Say “I do” at the airport

by Abha Malpani on

I’m not sure if I’ll ever get married, but if I do, I’m clear that I’d want it to be as quick as possible, a couple of minutes is what would work best for me. Being Indian, a wedding under four days is sacrilege, but oh well.

A registered wedding at the court was what I thought the only option, a super boring option indeed, until I read in USA Today about quickie weddings possible at the airport!

At Los Angeles International Airport, a man called “The Officiant Guy” can marry you without witnesses and in full confidentiality. You don’t even need to be an LA resident! At Sweden’s Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, you can arrange to be married in the airport church or by a registrar; last year the 500 couples got hitched there. “Say Yes and Go” marriages sound awesome too — say “I do” and jump straight onto a plane, a common wedding style in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

However, if that’s too simple and you want a bit of a novel themed wedding, you can tie the knot inside a parked Concorde Airplane at England’s Manchester Airport, and Schiphol Airport has a wedding planner who will organize it the way you want at the airport (boarding pass style invites? Air crew uniforms as outfits?). The airport will even allow you to have a champagne brunch, and should you want to take all your guests on a trip straight after, a special “Ticket to Paradise” package deal can be sorted out.

So if you are looking for a different, cheaper, and quicker way to get married, you might want to ring your nearest airport!

That’s a weird airport story. Check out these weird airplane stories:

Talking Travel: Travel in style with a Hollywood A-list fashionista (part 2)

by Jerry Guo on

Jeane Beiter is a style consultant to celebrities who want to remake their wardrobe or pick out the perfect dress for a red-carpet event. She’s also author of “The Be. System, Completing the Circle Between You and Your Style,” and former host of “Modern Girl’s Guide to Life” on E! Style Network.

She’s here to give us some tips on traveling in style. Read part 1 here.

What’s your packing process for a trip? Any tips for cutting down the time it takes?

My packing process for a trip is quite easy actually. I have a list, and I stick to it. Actually it is the list that I have in my book, “The Be.System, Completing the Circle between You and Your Style.”

Even if I am going on a trip that will last more than a week, I still pack only for one week. I can hand wash or re-wear anything at least three times, and let’s be honest, who wants to lug three bags around Europe or an island, especially in these restricted luggage times! Plus it is just so freeing to not have to worry about packing and repacking extensively!
I usually take just a black Coach rolling carry on bag and a matching diaper bag which acts as my laptop / magazine tote for the trip. I don’t have a baby, but this tote really works great for this purpose! There are lots of pockets to store documents, cords, etc. I even wrap the laptop in the changing table cover to protect it from getting bumped around too much!

I pack all my shoes/accessories and cosmetic items around the outside of the carry on, and roll the clothing into one big roll to avoid wrinkling and put it in the center of the bag. I wear the heaviest clothing to travel in, so I don’t waste space at all!

Jewelry is minimal as I am not going on vacation to advertise my economic status, and I generally pick up any liquid toiletries, vitamins, etc. when I get there to avoid wasting valuable luggage weight and space.

What are some outfits you would recommend for a day at the beach? How about for a shopping trip in New York.

For a day at the beach I would recommend:

  • A large tote to carry book/towel
  • 85 spf sunscreen and hair spray with sun shield in it, 30 spf lip gloss
  • Head band/ hair tie or bandana for a man
  • Huge sun hat (with sunshield in lining) or baseball hat for men.
  • Large sized sunglasses
  • Bathing suit
  • Haviana’s (my all time favorite for summer flip flops and admitted huge addiction…I am a collector!)
  • Loose shorts and shirt combo in gauzy linen or cotton
  • Pareo or extra large cotton scarf to use as cover up or extra lounge area

For a day of shopping in NYC I would recommend:

  • Black simple pants, black lightweight knit v-neck cardigan in ¾ sleeve for woman. For Man, black pants, black jersey knit tee top.
  • Light leather jacket , weather permitting.
  • Simple pearl necklace or gold chain/ hoop earrings for woman
  • Black or tortoiseshell sunglasses.
  • Ballet flats in animal print theme, with gel sole inserts for extra cushioning and support for woman. Black driving shoes for man.
  • Extra large black tote to stash the spoils of your labor for woman.
  • The idea here is to dress chicly, but simply as you may have to be in and out of clothing to try things on . Black will hide dirt and always looks appropriate in any large city.

I always feel like a total dork when I’m back stateside decked out in whatever “native” gear I just bought. Are there outfits from overseas that can work here?

Any thing bought in Europe or the UK, such as France, Italy and England, is going to look great in the states. If you try to wear a sarong you bought in India here, it may not work too well, so stick to interesting accessories like tote bags, necklaces, earrings, or scarves to bring the culture home with you. Personally, I try to pick up scarves when I travel because they are light, unique and serve many purposes. Plus they are easy to take on other travels with me and act as active “postcards” of my travels at home and abroad!

Talking Travel: Travel in style with a Hollywood A-list fashionista (part 1)

by Jerry Guo on

Jeane Beiter is a style consultant to celebrities who want to remake their wardrobe or pick out the perfect dress for a red-carpet event. She’s also author of “The Be. System, Completing the Circle Between You and Your Style,” and former host of “Modern Girl’s Guide to Life” on E! Style Network.

She’s here to give us some tips on traveling in style.

Give us your travel creds. What have been some of your favorite trips?

Oh, I love to travel! Some of my favorite trips include a several week adventure in London and the English countryside, including the bucolic Cotswolds and historical Bath! I could easily live in England! It is not only one of the main fashion and style influences in the world, and therefore incredibly inspirational for me, it is also full of amazing history, engaging people, wonderful museums and vast amounts of land to explore and enjoy.

I also have been fortunate enough to travel to Hawaii on many occasions, most frequently to the remote island of Lana’i, where there are two fantastic sister resorts, The Manele Bay resort and the Lodge at Koele in the upland area of the island. Lanai has been a source of great solitude and interestingly enough, also creative inspiration for me, and I always look forward to going back to the peaceful energy there, eating lots of fresh tropical fruit everyday and playing board games at night on the open terrace of the hotel, listening the waves crash onto the shore below.
I have traveled extensively through the Mexican Riviera, and Caribbean as well, and Nevis is one of my favorite islands there. I particularly enjoy the goats and the monkeys which consider themselves to be quite equal to the residents and guest there!

I just came back a few months ago from several weeks in Alaska and Canada. I really enjoyed Vancouver and British Columbia immensely. The people were warm and friendly, it is truly cosmopolitan, and the food was top notch cuisine and very diverse. The scenery was spectacular! I now live in the Arizona desert, so it was so refreshing! It reminded me a lot of San Francisco, my hometown, which is another one of my very favorite locations in the world, one which I am fortunate enough to be able to visit often. I am currently planning several weeks in Northern Italy for this Fall, and I am extremely excited about that…the food, the culture, and of course the fashion!

What’s a typical day for you? What exactly does a “fashion/style consultant” do, if that’s even an accurate label?

I am an expert in the area of “Personal Image Analysis, Development and Management”, in short, an image expert. Clients hire me to basically take “the guess work out of looking great” and help them translate who they are inside, effectively to the outside! I work with women and men of all different walks of life and age groups, and it is fascinating and fulfilling work. I have been in the style and fashion industries for over three decades, which is, admittedly, 75% of my life! Needless to say, I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up and began working in the business as a model when I was a teenager. It just grew legs from there on.

My work is also very physical so I am frequently in client’s homes doing wardrobe editing, planning and packing them for trips. I am also in various boutiques and department stores pulling clothing and accessories for clients, working with clients who I am shopping in dressing rooms, or putting outfits together for photo shoots and television segments I am working on. I do editorial styling for publications and companies as well, so I handle literally thousands of garments and accessories each year. By the time I hit the bed at night, I do not have one bit of trouble falling asleep!

What are three must-have accessories / items you take when you travel?

My laptop, my black pashmina wrap, and my pinkish beige lip gloss.

What are this summer’s hot fashion trends, and how can we incorporate that into a travel wardrobe?

  • Shiny patent leather accessories like belts, headbands, and large hobo handbags and sandals. Best in black or white.
  • Brightly ”crayola” colored pieces in dresses, skirts, tops shorts and pants, as well as accessories of all types.
  • Safari inspired clothing in various shades of greens, beiges and whites. Jackets, shorts and pants are the most popular, but I have seen some dresses that are darling and versatile as well.
  • Metallic footwear and large geometric jewelry to compliment any skin tone in rose gold, bronze, and silver.
  • Jersey knit separates in grey, black and white. Easy to pack and easy to love! Universally figure flattering!

The best way to incorporate these into a travel wardrobe is to pick two or three neutral colors for your wardrobe pieces and use the accessories, such as your handbag, shoes or jewelry to punch up the color quotient! Some examples:

  • One khaki safari inspired jacket and pants, one black lightweight knit dress, and a pair of white shorts.
  • One black patent leather simple handbag, high heeled sandals and a belt, (that can work day and night) all which coordinate with the dress/ shorts and pants .
  • One light weight tote in beige with metallic accents.
  • One brightly colored swimsuit which can also be worn as a layering top.
  • One brightly accented large scarf which can be worn as a wrap, shawl or cleverly tied bandeau top.
  • Two pairs of flat shoes. One in metallic and one in a bright color.
  • Several jersey knit tee shirts/ sweaters in bright colors and two matching neutrals to the pants/ shorts/ jacket.

Traveler’s Phrase Book T-shirt

by Justin Glow on

This company is selling an overpriced t-shirt designed to be worn by travelers who are in a country whose inhabitants don’t speak their native tongue. The idea is that instead of attempting to communicate with someone who knows where the bathroom is, for instance, you annoyingly point to the international symbol for bathroom on your shirt. Other symbols include hospital, airplane, bedding (for hotel), telephone, restaurant, money exchange, and Internet cafe (or post office, whatever those things are).

This can surely make life on the road in a foreign country easier — but is that what we want? It seems a bit disrespectful and caveman-like (no offense, Geico guys) to walk around in a foreign country pointing to things on your shirt when you want something instead of taking a few minutes of your time to learn these common phrases in your host’s language. [via]

Welcome Styledash

by Erik Olsen on

Here at WIN, we seem to give birth to new blogs every few weeks. What an amazing, constantly growing organism we are! We’re kind of like the Ghengis Khan of the blog world. Quite fecund. Anyway, the newest addition to the WIN family is a blog about style called Styledash. Personally, I’m not much of a clothes horse, so I can’t comment with much passion about the topic, but I know there are those out there who can tell the difference between Hugo Boss and Boss Hogg. Sadly, I’m not one of them.

Anyhoodle, folks who like the style thing can go and check out Styledash and can even enter a contest to win a designer handbag. Who hoo! So, here’s a big welcoming gadling wave to our newest blog.