fashion

An aggravated sciatic nerve sent Alex Matthews to his doctor more than a decade ago.Turned out his back pain was caused by prolonged periods of sitting off-balance on a stuffed wallet.

Although "Sex and the City" doesn't open until Friday, the 142-minute flick already has become a case study in product branding and American consumerism, especially in terms of fashion.

Closet expert and style maven Melanie Charlton Fascitelli has always had this thing about fashion and being organized.And she's fairly certain where the influence came from.

Connecting the dots will lead first-time workers away from fashion blunders. You've received your college diploma, accepted a job offer in corporate America and begun to take your first tentative steps toward independence.

The most valued item in Lauri Apple's wardrobe is a vintage fur-trimmed jacket.And she's not ashamed to say that she snagged it from the garbage outside a resale shop as she was walking home from class at the University of Pittsburgh one evening in 1994."I can't believe people are wasting this," she remembers thinking.

Americans have unspoken yet clear expectations when it comes to presidential candidates and how they dress.

Sen. Barack Obama's remarks to San Francisco fund-raisers about bitter, small-town Pennsylvanians -- who "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations" -- have contributed to the exponentially expanding political merchandising realm.

Don't minimize the handbag as nothing more than something a woman uses to carry around her stuff.New York writer Anna Johnson, who stored crayons in a sequined art-deco evening bag she received at age 5, can tell you that a purse is so much more.

Flats are fine and wedges are with-it, but the key footwear trend for women this spring and summer is the high heel.It's not unusual to walk into department stores and boutiques and spot heels as high as 5 or 6 inches. Some say the high heel's renewed popularity is related to the dominance of the dress in current fashion.

When it comes to wedding fashion, perhaps nothing sets tongues atwitter faster than a visibly pregnant bride walking down the aisle in white. Not ivory, cream or ecru, but pure, blinding, blizzard white.More maternity bridal designers appear to be offering that option this spring, and more pregnant brides seem comfortable choosing it.