annoying belt buckle) helps keep me from making that underwear faux pas. Attach this to your side belt loop, through the back, and attach it on the other side. Adjust as necessary. You’re welcome.
• Sweater Saver: in the winter, pilly sweaters and coats are the bane of my existence. Especially on my cashmere! Spend a fortune on decent cashmere only to find that the pills add up just as fast as the interest on my Visa card. However, this pumice stone “bar” removes those annoying pills quickly with one pass, and it works on coats, sweaters, and basically anything that pills.
• Boot Straps: I spent all of last winter avoiding boots with my jeans, because it was just too hard to keep the jeans looking nice and neat. They always edged their way up and made a nuisance out of themselves. With these Boot Straps, however, I just wrap them around my ankle, tug my jeans down once to make sure they are snug, then slide on my boots. Muy bueno! And I’m back to wearing just about any jean tucked in to my awesome boots.
• Hollywood Fashion Tape: the original product in the line, which is hypoallergenic and has a multitude of uses. The little tin the 36 strips come in is super cute and won’t come undone in your bag, which is a huge benefit. My purse can get messy enough, thank you. Use this double sided tape to secure fabric to skin and keeping up bra straps. You are limited only by your imagination. Use these in place of safety pins (which are bulky and always show). A serious must-have.

© 2011, Retrodivas Fashion: personal style, fashion news, and DIY. All rights reserved. Retrodiva’s Closet by Meredith Edwards-Cornwall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.retrodivascloset.com.