{Giveaway} WM Design House Handbag


FOF handbag designer Wendy McMongle is giving away her luscious, leather convertible “McCarthy” handbag (retail value: $329) in brown. Enter to win by leaving a comment below answering: How many bags do you rotate between?

“You only need one bag but you want more,” says Wendy McMonigle, the brilliant FOF behind WM Design House. With that idea in mind, Wendy created an entire collection featuring convertible handbags, all of them can function as two- or sometimes even three-bags-in-one. There are shopper totes that expand into weekenders, satchels that open to totes among other clever creations.
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{Giveaway} A super FOFlattering jumpsuit by Regina Kravitz

FOF fashion designer Regina Kravitz is giving away her super FOFlattering, signature jumpsuit made from a blend of rayon and lycra (retail value: $175) in black. Enter to win by leaving a comment below answering: have you ever worn a jumpsuit?

 

 

In the 1970s, FOF Regina Kravitz was a “club kid,” frequenting Studio 54 and wearing outfits so outrageous that “entire tour buses would stop to look,” she says. The New York-based FOF, has fashion and design in her blood–both grandfathers were tailors, her father was a retailer and her mother was a model. Yet, her parents discouraged her from the fashion industry, so Regina heeded their advice and majored in theater at New York University. She landed a job as a writer right out of college. “I would stay up at night sewing these gorgeous capes with a friend and sell them on lunch hour,” says Regina. “They were these gorgeous capes. I sold them to Henri Bendel’s and Bergrdorfs. They were one-of-a-kind.”
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{Giveaway} Win a pair of Flutter readers or reading sunglasses!

A few years ago, long-time FOFriends, Gayle Mills and Patti Lee-Hoffmann realized eyewear companies were not seeing eye-to-eye with their customers. They knew this, because both Patti, owner of a multi-million dollar earning, San Francisco healthcare consulting company and Gayle, who worked in Northern California’s biotech industry, are eyeglass wearers themselves. “Sometime after I turned 50, I stopped having perfect vision. I went to CVS and was turning the carousel with readers, and kept turning and turning. Everything looked like my grandmother’s glasses,” says Patti. She began looking online for her perfect pair, but again, became frustrated. “Everything was so small. I felt I needed a pair of glasses to shop for glasses.” (more…)

{Giveaway} Win a chiffon scarf by FOF designer, Camilla Olson!

FOF fashion designer Camilla Olson is giving away her signature chiffon scarf (retail value: $98) in the color of your choice. Enter to win by checking out all the scarves, here, and leaving a comment below about the color you’d choose.

When Camilla Olson’s teenage daughter told her that she wanted to become a fashion designer, Camilla thought, “that will be the worst thing in the world for her. That’s no career!”

“I didn’t have respect for the fashion world . . . then,” Camilla remembers. She was 53 and had recently retired after 20 years in the very serious world of biotechnology and venture capital. After starting five different biotech firms–4 sold and one went public–Camilla had turned her focus to running the local PTA and volunteering in her community in Palo Alto, Calif. Still, she agreed to take her daughter to an open house at the Academy of Art University. “I thought, with any luck, she’ll hate it and move on to something else.”

As it turned out, Camilla was the one who changed her tune. “I was totally romanced by the whole thing,” she says now. “I thought, there’s so much more to this than I ever knew!” So while her daughter did ultimately lose interest and move on to other things, Camilla applied for an MFA in fashion design. “It was the most joyful decision I’ve made in my life,” she says.

Today–at 60–she is the founder and head designer at Camilla Olson Collection, a line of beautifully-tailored scarves, tops and dresses all made from her signature, hand-printed chiffon. “It’s an an environmentally sound printing technique that’s centuries old–no harsh chemicals. We figured out how to do it commercially,” Camilla explains. She admits that school was incredibly challenging: “After our first class review I cried. I thought, what am I doing here? Everyone was so much better than I. But my teacher encouraged me. She said, ‘I see what you’re trying to do, and I like it. Keep going.’” So Camilla did, eventually graduating cum laude and sending several of her designs down the runway at New York’s Fashion Week in 2009.

In 2010, after designing “$5,000 dresses in a size 0” for the runway, Camilla started her own line with a more realistic woman in mind. Specifically, an FOF woman. “I design for what I want to wear–for women who want to feel comfortable and confident but also look chic–whether a size 2 or a size 12. Women around here love it.” Camilla has developed a cultish following among Palo Alto FOFs in the know. This March, her longtime client, Betsy Franco–James Franco’s mom–was photographed wearing one of Camilla’s creations at James’ Star ceremony in Hollywood.

Betsy Franco wearing a slip dress designed by Camilla Olsen to son, James Franco’s, Star ceremony.

So far Camilla’s biggest challenge has been persuading department stores to get on board. “We finally had meetings with the top stores, and they said, ‘we love these prints. If you showed them to us on a younger body, we could buy them.’” Camilla learned that the stores were “pretty much eliminating” square footage focusing on FOFs. “I was appalled,” she says. Now she’s focusing her energies online, where her research says FOF women are making the majority of their buying decisions. She’s also starting a trunk show series, where FOFs can sell to other FOFs in the comfort of their own homes. Interested in hosting a Camilla Olson party? You can contact her at Camilla@CamillaOlson.com.

Enter to win a Camilla Olson signature chiffon scarf (retail value: $98) in the color of your choice by leaving a comment below, with your favorite color.


One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes March 28st, 2013 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.

{Giveaway} Slimming tennis and golf wear

FOFriends Jayne Drew (right) and Kelly Daugherty (left) are giving away the “Kate” skort and “Jean” top (retail value: $163.75) from Smashing, their slimming athletic wear collection. Enter to win by answering this question in the comments below: Do you play golf or tennis?

Six years ago, tennis partners and FOFriends Jayne Drew and Kelly Daughetry had an idea to start a line of t-shirts with witty tennis sayings. But, they quickly realized, that neither them nor any of their friends wore tees to play. “This started a conversation,” says Jayne. “What did we wear to play tennis? And, what didn’t we like about our athletic wear?” The answer: almost everything. “What was available were really short skirts that fit low on the hips or tops without a lot of coverage,” says Jayne.
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{Giveaway} The Town Shop Shapewear

FOF Eyvette Manigault and Dan Koch are overachievers when it comes to undergarments.  The team works together at The Town Shop–an iconic New York City lingerie store that has been around for over 120 years. Dan Koch’s great-grandfather started the store in 1888, which has been past down through four generations of his family. Expert bra and shapewear fitter Evyette joined the team in 1971, and has honed her skills for the past 45 years.  She can size a woman for a bra just by looking at her–no measuring tape necessary! The duo sat down with us to tackle four common FOF body issues, and suggested shapewear that will turn flab to…fab!  Read on for their suggestions..

Enter to win a shapewear garment from The Town Shop by answering this question in the comments below: Which piece of shapewear would you most like to win?

“FOFs have had a lot of success with the Spanx All-In-One Mid Thigh Bodysuit, ($88)” says Dan. “It goes from your thigh all the way up [to underneath your bra line]–and is a really smooth garment. “Most all-in-one shapewear has to be perfect in order to fit,” explains Dan, “including your bust. This one has a scooped opening in the front of the garment and its almost looks like a camisole. You are able to wear your own bra with it.”

If you don’t want a full body suit but still want to bust your back fat, Evyette recommends the Spanx Open Bust Camisole ($52), which ends at the top of the thigh.

The ‘Waist Cincher’ ($48) from TC is a very, very firm garment,” explains Dan. “It smooths and shapes and slims [muffin tops] and has no lines or seams that show.”

“If you’re worried about muffin top, always go [for] high-waisted [shapewear],” says Evyette.

The Va Bien Smooth Couture High-Waisted Brief ($48) has an amazing double-layered girdle material inside of it, which grips the thighs tightly,” says Dan. “It has a power mesh [on the] legs that comes up high and won’t roll down.”

The Chantelle Sublime Brief ($34) has just the right amount of seaming in the back, which helps boost [your rear] a little,” says Dan. “It’s a modern take on an old-fashioned girdle. It’s a very pretty piece of lingerie, but it has a lot of seams to help lift and separate.”

Enter to win by answering this question in the comments below: Which piece of shapewear would you most like to win?

One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes March 6th, 2013 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.

{Giveaway} The Cookie Thing

FOF Susan Butler is giving away “The Cookie Thing” — a pure maple wood rolling pin with four different sized wooden planks that allow you to roll cookie dough to the perfect width without any added flour or mess (see video below). She is also giving away the “Little Cookie Thing,” a smaller version for kids.  Enter to win by answering this question in the comment section below: What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

Susan Butler, a bond broker for over 30 years, devotes her spare time to the non-profit organization, Caring Friends Incorporated.  Known for her expert baking skills, Susan was asked by Caring Friends to teach a group of underserved women how to bake for profit in 2008. “The first few weeks they had difficulty cracking eggs and cutting butter, let alone rolling the cookie dough evenly,” says Susan. “I needed something to help them bake large amounts of cookies that looked and tasted good.”

Worried that she had bitten off more than she could chew, Susan went home to her husband John that night, and explained the problem she was having. “I told my husband that we had to come up with some kind of ‘cookie thing,’ because the cookies had to be perfectly sized to fit into the packaging we had.”  Susan and John searched to see if there was a tool that already existed that would solve their issue. When they came up empty-handed, John used his woodworking skills to create the prototype “Cookie Thing,” the world’s first baking tool to help bakers roll dough to the exact thickness they need.

“The measuring boards give you the depth of dough you need–1/8th inch thickness is perfect for pie crust as well as thin, crispy cookies,  1/4″ (the size most commonly used for roll-out cookies), 3/8″ for thicker cookies, and 1/2″ for biscuits.” Susan says you can stack the boards for even more size variation. Using the Cookie Thing also eliminates mess. Watch the video below to see it in action.

When the women she was instructing through Caring Friends used the Cookie Thing, Susan saw a tremendous increase in productivity. She knew she was onto something. In 2012, Susan was shopping in her local Williams-Sonoma store when she inquired about getting her product carried there. When the salesperson saw the Cookie Thing in action, he was impressed and submitted it to the Culinary President of the company for review. Since submitting her product (which is still under review), Susan has participated in 13 of Williams-Sonoma’s artisans markets, where she showcases her product for Williams-Sonoma customers.  She’s been featured twice on her local Texas news channel Fox26, and in Woman’s World magazine.  She’s sold over 600 Cookie Things since launching in June of 2012, which are all still handcrafted by her husband, John.

“Women over fifty, who have done a lot of baking with their children growing up, buy them to use when their grandchildren, nieces and nephews come over,” says Susan. “Our baking experiences are memories that we’ve made in the kitchen. That’s what I love the most–it helps create memories.”

See Susan’s cookie recipes here.

Enter to win The Cookie Thing and The Little Cookie Thing by answering this question in the comments below: What’s your favorite kind of cookie?


One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 28th, 2013 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.

{Giveaway} Officina Bernardi Bangle From Raymond Lee Jewelers

Dana Josephson is giving away this exquisite Officina Bernardi sterling silver and platinum bracelet (retail value: $695) from her Florida-based jewelry store, Raymond Lee Jewelers.  Enter to win by answering this question in the comments below: What outfit would you wear this bracelet with?

FOF Dana Josephson owned several retail stores with her ex-husband in Scotland during the 1970s. “We found that people were always drawn to the jewelry cases,” Dana says. When Dana and her former husband decided to move to sunny South Florida for better weather in 1983, the two agreed to use their retail experience and love of jewelry to start a new business.

The couple opened Raymond Lee Jewelers (named after Dana’s son) that same year. The store started out as a small operation, with Dana, her former husband, their daughter and son all working together. “We learned our customers’ personal styles,” says Dana. “When we’d get something in that we thought they would really like, we’d give them a call, and they’d come in to see it.”

After noticing her competitors starting to sell jewelry online, Dana opened up shop online too, in the early 2000s, with the website, RaymondLeeJewelers.net. The e-commerce site features a unique diamond search section, where customers can search Dana’s inventory by price, carat weight, color, and clarity. They ship all over the world, and have loyal customers everywhere from Asia to Australia.

In addition to carrying newer designer pieces, Raymond Lee Jewelers is also a jewelry estate buyer–they purchase unique, one-of-kind, pre-owned precious pieces from around the world and carry them in the store and online. “We carry secondhand, upscale pieces that you don’t see everywhere, and aren’t mass produced. You can buy a lot of pieces and spend a lot less money. We have five times more inventory than most other jewelry stores.”

Enter to win this Officina Bernardi sterling silver and platinum bracelet by answering this question in the comments below: what outfit would you wear this bracelet with?


One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 21st, 2013 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.

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{Giveaway} Zumba Gold Live It Up DVD Set

FOF Joy Prouty is giving away her Live it Up Zumba DVD Gold Set to five lucky winners. It includes a three-set DVD (intro, cardio, and toning), one pound maraca toning sticks, and a healthy living guide developed by nutrition expert Joy Bauer.  Enter to win by answering this question in the comments below: What motivates you to work out?

FOF Joy Prouty is now considered a Zumba expert, but, it was only after the age of fifty that the dance and fitness aficionada discovered the Zumba fitness program, a fast-paced cardio workout rooted in Latin American dance moves. Or, we should say, Zumba discovered her…

In her teens, Joy taught dance, and later, moved from Pittsburgh to New York City to dance with the iconic Radio City Rockettes from 1959-1961. In 1965, after retiring from the Rockettes, she became a fitness instructor at The Imperial School of Dance in Palm Beach, Florida.

In 1980 she opened The Fitness Connection, the first of her three fitness studios, all in Palm Beach County, and started a separate personal training business that same year. Ten years later, Joy was invited to join the original Step Reebok Team as their primary international trainer. She traveled to over 40 countries, sharing her fitness expertise with Reebok trainers, instructors, and consumers.

In 2006, Joy’s fitness career and dance background caught the attention of Zumba’s three founders — Alberto “Beto” Perez, Alberto Perlman, and Alberto Aghion. They asked Joy to try their Zumba program and she immediately fell in love with the workout. “Zumba is all about the feeling of the music and the freedom to move,” says Joy. “It’s just a party all the time!” The three Albertos asked Joy to adapt their Zumba program into a workout geared toward the over-fifty crowd. “The Zumba Gold workout uses the same wonderful rhythms and exciting music that inspires you to dance but the transitions are a little bit slower and smoother, and the intensity is lower,” says Joy. “It’s a really good entry program.”

Zumba Gold officially launched in January 2007, and is now taught throughout the U.S. You can find a Zumba Gold class near you by visiting Zumba.com.  Zumba Gold can also be practiced at home with the Zumba Gold Live It Up DVD set. “The first DVD breaks down our basic rhythms,” says Joy. “The second DVD is a 45-minute cardio workout tapping into our basic, reggae, and salsa rhythms. The third DVD is our ‘gold toning,’ which uses the toning sticks to strengthen your body.”  The program also includes a food and nutritional guide. “It’s a really wonderful package and a great way to get started,” Joy says.

Enter to win a Zumba Gold Live It Up DVD Kit by answering this question in the comments below: What motivates you to work out?
Five FOFs will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 14th, 2013 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.

{Giveaway} Sacred Sleep Eucalyptus Sheets

FOF Jane Pinto is giving away a set of luxurious eucalyptus sheets from Sacred Sleep — a company that’s dedicated to improving sleep wellness. Enter to win by answering this question in the comments below: Which color and size eucalyptus sheets would you like to win?

Jane Pinto ran a successful real estate firm for 10 years. Throughout her life and for much of her career, she was plagued with trouble sleeping. “I was waking up four or five times each night,” says Jane. “One night my husband put his arm around me and said, ‘You know, sleep is sacred, isn’t it?’ and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I think I have an idea for a brand.'”

Jane sold her firm in 201o to pursue the idea. She and her husband founded Pinto Barn, a company that’s dedicated to creating conscious products for living a whole life, in 2011. Jane developed Sacred Sleep, a division of Pinto Barn, with help from a team of sleep and marketing experts. Their end goal was to lay out a product line that would people sleep better. Jane started researching different types of textiles, and discovered the many sleep benefits of eucalyptus, which are now the highlight of the Sacred Sleep line. “Eucalyptus sheets really wick away moisture,” Jane says, “They keep you cool when you’re hot, and warm when you’re cool.”

Sacred Sleep is available exclusively online, but Jane has plans to expand. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” says Jane. “Our goal is to eventually have Sacred Sleep retail stores, which will provide education on sleeping better in addition to our products.”

“For any women over fifty, quality of life becomes so real and important,” says Jane.  “It becomes more important to evaluate and create an environment that is really conducive to sleep wellness, and that includes investing in a quality set of sheets. They are so worth it.”

Enter to win a set of eucalyptus sheets from Sacred Sleep by answering this question in the comments below: Which color and size eucalyptus sheets would you like to win?
Enjoy 30% off all purchases at SacredSleep.com for the entire month of February by using promo code FOF30 at checkout!

One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 7th, 2013 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.