Have you discovered the New Neutral yet?

Which color matches black, brown and grey and is a whole lot more exciting than camel?

If you guessed burgundy, you'd be right!

Create a new look by adding a burgundy belt to a basic shift dress or add burgundy tights to spice up your all-black look. Hate changing your everyday bag from brown to black and back again? Stick with burgundy and you won't have to change your bag all season! The same concept works with your coat. Give your grey, black, or brown basics a new and exciting take with my favorite new boots of the season, in burgundy of course!

How Any Woman Can Look Put-Together in 2 Minutes or Less Using Lani's 1-2-3 Formula

What is the 1-2-3 formula? It is my own proprietary method of instruction on how to achieve that sometimes elusive goal...looking put-together every day! Try it and let me know how it goes!

#1 Start with your base, i.e. a skirt or jean that makes you feel sexy. Not just ok, but sexy! Ideally your base has some structure to hold all the important parts in. Yes, this means NO YOGA PANTS!

Victoria Beckham Clean Mid-Rise Bootcut Jeans

#2 Add a pop! This could be in the form of color, texture, shine, or print. Whatever you choose, it should be something that gives you a thrill every time you put it on!

Chloe Scalloped Ballet Flats

Diane Von Furstenberg Animal Print Cashmere Scarf

#3 Finish with a 3rd element that adds style and polish such as a jacket or scarf. This is a great trick for you Moms out there as both hide lollipop and chocolate stains on your tee shirt. Accessories like a large necklace or sunglasses also work and are good options in warmer weather.

Helmut Lang Peak-Shouldered Wool-Blend Blazer

Marc by Marc Jacobs Pocketed Leather Tote

The Best of Fall Boots (According to Lani)

Everyone seems to be looking for the perfect black boot for fall. But my perfect boot isn't your perfect boot. And let's be honest, there is always another boot you are going to want! With that in mind, here is a selection of some of the best boots of the season. 

A shiny new pair of black boots somehow makes last year's fall clothes feel new and fresh. Wear them with jeans, a dress and tights, ponte knit leggings and a hand knit sweater, or a cozy maxi skirt. My picks are based on bang for your buck and comfort. I believe you shouldn't have to spend $800 to get a pair of boots you LOVE.

Air Violet by Cole Haan. A sexy high-heeled knee-high boot with Nike Air cushioning!

Looking for an everyday riding boot to wear with your skinny jeans? The Richmond by Corso Como is it!

Go short and punk this season with the Layla boot by Giles Deacon for Nine West.

The 50/50 by Stuart Weitzman is still the sexiest, most comfortable over the knee boot ever made.

For the second season in a row, the Miller from J. Crew is my favorite casual motorcycle boot.    

Loving the wedge bootie with a rolled up jean! Try the Paxton from Land’s End Canvas.    

Style Dispatch from San Francisco

Sometimes it takes traveling cross country to discover something that has been in one’s own backyard all along.  Take the Glory Chen and All Saints stores for example. I stumbled upon their West Coast flagships while checking out Maiden Lane, one of San Francisco’s most exclusive shopping streets.  I had seen cool pieces from All Saints before at Bloomingdales in NYC, and I knew they had opened a store in New York’s Soho a while ago, but still hadn’t gotten around to checking it out. I had also heard rumor of a store opening in Georgetown this past July.  Glory Chen, which I’m embarrassed to admit, I had never heard of until this last week, also has a store in Soho. 

Why should you care? Because there is no American equivalent to the rugged British cool of All Saints. Fans include Justin Timberlake and Rihanna. A show-stopping, very Dries Van Noten-esque sequin dress for under $500, a perforated suede tunic, and jewelry like I’ve never seen this side of the pond, were all items campaigning to walk out in my shopping bag. These days everyone is hopping on the iPad bandwagon. At All Saints this isn’t just a gimmick, but a way of offering the customer access to the online shop at multiple points throughout the store. You can’t make a mistake at All Saints. These are pieces that are destined to become some of the greatest hits of your wardrobe.

 Glory Chen is quite simply one of the coolest shoe stores I have happened upon… EVER.  I get that the higher priced Glory Chen line should be interesting at $400 a pair, but the less expensive line, named after designer Joy Chen, has a point of view just as unique. At under $200 a pair, the Joy Chen line is a phenomenal value. These are stunning, comfortable shoes that you probably won’t see on anyone, much less everyone else.  I haven’t been this excited about a shoe store since the opening of the now defunct Te Casan in Soho.  Tell me what YOU think!

Do You Control Your Closet or Does Your Closet Control You?

Has your dream closet been within reach all along? Could there be a $10 solution to what seems like a million dollar problem? You are not as limited by your space as you think you are.

It is amazing to me how many people give up on their wardrobe due to perceived limits in their physical space. What is it that Oprah says?  "It was all in your control the whole time." Exactly!

I recently conducted a Closet Makeover for a woman with a typical NYC closet: tall and narrow, without enough hanging space. Being forced to fold most of her clothing (never a good idea!) meant that she had to sift through piles every morning when trying to get dressed for work. A woman with two children under the age of 5 is never going to have neat, folded piles on open shelves. This is why I avoid them at all costs except for easily identifiable items such as bulky sweaters or jeans.

Most New Yorkers without enough closet space think they’ll have to invest an extra million in a new apartment before they can enjoy a closet that works for them. Au contraire! The solution to this closet conundrum? The previous owner of the apartment had actually installed an Elfa system from the Container Store (25% off until Sept 4^th!) in my client's bedroom closet.  Our solution was removing some shelves, adjusting the placement of others, and installing a new hanging bar in the closet.  10 minutes and $10 later, et voilà! My client 's dream closet had been within her reach all along.

The client did commit to some major wardrobe editing.  Who doesn’t need to edit after two children and a career and country change? The results were a functional closet filled only with clothes that fit and flattered her, a targeted shopping list to complete her wardrobe, and an understanding of how to dress her “new” body type.  Most importantly, she found her dream closet!