Personal Stylist Sharron-Del Wakley talks about the use of the humble shoulder pad to change your body shape
Big hair, big earrings and big shoulder pads are synonymous with the 1980’s. As fashion toned down in the subsequent decades the big hair and the big earrings were downsized but shoulder pads were totally eliminated from our wardrobe. Yet as an invisible accessory, they are hard to beat. With the exception of those few women who naturally have a broad, square shoulder line, every woman will be flattered by a shoulder pad. When we look back over the last 100 years, shoulder pads have been in vogue for most of that time. There have only been brief periods when they were considered passé. This season we have seen their resurgence as a style feature. Long may the trend continue. However, when this fashion fad has run its course, as indeed it will, hopefully the unobtrusive and subtle shoulder pad will still remain.
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Saving time and money with the help of a personal stylist is not wishful thinking. Are you overwhelmed every time you walk into a shopping centre looking for clothes? Are the endless options so mind boggling that you choose coffee and cake and then head home empty handed? Was shopping always so difficult?
Well, only you can answer the first two questions but as for the last, the answer is no! Shopping has evolved into a very different experience to what it was midway through last century. Where once we shopped in a couple of favourite boutiques or ‘ladies’ stores’ in the centre of our suburban shopping strip, today we shop in huge, multi-levelled edifices crammed with stores stocked with low cost, imported product. Service consists of taking your money at the check-out after you have rummaged through endless rows of clothes dangling from coat hangers or worse still, lying discarded on the floor by the previous faceless shopper. To make the entire experience even more unsettling, every second night our favourite current affairs program is featuring some gorgeous young thing prattling on about what’s current, what must be worn by everyone this season and how easy it is to create this season’s “look”. Their words and accompanying images swim around in our brain as we trudge the tiled floor of our nearest shopping centre. When it all becomes too much and our cries for help go unheeded, we admit defeat and retreat to the car park.
Investment in a Personal Stylist can be worth very cent for many reasons. Perhaps the one feature that stands out the most is that they guide women in particular, to set out on a path, via clothes, to self confidence. If you are a woman who is tall and trim with long legs and still has a defined waist and looks great even in a sack, then we still love you but consider you a mutant of the species. The rest of us are normal and are faced with the challenges of how to look great with the body shape that we have.
This is where a Personal Stylist comes in with their keen eye for pointing out and highlighting your great attributes and minimizing the not so great ones. Many women are simply unable to see their great “bits” because they are so confused by their own bodies. Many of us give in to the impossibility of looking fabulous because we may hate our big bottom, boobs or tummy. So a Personal Stylist will show you how to create a fabulous looking you and how to dress the body shape you have.
A Personal Stylist will first gather information all about you that is necessary to then make recommendations on how to dress. To understand what is right for you such information is taken into consideration:-
Women today find themselves in many different roles: mother, wife, employer, employee, socialite etc. These roles combine to form an overall lifestyle. By analyzing your lifestyle you can identify your needs and prioritise your clothing purchases.
Would you love the help of a personal stylist? How good could you look if a professional took you in hand?
Ever thought about it, or rather fantasised about it because after all you have seen the ‘before and afters’ on countless TV shows and in glossy magazines. You’ve seen the gorgeous transformations that take place and quietly thought that you have no less potential than those ordinary men and women plucked from the crowd and given the star treatment.
“So why not find yourself a personal stylist and treat yourself?” Because on your budget, it’s out of the question.
Well, being mindful of where your money goes and how far it needs to stretch may just be one of the best reasons to engage the services of a personal stylist.
It is frequently said that women in particular, wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time. That means hundreds if not thousands of dollars are wasted by the average woman. The bargain top or skirt that never gets worn is no bargain. The jacket that can only be worn with one particular pair of pants is anything but versatile and if it’s not versatile, then it’s expensive. So, when money is tight, it is all the more reason that any garment purchased should be successful.
A personal stylist or image consultant is trained to recognise just what suits you and what does not. You will benefit from their understanding of line, design and colour. They can identify your body shape, prominent features, colouring and style personality very quickly. This enables them to identify those garments that will flatter you and help you look current, younger and fabulous. They know just what to leave on the racks for others to spend their money on instead of you. They will lead you to purchases that you will love to wear and that you will wear time and time again. This is not money wasted this is money saved.
A savvy stylist can help you structure your wardrobe around core colours and key items, minimising the quantity of garments required. They will use the rule – ‘if it doesn’t go with 5 other items in your wardrobe, then don’t buy it’. They will train you in versatility; how to wear a single item in a multiplicity of ways. When you have a wardrobe of clothes that you love, it doesn’t have to be a big wardrobe. You won’t feel the need to keep on buying because what you already own looks sensational on you and serves a variety of occasions.
The initial financial outlay for a styling session may be as little as the cost of a couple of hair cuts; an expense many of us budget for every 5-8 weeks. The difference of course is that what you learn from your stylist is information that will stand you in good stead for years to come. Some clever person observed that most of us spend more money on what we put on the outside of our head than what we put inside it.
Engaging the services of a personal shopper would have once been considered the domain of the rich and famous. Now this service is available for real men and women who just want some good sound advice and a discerning eye when it comes to the sea of clothes out there in the stores.
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It is said that we wear 20% of our wardrobes 80% of the time. That translates to thousands of our hard earned dollars spent and wasted on clothes we don’t wear. The evidence is right there in your wardrobe. There they are, all those poor orphan garments hanging unworn and unloved, most of them clutching invisible ‘guilty tags” to make you feel bad.
We’ve all at some time hit the shops in a mad passion to buy something new that will make us look terrific. With money in our pockets or a credit card handy, we’ve all scoured the shops for hours for that special little number, only to return home empty handed or even worse, with that item that smacks of ‘this will have to do’ to quench our desire to buy something. As a result our wardrobes contain only a few items that make us feel good, and so we wear these most of the time. Shopping becomes a chore, success is a matter of luck and finding items that make us look great seems to get more difficult with each passing year. With all this to consider you really cannot afford not to enlist the services of a personal shopper!
Not only will a personal shopper ultimately save you a fortune, but with their trained eye will also be able to choose items for you based on their judgment and understanding of your colouring, body shape and proportions, your lifestyle and your personality style. Garments are carefully selected to harmoniously mix and match with each other and to go with what is already in your wardrobe.
So all the work is done for you !
Consider hiring a personal shopper as an investment in you even if your clothing dollar is limited. It makes good sense to spend money on someone that knows what they doing and who will ultimately achieve for you a wardrobe of clothes that really work for YOU.
Being a ‘personal stylist’ is just one of the multitude of hats worn by a qualified image consultant. The two terms are not necessarily interchangeable, however. The role of a personal stylist is to enable his or her client to fulfil their visual potential; to be the very best version of themselves that they can be. It’s exciting and immensely rewarding to help someone discover how fabulous they can look. The repercussions go way beyond the superficial changes made to someone’s appearance. The visual transformation affects a person’s sense of self, their confidence and self esteem. Therefore, it is a privilege and an honour to work with a client as their personal stylist.
In order that the changes are successful in the medium to long term, the personal stylist needs to learn some important aspects about the client. First and foremost they must know and understand the social and professional life of the client. If the new image is to endure, it needs to support and complement the client’s lifestyle, otherwise the changes will be transitory and quite meaningless.
Another important consideration is the style personality of the individual. We each have a way of dressing that communicates to the world our values, our interests, our inner self. Our style personality will very often determine how people interpret, value and respond to us. For many people it is almost instinctive and a result of who we are and where we come from. For example, if you are someone who loves the outdoors, enjoys participating in sports, has an athletic figure and has better things to do than spend time on make-up and acrylic nails, you probably have a relaxed, casual style personality. On the other hand if you have an eye for detail, love geometric patterns, bold colours, are tall and statuesque and in a position of authority, chances are your style personality is dramatic. Other personality types include romantic, alluring, classic, elegant and innovative. A personal stylist is adept at analysing someone’s style personality as well as helping a client to develop and enhance it further.
One of the final considerations but certainly not the least is the physical attributes of the client. This includes their horizontal and vertical proportions, physical fitness and tone, significant features such as a sway back or broad shoulders, their face shape, neck length and colouring.
Once all these considerations have been taken into account, a personal stylist is ready to start the transformation process. The first step is creating the perfect make-up that will enhance the client’s colouring and face shape while suiting her style personality and lifestyle. The next step in the process is choosing a fabulous hairstyle and if necessary, colour. When these things are done, then it’s time to hit the shops and find the clothes that beautifully reflect the personality style of the client and at the same time flatter her face and figure. This often involves educating people in the current trends and how to make them work for the individual. Accessorising frequently plays an important part in this, because its shoes, handbags, jewellery and belts that truly create the total look. They are also brilliant tools for updating someone’s image and expressing their style.
So, the role of a personal stylist is quite complex but if you are looking to revamp your image, reinvent yourself or discover your visual potential, they are well worth the investment.
Have you ever walked through a multi level shopping mall and felt completely overwhelmed by the array of options available? After all there are so many places vying for your attention, not to mention your dollar. How do you know where to start? Have you ever had a melt down in the change rooms because everything that you have tried on looks wretched? And time is ticking by and you just have to find something, anything. Have you ever come home with something that you know isn’t fabulous but you feel that you had no choice?
If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then you would love the help of a professional image consultant who offers personal shopping as one of their services. A personal shopper is very adept at working out your physical proportions and colouring so that she can quickly identify styles and hues that will look fabulous on you. A personal shopper is also very aware that your style personality and lifestyle have to be considered and they can asses these very quickly also.
Knowing where to find the perfect garment to suit your requirements is another valuable skill that a personal shopper has in her repertoire. They are familiar with the labels, designers and stores. They know who makes for women with a romantic, feminine style. They know where to find the perfect outfit for someone who loves classic quality or edgy and innovative or casual and laid back. Being able to hone in quickly is such a bonus. Not only does it save on shoe leather, but it saves time; and that’s a commodity so many of us lack these days.
Objectivity is another positive trait in the personal shopper’s favour. Unlike boutique owners who have an agenda to move product (and that’s not a criticism, after all it’s their livelihood) the personal shopper has only one vested interest – YOU! Her agenda is to find you clothes that you love and that look fabulous on you. If one store doesn’t have what you need, then she moves on – with you in tow.
It’s also great to have the practical assistance of someone holding your bags, finding you a dressing room, changing sizes, looking for the shop assistant and later the cash register. Shopping can be very tiring, so the spare pair of hands a personal shopper offers is a real treat.
She’ll also be very good at keeping track mentally of your purchases and seeing the wonderful possibilities of combining different purchases in different ways. And when there’s a gap, she’ll be quick to recognise it. Too often we come home from a day at the mall with something that we’ve bought only to realise that we have no shoes, bag, jewellery or scarf to go with it. So then this new purchase hangs there till you have a chance to rectify the situation. A personal shopper excels in creating entire outfits in one shopping trip.
If you hate shopping, and many women do, you might actually find that you learn to love it after a professional shows you how.
