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If you're in the market for lingerie, you're in good company. The intimate apparel industry as a whole is on the rise, according to Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group. "Sales in the women's market started off slow in 2012 but started to gain momentum. All of a sudden, intimate apparel has become a very passionate category," Cohen says. "Women have gone so long without purchasing ... that it's time to update their wardrobes. " But selecting the right underpinnings can be a delicate matter.

By the numbers it just doesn't seem right. Nearly 65% of American women are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, and of those, more than 35% are obese. Yet most designer collections end at size 10. And on hundreds of high-fashion runways at international fashion weeks this month and last, ultra-slim models were wearing trendsetting designs that will never be manufactured in sizes to fit most American women. In a time when retailers are struggling to turn a profit, the disconnect between fashion and reality is a puzzle.

Colleen Atwood ("Alice in Wonderland,""Dark Shadows") "The first time I went to Western Costume, it was in the old building over by Paramount, and I had a really low-budget movie but I was dying to get something from Western - it was the place you really wanted to go - so I was able to make one blouse there. It was for "Critical Condition" [1987] and it was a pink silk blouse that Rachel Ticotin wore. "It was the biggest thing I'd ever done, to have something actually made there, because the place was such an institution back in the day. The old guy, Al Nichol, who used to run it - he's long gone now - was always so nice to all the new designers.

When it comes to makeovers at the movies, the rules have always been fairly straightforward: Girls get a Cinderella story, while guys get Spider-Man. It's pretty much been that way since the dawn of the movie makeover genre, which authors Elizabeth A. Ford and Deborah C. Mitchell trace to 1942's "Now Voyager" (starring Bette Davis) in their 2004 book "The Makeover in Movies. "That film may not be familiar, but the story arc certainly is, and it can be found in movies ranging from the animated "Cinderella" (1950)

"Art and Philosophy often are in strife,/though meant each other's aid, like man and wife." This rewrite of Pope's famous couplet about wit and judgment captures the major problem of leading Michel Tournier's most recent philosophical novel. The philosophical novel is a particularly difficult genre because of the built-in tension between philosophy and art.

"Boho chic" has evolved into an evergreen style in Southern California — thanks to perma-boho celebs including Nicole Richie and Lauren Conrad. And piling on beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings is an easy way to channel the hippie-luxe look. If you're looking to build your bead wardrobe, head to the Pasadena Bead and Design Show — a four-day shopping exhibition and trade show featuring more than 300 artisan booths showcasing loose beads (vintage and new), finished jewelry and a clutch of crafty fashion (felt vests and hand-made hats, for instance)

Good grooming extends beyond (and below) the neckline, and one of the most important ? and overlooked ? things a guy can do is take decent care of his own two hands. And it is more than just vanity. "There's a real health benefit in it for men," says Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Harold Lancer. "Because men use their hands in a lot of places women would never go" ? like under car hoods. "So cuticle care, especially, is an important way to protect against infection. " We know what you're probably thinking, but in reality, a manual overhaul doesn't require darkening the doorstep of a nail salon.

Baz Luhrmann's big-screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel "The Great Gatsby" isn't set to hit theaters until May 10, but long before the first flapper has flapped, it's become one of the most name-checked, on-trend, fashion-influencing films in recent memory. West Egg wannabes can already step into a nearby Brooks Bros. and step out wearing a pink-striped linen ensemble inspired by the one Leonardo DiCaprio's Jay Gatsby wears on the silver screen. They can also break the bank at Tiffany & Co. on the kind of tasseled pendant necklaces and bejeweled diamond-and-pearl headpieces that bedeck Carey Mulligan's Daisy Buchanan.

For most men, it's about staying competitive in a youth-focused workplace. For others, it's a need to keep up with new young wives. And for some, well, they just like the sleek black tops on those "Jersey Shore" boys. These are among the reasons stylists say that more men - including those in their late 40s and older and those at senior corporate levels - are dyeing their hair, shedding the shame that was once attached to the practice. Hair salons across the board - from inexpensive chains to ritzy Beverly Hills places - are noticing a rise in the number of men coming in for color treatments, hoping that covering the gray will help them hang onto jobs or put them on the fast-track at work.

When it comes to L.A. shopping and style, it doesn't get much more legendary than Fred Segal. The retailer ? who set up his first Fred Segal shop almost 50 years ago in West Hollywood ? is a trendsetter, and the various stores he's operated over the years have always doubled as incubators for cutting-edge SoCal style. And now his daughter, Annie Segal, is bringing back some of her dad's greatest hits with Fred Segal Originals ? a new collection and boutique that launched Thursday inside the sprawling Fred Segal complex in Santa Monica.