Articles

By Leslie Willmott on Jan 12, 2016

  Do you struggle with a large suitcase on a trip but only wear half of what you’ve packed? Or are you at the other extreme, throwing things into a suitcase just a few hours before leaving for the airport and praying you’ll have the right things to wear? Both scenarios can be maddening! Panic-free packing is a result of careful planning. It’s time well spent so you can relax and travel with confidence and ease. Planning Ahead is Key My husband and I are traveling south this week – way south to Buenos Aires and the Argentinian wine country. For him, it’s to revisit the sites of his early-career business travel and taste the wines of the Uco Valley. For me, it’s finally seeing “Paris of the South”…and tasting the wines of the Uco Valley! Planning my wardrobe for this trip was a little challenging because Argentina’s seasons are reversed from ours in the U.S. Planning well ahead of our departure date was critical since I had need of a few new city-chic yet hot-weather-comfortable pieces. End-of-summer sales reaped a few nice basics but online research and shopping resulted in bigger wins. The weather will be in the 80’s & 90’s, with high humidity. Light cotton gauze is a good easy-care, easy-to-wear fabric for the casual tropics, but it’s not city-chic. I focused instead on lightweight, breathable, and travel-friendly rayon knits and added separates from J. Jill’s Wherever Collection to my travel wardrobe. Easy Packing is a Process 1.  A week to 10 days before a trip I set up a collapsible clothes rack in our guest room. I hang up every clothing item I’m considering taking. This rack makes coordination of separates easier (four tops can hang by one pair of pants); shoes go on the floor below matching up with the selected clothes. Note:  When I lived in a New York City apartment, I didn’t have a spare bedroom so I hung a clothing rack over our bedroom door. You might use a section of your closet. The key is to see everything before you edit and start packing. 2.  I chart out each day of my trip on a blank calendar page, noting where I’ll be and...

By Leslie Willmott on Sep 22, 2015

  Fall is in the air and I’m pouring through my favorite fashion magazines, store catalogs, and runway shows on YouTube, dreaming of all the new wardrobe pieces I’d love to have. I can’t have them all – my budget simply won’t allow it – nor do I have the lifestyle many fashions are designed for. Before you and I head to the stores, it’s smart to identify what we need – not just what we want – and to be savvy shoppers. The payoff will be a better investment of both our money and our time.           BEFORE YOU SHOP: 1. Inventory your fall/winter wardrobe to get a big picture of what you already have. There’s nothing worse than getting a new item home and realizing you already have something very similar…or that it doesn’t go with anything else in your closet. (How many orphans does your closet already hold?) 2. Determine what you need. Do some favorite basics need to be replaced due to wear? Does this season’s wardrobe need a little updating? Do you need to bring more of your best colors into your closet? Make a list of “needs” and also “would like to haves” – I find it helpful to make the distinction when shopping within a tight budget. 3. Shop your closet first. Can you restyle items you already have to create a new look? For example, belt a dress and wear it with leggings and booties. Will the addition of an “impact” piece – a new scarf, a belt, or shoe – give last year’s major suit purchase a fresh look? Did you keep that poncho you purchased way back when? Well…it’s “trending” again! NOTE: Here’s where a wardrobe consultant can save you lots of money! A trained eye can see new wardrobe combinations that you hadn’t thought of and give you guidance on what 2 or 3 items will update your wardrobe or compete the best look for you.   TIME IS PRECIOUS, USE IT WISELY: Set a realistic budget. It may be a ballpark number but many women overspend because they don’t set parameters. You don’t want buyer’s remorse when you look at your receipts – make sure you don’t spend more than you can afford. Shop online first. Unless it’s a brand I’ve...

By Leslie Willmott on Aug 18, 2015

  Do you want to travel comfortably and wrinkle-free? Then choose your fabrics wisely. With the right fabrics you can roll up a blouse, pant or dress, tuck it into the corner of a suitcase, and expect it to look presentable upon arrival! A little fiber and fabric savvy will help you select the best clothes for your travel destination to keep you warm or cool, plus wrinkle-free. For example, I own two pair of black summer pants. One is 100% cotton and looks lived in at the end of the day. The other is 94% cotton/6% spandex, which I prefer for travel – the spandex adds “comfort stretch” and wrinkle recovery so I can wear the pant several times during a trip without it looking worn out. CAREFREE TRAVEL FABRICS You can’t beat knits for comfort and packability – they can be rolled successfully and wrinkle less than most woven fabrics. Stretch wovens with spandex behave more like a knit than a woven. Soft fabrics usually wrinkle less than crisp ones. Washable, drip-dry synthetics are easy-care. Many of the new synthetic fibers “wick” moisture away from your body so they are cool and comfortable even for adventure travel. Fabrics with intentional wrinkles, such as crinkled rayon crepe or cotton gauze, ensure wrinkle-free packing. Will the Fabric Perform? Here are some easy tests from Smart Packing for Today’s Traveler by Susan Foster to help you decide if the fabric is travel worthy: Will it wrinkle? – Grab a corner of the fabric and crush it in your hand. Hold it for 30 seconds, letting your hand warmth and moisture penetrate the fabric…then let go. If the fabric doesn’t wrinkle, it’s a good choice. If it does wrinkle but the wrinkles shake out after a minute or two, it’s also a good choice. Will it retain its shape? – There’s nothing more annoying than baggy knees or a sagging back in a pant. Check for shape retention by stretching the fabric between your thumbs and forefingers, holding it for 10 seconds. If the yarns slip apart easily, normal wear could cause stress on the seams. If there’s no yarn shifting and the fabric springs back after stretching, it will hold its shape when worn. Generally, woven fabrics...

By Leslie Willmott on Jul 14, 2015

  How many items in your closet beg to be worn but you have no place to wear them? Are they part of your past? Or, did you buy them with hopes they would be part of your future? We’re all dreamers and it’s easy to buy clothes for the lifestyle they promise instead of letting our lifestyle determine the clothes we buy. Lifestyles change at different stages in our lives – student, professional, working or at-home mom, re-entering the job field, retiring – and lifestyle transition can create a big change in wardrobe needs. A woman with young children who also works or volunteers could need a more varied wardrobe to take her from morning to evening than a business woman who spends most of her waking hours in an office. And the woman who retires from a long corporate career to adopt a more casual lifestyle of travel, volunteering, and golf might need to shift her wardrobe dramatically.   Chart Your Lifestyle If you never again want to cry “I don’t have a thing to wear!”, before you go on your next shopping spree, analyze how you really spend your time … then commit to making purchases that work for the activities in your current life. Do this periodically and the result will be productive seasonal closet edits and cost effective shopping excursions. Here’s how to get a clear picture of your lifestyle and needs: Ask yourself: What are the activities I spend my time in, and what is suitable and acceptable dress for those activities in the area where I live? Make a list of all activities you engage in during a month (either keep a diary and record this in real time or reflect back) and how often you do them – not how many hours you spend in each but how many days in the month you do it.   Note: You might spend 8 hours in an office and only two hours dining out, but they could require two different types of clothing. Group the activities into categories that require a similar type of clothing. For example: — Professional time (full-time, part-time or volunteer work) — Casual daytime (shopping, lunch with friends, travel) — Social time (church, entertaining,...

By LeslieWillmott on May 21, 2015

  Looking great is less about what’s “in” and what’s “out” and more about what works best for YOU. Whether you are reaching for the next level in your career or embracing a lifestyle change, developing a style that is in sync with who you are says to everyone who sees you “I know who I am”. Style is an art and a science and it is the sum of who we are. It’s not about beauty; it’s about being inherently individual, distinctive, and many times original. There’s a saying that you either have it or you don’t, but I believe having style in how you dress can be learned and developed. The skill of dressing your best is developed through knowledge and use of your most flattering colors – your color style – plus an understanding of your body style and how to dress it in the most flattering way. But it’s your personal style — your spirit, your character — that pulls your look together. If you ignore your personal style and only buy clothes because they are the latest “must haves” or trends of the season, you lose your identity and risk wasting your clothing dollars.   Personal Style How often have you tried something on and said, “It’s just not me.” Why not? It was not reflecting your “personal style”. It’s important to understand and respect what is most comfortable for you to wear, what feels like you. Then, to present your best self, relate it to the fashion style that’s appropriate for your lifestyle. Here are the five most often referenced fashion personality types and characteristics of each: Tailored Classic – you like an understated, refined look with simple lines and balanced proportions. Sportive – you like comfortable clothing – sportswear that’s suitable for active sports and casual lifestyles. Romantic – you like soft, unstructured, flowing clothing and very feminine touches. Dramatic – you like bold lines, intense colors, striking effects. Creative/Artistic – you like imaginative, artistic, unconventional mixtures. Which personality type feels most like you? This is the type that reflects your most dominant personal style. Do any of the other styles also resonate with you? You might be a combination of these styles, as many women are. However, you...