I've used this Model Pose before, but it's so patriotic, I thought it deserved a new caption.

Save me a piece of pie and Happy 4th!

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Could you give advice on wearing vests for men? Should thin guys wear vests? What type would suit jeans?

-Nicholai

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Dear Nicolai,

Hi there and thanks for your question. I was psyched to find your query in my inbox, I was afraid that my new girlie pink banner might have the potential to scare the dudes away.

I think guys in vests are nifty. In fact, I bought my guy a Rivers Cuomo Weezer like sweater vest this past Christmas. In my opinion, a guy wearing a vest always seems like he's got his fashion act together, carrying off a look that says "Yeah, my arms don't get cold."

When it comes to male vests, there are a few no-nos. Resist anything fur-lined (unless your last name is Zhivago and you live in the Ukraine). You should also avoid pink or polka-dotted vests, and refrain from wearing vests with shorts, particularly sweater vests...unless you're invited to a stuffy country club, you'll look like a putz.

Thin guys can definitely carry off vests and accentuate their thin frames in the process. I usually prefer the unbuttoned casual look, but to each his own. Here are just a few male vest styles you should definitely invest in, depending on the season.

1. Winter - What's black, white and red all over? ...This Zoo York Men's Vest from CCS Skateboards. This vest is so cool, it'll have you counting off the days until it snows. I take that back, guys don't count off the days until they can wear something...that's totally a chick thing. Nevertheless, you'll love wearing this Reversible quilted nylon vest with your favorite tee or button down, and it's on sale for $39.99. All the Skater Boys will want one.

2. Spring - Try on this Ryan Woven Vest from Heritage 1981 for a classic, masculine and trendy look that serves as a great alternative to a blazer during warmer months. It's $19.90, but looks expensive and so seductively suave. Wear it with a long-sleeved button down with the sleeves rolled up. Warning - Wearing it with a plain white tee might welcome comparisons to George Michael.

3. Summer - This Unisex Solid Rib Vest from American Apparel is a slim, form-fitting vest both you and your girlfriend can enjoy wearing all summer long. Available in black, navy, lapis (which is a fancy word for blue) and cranberry, this V-neck button down lightweight vest is a great layering piece that you won't have to put away when the weather chills up. Only $36.

4. Fall - Perfect for Fall and to carry you all through winter is this handsome Wool Crucis Vest from Todd Shelton. It's a little pricier for $169, but adds a richness to any pant and shirt combo that is oh so worth it. To look money, you have to spend money...right?

Hope this helps Nicolai.

xoxo,
sammy

p.s. They all go great with jeans.

Having a fashion dilemma or crisis?

Need to know what top goes with what bottom?

Don't go it alone. Ask Sammy!

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I'm headed to the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim festivities in Miami next month, so I've been cramming in extra hours of reading Women's Wear Daily and Vogue while Tivo'ing a weekend worth of fashion tv. I recently caught a mini Bravo marathon re-broadcasting a few tail episodes of the Project Runway knockoff, The Fashion Show.

Swap Heidi Klum for Isaac Mizrahi, Tim Gunn for Kelly Rowland, Nina Garcia for my idol (and creator of NY Fashion Week) Fern Mallis, and you've pretty much got the same clothing pattern. With only a few minor differences - the judges stand rather than sit while judging, the runway is triangular, the mini challenges are hosted by Harper's Bazaar, and there is an actual audience of fashion critics waiting to be wowed at every week's final cut fashion show.

The last episode I caught was an Icon episode, with designers paying homage to the 7 legends of fashion - Chanel, Halston, Versace, Pucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior and Madame Gres. Some got it right as seen below - Johnny's Verasce victory in black leather, Anna's black and white salute to Coco Chanel and Daniella's choice Christian Dior collar.

Others got it miserably wrong - Reco's Renaissance ruin in red and Haven's YSL WTF, which ultimately sent her home.

My episode hightlight? Being reminded of the industry mantra penned by Yves Saint Laurent -

Fashion fades, style is eternal.

I hear you Yves. That is precisely why this blog is aptly titled Let's Talk Style, rather than Let's Talk Fashion.

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If I were to die tomorrow in some random drive-by shooting, I'd regret not going down in a blazer of glory wearing this downtown chic cropped Theory Blazer from Net-A-Porter.

Whether you need to sharpen up the look of a way too feminine frock, or add a touch of class to a pair of rock star leather pants, this wool blend black Gratian cropped blazer is a smokin' hot style staple that is the perfect piece to dress up any outfit when you're under the gun.

I wish I could afford it at $355. Perhaps after my untimely demise, my friends and family can start a collection and bury me in it.

Was that too morbid?

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Michael Jackson (August 29, 1958 - June 25th, 2009)

Michael Jackson died on my birthday.

I'm still taking in the irony of it all. Yesterday, while stuffing my face with fluffy birthday cake, I had a mental run down of all of my favorite birthday cakes over the years. Twenty something years ago, my Michael Jackson Thriller sheet cake took the cake.

It's not something I bragged about, decades later. After years of being plagued by controversy, Michael and my Thriller themed birthday party seemed silly. Something to ridicule rather than reminisce. Like a pre-teen who has outgrown Barney or the Wiggles, I had outgrown Michael and his eccentric lifestyle.

He moonwalked into the hearts of girls everywhere, from Brooke Shields to Lisa-Marie Presley. I know that his music will live on, but now that he's gone I shall choose to remember him with all of the adoration I had as a young, brace-faced fan. I will try my best to forget the molestation charges, the plastic surgeries, the Blanket incident. I will throw it all away and remember the gifted entertainer who sang his heart out with a big fro and his four big brothers.

No one could hold a candle to you Michael.

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I showed up at work this morning to find a bright orange birthday cake on my desk.

On a normal day, this might seem strange, but today is my birthday and the simple concoction of milk, cream, eggs, sugar and flour brought tears to my eyes.

I was surprised and delighted, to say the least, and took it all in with a look on my face that closely resembled the Stepford birthday girl's expression on the vintage album cover below. I haven't had a cake this grand since I was a little girl and my mom would trek on over to Carvel to get me my much desired Fudgie the Whale or Cookiepuss cake. This cake is even better.

My cake has my name spelled out in perfect purple cake icing calligraphy and is topped off by miniature handbag and high-heeled shoe candles. I also scored helium balloons and the special edition 2 DVD set of Confessions of a Shopaholic. All courtesy of my darling co-worker Jody.

Did I mention my crystal tiara?

It makes me not even care that I'm another year way past the legal drinking age.

My birthday wish? That I share an office with Jody for the rest of my life.

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US Weekly recently reported that Supermodel Giselle Bündchen is expecting a bouncing baby bündchen with quarterback hubby Tom Brady. Is it just me or is she totally glowing here on the catwalk during Sao Paulo's Fashion Week in Brazil last Wednesday? Pregnancy agrees with you Giselle, you look absolutely luminous...or it could just be your Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Bronzer.

Congrats Giselle! Now you will finally have a baby to call your own. I'm sure he or she will be insanely gorgeous and you'll lose the baby weight faster than Tom left his last Baby Mama.

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I wore a watch even before I knew how to tell time.

Strawberry Shortcake looked sweeter than her name implied on my wrist, and that was all that mattered. Once I mastered telling the big hand from the little hand, Mickey Mouse trumped Shortcake, then some nameless girl with pigtails followed, Betty Boop, a big Flava Flav like backpack with a big clock on the back, a Swatch here and there, and now I'm finally all grown up and ready for some big girl watches.

The most multi-functional of accessories, watches clue you in on the time and sometimes the date, all while making a bling'ed out fashion statement. Never a fan of digital watches, I'm all about the Swiss movement. Celebs love their watches too, just take a look at Jaime King, Sophia Bush, Kristen Bell and Hayden Panetierre at a recent launch party for A/X Watches in Los Angeles. Looks like they're having a time.

My brother gave my Dad a sweet designer men's watch from Fossil for Father's Day, and it reminded me how much I love the look of a big, chunky men's watch on a small dainty, feminine wrist. Here is a quartet of my favorite stylish timepieces for summer...I'm sure the ladies above would approve.

1. Take in the opulent elegance of this Daniel Steiger Moda Diamond Watch in Rose Gold from Timepieces International
for $299. It's classic, it's rich, it has 30 genuine diamonds on it. I likey.

2. Do I need a chronograph watch? Not really. Does it look cooler than all get out? Yepper. Fossil's Chronograph Champagne Dial will look super chic on my wrist, especially when layered with other shiny happy bangles and bracelets piled on. Only $125.

3. The Mr. Big Stuff of watches, this White Enamel A/X Watch from Armani Exchange is $120 and phat with a capital PH. Kinda makes me wish my initals were A & X...but then again, that would leave me with a really messed up last name.

4. Feel ready to jet set to the poshest cities in Europe in a moment's notice when you sport this Michael Kors Jet Set Watch from the Project Runway judge who hates it when models look like they're pooping fabric. $200 for the watch, boarding pass not included.

Gotta run. Time flies when you're shopping for watches.

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It's post-partum perplexing to me when I see pregnant celebrities before and after they've given birth. Lately some celebs are shedding their excess baby weight at alarming rates, before their next red carpet appearance - sometimes within a month's time.

I don't know if it's the access to the teams of personal trainers, the home gymnasiums, the food delivery plans, the nutritionists, the 24-hour mannies, or if they all have Dr. 90210 on speed dial. All I know is that it's cool for them, but not cool for everywoman.

I especially have my eye on you Heidi Klum, strutting your stuff with those giant wings in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show after dropping 48 pounds in just seven weeks. What are you, some kind of German demigod?

I admire new mommy Jessica Alba who took her time and shot her 2009 Club Campari calendar five months after giving birth to her baby girl Honor Marie. Jessica has admitted that her special secret was wearing an industrial strength girdle like this Post partum support girdle from Fit Maternity. Thank you Jess, for the tip and for not snapping back in an instant like a human rubber band.

I think there ought to be a new law in the state of California. Celebrities should be forced to keep that baby weight on for at least four months, preferably six or more, that way they don't make the rest of us feel like unmotivated schmucks.

I expect you to get to work on that right away Governor Schwarzenegger.

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I found this old issue of Marie Claire magazine in the backseat of my car featuring a luminous Courteney Cox Arquette on the cover, and it got me thinking...

If you have blue eyes, does wearing a blue dress bring out the blue in your eyes, or does having blue eyes bring out the blue in your dress?

Fashion food for thought.

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Greetings ladies and gentlemen, it's time to play another exciting round of Fashion Trends I Just Don't Get.

This week's trend?

Legwarmer Shoes.

I'm sure there's a cuter, more marketable name for this high-heeled pump/slouch bootie hybrid, but I'm just calling it what it looks like - a pair of legwarmers attached to a shoe.

I don't get it. What is attractive about these?

It's bad enough that they're raspberry suede (raspberry berets - cool, raspberry legwarmer shoes - uncool), but do you really need those few inches of extra breathing room? Is it helpful because your feet are warm and need a ventilated gap to help them chill, or because you want easy access for some mid-day games of footsie? Maybe they're designed for girls who want to give the foot fetished dudes in their lives an alluring sneak peak of toe cleavage.

Whatever the draw is, I'm just not buying it...or these shoes.

p.s. I don't like them in pewter either.

**Is there a fashion trend you just don't get? Send it to Sammy and be featured on Let's Talk Style!

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I've always been addicted to lipgloss. Lip Venom has been my poison for the past few years and I'm oddly obsessed with having the sweet sheen of a properly glossed pucker 24-7. Usually I'm totally up for experimenting with new shades and flavors, but after a weekend trip to Sephora I've been wondering... what happened to the days when lip gloss was just lip gloss? A little swipe of Chapstick or a dab of Rosebud Salve and we were all good to go, weren't we?

Apparently, Bonne Belle Cherry Lip Smackers are as over as hot pink hair scrunchies. The ladies of today crave more climactic results from their lip glosses, which is exactly what they get with Urban Decay's new Pocket Rocket Lip Gloss.

Sure, these flat tubes are conveniently packaged so they fit easily into your back pocket and contain Hyaluronic Spheres that are known to improve cellular function, prevent dehydration, and fill in lines and wrinkles, but come on now. Is it just me or is the shape suggestive of that other kind of pocket rocket found in many a single lady's goodie drawer? And if that isn't NC-17 rated enough, the tubes feature photos of man candy in every flavor. From Emo James to straight-laced Timothy, Hip Hop dancing Doug and Single Dad Julio, every boy next door is ripe for the puckering. And, when you tilt the tube they all strip down to their undies with front and rear view angles showing off both sets of sweet cheeks.

Lip gloss and a Chippendales show? Now that's pocket rocket science. Oh, and if you rub it (the tube girls, the tube) you release powerful pheromones into the air (those chemical signals that are undetectable by smell, but totally enhance mood and sexual attraction). So don't be alarmed if the busboy from dinner follows you and Julio home.

Eight naked dudes, uh, I mean shades for $19 each at Sephora.

And we have lift off.

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