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If you don’t love Bethenny Frankel for the unbelievable string of witty cynicisms that flow from her mouth, then you should at least love her for her great sense of style. The girl always looks good in simple, stately style pieces that radiate chic elegance. She knows what cuts and colors flatter her, and she rocks them. Here are some style tips you can learn from Bethenny.

Flaunt Your Figure
Bethenny has a great bod. She should—she’s the author of Naturally Thin and the creator of the Skinny Girl Margarita. She’s essentially built an empire helping women healthfully manage their weight. One thing Bethenny knows (I can tell by the way she dresses) is that you should play up your best assets. Because of her lean, fit figure, Bethenny can easily rock figure-skimming looks—some of her favorites are by Herve Leger.

So while you may not have Bethenny’s bod (I don’t, trust me), you can learn to wear styles and silhouettes that make you look and feel your best. If you have great legs wear shorter hemlines. If your chest is rockin’, show a little cleav every once in a while! Got amazing arms? Why not opt for sleeveless and strapless styles to play them up? If you’re fishing for compliments, buy clothes that play up your best parts!

Color The Classics
You never see Bethenny sporting tons of crazy patterns or doing lots of sloppy layering. This is one way she keeps her look clean and classic. Sometimes, patterns work for people. But if you’re trying to be practical about your wardrobe and make sophisticated style statements, solid colors can be an amazing addition. Bethenny often rocks red (a color she knows she looks good wearing), black, and an array of other bold, solid colors. Then, when she goes to a big event or awards show, she’ll mix up her look with playful prints, sassy sequins or stripes.

Imagine the possibilities of a solid color dress! If you want to make your wardrobe work hard, pick key pieces in solid colors that work well with your skin tone—ranging from blacks to brights. The right colors will make you glow! And the solid color will make you look like a master of style.

Add An Accessory (or two)
Sometimes the best way to look pulled-together is to wear simple, understated accessories that can easily transition from day to night. Bethenny is a master of this. She’s often seen rocking a pair of basic diamond studs (with a not so basic sparkle). The right accessories should be versatile enough to take you from day to night. They should be adaptable. And most of all, they should look high quality (i.e. expensive). The right accessories will elevate your style potential.

The chunky (yet very simple) earrings Bethenny sports (like in the above picture) always manage to keep her look classy. Paired with a coordinating ring, Frankel is the epitome of ladylike. Take a page from her playbook: sometimes less is more when it comes to accessorizing.

Sometimes when I get dressed in the morning, I find myself saying, "Hmmm...what would Bethenny wear?" And by following some of her fashion guidelines, I feel as if I'll always leave the house looking prim, proper and fashionably educated. By keeping her style sense in mind, I don't think I'll ever hear a passerby say, "Holy inappropriateness!" when looking at my outfit.

I love those nights when I walk into the mall to make a return and end up coming out with something new and expensive. It’s a real testament to my amazing self-control.

Last week I went into the mall to make a small exchange. I parked at Nordstrom—which is a fairly normal thing for me to do. Within moments of setting foot in the door, I was bombarded with Stuart Weitzman, Manolo Blahnik and Tory Burch screaming at me, “Try me on! Buy me! You know you want me!”. The shoe department was screaming at me—testing my ability to walk on by. And it was the Anniversary sale, so all of these screams were coming to me at the lowest prices of the season. Still, I pushed on through the madness and made my return out in the mall.

But let’s not forget I had to walk back through Nordstrom on the way to my car. And this time I wasn’t as strong. I purposely avoided the shoe department and made my way through accessories instead. And there before me was a table of designer sunglasses a mile long. Burberry. Gucci. Chanel. And Fendi. I stopped to look around. I picked some up. I tried some on. And I attracted the attention of the sales associates (who could obviously tell I was a fashion-obsessed sucker). From designs only Lady Gaga could pull off, to the prim and proper, the sales associates had me trying on designs for 20 minutes. And one of those designs came home with me: a pair of black, oversized Fendi shades with glittery insides and simple, elegant outsides.

“Well,” I thought as I folded the receipt up and stuffed it into my handbag, “at least the PPW will be low.”

I've decided I'm going to be more disciplined about posting some of my very own outfits. I mean, c'mon...I have good taste! If I can inspire you to create looks and come up with stellar outfits, I'll be able to sleep a little better at night.

This morning I woke up thinking, "Today, my look will be 'First Lady Fab!' I'll dress just like Jackie O in a diplomatic sheath dress." So that's exactly what I did. Today's look is none other than First Lady Fabulous. I'm wearing a black sheath dress with black platform pumps. I'm carrying a black and gray leopard print cardigan (in case it gets chilly). My simple accessories consist of vintage clip-on earrings and my Toy Watch. It's easy. It's chic. And it's sophisticated. Perfect for a busy day at the office.

What does it mean to be high maintenance? Based on looks alone, 99 out of 100 men surveyed on the street would say that I (yes, little old me) appear to be high maintenance. (It could be the giant heels, huge Marc Jacobs bag, blinged-out watch and oversized sunglasses. But judge me based on looks alone? How dare they!) I have high expectations for a lot of things in my life—but does that necessarily make me high maintenance? Absolutely not. To me, high maintenance is defined my incessant nagging, annoying and time-consuming habits and unrealistic demands. Doesn’t even sound like me for a second. And if you don’t think so, here are some things that might make you side with me.

I can shower, get dressed in an adorable outfit, put on full make-up, dry my hair and accessorize in 45 minutes.

I know people who can’t seem to pull themselves together given two hours. They have to go through an entire ritual-like process. My philosophy? Don’t waste your time getting ready. Make that quick so you can spend more time having fun AFTER you’re ready! Plus, if it takes you three hours to get ready, it probably means you’re ugly.

Last weekend, I didn’t wear any make-up for four days. I only showered two out of those four days.

Confidence goes a long way, people. When you don’t have glitz and glam at your fingertips, put on a smile and an attitude and no one will notice your lack of dazzle. And make sure you take care of your skin, too.

I rarely ask people to do things for me. Normally, I do stuff myself.

Other people do things wrong. That’s why I don’t ask. I don’t feel like I need to elaborate any more on this. In the event I ask you for help with something, it must mean I really respect you.

I rarely ask people to buy things for me. If I want something, I buy it myself.

Other people are too cheap. If I ask for Chanel, I want Chanel. Not a pleather bag with two interlocking C’s on it. If I buy it for myself, I’ll never be disappointed. At least that’s the theory….

I don’t believe in emotions. Life’s just easier this way. I don’t do that, “Can we talk about our feelings?” stuff.

Feelings are high maintenance. They require a lot of pampering and a lot of attention. The only thing I like to pamper is my body—in the form of manicures, pedicures, salon treatments and expensive highlights. And as far as attention is concerned, my ego has called dibs on that.

See? I’m not high maintenance. At least according to my standards. What about you? What things make you a high maintenance princess? Or are you just as easy-to-please and go with the flow as yours truly? Leave your thoughts in the comments section!

I am a sunglasses snob. Dior. Chanel. Versace. Fendi. Gucci. You name the brand, and chances are I’ve got two pairs of each. Really, I just like the way they look. Most designer sunglasses tend to be a little over-the-top. They’re generally adorned with extra bling, interesting design elements or exotic materials. Sometimes they even have unique shapes and rare colors. And did I mention the bling? You can throw on a pair of designer shades with the most boring t-shirt in your wardrobe and still manage to look like a movie star. They’re a style statement.

I’ve always taken a lot of slack for my love of designer shades. I’ve got friends that call a particular pair of Dior’s my “welding glasses.” And when others see the rhinestone designs on the side of my Versace shades they chuckle and say, “you would.” And I’ve even encountered people who laugh that I would “pay so much money for a piece of plastic.”

Adelle, who wrote a guest post for me this week (see it below) is probably rolling her eyes and thinking the same thing as my friends. After all, sunglasses are small. Why would anyone splurge for those? I must admit, even I thought there was some merit in Adelle's point. But alas, a personal experience has made me stick true to my designer roots.

So recently, in a desperate attempt to be more normal and more frugal, I ventured to the sunglasses department of Target, where I tried on shade after shade to no avail. Everything was so plain. And boring. Then, one day at the mall as I was breezing through a chain retailer, I saw a pair of black, oversized sunglasses that were actually pretty cute. And they were only five dollars. Nothing special. But they could give me a different look for the nearly laughable price of five bucks. So I bought them, and put them into my normal sunglasses rotation.

And now, nearly three weeks later, those five-dollar sunglasses have broken. But when I reached into my purse to find them missing a vital piece, my Fendi glasses were sitting right next to them, ready to be worn. The cheap sunglasses had mysteriously broken, while the expensive ones were sitting pretty in the pocket of my purse. Coincidence? I think not.

This just proves that it’s okay to buy expensive designer shades. And if you don’t believe me, let’s consult the good ole’ PPW for this situation.

Cheap Sunglasses
$5.00
Worn approximately 12 times
PPW: $.42

Fendi Sunglasses
$90.00 on sale at Bloomingdales
Worn 190 times over a 3-year period
PPW: $.47

And just for kicks, we’ll PPW my Chanel glasses, too. I had these glasses forever and wore them almost every day in college.

Chanel Sunglasses
$350.00 at Neiman Marcus
Worn 500 times over a 5-year period
PPW: $.70
*Approximately 20 cents more per wear, but it’s Chanel. So duh.

In my eyes, the PPW difference is too small to matter. And, the designer sunglasses bring years of amusement (and they're still kicking), whereas the cheap sunglasses only brought a few weeks of sun protection (and definitely NOT as many compliments). While the price tags may be very different, the PPW is nearly the same. So bring on the Gucci, Prada and Oliver Peoples! Because that, my friends, is a win for label whores everywhere.

I love my Twitter friends. I know, half of you are shaking your heads thinking, "Twitter is for nerds." Or maybe you're laughing because I referred to a select group of people as my "Twitter friends." But let's be honest, in the world of fashion blogging, I've made some solid connections that can be largely attributed to Twitter. Today's post is from one of my Twitter friends, Adelle. We're two kindred style mavens who found each other by means of microblogging. Adelle's blog, The Fashionista Lab, is a trove of great outfits, fashion advice and rock star style (and she's always got great things to tweet about, too). But today, Adelle dishes on one of her personal theories about splurging.

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Long before I had a fashion blog I had a critical inner fashionista, and she manifested herself in my now-longstanding fabric-to-price ratio. From the time that my mother began dropping my sister and I off at the mall when we were in middle school, I simply decided that some items were not big enough to pay big money for.

My two basic tenets:

Synthetic fabric – such as polyester or acrylic – should not be expensive. Conversely, it’s ok to pay more for great textiles, such as cashmere, jersey (wool, silk or cotton), or linen. (I’m a textile snob.)

Small things – such as sunglasses or bathing suits – should not cost hundreds of dollars. If it can fit in the palm of my hand and it’s NOT jewelry or a piece of expensive technology, there should not be more than 2 digits in the price.

But the older I get, the more I develop my personal style, and the more money I have to spend, I do come across situations that challenge my ratio. Just today I encountered two beautiful tops I dearly wanted but that gave me serious pause:

The top on the left is just downright Gorgeous. Beautiful. Classy. Satin is a “great textile” and it’s the kind of blouse you can dress up or down and always look fabulous. And did I mention that blouse was originally $395? It’s expensive, but feels like it would be a great investment.

The top on the left is fun and original. How about that print?! It’s the kind of t-shirt you need in your closet because you can throw it on with jeans, make zero effort, and still look cool. We all need t-shirts like that! It was originally $495, so $123.75 is quite a discount. But still, $123.75 for a t-shirt??? But again, this is the t-shirt you want to have in your closet when you just can’t be bothered to think about clothes, but still want to turn heads.

Tough call. I’ve thought about it for hours and still can’t decide what I would do (the black top is sold out – probably for the best), but whatever the outcome, it will certainly be a defining moment for my fabric-to-price ratio.

Remember to go check out Adelle's blog here for more sassy fashion advice and to find out more about her theories on spending!

Today's guest blog post is from a lovely young lady who apparently just can't stop writing for me. During my senior year of college, I was the Editor-In-Chief for a little niche publication on the University of Missouri's campus. The paper highlighted Greek life and all the happenings of sorority and fraternity days. Claire, today's guest blogger, was on my staff. It should be noted that her stories involved virtually little to no editing. And they were always in on time. Now chasing a career in magazine journalism, Claire finds herself living life in New York City-- an experience that has helped her hone her writing skills and her ability to judge. In today's post, Claire points out that sometimes a pair of supposedly stylish jorts can be much more of a joke.

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It's hot and humid here in New York and there's no better time for airy dresses, bare arms and light, breathable fabrics. This weather also signals that touchy time of year when women must decide just what to put on their legs. Some choose skirts -- mini, flowing, patterned or plain -- while others opt for the all too slippery slope of shorts.

Sure, shorts are the practical option. Who wants to worry about flashing your lady parts on the subway? But when they don't fit perfectly (which is all too often the case) they're dangerously unflattering. The most offensive culprit? Denim shorts.

These jean mini-pants range from knee-length to non-existent, and come in an array of washes and rippage. Rippage? See photo. Yes, someone out there is paid to rip holes in your jeans just so you can pull off the Olsen twins' trademarked look: sloppy chic.

I digress.

New Yorkers have embraced the jean short spectrum, but what are most disturbing are the shorts' hideous half-sister: the high-waisted jean shorts. These are the thorns of the fashion world and should go the way of their cousin, acid washed denim. To anyone considering a high-waisted purchase, please reconsider.

In fact, the lines created by these pants (think: a deep V outlining your pelvic region in front and nearly the same image in back) are so distracting that I often find myself openly gawking. More plainly, there is absolutely NO body that can make this fashion tragedy work. And I've done the leg work (Ha! Punny!). Living across from Union Square means I'm privy to a catwalk of all sorts of hipsters, model wannabes, and the fashionably adventurous-- which is fine. But this also means that I see about 20 offending pairs of jorts a day traipsing about the streets, forcing everyone's eyes to the fact that their inseam is measured in millimeters.

So, when choosing a pair of shorts, try for something with an inseam of at least three inches and in a dark wash. And leave the high-waisted version in the closet, or better yet, the trash can.

Want to read more about Claire's life? Check out her blog here.