How to Look Stylish – 10 Tips

Having worked with women of all different shapes and sizes as well as having a figure that has changed over the years, I have come up with my top ten tips of what works and what doesn’t – for me anyway, and hopefully you will find some useful ones too. I’d love to know if you agree or have some of your own. Also if you disagree I’d love to know what works for you and why.

1. Emphasise the bits you like – got great legs? Wear a patterned pair of tights, fab shoes or a shorter skirt. If you have a neat waist wear a belt. Love your curves? show them off in bias cuts. Tiny wrists and elegant hands? add thin bangles or bracelets and paint your nails. We should all have one bit of ourselves to love, what’s yours.
2. Everyone looks better with a little makeup. Cheek colour, defined lips and a little mascara if you are makeup shy, only the very young can get away with a bare face. However, the other extreme is being overdone – we’ve all been to a makeup counter and come away thinking “well she is obviously trying all the new products out at once!” Treat yourself to a makeup lesson to find your best look.
3. Splurge on accessories. You can get away with a cheap jacket paired with a beautiful scarf. Leather shoes and bags last longer too, so are a better cost per wear.
4. Have a signature that defines your style – red lips, unusual costume jewellery, scarves, a favourite colour, your hair style. Have something that makes you stand out and tells people a little about you. Work out your style words and buy items that fit your personal profile. Are you chic, elegant, wacky, edgy, romantic, feminine, minimalist? I believe your clothes should reflect your personality. have some fun choosing your words and building a wardrobe to go with them.
5. Wear a great colour for you next to your face - if you aren''t sure what suits you book a colour consultation - sometimes we just want to wear black even if it doesn’t suit us – so make it work with a colour that does.
6. Wear things you love and that are comfortable. You won’t look relaxed or confident if you are constantly pulling your skirt down because you think you are revealing too much, or if you can’t walk in your shoes. Buy things you love and wear them – don’t save for best. Nothing is sadder than a wardrobe full of beautiful things that never get worn. Besides some things look even better when they get a little worn for example a slouchy leather bag becomes softer with use.
7. The older you get the more grooming matters. It doesn’t take much effort to have shiny hair, manicured nails and looked after skin. You don’t need to spend a fortune, give yourself a couple of hours of home pampering doing a facial, manicure, pedicure and brows. Whilst you are doing that slather a conditioning treatment on your hair. Add a girls night in DVD and a glass of something chilled.
8. Clothes must fit. It doesn’t matter what the size on the label says just pick the best fit and cut out the label. If any alterations are needed and you can’t do them yourself get them done professionally. Don’t spoil the look of a beautiful outfit with poor fit. Too big can be as unflattering as too small.
9. Don’t get stuck in a time warp. Keep ideas fresh, buy something from the new season that works in your existing wardrobe for example this season it could be a leopard print belt, a bright coloured bag, or a top in an ice-cream colour.
10. Your clothes should make you happy – if they don’t why are you wearing them? Isn’t life to short not too feel good when you walk out of the door? I think we are sometimes scared of dressing our best in case people think “who does she think she is?” Well you are you and who says you shouldn’t look and feel fabulous every day!

“Buy less, choose well, and mix it all.” Vivienne Westwood

How to express your personality through your clothes

One of the easiest ways to inject personality is with colour.  Use high contrast to project authority, for example to meet your bank manager wear a dark jacket or suit and a light top, and make sure everything is crisp and immaculate. But also ensure that your outfit shows who you are by injecting a colour that you love – maybe with your top or shoes. On the days you want to “win friends and influence” go for softer or lighter colours, bringing in colours you love which make you feel relaxed. Beiges, creams, and soft grey or light navy work well.

Accessories are the perfect tools for showing who you are. You don’t need the latest It Bag to make a statement, unless you want that statement to be that you are a sheep with no imagination of your own!  A vintage watch, bold piece of costume jewellery or beautiful silk scarf says so much more about you. I like to have a signature piece, a scarf or necklace, firstly because I love scarves but secondly because they draw the eye up to the face helping to make eye contact and establish rapport.

Build yourself a capsule wardrobe that works for all eventualities. Spend more on the pieces you wear often and the accessories that will lift an inexpensive suit or dress.

Thinking about what you wear isn’t superficial, it helps to express who you are and building a workable wardrobe should be fun. Look your best for you and let people get a glimpse of who you really are rather than them making uninformed opinions. Confidence comes from knowing who you are and not being afraid to express yourself.

Does Your Wardrobe Work for you?

As women we inevitably have several “roles” in our lives. Having a workable wardrobe for all the different heads you wear isn’t easy and can put us into a flat spin when we get invited to a wedding or black tie event, or have an important presentation at work. Add to that those purchases you made in the sale or to cheer yourself up and your wardrobe starts to bulge but when the occasion comes you still don’t have the perfect outfit.

I am a great believer in having a wardrobe full of clothes you love that make you feel fabulous, so wouldn’t suggest that you fill it with basics and never have any fun. However, you still can make your wardrobe work for a variety of occasions as well as having pieces you cherish. It’s all about clever accessorising and not saving items for “best”. For a start best may never come and an expensive piece will sit in your wardrobe unworn, and secondly I believe we deserve our best every day.

As an example of how a versatile wardrobe can work, a week in my life might include:

• Majority of work time spent at my home office
• Coffee catch up with an existing client
• Visit to a new client
• Shopping trip with a friend
• School run, household errands and chores
• Dinner at a friends

I don’t need traditional Office Wear however, I do need to look professional when meeting new clients. When I am working at home my key requirements are warmth and comfort. Since having my own business and not being in an office everyday my wardrobe has gradually relaxed, but because of my personal style preferences I still like to feel that should someone turn up on the doorstep I wouldn’t be embarrassed to open the door.

These key capsule wardrobe pieces work for me all the time:

• A great pair of smart jeans (I don’t do scruffy, it doesn’t suit my style. Dress down with a T and flats or up with heels and a necklace)
• Black jersey trousers or leggings (good quality that won’t bag at the knees or bottom)
• Long cardigan (a neutral and a bright or fun colour)
• Loose tunic tops/dresses (great for layering under cardigans, over jeans and leggings and T-shirts, or worn alone with tights and boots, heels or flats)
• Breton stripe T-shirt (a staple all year round layering piece and more interesting than a plain T)
• Flat Pumps (comfort for running around, but in a metallic great to dress up for evening, summer or winter)
• A pair of heels (for dressing up jeans and tunic tops/dresses)
• Smart Tote (in a neutral that goes with everything, big enough to carry my ipad for business)
• Every day Tote (again a metallic is great summer and winter and goes with everything)
• Scarves & necklaces (my finishing touch – one or the other, adds colour near the face and draws the eye up)

Fourteen pieces make numerous outfits and by adding a few more tops/tunics, another cardigan or jacket, a scarf in a print, the possibilities become endless.