My fashion dream job would be working behind the scenes for a top designer like Ralph Lauren. I think that being a part of the team that puts together the shows would be very exciting.

After careful consideration, my fashion dream job would be to be a buyer, owner, and designer of my own boutique. The name of the boutique would be D.I.S.S. (Don’t It Sound Sexy.), catering to the fashionista in all of us. I would have average ladies modelling in the window display. I will provide personal shoppers for those wanting to enhance their look or create a sound wardrobe. It would be very personal and quaint, a place a woman would go to feel good about her body and work what she’s got! My own line would be called A.I.K. (Ambition is Key), and it would include career and evening wear, with everything in between. I would travel the world to find clothing that looks good on the average woman, paying attention to full figured and plus sized, not to forget the tall & petite. I would dedicate my life to bring positive image to the little girl in all of us who was teased and picked on for having a different shape/look then the girls in the magazine. That’s my dream!

My fashion dream job would be working as a buyer for someone like Neiman, Saks, or Nordstrom. It would be so incredible (and challenging) to choose the merchandise selection for the upcoming season. Combining my love for high fashion with savvy business expertise would be a dream come true, not to mention I would have no choice but to attend the fashion shows of most top designers. After all, it’s part of the job!

I would love to start an edgy clothing line for adult women who rock but who still look like they are dressing their age. I would call it Scarlet Letter clothing and the tag would just have a big red “A” on it.

I would open a boutique that sold two of my favorite things–shoes and bacon–and I would call it The Two Best Things in the World.

This boutique would be a destination for anyone who loves shopping for shoes and enjoying a little bite afterwards. One side would feature an edited selection of well-made mid-priced shoes, nothing over $200…Steve Madden on up to, say, Via Spiga. I’d do flats and heels, shoes you’d wear to work, to have lunch with friends or on a casual date.

The other side, through which you’d have to pass through French-style doors, would be a small elegant deli-type store full of refrigerator cases brimming with all kinds of bacon for sale: country-style from Burger’s in California, MO; Niman Ranch bacon; Italian pancetta, Canadian bacon, etc. I’d have bacon tastings on a beautiful wooden plank bacon bar, and perhaps bring in the occasional chef to show people the interesting and delicious things one can make with bacon. So you could shop for shoes and after finding the perfect pair, enjoy the perfect little sweet-savory snack: a chocolate-bacon cupcake! (I actually have a recipe!)

I’m always surprised at the number of women who like bacon (though they don’t like to admit it because it is high-calorie) and I know how many women love shopping for shoes. I would love to combine the two into one fabulous gastro-sartorial shopping experience.

My fashion dream job would be to open a consulting boutique for teens and young adults. I would call it I A A Y pronounced like yea. It is an acronym for “It’s all about you”. I would have access to all of today trends and fashion but also individualize the look to fit the teen or young adult. In today’s society both teens and young adults are caught up in the idea of fashion that they see in the media but have no clue how to personalize it nor make it work for themselves. I want to teach and guide these uneducated youngsters so that they can have the best of both worlds, Fashion and Style.

After not so careful consideration I would be a stylist - dressing the olsen twins. As hideous as they have become fashion-wise, I figure I’m good enough to make them look better. Obviously, they have forgotten the basics - brush your hair before leaving the house, look at yourself in the mirror before you leave (and the bonus rule every woman should remember - look closely at yourself and remove the first accessory you see). How would I dress them? Simply, inexpensively, organically and in the same outfits (although different colors so I could tell them apart.)

My fashion dream job would be to design a clothing line for middle age women like myself. We are NOT all 5 ft. 10 in. and weigh 110 lbs. We are the average joes….therefore I would name my line AJ’s. The line would include comfortable jeans that fit a figure that has had 2.3 children and loves to eat and have fun. However we are still fiftysomething not 19. I would include tops and jackets that appeal to us not to our daughters. In other words it would be an honest to goodness clothes line for honest to goodness middle age women that have raised their children and now want to be womanly again, but also comfortable.

I would start my own line of fashion apparel and call it MAD. This stands for Midwesterners AREN’T dud dressers. Midwesterners just don’t care about high fashion and are more concerned about comfort and sensibility. The line of clothes would feature mix and match color coordinated jeans and sweaters - paisley, striped, and checkered, jeweled sweat suits, a collection of slacks that are called Sexy Slacks that look amazingly like Dockers. The Dockers label, of course, will be ripped out. The shoe collection would be incredibly amazing because it would look very much like house slippers BUT the soles would be painted gold. Also, the tops of them would be jeweled to wear with the other jeweled clothing line. Oh, of course, the purses or fashion bags would be very large BUT not be made of leather but rather patchwork, like a quilt. The purses will be so in demand that quilts everywhere will suddenly become scarce. The purses actually are a quilt so when you are out without a sweater you can unroll your purse and immediately not be cold eating out in that Dennys. The jewelry line will be so simple. A Christmas ornament on a chain around your neck or parts of broken ornaments dangling from your ears. Of course, those will also be jeweled. The price for the apparel will be shockingly expensive. If it isn’t expensive then nobody will want it. The possibilities are endless with MAD wear. The new boot line won’t be out until this fall. It will be very shiny!!

I would love, love, love, to be a fashion writer. I would tour the world attending all the big fashion shows and meet all the top fashion designers. I would be able to have a first-hand look at the fabulous fabrics and meet the folks with innovative designs. I would then sit down at my laptop and critique them from the eye of the ultimate consumer. What fabrics work for the woman on the go? The guy on the go? What designs work for the business world and what works on the street, in the gym, on the red carpet? My syndicated column would be named “Wear Where-with-all”. So much fun!