Posts Tagged "style"

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...