The fundamental aspect of any makeover requires the professional to work with someone’s natural colouring and body characteristics. This leads to creating a visual image that is authentic and fabulously flattering. Makeovers for women usually involve a change of hair style and colour, new and updated make-up techniques, new clothes and new ways to combine and layer garments. Great stuff and so exciting, but the icing on the cake for any makeover is the addition of accessories.

The belts, the caps, the earrings, bracelets, handbags…. are the powerhouses of makeover magic. They create the wow factor; they express the inner style personality of the individual. Their importance should never be overlooked or underestimated. Accessories deserve plenty of attention yet for many of us, they are often an afterthought and this isn’t right.

Consider all the things that accessories can do for an outfit and for us:

• Express your individuality
• Define your personal style
• Draw attention to your best features
• Draw attention away from your challenges
• Give a single garment / outfit several different looks
• Make garments appear more expensive
• Update an outfit, garment and wearer
• Complete coordination
• Change the mood of an outfit
• Unify your garment pieces
• Add colour and interest to neutral coloured clothes.

If they can do all this for us, then we have no hesitation in suggesting that 30% of our wardrobe budgets should be devoted to them. So that great bag you saw on sale last weekend…go get it girl!

If you are looking to refresh your image, shift out of a lifestyle and visual image rut, the quickest and easy way to transform your visual image is through your accessories. Think outside that proverbial square. Is your handbag genuine leather but boxy and boring? Look for an inexpensive, softly structured, quirky vinyl in this season’s hottest shade of purple or orange. Are your earrings discreet, minimal and genuine? Experiment with a drop, even a small one to start with, in a great colour and shape. Look at magazines, and check out the way the red carpet divas are doing it with bags and bling. Go to an accessory store and experiment with something a little different to what you normally do. Have courage, and remember practice makes perfect. Be prepared to get it a little wrong sometimes to end up looking soooooooooo right.

By Michele Gillett