One of the awesome features of this blog is the ability to post date blog posts. When I wrote this post, most of you in the US were still sleeping – except for maybe TM… When this post eventually does pop up I suspect many of you will be running around doing last minute preparations for Rosh Hashana, checking your emails, sending off various viral seasonal videos, etc. whereas I’ll hopefully be in a food induced coma. Anyhow, this post is about fashion and as we all know, folks in Israel don’t give a shit – often showing up to weddings in jeans or cargo pants – and that’s the groom we’re talking about. But for the rest of the world, fashion is an important part of the high holidays. You want to look your best in order to reflect the gravity of the occasion. And yes, you want to maybe impress those folks in shul you haven’t seen in a while, or that new hottie that was invited to your communal Rosh Hashana Seder celebration or whatever. So I was chatting with my new friend Rachel Fauman, an image consultant and personal shopper based out of San Francisco. Rachel runs Ensemble Personal Image Consulting and has often been interviewed in the press about fashion trends etc. She kindly agreed to impart a few words of wisdom related to what’s hot this Hebraic holiday season. Take it away Rachel!

With the high holidays approaching, fashion designers everywhere are scrambling to fill last minute orders for what can be considered the most important days of the year for any good little Jewish Socialite.

High Holidays now equals high fashion. What other time are you going to find a large number of Jews praying together and feeling guilty? What a great moment to put your best fashion foot forward.

Luckily dresses are everywhere this season. Check out great looks from Marc Jacobs, Max Studio, and Diane Von Furstenberg. Primary colors were big this summer and we will continue to see those bold colors and prints going into the fall season. For family dinners and synagogue attendance it’s best to avoid exposing too much skin or cleavage. Get an outfit that is well tailored and you can still have a devastating effect without looking inappropriate.

For the boys, you can always go the route of wearing a great suit now available by Ben Sherman and Ted Baker. If your needs are a little more relaxed, French Connection or better known as FCUK always has great pant and dress shirt options. Try to stick to a single breasted 2 or 3 button suit. Blues, browns, and grays continue to be the most popular mens suiting options. Black ought to be avoided because it’s just not symbolically appropriate in a season designed to cleanse you of sin. This of course doesn’t apply to Haredi/Ultra Orthodox Jews who wear black all the time. But I doubt they’re reading this. Try to dress up traditionally drab suit colors with a colorful shirt and/or tie – break out of the usual white or light blue button downs and try a striped shirt in a bold and complementary pattern/color combo.

While rejoicing and mourning this holiday season why not dress to impress, you never know who is watching. Well, other than God of course.

Thanks Rachel, Shana Tova and don’t forget to look fabulous! And uh… atone for your sins. I know this post is a little off our beaten path and frankly, I’m just glad Rachel didn’t discuss the latest trend in women’s formal wear, namely Cocktail or dressy shorts (which I promise you are not going to be appropriate for high holiday wear, I don’t care how much they cost) or the latest trend in personal grooming, namely anal bleaching. You don’t even want to know. Have a great Holiday Season America.

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About the author

ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

2 Comments

  • Ah, people actually pay for others recommending them dresses by Diane von Fürstenberg (who got famous through her wrap-dresses) and Marc Jacobs? Those two brands already are pretty wide-spread. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great, but you need to count in the female psyche into the fashion equation. See, ck, women do not only aim to dress well, they aim to dress differently from other women. There’s a reason why there are jokes like, “If a woman goes to a party and spots another woman in the same outfit, she will fall in a mad fit. If a guy goes to a party and spots some other guy in the same outfit, they’ll become life-long buddies.” I get my silk dresses from the British label Monsoon (monsoon.co.uk), so it’s rather unlikely to run into another female with the same outfit. Anyhow, I wasn’t going to start a never-ending essay of my fav designers and brands, the most important thing is that you feel comfortable in and with what you wear. Despite owning tons of shoes and handbags and more than 500 pieces of jewellery myself, I still think the greatest accessory for any woman is a smile that comes from the heart. Happy New Year to you as well *hug*