“At the end of last year’s winter season I got a super comfy and adorable jumper for a steal ($12!) thinking it would be a fall staple this year.  Unfortunately I’m having difficulty wearing it without looking like I’m in elementary school. Any tips on how I can make this look more ‘grown-up’?” —Ekelt2

Having spent 10 years all jumpered-up in Catholic school, I feel your pain. If you don’t want to go quirky with the jumper, take references to other school girl accouterments and turn them on their heads. The school girl undertone will always be there with a jumper, so it’s really a matter of taking that aspect and controlling it. That means skip the mary janes, avoid a plain white blouse and tights should be a little more fun than the stark navy I had to wear back in the days when nuns ruled my wardrobe. The good news is that cutting out these additions still leaves you with quite a lot of other options. Outfit ideas after the jump!

In the wake of last week’s belts slide show, we had a lot of readers asking exactly how to add a belt to an outfit without messing it up. The biggest issue seemed to be the “scrooching around” that can be rather difficult to avoid when pairing a belt with certain items. Because we’ve been there and we love you, dear readers, we’ve got a few tips and tricks ...

Many boys wear bad jeans. Not always, but it happens. Next time your boy goes denim shopping, tag along and keep him from making the same mistakes once again. Whether that boy is your boyfriend, your dad or any other male with whom you spend any amount of time, they’ll resent you at the time but appreciate it once they realize it no longer looks like their asses are eating their pants.

1. Boys shouldn’t wear skinny jeans. Period. Next.
2. Avoid pockets that are too big, small, low or embellished at all costs. There’s really no reason to have a rhinestone-encrusted tiger on your ass.

Well, have I got a trick for you. If you’re anything like me or, um, Mischa Barton—check her out last night, on the left she’s arriving and, right, she’s headed home from the same party—and wage a war on your stick straight hair when trying to get it to wave or curl, this is a post for you. (Those of you with hair that forms pretty, perfect waves ... I’m jealous. Grass is always greener, though, I suppose.) So, it’s actually not that hard a hair trick—it just involves making a different hair tool choice….

This weekend, I will rip my closet apart with a seriousness usually reserved for much more, well, serious matters. Fall is here and I’ve still got sundresses and gingham skirts taking up precious space that is no longer rightfully theirs. This is not a time for simply shoving the unworn to the back of the closet. Rather, the seasonal clothing switch-out requires certain storage techniques that will keep last season’s clothes from getting dank and nasty until they’re needed again.

So stop simply shoving those dresses to the dusty back of your wardrobe and calling it a day. Here’s how to store your stuff properly:

Annika’s post this week about the difficulty in making friends as a grown-up got such a huge response, I thought it warranted a reply here. Who knew so many of us had a friend shortage? Well, as someone who grew up on the move — I lived in 10 different homes in four different countries on three different continents before the age of 18 — my friend-making skills were constantly put to test. As a result, I learned some tips that have served me well as an adult well beyond college, when making friends was as easy as swinging a 6-pack within a 5-mile radius of campus. After reading through all 60+ comments (and counting) on yesterday’s post, I’ve compiled some of the best reader advice as well as some of my own favorite tips for making new friends, after the jump.

After two and half years together and a few short domestic trips, my now-husband and I put our relationship to the test with a two-week jaunt through China. Sure, hiking the Great Wall, braving squatter toilets, and eating breakfast with chopsticks were all an adventure, but the real challenge of vacationing together was spending every minute together for 15 days straight. If you think your relationship is up to the test, do yourself (and him) a favor by following my hard-learned tips after the jump…

Elle UK has huge trend news for you: Everyone is wearing denim shorts right now! Umm, yeah, because it’s summer. And people wear denim shorts pretty much every summer. Know what else people do with denim shorts on an annual basis? Look terrible in them. Too often, the styling is off and they’re either too wannabe sexy (with pointy pumps and a corset, for example, blech) or the thought process seems to be “Hell, this is denim, who cares if I look homeless?” Well, we care. So we’re going to help you get denim shorts right.

We’ve already read about how to get spotted by street style impresarios like The Sartorialist, but we have yet to break down the anatomy of snap-worthy street style. So let’s take this out of the theoretical and into practice. We’ve picked three different pictures from The Sartorialist and we’ll break down what works after the jump.

Erin and I are going nuts loving all the mega sales online this week (see “How To Buy Clothes Online”). Right now, I’m feeling these new peep-toe Miu Miu patent pumps on Net-A-Porter and ohmygod I want those shoes so badly that just thinking about them sort of makes me cry. But they’re $700 and I’m a writer who’s fairly keen on not being homeless and it’s just so not happening. Even my “but I could totally wear them now and in the fall” justification isn’t doing it.

But this tragic tale has a happy ending: peep toes and patent leather were also a big look for summer, so I just found an even more awesome pair of Balenciaga patent peep-toe pumps on sale for 70% off. They were still something of a splurge at $270, but I actually can wear them now and in the fall. They’re comparable to the Miu Mius, and putting them on gives me heart palpitations. They were the Holy Grail of sale purchases: deeply discounted, seasonally appropriate, and totally acceptable all through fall as well. This multi-seasonal usage is the key not only to regular buying, but also for Final Sale purchasing, the time of year when we can buy really nice things at prices that regular people can kind of afford.

Here’s how to tackle the sales and get a hell of a lot of mileage out of your finds…

Have you spent far too much time checking out street style sites like The Sartorialist, angstily wondering why it’s that girl and not you mugging for Scott Schuman’s famous lens? If so, the time has come to ditch the voyeur role and become the stalked. Style blog Refinery 29 has put together a handy dandy table to show you exactly how. With helpful tips like “pile on” expensive accessories, smoke a cigarette in Soho or ride a vintage bike, it’s your one stop shop on the road to internet fashion fame.

Not really into all the effort but want to be momentarily e-famous nonetheless? There are a couple of shortcut options: being “model pretty” or an old, rich European man. Easy, right? Check out the full chart here.

Tutus have been ignored for too long, cast to the side and not taken seriously as legitimate clothing. Enough is enough. Nobody puts baby tutu in the corner. There are ways to wear tutu-esque skirts without looking too much like a failed ballerina with a sad inability to let go of the glory days. We’ll tell you how after the jump.

I’ve never seen the do’s and dont’s of casual sex boiled down as succinctly as they are in this funny video from Current. Suggesting you to think of a friends-with-benefits relationship much the same way you would a temp job, the clip advises you to “make sure the person hiring you, knows they’re hiring you to be a temp,” “don’t assume you’ll go perm,” “always look for a better gig,” and “don’t take a temp job at place you used to work full-time less than three months ago.” Full clip above.

I spend half of my days feeling kind of like a hooker. There are no patent leather platforms with clear plastic bases in my closet and I’d sooner die than wear a half shirt or hot shorts. My damn chest, however, makes appropriateness rather difficult at times.

You see, my waist is a size 2 or 4, my hips are a size 4, and my chest is a 34DD. Finding a dress (or blouse, or fitted, non-stretch top of any kind) has become borderline impossible. But years of clothing obsession and severe boob-related setbacks when it comes to putting together outfits have left me with what some might call an obsessive and excessive knowledge of how to deal with super large lady lumps. Some rules, after the jump…

Mike Alvear wrote a two-part series on how to tell a man or a woman he or she is bad in bed. For dudes, he suggests they repeatedly ask their ladies what she likes in bed in hopes she’ll get the hint and ask what he likes. He also advises bringing up the conversation casually while ready the morning paper (not in bed and definitely not just after sex), and telling a woman what you want more of and not less of. For women, he makes the same suggestions, but advises them to have their conversation side-by-side and not face-to-face since, he says, men are intimidated by eye contact. His advice is OK, but it’s a little passive-aggressive. I get that it’s a fine line to tiptoe, but with a gentle touch a little constructive criticism never killed a guy. After the jump, five ways to let your guy know his “skills” leave a little to be desired.

Boys have all the fun. Their daily alcohol limit is three units (ours is two) and they get to pee standing up. And now, fashion is playing on the boys’ team, too! Kitsuné‘s new collection has a total schoolboy vibe, the Olsens are about to debut a menswear line (and Ashley just did a menswear-clad photoshoot for V magazine), and Rihanna’s been sporting tuxedos on the red carpet. It seems everyone has gone boy crazy, so here’s how to rock the look.

Earlier this week, our friends at Holy Taco posted a man’s “flowchart for lying to your girlfriend.” We found it pretty funny and appreciated the peek into men’s psyches. We thought we’d return the favor, so here’s a woman’s flowchart for manipulating her boyfriend.