News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 94

4F NEWS-PRESS, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1992 nn WFT KY WEAi KEN MEEKER: 'You have to be comfortable' HELEN CRUMBIE: 'Clothes are a creative outlet LARRY GLOVER Build from the basics Ken Meeker's your classic man. "I never got away from the button-down shirts of the old preppiedays," he said. "You have to be comfortable" is Meeker's outlook on dressing, but there's another important element to his ctvlpacwpll'Tt meeker has to go with the territory. Back in the days when Meeker was in radio and TV in Louisville, Ky gray flannels and French cuffs were the business uniform. Today, as president of the Sanibel-Captlva Islands Chamber of Commerce, however, Meeker epitomizes the casual style of the islands slacks and colorful jackets, which go back a long way with him.

The oldest thing in Meeker's closet is a madras jacket he bought at Saks Fifth Avenue 25 years ago. Meeker considers his wife, Babs, his fashion mentor. "She nixes anything she doesn't like," Meeker chuckled. Neitheran impulse buyer nor a seasonal shopper, Meeker said he spends very little on clothes. Casual doesn't mean sloppy, however.

If anything bugs Meeker about what he sees on the streets, it's youngsters in oversized T-shirts and backwards hats, doing their best to look as sloppy as they can. Buy quality clothing and wear it forever Is Meeker's advice. When his clothes do wear out, he puts them on chore duty, which is why he's considered one of Florida's best-dressed men out in the garden or behind a paintbrush. A seasonal shopper, Crumbie gets out what she already has and then makes "research expeditions" through the malls. "I still have every stitch of what I've acquired in the last five years," said this meticulous shopper.

One of her most prized items is a spectacular jacquardsatinbrocadetapestry jacket with lots of doodads hung on the color-block pockets. The bottom line on that number? She demurred, but said she spends about $200 a month on clothes. Men wearing plaids and stripes with no unify ing theme is Crumbie's biggest fashion gripe. And here's advice from a fashion expert on how to get it right: Padding out the shoulders trims the waist. Show off your assets for instance, great legs.

And buy separates, which give you the flexibility to mix and match. Some people just have natural artistic ability. And Helen Crumbie, 43, dresses with the passion of an artist. "Clothes are a creative outlet for me," she said. Fort Myers wardrobe consultants Judy Starnesand Maxine Helgemo.who own Janet Marie CRUMBIE Studio on Royal Palm Square Boulevard, helped Crumbie find herstyle: "They lit my flame," she said.

Crumbie is a free-lance bookkeeper but avoids business suits. On a typical workday recently, she was in a chenille sweater over a turtleneck paired with elegant suede walking shorts and matchingshoes. Larry Glover world is of work, church and organizations. He'll don a denim jacket now and then, but his wardrobe includ ing ties-consists of his business uniform. Education coordinator of Dunbar Community School, Glover abides by his father's fashion GLOVER rules: "You can go with colors, but you should always have the basics blues, blacks and browns to build from.

For after 6, a black suit is an essential." Glover, who said he's "old enough to be a grandparent," likes wild ties. He advises friends to never throw out a tie, because it's sure to come back in. "I'm a saver," he said. Some of 11 iiiiiii irMOlfi iHH his suits are from way back, and he prizes some 20-year-old sweaters that were Christmas gifts from his sisters. No impulse buyer, Glover leaves most of his shopping to his wife, Lottie.

His most recent buys were a fifth blue suit and a pair of Stacey Adams dress shoes. Glover orders suits from New York or Chicago from the catalogs of Bill Pierce's Styland store on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. These suits run about 1 50, which is what Glover estimates he spends monthly on clothes.

Wearing good, well-pressed shirts and changing into a spare on a soggy day is one of Glover's fashion secrets. And he said it's sad to see like a clean car with dirty whitewalls a sulted-up male wearing grungy shoes. So take his advice, and get out the shoe polish, men! MARY JOHNSON: Dress to fit the occasion ALAN DANIELS: Timeless design JOANN MEYERSON: 'Flatter yourself, with restraint' Clothes should do something for your face. It's a fashion secret Mary Johnson learned from her years on television. On Monday mornings, she takes WBBH-TV (channel 20) viewers out to breakfast via her "Breakfast Stop" show on "Sunrise Today." Then she heads for JOHNSON her job as coordinator of bilingual education for Lee County Schools.

Johnson's casually classic style runs to the exotic. She favors import shops such as The Condor on Sanibel Island and Pier One Imports in south Fort Myers. Among her prized and exotic things are an Irish wool cape and an Indian print dress and matching jacket she found in ft Ik Other guys might go for silk, rayon or polyester, but never Alan Daniels. "Cotton, cotton and more cotton" is what this traditional male is all about. "But traditional doesn't have to be boring," said Daniels, 36.

He used to be a Ralph Lauren loyalist until DANIELS Lauren became too staid for him, that is. Daniels' favorite designer now is Tommy Hilfiger. On a recent afternoon, he was wearing one of Hilfiger's everythingshirts patchedstriped printed that he finds at Burdines. Hilfiger sans tie leant Daniels a stylish but casual look amid the silver-and- i-A "My! You do clean up nice," said a waiter who seated Jo Ann Meyerson for dinner at a posh resort. She was wearing a yellow silk dress wrapped around her hour-glass figure, but the waiter recognized her as the woman who beats around the neighborhood in bicycle shorts.

MEYERSON Meyerson shapes up by day with 26-mile cycling stints. Come evening, she's as chic and sophisticated as they come. "Flatteryourself, but with restraint," she said. "Cleavage is gauche." This former model, who volunteers at the J.N. "Ding" Darling Wildlife Refuge on SHIRLEY GRISSOM: Dress to fit your mood DEE MADDOX: Timeless sense of style MARTHA HILL: Choose what's real and elegant Mexico.

Though her career's all business, Johnson won't wear business suits. Now of a certain age say I remember World War she appreciates the relaxed '90s. "Professional women enjoy the freedom to dress to feel what they are," she said. Dressing to fit the occasion but tossing the rulebook when she needs something special to boost her confidence is a Johnson trade secret. She advises avoiding the too-casual shorts-at-a-lecture look, however.

A spasmodic shopper, Johnson will hit the stores when bitten by the shopping bug. In one recent binge, she bought several dresses at once. Overall, her monthly clothing budget runs between $75 and $100. Johnson's final hint? Never worry about buying shoes. If the shoes fit, snap them up.

favorite black and white solids. She won't wear prints, which "tend to wear the individual." In Florida, Maddox said too many women dress too casually. "There's a big difference between dressing casually with style and being downright messy." New York native Maddox took her fashion cues from the grande dames of high society and the fashion magazines. At 56, she's a regal beauty. "Don't be caught up in the idea that if you are beyond your 20s or 30s, you are no longer of any interest," Maddox said.

"As a woman ages, she can do so gracefully." How to age well? If you can afford it, a cosmetic surgery procedure is in order, Maddox said, but anyone can find a hairstyle that suits her age and keep up with makeup trends. who could probably buy anything spend on clothes? "Not as much as I used to," she quipped. Translation: last month, $250. A little black dress with fitted waist, flowingskirt and rhinestone buttons was her latest purchase. Hornsby said hermother, Erleene Sanders, is the best-dressed Floridian she knows, but she didn't model her own style after Mama.

"I came up with my own look, Hornsby said. Fit is a very big part of looking classy, and appearance counts for a lot, she said. Oh, and do keep it neat. Women with heels scuff ed from stepping into grates drive her wild. "If you are at some function and somebody sees you but doesn't meet you, what you ha ve on makes a huge statement," Hornsby said.

Sanibel Island when she isn't cruising or traveling, credits her mother-in-law, Nancy Meyerson of Sanibel, as her fashion mentor. "I shop all the time. I was born to shop," Meyerson said. From the "Oh honey, this is old and I've had it for months" school of budgeting, Meyerson wasn't about to blab about what she really spends. She's a very savvy shopper, however.

Last time she shopped she found a dress she admired priced at $350 in one store and $475 in another. Don't be afraid to ask the higher-priced store to meet the competitor's price, Meyerson advised. Her favorite color? "Blue-gray, the color of my husband's eyes," she cooed. One of her favorite outfits is an Yves St. Laurent paisley silk skirt and blouse set her husband Andrew bought her 1 6 years ago.

couple lived in Guatemala, where Joe was with the State Department. A Color Me Beautiful class "helped me rediscover myself," said Hill, 41 She learned that stripes and checks are too severe for her. She's great in black or white and deep jewel colors, but pastels are out. They do nothing for her dark complexion. Hill is walking proof that you can hate to shop and still dress well.

She'll hunt for something special for an occasion, but said she spends less than 1 00 a month for clothes. Buy a few things of good quality, take care of them and wear them forever, Hill advised. She has fine 1 5-year-old blouses in her closet. Hill's fashion credo also extends to jewelry and accessories. She eschews both the glitz and the faux in favor of what's real and elegant.

Nuelle's fashion mentor was a dress-designing grandmother who made entire wardrobes for well-dressed Pacific Northwesterners, back when Nuelle was growing up on an Idaho ranch. Nuelle shops rarely a time or two each season and for special occasions. She likes Jacobson's but spends very little about $35 a month on clothes. "When you've reached my age, you can recycle," Nuelle said. Recently she found a Jerry Silverman silk blouse from a consignment shop that perfectly matched a pair of greenish Liz Claiborne pantsshe found on sale Work a figure flaw to advantage, Nuelle advised: "For years I got great deals in designer showrooms because I'm long-waisted and could wear blouson styles other women couldn't." linen ambianceof The Perfect Setting, a tableware boutique he owns with his mother in Royal Palm Square.

A fifth-generation Fort Myers resident, Daniels learned about fashion at his father's knee. Frank Daniels was ahead of his time in introducing color into his wardrobe. Dad's maverick streak comes out in Alan's love of wild ties. He'll wear a splashy Nicole Miller theme tie to a cocktail party. Daniels didn't have a clue as to what he spends on clothing, nor did his wife, Pinky, who does most of his shopping.

Whatever Daniels does spend, it's spent well. He's death on trendy leisure suits and Nehru collars: "Where I'm going to spend dollars, I want timeless design," Daniels said. determining factor in dressing, Grissom said. For instance, if you weigh 300 pounds, avoid tennis togs. Grissom still wears a sapphire-blue cashmere skirt and sweater suit with a matching fox collar that she bought about 20 years ago.

A black leather skirt with a black-and-white houndstooth jacket is her most recent buy. What she spends on clothes is a trade secret, but Grissom did say that by bargain hunting, she's found suits for $175 that sell for 1 ,000. Though not exactly an impulse buyer, she said, "I know what looks good on me and if I see it, that's it." Don't be fooled by any "Darling, that was made for you," lines from sales people, Grissom said. Try on something, then visualize yourself in the setting where you'll be wearing it. fashion plate as well, Griffith said.

Griffith, 25, did some modeling during her college days in Chicago, but hated it. "You never could eat what you wanted," she said. Now she's a talk jockey on Shore 94 (WCVU94.5FM)radioanda news reporter on sister station WNOG1270AM. Griffith said she spends about $250 a month on clothes and shops nearly every week. She snapped up two suits the night before she was to be photographed for this article.

"Consider your body" is Griffith's first rule of fashion. Take Spandex, for instance. There are just some women out there who don't belong in stretch pants, Griffith said: "I sometimes wonder what the fashion designers were thinking of when they invented Spandex." Martha Hill's classic but feminine style reflects her Latin American heritage. She's editor and publisher of the Que Pasa newsmagazine in Cape Coral, but she's no scruffy journalist. Hill wouldn't be caught dead In pants at a business meeting, for instance.

HILL This Brazilian native credits her style sense to her parents. Her importerexporter father would return from New York trips with elegant things for Hill, her mother and sisters. Her most recent purchase is a suit with Guatemalan motifs that her husband, Joe, found at Beall's. It reminds her of the years the fey Dressing to fit her mood is one of Shirley Grissom's trade secrets. Grissom's a Naples inspirational speaker and fashion model who runs around in T-shirtsand Levis by day but loves the dressy classical look after dark.

In fact, "I love it all," she said. A national finalist in Oil of GRISSOM Good for My Age" contest in 1 990, Grissom, who is in her 60s, appeared on an "Oprah Winfrey" segment, "Can You Be Sexy Over 40?" and a "PM Magazine" talk show about active seniors. She'll be profiled in the January issue of Southwest Florida's Viewer Magazine. Size, not age, is the A i Her Chanel-influenced, double-breasted suit with a slightly fitted jacket was 1 6 years old. Nevertheless, Dee Maddox looked up-to-the minute in the suit, which reflects her timeless sense of style.

When she isn't chairing major events for the American Cancer Society, Fort Myers MADDOX resident Maddox is a fashion model and part-time sales person at one of her favorite boutiques, Sulaine in Royal Palm Square. Maddox shops "in spurts" and will spend anywhere from "three to four figures" in a month. Her most recent acquisition was a teal blue beaded chiffon cocktail dress, a change of pace from her TRACI GRIFFITH: 'Consider your body' FRAN NUELLE: 'Separating chic from gauche' MARY CHRIS HORNSBY: 'I wear everything' Separating the chic from the gauche: That's how fashion editor Fran Nuelle once sized up the New York fashion scene for her paper, the St. Louis (Mo.) Globe-Democrat. Unfortunately, a male copy editor changed her line to "separating the sheep from the goats." "I've been NUELLE separating the chic from the gauche ever since," chuckled this Sanibel resident.

Now in her mid-60s, Nuelle has a lifestyle that includes golfing and fiction writing. Sequinned sweatshirts with "fake poodles or leering cats" look great on some of her friends, but are not or Nuel le. Her sty le is "classic but a little offbeat." A Naples broadcaster Traci Griffith's most prized possession is a Gino Ferruzi leather handbag she bought in Paris on a shopping excursion last year. Griffith and her mother take at least one shopping vacation together annually and often swap outfits. One of GRIFFITH her favorite family photos is of her dad surrounded by shopping bags, dead asleep in a San Francisco Nordstrom's.

Fashion runs in Griffith's genes. Her grandmother was a journalist with the Amsterdam Press in New York and a if i "Diversity" sums up Mary Chris Sanders Hornsby's style: "I wear everything: dresses, jeans you name it," she said. Well, almost. Hornsby, 25, won't wear a mini-skirt unless it's exactly the right length, and tube tops are out. Skinny pants topped by a big blouse cinched HORNSBY at the waist make up one of Hornsby's current favorite looks.

Black's her favorite color. "It makes you look thinner," she said. A member of the sprawling, wealthy Sanders clan, Hornsby just purchased Royal Palm Travel. So what does a woman I fJi i.