There’s No Secret to Where the Under-Covered Have Been

They usually appear early in the evening, leaping out of their cars and into the supermarket or mall to pick up a few things on their way home from the gym. In other countries, they’d probably be flogged, but here, we accept women who leave their aerobics class with an inadequate “cover-up.”

“A lot of women don’t want to change their clothes at the gym; they just want to throw something on when they leave,” says Susan Shaw of Dancegear in Fashion Island Newport Beach. “But the sweat shirt they tie around their waist may not cover their backsides completely, which isn’t very flattering no matter what kind of body you have.”

Long, oversized tops are available that can coordinate with aerobic wear and offer adequate cover-up. Make sure they’re a few inches below the rear so they won’t bounce up while you’re walking.

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Hair where?: You’re becoming your father. You’ve noticed that your little talks with your kids are becoming lectures; your idea of a great evening is a meat loaf dinner followed by an episode of “Matlock” you haven’t seen before, and when you look in the mirror--hair is sprouting from your ears.

It’s not an attractive trait. You can’t imagine Mel Gibson with little black and gray whiskers popping out where they shouldn’t be, but it’s common.

“When the hair is on the outer portion of the ear, it shouldn’t be a problem removing it,” says Candy Connors, an electrolycist with the Hair’s End in Tustin. “When it’s coming from the ear canal, we can’t see which direction the follicle is growing, and electrolysis is difficult. You can probably cut them using a tool for removing nose hair.”

Don’t tug on unwanted ear hair and, of course, don’t use sharp objects like scissors around your ears. If trying to remove them doesn’t work, you can always let the hair on your scalp grow long enough to cover them.

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Mess pattern: Women who wear patterned or seamed hose often reveal how tough their day at the office was without saying a word. The lines, flowers or other patterns are pulled and twisted into something that looks like it was designed by Jackson Pollack rather than Donna Karan.

“You just need to check them periodically to make sure the pattern is still even,” says clothing designer Ellen Corcoran of Yorba Linda. “Of course, if a particular pair is causing you more problems than normal, it may be too stretched out.”

The current hot hose patterns are light and subtle. Anything wild may make your legs look like they’re a step behind the times.