For Hip Chicks

Make it yours. This inspirational guide with DIY attitude has everything you need to know about the world’s great T-shirt: how to cut it, sew it, deconstruct it, reconstruct it, and best of all, transform it. • Features more than 100 projects (plus 200 variations) for customized tees, tank tops, tube tops, T-skirts—even handbags, a patchwork blanket, iPod cozies, leg warmers, and more. • Not a DIY expert? Not to worry. More than one third of the projects are no sew, meaning anyone who can wield a pair of scissors can put a personal stamp on her wardrobe. But the sewing basics are here too: backstitch and whipstitch, gather and ruche, appliqué and drawstrings. • And the mission statement for Generation T: Ask not what your T-shirt can do for you; ask what you can do for your T-shirt. And then Do-It-Yourself!

Rebecca Apsan is the lingerie evangelist. She knows that intimate apparel has the power to transform. That the right bra affects not only look, but outlook. That sexy silk or lace are feminine armor, offering a soft layer of protection against life’s vicissitudes. Her New York City store, La Petite Coquette, draws shoppers from around the world—and not just the celebrities who swear by it. New York Magazine sings her praises as “the best bra-fitter in the country”; so does Lucky. The Wall Street Journal wrote up her role in catapulting Hanky-Panky thongs onto every well-dressed woman’s must-have list—on their front page! She provided all the intimate apparel for Sex and the City. And now Rebecca Apsan is ready to divulge thirty years of wisdom and insider information about how underclothes can make the woman.

For a world where 85% of women are wearing the wrong size bra, The Lingerie Handbook is a complete tops-to-bottoms guide to bras, panties, slips, sleepwear shapewear, stockings, teddies, camisoles, and accessories. There’s the how-to on proper fit, including before-and-after photographs. Guides to matching the right underwear to different outfits. (T-shirts, jersey dresses, white pants, strapless gowns? No problem!) Straightforward advice on shopping, cleaning, organizing, and storing. But inspiration, too: how to cure body-image hang-ups by finding the right undergarments. And romance: how to find your own inner flirt, develop a unique style, and, when the occasion is right, how to dress to undress.

Is he sweater-worthy? According to Judith Durant no man deserves a sweater until the relationship has progressed to the level of long-term commitment. It’s just too risky to put all that time and effort and love into a knitted garment for a man who might be long gone by the time the sweater actually looks like a sweater.

But knitters do want to make soft, warm things for the people they love — new boyfriends included. So what is the proper project for the it’s been-four-dates-and-we’re-having-a-great-time guy? The Dinner Date Scarf, customized with the colors of his favorite sports team, doesn’t scare him with thoughts of commitment but does give him something warm he’ll be happy to wear to football games.

Simple, shaped projects should be saved for more serious, exclusive relationships. Mittens, socks, and hats are all perfect for that semi-committed phase — they require a little more time and effort but can be quickly dropped if things don’t work out after all. Only when the ring is in hand should work begin on the merino/cotton blend Half-Zip Pullover, a classic, not-too-heavy sweater he will wear for years.

Knit items are excellent gifts for men; they just have to be given at the appropriate time. With Never Knit Your Man a Sweater Unless You’ve Got the Ring, Durant not only warns stitchers about appropriate project-to-relationship ratios, she offers 22 of the smartest patterns available for men’s clothing and accessories.

Sandy Hill is rich in imagination, style, taste, and experience. She has climbed the highest peak on every continent. She has kayaked the Arctic and ridden across the Masai Mara in Kenya on horseback. She owns a vineyard in California, and she throws parties that are the talk of whatever town she's in.

Memorable entertaining, for her, is not about the easy this and store-bought that—if it's simple, why bother? It's about inspiration and preparation, about making every occasion as grand as you would if it were the last thing you'd ever do. To that end, she engages her full imagination, rolls up her sleeves, asks her guests to be co-conspirators, and creates gutsy, one-of-a-kind events of all sizes and shapes at her ranch in wine country.

The results range from the intimate to the ultimate: rowboat suppers for two and July Fourth blowouts for hundreds; Mexican luncheons to celebrate the harvest and feasts honoring Hindu gods; treasure hunts; poetry readings, grape picking and wine tastings; bachelor parties and wedding picnics; and bona fide holidays such as Father's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas as you've probably never imagined they could be. These are parties at which the energy flows both ways, from prepared and inspired hostess to willing and active guest, where people sing or cook or ride for their supper, then talk about it for years to come.

But for all these parties' grand gestures, they're not about precious perfection. The decorations and menus are real and re-creatable. The recipes, 125 in all, run the gamut from new twists on traditional American and Mexican food to rustic Italian, Spanish, Indian, and Scottish, and each is paired with a specific wine, beer, or cocktail. And while you may never have an elephant on hand to give your guests rides at a party, there's nothing to stop you from equally singular flights of imagination, from guests in costume to colorful table linens or the sheer beauty of a natural backdrop. So go on, dream a grand party, with Fandango as your guide.

Hipper than Taebo, sexier than Pilates, The S Factor--stripping--is the hottest new fitness trend. Created by actress Sheila Kelley (LA Law, Sisters, and a host of film and Broadway roles), S-Factor classes are wildly popular and generating an avalanche of attention from Extra, Entertainment Tonight, The Los Angeles Times, Allure, Us magazine, Fox News, and CBS's 48 Hours, which proclaimed: "Women don't even know they're working out until two months later when they say, 'I've never had a better body in my life. I'm strong, I'm limber, I feel great.'" Sheila even convinced Barbara Walters to try a pole dance on The View.

No wonder. Combining yoga, dance, and erotic movements, The S Factor is a program that tones muscle, firms the body, increases flexibility, promotes weight loss, and gives you a few new tricks for the bedroom. Illustrated in hundreds of photographs that show step by step how each move is done, the exercises are sensual yet demanding, requiring a balance of strength and finesse. There are slow, rounded warm-ups, the Spine Circles and Hip Circles. Strenuous motions, like the Rocking Cat-Cow. Peels and rolls, grinds, pounces, arches. And pole work, from the Firefly to Descending Angel.

Something else happens, too: These exercises and routines boost self-esteem and give women a new way to think about their bodies. Stripping is a liberating act, out of which comes a new look, new body, new confidence, new you.