Life changes, your personal style doesn’t have to

As life changes, so does your wardrobe, but not your style... Making these transitions can be difficult and stressful. There’s the transition from “recent college grad” wardrobe to “working in corporate America” wardrobe. There’s, my personal favorite (I'm being a bit sarcastic), transitioning from “no baby” wardrobe, to “pregnant” wardrobe, to “returning to work after maternity leave” wardrobe. One of the biggest concerns that I hear from my clients is that now that they are a- (fill in the blank- mom, retired, SAHM, etc) they will have to change how they dress and this tends to make them feel overwhelmed and not themselves. To that, I always tell my clients to stay calm and know that even though life changes, their personal style doesn't have to. If you're a SAHM and consider yourself trendy, you don’t have to trade in your skinny jeans for “Mom Jeans”. If your style is traditional, you don’t have to switch out your button down shirts for casual t-shirts just because you have decided to work from home versus an office setting. Sure, there will be some adjustments to how you dress, but you don't have to change your style.

Here are some tips to how to stay true to your personal style while adjusting to many of life’s changes.

The Right Fit- Make sure you stay true to your personal style, but also make sure your clothes fit properly. Something I figured out the hard way- your body will change overtime... Gaining weight, losing weight- it happens... I realized that my mid 30’s, post baby body was not that of my mid 20’s single gal body. I looked at all my cute (yet now tight fitting) low cut ruffle tops from Forever 21 and thought I should just give up and turn them in for moo moos… But, I loved my cute ruffly tops. So instead, I reassessed my body shape / size and shopped for items that still suited my personal style, but now reflected my lifestyle and size. So, I moved away from the size 4, tailored fit chiffon ruffle blouse to the size 6 cotton (with a bit of spandex) ruffle blouse. 

Mix and Match- Every life change doesn’t mean you have to clean out your entire closet and start over with a new wardrobe. You can still wear your favorite pieces that reflect your personal style (but make sure they fit, see the above point). If you decide to quit Corporate America and start a business, while working from home, you can still incorporate the suits you love in your everyday wardrobe. Sure, maybe you’ll go a bit more casual, but suit blazers can pretty much work with almost anything. A navy blazer with a button down shirt and jeans will look great, whether you’re working at your home office desk or even in a coffee shop.

While the constant is knowing that life changes, the good thing is YOU (and your Jimmy Choo’s) don’t have to change with it…

Want a second opinion on what works for your personal style? Contact me and, together, we can figure out a wardrobe that works for you. 

Tip Tuesday #1- How to Use a Color Wheel

Today is the first installment of my Tip Tuesday Series!!

On Tuesdays I'll share tips, ideas and strategies on on how to get you dressing easily, quickly, with some pizzazz and drama free!! Well, actually drama-less, not drama free since I can't do anything about the little ones running a muck as you try and get ready for your day... Or maybe that's just my house... But, I can help you with your styling needs and have you looking good, feeling good, and out of the house "relatively" quickly.

The Color Wheel

Today's tip will teach you how to use a color wheel to help you quickly coordinate outfits. A color wheel is basically a device that shows the relationships of  colors, whether they are primary, secondary, complementary etc. It can help you choose which colors will go together to form various clothing combinations and which colors to avoid. So, how exactly will a color wheel help you? Well, instead of staring at your closet and just reaching for your black pants and white shirt because you have no time to figure out what colors go with each other- grab a color wheel (or use the one below), look at your closet and pull clothes that have colors that work together. Viola!

The Basics- Below is an example of a basic, easy to use, color wheel. There are others that show the hues of colors, warm vs cool colors, etc. No matter which color wheel you use, you can create fabulous color coordinated outfits. The key is to match certain colors together, sometimes with neutrals (i.e.- greys, browns, blacks and navys), to create the outfits. Here are some ways on how you can use this color wheel to help you achieve different types of looks. 

• The Analogous Look- This look features 3 colors that blend well together. Match 3 different colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. For example, pair a Yellow Top and Green Pants with a Yellow Green Necklace.

• The Complementary Look- This look features 2 colors that are not the same, but complement each other. Match colors that are opposite from each other on the color wheel. However, be careful when using complementary colors, you could end up overloading yourself with color, therefore, use a neutral color to ground the outfit. For example a Yellow Top, Gray Pants (neutral color) and a Violet handbag.

• The Split Complementary Look- With the split complementary look, you still want to be cautious of overloading on color, like the complementary look. However, the addition of a 3rd color, helps to even it out a bit, therefore the outfit will not be as high contrast. For example a red top with black (neutral) pants, yellow green shoes and a blue green necklace.

• The Triad Look- Pulling off the triad color look is probably the trickiest of all, at least I think so. Because the colors are so different, depending on how you put them together you can end up looking fabulous or you could look like a not so nice "color medley". Triad colors are evenly spaced from each other on the color wheel. For example, Blue denim jeans, a Yellow top and a Red handbag.

• The Monochromatic Look- This look features different shades of the same color. Match similar colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. For example, pair a Blue Violet Top with Blue Denim Jeans.

Hopefully this tip will help you coordinate your outfits a bit more and get you out of the "black pants / white shirt" rut... 

Have a style dilemma that you wish you had an easy tip for?  Let me know, I'd be glad to help!

The Best Father's Day Gift Idea

Father's Day is right around the corner and I always struggle with what to get. A tie? A shirt? A Book? A gift card? A "Best Daddy" T-Shirt?? I don't know...

Same old ideas for Father's Day Gifts

Well, last week I had an epiffany. One morning I woke up suffering from the worst allergies (I don't like Spring) and decided to call it a "sick day", and curled back in bed. I glanced over at my husband getting ready for work and noticed that he was wearing the SAME black suit, with the SAME white shirt, and BORING tie. Then, I glanced at the closet and noticed it was full of great shirts, ties and suits. I screamed, asked sweetly, "Why don't you ever wear that check shirt?" He huffed, lovingly said, "I don't have anything that matches it". I thought- yes and you do, you just don't know how to put the outfit together. And Viola!! My idea for the BEST FATHER'S DAY GIFT popped into my head. I'll mix and match his clothes for him so that I don't have to see him wear the same outfit over and over so that he can easily choose, and wear, a perfectly paired outfit. He left, I popped an antihistamine and decongestant, and sprung into action. I had 5 suits, 9 shirts and 16 ties to work with. I came up with 200+ outfits. My husband came home from work and exclaimed (he really did exclaim), "This is the Best Father's Day Gift!".

So, I pass this great gift idea on to you, my friends... Now, did it take some time to do? Yes... Are there things I could have done to make it go faster, or at least a little easier? Yes... Here are some tips on the "how tos" to create the "Best Father's Day Gift".

How to Create the "Clothing Catalog":

1) Let Technology be your friend!- Had I thought about this earlier I probably would have kept my husband's phone and downloaded one of the many apps out there. I've used StyleBook before and it's been easy to use. While I think it most likely would've taken the same amount of time to take the pictures, the difference would be that he now would have a digital catalog of all the items he owns, and can access the pictures anywhere, anytime and even add / delete pictures.

Use an App!

2) Make it a Family Affair- The more people there are to do the work, the faster it will go. It's a great kid-friendly Father's Day project. Depending on what is age appropriate for your little one, you can have them count the clothes, name the colors, sort the ties and shirts, work with you on matching colors and even be your little gopher by having to find and get "the green tie" or "blue shirt".

Get the kiddos involved!

"How To" Create the Outfits:

1) Pattern to Solid Ratio- If the man in your life is P.Diddy, Johnny Depp or an uber cool guy, having 3 patterns, meaning a pattern suit, pattern shirt and pattern tie, will work. Or, if he's comfortable with it, then go for it! But, if he's in the middle or even more conservative usually 0 to 2 patterns work fine. Feeling a bit conservative? Go for 3 solids. Want to step it up a bit? Go for 2 solids and a pattern. Taking it up, but not quite the P.Diddy level? Go for 1 solid and 2 patterns.

Solid Suit, Solid Tie, Pattern Shirt- 1 Pattern, 2 Solids

Pattern Pinstripe Suit, Pattern Tie, Solid Shirt-               2 Pattern, 1 Solid

2) Color / Pattern Match- I'll admit that putting together men's clothing can be a bit intimidating with all the various patterns, colors etc. Easiest thing is to find a common core color in both items and match those. For example, if you have a thin blue stripe shirt and a blue and pink stripe tie, the core color is blue and they match up with each other. But, also be careful with the pattern. You do not want to just stick two core colors together, think of the scale of the patterns and make sure they work together.

How not to color match

How NOT to color match- Even though there are blues here, the patterns do not match

How TO color match- Purple in each and the patterns compliment each other

Anyone have other ideas on how to mix and match suits? I'd love to hear them. Wishing all a Happy Father's Day!