Vermont – Summer is full of wonderful distractions, but co-workers’ skin shouldn’t be one of them.

The formality of office attire often diminishes as temperatures rise. Every workplace is different and some are a lot more relaxed than others but don’t be fooled into thinking that no one will judge your appearance. Be sure you’re comfortable with the message your clothes are sending.

For women, the more skin you show, the less influence you have. Do you really want to work harder to earn the respect of your co-workers and boss?

Keep up a professional look by combining seasonal items with lighter weight classics. Pair capris with a lightweight blazer, sandals with a wrap dress.

Happily, unless you work for a conservative office that specifically calls for them, pantyhose and stockings can be left in your drawer. Bare legs with a knee-length skirt is 21st century work appropriate.

Though Michelle Obama has made them work-chic, tank sleeves are still up for debate in many offices, and that goes double for spaghetti straps. Strapless day dresses need to be saved for weekend brunch.

Also avoid: sheer fabrics, short skirts, shorts, Spandex, and bare midriffs.

For men, while some workplaces might be shorts-appropriate, in the majority of offices nothing says “I don’t take my job seriously” more than wearing short.

When in doubt, khakis and polo shirts are the way to go. They are both professional and comfortable. Don’t forget the belt!

Sandals are iffy for men. Be sure your feet look and smell appropriate for business if this kind of casual attire is allowed in your office culture.

Although the thermometer may be soaring outside, most offices are kept extra cool to compensate. Keep a thin sweater or light weight jacket with you to ward off chills during your morning meeting.

Wrinkles can be harder to fight in the humid summer months, but neat and clean still counts.

Wrinkled khakis and a stained or faded polo shirt are just as bad as showing up in gym shorts and a tee-shirt for your favorite band. The “I just got out of bed” look does nothing to enhance your credibility.

Sunglasses are a summer staple, but they are also outdoor wear. You should always be able to make eye contact with colleagues and clients when indoors, so unless you’re a rock star, take them off when entering a building.

Ladies, sunglasses don’t double as a headband when it comes to work, so put them away entirely when at the office.

Flip flops are distracting. They make noise and expose your feet. The weather might be sweltering hot, but do you really want your boss raising her eyebrows about your feet?

For men, think twice before wearing loafers without socks.

For some, pushing the bounds of summer office attire requires more thought than you might wish to expend on your work wardrobe in the morning.

While it’s always acceptable to dress “above” your company’s requirements, keep it to one notch up to avoid being incongruous with the rest of your colleagues.

If people focus on your clothes for the wrong reason, you’re wearing the wrong clothes.

As with all dress codes, casual dress can mean different things at different companies. One standard that helps define appropriateness is to ask yourself: “If I were to have an unexpected meeting with a client or the chief executive, could I go dressed in what I have on?”

No dress code? Ask for one.

The more specific the dress code, the easier it is to figure out what to wear which will leave you with more time to gaze out the window and day dream about your summer vacation at the beach.

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After Ben Stiller’s Avatar spoof at the Oscars we take a look at how other celebrities might look…

Strictly Come Dancing’s Tess Daly with husband Vernon Kay. These famous faces have been given the full Avatar treatment, making them look like the 10-foot aliens from director James Cameron’s sci-fi epic.

Singer Amy Winehouse.Robert Paulson, a 22-year old San Francisco-based photoshop wizard has “Avatised celebrities including Amy Winehouse and Gordon Ramsay

Chef Gordon Ramsay during the Great North Run. Originally conceived as a piece of fun by film student Robert after he went to see the movie, he was spurred on to create more as the film went on to break all box-office records.

Singer Lily Allen on stage.
Posting the results online, Robert’s confidence grew after receiving positive feedback and he has now carved a Na’vi sized niche for himself among fans of the film as the “Avatizer”

Television presenters Ant and Dec.
He explains, “It used to take me around four hours to do the first ones, but now it takes me around two hours, using Photoshop on a PC … I must have spent over 200 hours on this project so far.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
Robert says, “I am still a perfectionist about it though. I feel that I can never get the look of the yellow eyes, with their hypnotic irises and pupils and the Na’vi’s glowing dots to my satisfaction.

TV and radio personality Jonathan Ross.
Having completed over 100 examples of celebrity Avatar makeovers, Robert is now more than ever aware of the physical differences between humans and the fictional Na’vi.

X Factor losers Jedward.
“You want to get the tail and the fact that they have three fingers and a thumb right,said Robert. “The project has given me a huge appreciation of the skill and detail and genius of James Cameron and his team on a technical level.

Mel Gibson.
Impressed by Avatar’s Oscar haul in the technical categories, Robert was not surprised by its failure to win the coveted Best Picture Oscar. He admits his vote would have gone to District Nine, the South African sci-fi film about alien refugees.

Singer Peter Andre.

Popstar Christina Aguilera.

(photo from cctv.com)

Paris – In the latest collection from Dries Van Noten, he staged an artistic military maneuver for the first major show of Paris fashion week.

Held Wednesday, March 3, in the City Hall of Paris, the show was a near perfect distillation of this designer’s key strengths – cerebral cutting, ethnic fantasy and arty joie de vivre. And, yet it was more than that; a clever evocation of what women should, and will, be wearing this coming fall.

“1950s and ’60s cuts, and then a dose of rebellion,” was Van Noten’s description of this fall 2010 women’s ready-to-wear collection, which mimicked and deconstructed the sort of fashion codes one associates with the high-end couture of a half-century ago.

This meant a forgiving silhouette with skirts that flared at a 30-degree angle below the waist, while dresses gently expanded around the hips thanks to the most adroit gathering and ruching.

Staged in a magnificently grand hall replete with a dozen massive chandeliers under frescoes of heroines in the midst of an Arcadian revolt, the collection marched into military mode: cool black parka dresses with Indian bead collar finish or supremely stylish trench coats, boasting contrasting arms of regimental bullion detailing.

Van Noten is also a great self-editor, so his fatigue jodhpurs with zips down the back of the calf were deceptively well cut, as were his bold khaki great coats, finished with big cat print scarves.

Other stand outs included a sensationally beautiful silver metal bead sheath, a splendid black denim flight jacket with hussar’s sleeves and a dreamlike black cocktail with black fantasy garden embroidery and corporal’s shirt sleeves. Smartly avoiding any sense of repetition, Van Noten wowed at the end with a great platoon of duchesses satin dresses, with abstract painterly flowers and daubs of color.

This designer has gone back and forth in recent seasons between his ethnic, print driven early days and his mature, more formal lady-like tailoring. This collection was an excellent synthesis of both elements, and right in sync with the current cult of posh militarism so fashionable today.

Best of all, it was clear that though Van Noten was completely immersed in a major trend like military, he also reinvented it on his own terms with a fresh sense of panache and poise.

MILAN – Minutes to go until showtime, and the cool calm that was has turned into a manic frenzy as stylists, makeup artists and hairdressers add the final touches to the models about to strut down the catwalk.

It has taken the team at Italian fashion brand Frankie Morello about two months to work on this autumn/winter 2010-2011 womenswear show but they will have only 10 minutes of catwalk time to impress the fashion press pack and buyers.

“You can cut other costs but you can’t cut on a show,” Pierfrancesco Gigliotti, one of the brand’s founding designers, told Reuters. “Shows are our biggest investment. They are the most important moment for us.”

Putting on a fashion show is the top event in any designer’s diary, but the smooth, cool look on the catwalk takes months of preparations and organization.

From models and stylists to electricians and invitation writers, some 8,000 people are involved in this February 24 – March 1 Milan fashion week, according to Italy’s National Chamber of Fashion, which organizes the event.

The body begins its work five months before the start of fashion week, sorting out rooms for designers who don’t have their own showing areas. It starts working on a show calendar with a four-month headstart.

Several drafts have to be made before the final version is printed as designers have been known to wrangle over timing, especially when the international press wants to keep its stay in town as short as possible to cut costs.

This year the big names have been squeezed into four days after powerful fashion editor, Vogue’s Anna Wintour, reportedly shortened her attendance.

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The chamber has accredited some 1,300 journalists from all around the world but each fashion house has to sort out accreditation for its own shows as well as the seating — some rival fashionistas may not want to sit next to each other.

Then there are the celebrities that need to be invited.

Thousands of buyers also descend onto Italy’s fashion capital and several of the top designer names, such as Giorgio Armani, Versace and Gucci host separate shows for them.

Cars will be rented or for those pulling in purse strings, the chamber provides a shuttle service.

Last year, several fashion houses in the four fashion capitals New York, London, Paris and Milan cut back on their catwalk expenses — with some pulling shows altogether — as the economic downturn hit the luxury sector.

While fancy canapes and champagne are now rare, designers are still keen to invest highly in their shows.

“There were (cost) cuts last year but there is more investment in 2010. Investing in a show is a production investment because of the returns it brings,” the fashion chamber’s director Giulia Pirovano told Reuters.

“The value of all the publicity that comes from fashion publications is 10 times the investment put into a show and this is important. That is why all the designers want all the top models, the best stylists, the best makeup artists.”

A smaller catwalk show can cost some 80,000 euros ($108,700), while the bigger players can easily reach 1 million euros, Pirovano said. Top models can demand 10,000 euros to walk down the catwalk.

At Frankie Morello, there were 18 models on the catwalk, well below the 40 women used in 2009, but the designers said they were not cutting costs. Numbers have varied at other shows. Prada had 40 models strutting down the catwalk.

“We live in a fast world, where everything is fast, including fashion,” Gigliotti said. “We have 36 creations on the catwalk this year, with a rock band performing live and video installations.”

Ten minutes later at Frankie Morello and after loud applause from the audience, the champagne corks are popping backstage.

Stark winter colours dominated Milan’s catwalks Thursday, brightened mainly by Fendi’s Karl Lagerfeld in a collection laced with “strange blues.”

The designer told AFP he was inspired by the American painter Edward Hopper, with a pallette also favouring yellow and grey.

“Yellow, grey and strange blues, not at all navy,” he said.

On other catwalks, D&G, the second line of maestros Dolce and Gabbana, inhabited the colour-free zone that prevailed on Thursday.

Shaggy boots from toe to knee, in black, grey or white, were the common denominator, underpinning wispy dresses, cheeky knit short shorts or woolly shifts, many sparkling with strass.

Blugirl’s Anna Molinari meanwhile teased the viewer with illusory knits.

Fluffy white jackets that looked like fur from afar turned out to be sculpted knits created with elaborate loops.

Molinari’s faux furry theme melted into the evening with grey or dusty pink cardigans over shimmering silver or black shifts.

Frankie Morello answered Blugirl’s understated fun with an edgy collection suggesting neo-punk: all black, save a few red soles flashing from the bottoms of vertiginous platforms.

A live heavy metal girl band drove home the sassy message contained in cuffed jean short shorts over sparkling leggings, or a strass-studded black jacket.

Pointy padded shoulders added to the gothic effect.

“It is darkness, night and mystery,” the designer says. “It is certainly always the opposite of pure white.”

The top designers are squeezing their shows into four days this time after it emerged that Anna Wintour, editor of the American Vogue magazine, would be cutting short her stay.

Wintour, the inspiration for the book and subsequent film starring Meryl Streep, “The Devil Wears Prada,” is regarded by many as the most influential person in the industry.

The highlight of Friday’s shows will be Gianfranco Ferre, Versace and Jil Sander.

Bottega Veneta, Max Mara, Armani and Gucci will follow Saturday, with Marni, Roberto Cavalli and Missoni giving their shows on Sunday.

While there will be other shows on Monday, none of the big names will take part.

Several thousand buyers from around 40 countries are expected overall, as well as 2,000 journalists.