Who dictates fashion and what dominates the spring and summer trends are the ultimate passion of the fashionistas. People buy magazines and watch the top fashion shows and get dazzled, do we ever really see a normal everyday person walking around in clothes like that in the catwalk. Really? Fashion shows are great... but sometimes not realistic.

We now feature fashion trends that we see in the streets. We, ordinary people, dictates what fashion is and what spring and fashion is all about. Forget about the haute couture designers fashion decorum, what we see around us makes the trends for spring and summer fashion.  Check out for yourself, what's IN and HOT fashion for spring and summer 2012.

1. Pastels

It's no surprise that pastel fashion has been coming and recurring every year, however, in 2012, expect even paler tones with peppermint green, powder pink, sunflower yellow, crisp coral and frosty blue covering the streets or even the catwalks.
Femininity suits spring and summer best, so whether you are strolling on the beaches of Tel-Aviv or partying in Manila, this trend will ensure that you look cool, ladylike and stylish.




2.  50's and 60's Inspired

We adopt again the innocence of the fifties and sixties but still managed to bring it into the current day with an essence of modern glamour. Few elements that make up these trends are wide eyes curtained by big false lashes (top and bottom), bright block colours, graphic prints and colourful abstract geometric patterns, short, boyish hairstyles, and masculine flat shoes like penny loafers.

The 50's and 60's are free spirited with Parisian iconic looks. It's the heat for anything made out of lace, especially structured heavier lace pieces, peter-pan collars, monochrome colours (plenty of white, cream, black), effortless sexiness with unfussy hair and winged-out eyeliner.



Who says I am finished, do not forget the sex kitten look inspired by iconic stars like Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Ann Margaret, Raquel Welch, Sophia Loren, and Elizabeth Taylor. It's all about the curves now. Cuts that draw in the waist, accentuating the bust and hips, full circle skirts or slim pencil skirts, or cropped pants with high waists, sexy bed hair look,  sultry pout; long lashes and plenty of eyeliner, those elements complete the 50's and 60's trend.




3.  Florals

Summer and spring would not be what they are without the ostentatious display of floral prints. You could literally say the streets are blooming with roses, hydrangeas, pansies, peonies, daffodils, and anemones.

Fashionistas flaunt flower trends by selecting summery frocks, sexy halter tops, pretty blouses and silky scarves with mid-sized botanical prints. Others just leave it to accessories....there just have to be a flower, and your made up.



4.  Abstact Art

Art and fashion are entwined. So as we embrace the twentieth-century geometric abstraction movement, so do fashion rises with his own interpretation. Abstract could be everywhere from your bathing suits, T-shirts, dresses, ornaments and bags. The 20th century is all about expression.



5. Hippie Look

Although this one originated from the 60's inspired look, I separated it to accentuate its elements. This is the trend of the young generation sporting peasant blouses, over-bloated shirts,  granny dresses, hemp bags, hip hugger, bell bottom jeans with wide leather belts, halter tops, fringed leather vest, Afro hair, leather sandals, bell bottom, patched jeans and an obligatory peace symbol (cool man!!).

 

                  Jessica Sanchez & Jennifer Holliday, Best of... by HumanSlinky

My ohhs and wows are overflowing after watching the performance of Grammy award winner Jennifer Holliday and Jessica Sanchez of the song, "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going." This is the best performance ever of American Idol show in 11 years.

Yesterday (May 23, 2012), Phillip Phillips topped Sanchez after a reported 132 million votes were tailed— "a new world record," according to host Ryan Seacrest. His cool performances made him the all time favorites of the American Idol viewers. Summing up the songs rendered by Phillip and Jessica:

First part:  Idol creator Simon Fuller, chose Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” for Jessica and Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” for Phillip





Second part:   Jessica chose Celine Dion’s “The Prayer” as her favorite performance in the past; Phillip, on the other hand, picked Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out.”





Third part:  Jessica picked “Change Nothing” as her first single while Phillip chose “Home.”

This is a follow up of the recent post Legitimate Work at Home Jobs, in response to help many individuals seaching for free and legal freelancing jobs. Work posted are in the following categories:

• proofreading work
• writing
• SEO
• data entry jobs
• social media
• administrative

Jobs board in the site may be found in two place:

a. navigation menus




b. footer page in the form of a widget




Don't forget that most of the work available may require you to register in advance to Elance.com, freelancer.com and oDesk. And for those who would like to post a job, you are most welcome also. Just be reminded again that there are corresponding fees for the employers posting projects (Please refer to the the Jobs Board page).

So, good luck to your search!

The growing demand of workers worldwide seeking alternative working conditions has grown rapidly in th last 5 years. From an 8 hour job, many are finding work in the comfort of their homes, having the great privilege to take care of their families and adequate leisure time.

Work at home jobs has proven to be beneficial to many people. Freelancers found the flexibility of time and place to suit their everyday needs. Because online work can be undertaken at home, it does remove the costs of exhaustive commuting, and additional food and clothing allowances.


                                      credits to Kozzi.com

Many reputable establishments such as Elance, vWorker, Guru and oDesk offer and comply to Escrow services. Freelancers, who work for these companies gets the benefits because it gives them the confidence that they always get paid for the hard word rendered. Escrow, by the way, is a service used when a work provider requests money for services up front, but the funds are not released until the end of the project duration. This protects both of the service provider and the service buyer, because money is not actually spent until the buy approves the work, but the provider is assured that the buyer does have the money.

Let's say, the entire project cost is $20, 000. Since most freelance writers ask for a ten- percent deposit, $2000. 00 would be released to you, and $18,000.00 would be placed in escrow. This works especially for large projects, and escrow is the one who ensures the workers that they are protected from fraud and they are paid for the hard earned task.

In many cases, a contract for a project is necessary. You and your client should sign an agreement prior to the commencement of work. If no escrow service was provided, a contact could save you from headaches and malaise of lawsuits.

Despite the enormous benefits of online work at home jobs, there are disadvantages as well. The worker, on the other hand, must prepare and pay his insurance, taxes and pension plans separately. Work in this aspect could be tedious and complicated at times.

Work in this field could be tough as the competition is fierce and high in the market. It might be hard to keep up with workers that come from third world countries (like India, Philippines, Thailand). While many are trying to keep a standard and reasonable fee, payment demands are very low in these places. It is common for many freelances to get abused from their payments, so make sure you know your rights and you have the voice to bid the perfect price.

Many companies are advertised on the internet as sites for finding work at home jobs. Be wary because many of them are scammers. Stay away from sites that require you to pay certain amounts of money upon registration just to get work offers. There may be just a few, but really reliable sites you could sign up. One of them are:

1. Problogger

This is a site run by Darren Rowse. Aside from valuable tips and tricks on how to became a successful blogger, his site features a Jobs Board wherein you could check freelance jobs on writing, graphics and SEO area. Jobs shown are authentic and from reliable companies worldwide.







2. oDesk

Registration in oDesk is free. No membership fee is either required. It is good to know from the start that the site takes 10% fees for what you are paid. Let as say you get 20$ for a job, oDesk will take 2$ from your salary.

It is one of the largest freelancing marketplace on the internet. There are tons of jobs offered here in different work categories but you must use learn how to filter the search area because many jobs offered are outdated already. You may be required to pass certain qualification exams to get hired. This is good for new freelancers who doesn't have much experience and feedback to offer, but are really good in their fields of work. If you fail them, you are given the chance to repeat it after a period of time.
There are two kinds of jobs in oDesk – hourly and fixed price. Hourly work is monitored by a special software (you need to install this on your computer), which allows it to track your activity (keywords and mouse click). The software monitors certain threshold and takes random screenshots showing you are working and not browsing the internet unrelated to the job, a guarantee you get paid from work.



If you choose fixed price assignments, there is no guarantee you'll get paid. Many posts small jobs and they don't pay. And since oDesk doesn't offer escrow services, it is wise to ask for upfront fees and sign an agreement.

I have joined oDesk, as I am a freelancer looking for extra income and to build my portfolio, but I was stunned that educated, professional writers who intend to deliver researched, quality pieces (of any length) would bite on very low work rate (1$ per article or 3 $ for 20 articles). The lesson is, don't bid on projects you think is not worth your time, effort, and credibility.

The feedback system is remarkably good in oDesk. After an assignment is done, both parties (employers and employees) leave comments and feedback on a scale of 5 in terms of quality of work, payment, communication, etc. Feedbacks are posted on both parties' profile, so people see it and could be used as references for future work.

3. vWorker

This is relatively a good site to find freelancing work. Like ODesk, registration is free. But be reminded that vWorker gets 15% commission on fees, the highest among other sites that hire freelancers jobs worldwide.

The site was formerly known as RentACoder (RAC). They use the bidding system for finding projects. The Buyer (employer) chooses the best bidder (which is called the Seller), and the winner gets the opportunity to work on the project.

The projects offered are more standardized in payments, which means you get paid more for your bids. Although 1$ an article appears in most contents, there are still more well monetized projects available. Escrow is applied in most transactions so you are guaranteed paid after tasks are accomplished.



Payments for projects are handed over in many different ways. The usual mode is the 'pay-for-deliverable', which means payment is rendered when the finished project is handed over to the employer. There is also the 'pay-for -time' which uses a time-card system. This is similar to the software the ODesks uses to track the work time of employees, who gets paid by the hour rather than by projects.

At other times, employers may agree to pay 2.5% of the fees twice a month. This is rendered through escrow until you reach the amount agreed upon the completion of work. Ideally speaking, this is the best way to get payed for long term projects.

Arbitration emanates widely in the company. This is the process to settle problems between the employers and workers. I heard many horrible stories behind it which ended up closing the accounts of many clients, many of whom are the bidders or workers. As many are unjustly reprimanded by vWorkers arbitration process, be wary.


4. Freelance.com

Don't get confused, but this was known before as GAF (GetAFreelancer) until 2009. Some say that those were the peak and golden days when escrow services used to protect the rights of the workers. They still do nowadays, when your money is held by freelance.com itself and release thereafter upon completion of work.



Membership is required to acquire an account and may be upgraded through time for gold membership. Basic members are allowed 30 bids per month while the gold members are allowed more, they can make 150 bids per month.

Basic members are charged 10% transaction fees while gold members get 3% commission fees. Please take note that a withdrawal fee of 1$ is charged when using Paypal to cash out payments.

There are numerous projects to choose from this site, but just like the others, many are ripped off by cheap contractors who are willing to take a meager amount of payments in exchange for long and quality paper work.




5. Guru.com

This is not just your ordinary freelancing site, it is one of the reliable ones in the outsourcing market. With escrow services, you are guaranteed to be paid on your signed projects.



It's free to sign up for an account and has the option also to upgrade to a paid membership. A 5-10% commission fee (depending on the scope of the project) is taken on every transaction.

Ease of use of the site is rather a big plus. Numerous offers are existent, make sure you have valid portfolios and sample project to show your potential employers.

6. Elance.com


Known as the 'King of Freelance Jobs', they may have all the required tools for a successful outsourcing network (including escrow services) but finding projects and getting accepted into the bidding system is rather quite difficult.If you are a novice, who has just started in the field of freelancing, Elance.com may not be the choice for you. You could build up credibilities on sites like ODesk and Freelance.com instead A proficient and valuable portfolio is your key to get well paid clients in this network.



Membership is free and could also be upgraded. A 8.7% transaction fee is taken on every accomplished project.

Conclusion:
While most people find freelancing as something out of the ordinary, it is reassuringly an opportunity to develop your skills, build networks and earn a solid income. The benefits are eminent, you just can't ignore it.