Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I don’t go to very many dressy events but this holiday season and, especially New Year’s Eve, I was at several parties where I saw a lot of sparkly, sequin clothing. Dresses, tops, skirts, even sequin pants. Mostly they were “neutrals” in silver, gold, black and ivory. And they were strikingly beautiful.

Are sequins now on trend? Fashionable? Expensive? In the past, I thought this look had a Vegas showgirl vibe, but if anything, these clothes struck me as elegant and expensive.

Enlighten me, please. I should add that the guests at these parties were not models or stars or wealthy people but rather my regular friends, neighbors and co-workers.

--Beth L.

Dear Beth: It’s fun to play dress-up every once in awhile. And sequins are, as you discovered, having a moment.

Actually, they’re a classic but, in the past, the garments were expensive (requiring hand stitching), fragile (wearers often left a trail of sparklers) and frankly not worth the investment. A crucial, relatively recent change in manufacturing has led to sequins that don’t need to be painstakingly sewn on by hand and, remarkably, the garments are pretty durable. This has brought prices down to Target/Walmart/Nordstrom Rack range.

I’m a big fan. In fact, I often travel with a gold sequin top that can dress up a plain pair of black pants in an instant (and is lightweight, packable and cost me about $50 at a resale shop). I now think of sequin clothes in neutral shades as a wardrobe basic. They never get old.

And you don’t have to take my word for it. I stumbled on a headline, “Sequins are Totally Chill Now,” on an online story on harpersbazaar.com. The point is that wearing a sequin item with jeans, a chunky sweater even a hoodie is an easy way to dress up or down. Highly recommend.

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: So my question is this...where have all the small shoes gone? I wear a 4.5 or 5 shoe and they are so very difficult to find! It used to be that the "sample" shoe on display was a 5, but no longer. Nordstrom seems to be about the only department store that still sells 4.5-5 shoes, and Zappos does have some of the smaller sizes. However so many shoe brands start at size 6? (Especially the really cute ones!)

What's the deal? Is it just not that economical to make the smaller sizes? I can't be the only one out here with a small foot!

--P.C.

Dear P.C.: There are two factors at work here and you’ve already pointed out one: It’s about the money. Shoe makers are going for the most sales and shoes for feet smaller (and larger) than most of us are not big moneymakers. The other is that we’re getting bigger—and that includes women’s feet. Look at shoes from the 1930s and 1940s and it is astonishing how much smaller women’s feet were. Better nutrition and increasing national obesity means we’re getting bigger—for better and worse.

Angelic Readers

Many readers weighed in to challenge D.B.’s assertion that parting your hair in the middle is “not very flattering on even the prettiest faces.” Julia M. says: “ I'm 77 and have a center part in my hair. It isn't my choice. This is what my hair prefers. In my teens and 20s, my hair was long, straight and, no matter where I chose to part it, my part was dead center. Through my 30s and beyond I had bangs, which also managed to part themselves in the middle. I no longer try to reposition my part. If no one else likes it, fine. If it isn't in style, fine. I'm just grateful that I still have hair to complain about.”

Reader Rant

Lore S. has a gripe about hair … and lots more: “About women newscasters and others in the public eye, I think it’s a shame that the people who dress and make up these women objectify them: long hair, sleeveless and often low cut tops. I watched a woman reporter from a Southern California TV station conduct an interview for a news segment wearing a blouse so low-cut her breasts were hanging out. And let’s not even get into the collagen filled lips …”

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