What accessories would you wear for a summer walk in New York City?

Necklaces in New York City

A walk through the streets of New York City, makes me stop everywhere I see a beautiful window. And I want to share with you what I have seen at the windows of some of the most popular branded stores. 

I am a big fan of accessories, you may have figured that out by now! Why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't you?! 

Accessories can update a whole wardrobe in an instant! They are not costly....(depending on where you buy them). And they don't have sizes! (rings excluded). But in general we all can agree that accessories are so much fun! They are:

• A fast way to update a look 
• An easy way to look current and be on top of trends
• A non-expensive way to incorporate a new piece to our inventory of items
• They do not occupy much space
• They travel very well, because as I said before they don't occupy much space! (check the weight though)
• A one size fits all item, ideal for gift giving.
• A lot of fun, you can combine an wear many items at the same time

 

And so many more positive assets! What do you think? Why do you like accessories so much?

Let's see what is out there on the windows of New York City's popular brands' stores. Tassels, stones, enameled pieces, lady bugs, turquoises, rhinestones, and lots of color.

Windows of New York - Necklaces

Remember I gave you a few important tips for choosing a necklace? Go back to this post and check it out HOW TO CHOOSE A GREAT LOOKING NECKLACE  

As general advice, you want to either wear a bold chunky piece on its own, or a whole set of different length thinner necklaces. Feel free to try as many different combinations as possible! Accessories are a great way to start experimenting with different looks.

 

A KNOCK OUT DRESS FOR EACH BODY SHAPE

We need to love the skin we’re in, and accept our curves or lack thereof! So it’s NOT about size, it’s about your body shape! Balance and proportion as we said in previous posts are the keys to flattering your figure, whether your dress size is a 0 or a 20. Let's find the best way to create harmony from your head to your toes is with visual symmetry.

Here are some tips for each body shape, and also suggestions of dresses that compliment that body shape! The first thing I considered when choosing the dresses to suggest, is the cutting, then the type of fabric and specially where the value of colors  (darker and lighter colors) were placed in the overall design of the dresses. Hope you can use this as a guide for your own shopping! Bare in mind that the models don't necessarily have the corresponding body shapes, though the dresses on each side of the body types listed are flattering for that particular body shape.

Hourglass Those women who have an hourglass body shape are naturally balanced, meaning the width of the shoulders and hips is the same and they have a definite waist. Try to avoid anything that hides your waist as it is the asset you want to show off.  By cinching yourself in with a belt, you can highlight those curves. Also wear tailored pieces.

Triangle You also a definite waist, so show it off! What you need to do is balance your top half which is smaller in size, with your bigger bottom half. Make use of trends like bold shoulders and statement necklaces (which are big right now!), and use details and colors on tops to draw up the eye and create more volume on your top half. Keep your bottom half simple, wear darker colors on straight cut pants or a-line skirts.


Inverted triangle You tend to have broad shoulders and narrow hips , so what it's needed to achieve visual balance is wear clothing that helps elongate your torso. By elongating your torso we create a vertical line that draws attention to your entire silhouette and not just your broad shoulders. You can do that  by wearing a long necklace, also wear long tops that end just where your hips start. Avoid wearing short tops, and high-waisted jeans, skirts and pants. You don't need shoulder pads, so avoid wearing them. Halter tops also increase the size of your shoulders visually so try to avoid them also. Show off your great legs, with shorts, and slim pants!

Rectangle  You want to create visual curves and define the waistline. Many women with a rectangular body shape complain of their boyish figure, but there are plenty of ways to play up your femininity and your assets. Wear wrap around tops and dresses, they flatter all figures and specially rectangular shapes, as they visually create a waist and flare at the hips. Bias cuts, can also create the illusion of bigger or curvier hips, thus creating a waist. Use jackets and blazers with darts at the waist, specially perfect for your body shape is the Peplum.

Round What happens with the round body shape, is that it usually conceals another body shape, due to extra weight carried at the middle. Most times a Round body shape is a rectangular or inverted triangle body shape. Let's deal with the shape the body is in now. So if you have a round body shape, my suggestion is to wear same color on top and bottom halves. Don't think you can wear light colors? Of course you do! Take a look at the off white dress on your left, it is perfect for a round body shape, it has an empire waist cut and pleads in a semi structured cut and fabric. 

Tips to Help Balance your Body Shape

How can we use our body shapes to learn how to dress?

by Guest Writer: Georgina Kenny 

My goal and my suggestion for all my clients is to emphasize their face when getting dressed, and this rule applies no matter what your body shape is. Your face is your most important body part, and if we want people to relate to you, to who you really are, you need to call attention to your face, and not just to other specific body areas.

You might have different goals, and only you can decide which parts of your body you want to highlight. In general besides dressing to call attention to the face, we also strive to emphasize those body parts or characteristics that are assets and try to de-emphasize those that you might not be so "proud" of.

We also have a shared-visual idea of what an "ideal" body should look like, and in our society, that body for women, is usually, full busted, small waisted, with square shoulders, and a perky bottom. It is what our culture has accepted as the "ideal" body.

But we not only look at current magazines or films for reference as to what a women's "ideal" body should look like. We go back in time to great works of art and we take a look at sculptures, paintings and films and photographs of women from other times.

Yes, body ideals are not "permanent", ideals are very long "trends", and as we can see ideals change with time.  The ideal woman used to be curvier in the 1950's, squarer in the 1980's, slimmer in the 90's and now we see more diversity and also a more "athletic" body as an ideal for both men and women. The famous six pack is selling more magazines now more than ever! By the way, I don't think women look good with an obvious six-pack, it's too masculine for my taste.

So if ideals are not written in stone, we can also help to change them. For example, I like to focus on values instead of on ideals. "Ideals" are mostly external, they are "dictated" by somebody else. Values can also change but they come from my own internal system. I am the one that sets them up, and they are usually rooted in my own sense of self. I value health, family, community, womanhood. And I strive to show that in the way I treat my body and the way I dress it. So because I value aesthetics, femininity and balance, I have learned a great deal about women's bodies, proportions and visual harmony.

But then again we should learn to come up with our own version of the "ideal" body shape, and the more similar it is to ours, the happier we will be! That is for sure!

These are a few tips and ideas for every body shape to achieve more balance visually:

• Hourglass: Emphasize the waistline, wear clothes that hug the body to show off its curves, but not too tightly.

• Triangle-Pear: Wear items such as jackets with details in the shoulders, such as shoulder pads or studs to help create balance with the bottom half, which is bigger.

• Inverted Triangle: highlight the bottom part of the body through the use of full skirts, pants with pockets to help match the broad top, and visually create balance.

• Rectangle: show off your great arms or legs, add belts  to help visually create a waist. Wear pleaded pants and skirts. Avoid wide-leg or very loose trousers, these will create a boxy image rather than a curves.

• Round or Apple: Wear the same color on top and bottom. Emphasize bust line with use of square necklines. An use the empire cut on dresses and shirts to show off the smaller part of your torso, which is right under your bust-line.

Remember these are just a few tips to visually help create balance in your figure overall. The current ideal body should not be what dictates your clothing options. Knowing yourself and dressing for your own body shape is the best tool to feeling confident in your own skin!

About the Author of this post: This post was written and illustrated by Georgina Kenny. B.A. in Advertising and Image Consultant certified by the Fashion Institute of New York City, SUNY, New York City. Georgina is a contributor at New York Fashion Week and she writes for different online media about her favorite subjects: Women's Fashion and Style, Women's Body Image, Women's Emotional Health and Self-Esteem. If you would like to contact Georgina write an email to lookbookyou@gmail.com and we will put you in touch.

What is your Body Type?

 Let's continue with the Key# 3 of The 5 Keys to Dressing Well

FLATTER YOUR BODY LINES, PROPORTIONS AND SCALE

The Main Body Types

1. Round or Apple 
2. Hourglass
3. Inverted Triangle
4. Triangle or Pear
5. Rectangle



BODY TYPES

1. Round or Apple: Has no defined waist.  Has rounded shoulders. Full around the tummy.
2. Hourglass: Has a definite waist.  Wears the same size top and bottom. Has a defined bust.
3. Inverted Triangle: Wears a larger size on top half and a smaller on bottom. Has wider shoulders than hips. Usually flat rear.
4. Triangle or Pear: Smaller on top, bigger size on bottom. Shoulders are narrower than hips. Has a clearly defined waist. 
5. Rectangle: Almost no curves. Body is straight. Wears the same size for top and bottom. Has a minimal bust. Flat hips and bottom. Almost no waist definition.

Which one is your body type? Do you already know? Can you just tell by looking at the drawing and then looking at yourself in a full length mirror?

You actually cannot alter your basic body shape, because it is based on your bone structure. You can influence on the amount of fat you have, although where you accumulate that fat is genetically determined. No matter how hard we work our muscles, we can only increase their tone and size, but we cannot alter our overall body shape. And we shouldn't obsess about that which we cannot control, remember Epictetus?

The basis to having personal style, is self-acceptance, and from self-acceptance the next step is self-confidence. We need to be self confident in order to show, portray and delight others with our personal style. The idea is for us to understand our basic body shape, and make the best of it! We should learn how to dress for our body shape, so that we can flatter those parts of our body that we are most proud of. In general what we try to achieve no matter what our body shape is, is balance.

Yes, again we find this wonderful word, BALANCE. So we strive to visually show a balanced body. What is a balanced body? It is a body that follows the vertical line of your spine, that is equally distributed on both sides of that "line" whose parts are in proportion, to itself. So it is about achieving visual balance and proportion. Not about trying to be somebody else, or a different shape from ours.

PROPORTIONS

So how do we find our proportions? We use what artists have always used to draw the human body. Our bodies are divided into five sections composed of eight parts. The eight parts are

• the head (one head size)
• neck to waist (two head-sizes)
• midsection or crotch (one head size)
• crotch to knees (two head-sizes)
• knees to soles of feet (two head-sizes)

we use our own head size as the measurement to guide us.

GOLDEN MEAN RATIO

When we want to dress ourselves with style, we use the Golden Mean ratio, which is 3:5:8. It means we visually divide our body in two parts, from the top of our head to our waist (3 head sizes) from our waist to our feet ( 5 head sizes) for a total of 8 head sizes overall. Our goal is to achieve balance and proportion through our clothing choices. And remember that the most important part of our body we should strive to call attention to, is our face!

Next post: Tools to find out what your body type is....if you don't already know! Stay tuned

9D4F2PKZYW4R

Personal Coloring - The Basics of Color

Key # 2 - Part 3 - of The 5 Keys to Dressing Well

Personal Coloring - The Basics of Color

Our bodies have a unique color pattern, we need to choose colors that enhance it.

Let's talk about hues: hues are the common names we use to refer to colors, such as: blue, green, red, yellow, purple, etc.

There are six basic hue families: the reds, the oranges, the yellows, the greens, the blues,  and the violets or (purples).

When we talk about colors we use names that are very descriptive, we may refer to food or animals to name them, such as peach, salmon, canary yellow, apple green, etc. This is important because when we just talk about colors and can't show them visually, we need to have tools that can help us and everyone picture the color in their minds. At the end of this post there is a list of color names for your reference.
  
Color also has temperature - We can categorize hues are either warm or cool. 
Psychologically we give colors temperature: so the reds, yellows and oranges,  are usually regarded as warm, they remind us of fire, the sun, the power of aggression.
The blues, violets and greens, remind us of cold splashes of water, shadows under trees, mountain tops, deep blue skies, these colors are often associated with distance, calm, tranquility, and coolness. 
Thus hues can either be warm or cool. The warm hues are more yellow. Cool hues are like the sky and water they recede in the background.

Primary colors - red yellow and blue.

 

There are other terms you should be familiar with, they are:

Value: it describes how light or dark a color is.

Chroma: it refers to the purity of a color. How clear or muted a color is.

Harmony: the way we combine certain colors.

Now let's go back to the temperature of colors, beacuse here lies a lot of the relevance we will give to them when choosing our own palette.

We said that the reds, oranges, and yellow are warm, and the blues, violets and greens are cool. That is just to begin with. That is the psychological association we give to color. But colors also have a relative temperature that depends on how it is mixed, let's see, for example if you look at the color wheel the red, if it is mixed with blue, it becomes Red-Violet, and has a cooler temperature, the same thing happens, with yellow when mixed with green, Yellow-Green.

This especially happens with greens that although they are considered cool, they are a mixture of both yellow (warm) and blue (cool). All oranges are warm, because they are made up of red and yellow (both warm). I believe orange is one of the most difficult colors to wear well.   But sometimes we can change its value, and make it work! 

Value

Let's continue with the orange, it can either be very dark or very light. This relative darkness or lightness is called value. We can add white to an orange pigment and make it lighter, thus changing its value, but what we can never do with orange is change its temperature. If we do it will no longer be orange. Usually when colors are light they appear "tinted" or whitish. We can also add black to orange to make it darker. It will appear shaded, deepened, and weighty. Usually when colors are darkened by adding black they are considered: serious, profound, mysterious.

There are other ways to lighten and darken colors, and also to mix them, but I am not going to go further into this, for now. It is not necessary for our purpose, and I don't want to complicate things.

Chroma

This is very important when it comes to choosing our wardrobe also. Colors can be clear, which means the pigment is very pure, or muted which means the color was combined with its complementary color or shaded with gray to soften it down. Clear colors are bright and vibrant and tend to reflect light. Muted colors appear misty, veiled, and de-intensified. Muted colors are gentle, soft, and can be also subtle.

Harmony

Harmony is the combination of hues, and we use it in clothing to achieve a certain look and style. 

Harmonies can be:

• Monochromatic: only one color, use one hue (e.g. all blues, light blue top and navy blue pants)  Same hue is with different values. 

• Triadic: the harmony created by hues that are equidistant from each other on the wheel (e.g. red/yellow/blue or green/orange/violet)

• Analogous: two or three hues that appear side by side on the color wheel (e.g. reds/violets/blues)

• Complementary: Two hues that appear opposite each other on the color wheel. (e.g. red/green, orange/blue, yellow/violet)  

Following is a list of common names for different colors: 

Ivory - Champagne- Cappuccino - Toffee - Copper- Russet- Bronze - Gold - Tan - Olive - Chocolate - Beige - Walnut - Sable - Avocado - Olive - Fuchsia -  Herb - Forest Green - Cedar Green - Teal - Navy- Aqua - Patel Blue - Azure - Royal Blue - Periwinkle - Sapphire - Cool Turquoise - Jade - Blue-green - Emerald - Hunter green - Moss - Balsam - Spruce - Celery - Kelly green - Apple green - Lime - Citron  - Ginger - Tawny-  Plum - Eggplant - mauve - aubergine - butter-cup - Marigold - Tangerine - Peach - Poppy - Coral - Apricot - Salmon - Pumpkin - Brick - Wine - Burgundy - Merlot - Pastel pink - Cerise - Crimson - watermelon - Chinese red - True red - Indigo - Apricot - Smokey Coral - Cherry red - Stone - Pewter - Cocoa - Winter white - Off white - Pearl - Cream - Acorn 

The Power of Perception

Part 4 of The 5 Keys to Dressing Well 

The Power of Perception 

Today I am going to tell you a story:

Linda's Miracle Stone
Linda wanted to be elected the President of the Student Council. She was running against two other candidates. Both of the other girls had previous experience at the council. One of them was even the captain of the soccer team, and the other was involved in so many school activities that she was considered one of the most popular girls at school. Linda knew she had a tough contest in front of her. She needed something that would make her win, so she went online and she googled for "how to win an election" and she found so many articles, and webpages, a lot of them in other languages, it seemed everybody in this world wanted power! She especially found the largest amount of articles about "winning elections"  and "staying in power indefinitely" written in Spanish.

She was convinced by a website that sold "winner's charms", they were from this high ancient mountain in the northern part of a very small region in India. A region that held the largest amount of Saints per square feet on the planet! She went through everything the website sold, until she found the one that she needed. The charm was a round stone, that she should wear on her collar, as a necklace. It had a sentence written in Sanskrit that read; "the owner of this Charm will win whatever election or contest she participates on, as long as she wears it, she will be the winner". Fifty dollars later, she knew she had found exactly what she needed.

A week passed and she received the package at home. She only had two days before the election to prepare, so she opened the box, found the stone, and borrowed a very thin silver chain necklace from her mom, and started wearing it. She felt so incredibly great! she could already feel the power of the stone! Those two days prior to the debate that will decide her future as President of the Student Council, she felt so confident, she even felt prettier. She started to prepare herself for the debate. She came up with lots of ideas of things she wanted to change and improve for her fellow students, because she knew, she was the winner, the stone was her guarantee.

The day of the election came, and Linda was ready, she knew that with the charm in place everything would work and she would win, it was just a matter of time!

The election ran smoothly, each of the girls spoke confidently, and Linda was the last one. She stood up and she told every body what her plans were, and she spoke to them as if she was already doing everything that needed to be done. As if she was the winner.

Nobody had spoken like that before, it seemed all the other candidates were "expecting" they were "hoping" they were "waiting", but there was something different about Linda. Linda was already the Student Council's President. She won the election.

When she got home, she was overly excited, she told her parents, and they congratulated her, and made especial dinner plans to celebrate it! When they were at this very fancy restaurant, her mother complimented her on how she looked, she loved the way the thin silver chain necklace looked on her daughter. Linda asked her mom if she liked the stone, but her mom didn't know which stone she was talking about. Linda was not wearing any stone. Linda checked with her own hands all through the necklace and the stone wasn't there. When they got back home, the first thing Linda did was go through the box an there she found it. The stone had never left the box, or had it? Only her mom knew.

Linda's mom knew her daughter didn't need charms. She just needed a boost of self confidence, She just needed to perceive herself as the winner, in order to create that reality for her. And she did.

The way we perceive ourselves directly influences the way others perceive us. If you think you are a winner, you will be to others. If you feel pretty, you will be perceived that way by others. So if you already don't have a good and positive self concept, what are you waiting for?

“Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful” Sophia Loren

You can look for a psychologist or therapist, and spend thousands of dollars and many years analyzing your feelings, and your past, the causes why you don't feel good enough. I am not saying you shouldn't, you might need to do just that. What you can do, that is a faster solution is start working on the outside. Start dressing how you really want to dress, start taking care of your grooming, more posts on that will come soon...If you take care of the exterior, the interior will start transforming itself. Inside and outside are interrelated, interconnected, we are a system, when we change one part of ourselves, the rest is also modified to adapt to the new reality. It is easier and faster to start with the way we dress. People can see the results straight away, we start to relate differently and we modify our reality, one day at a time. 
Walk with confidence, you have got style and it shows!

Defining your Style

Find or Define your Personal Style - Part 3 of The 5 Keys to Dressing Well  

"Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly" - Epictetus, AD 55–135.   

Epictetus is one of my favorite philosophers. He was a Greek stoic, a "practical" philosopher, he viewed the role of philosophy as the guiding light for people to lead better lives. One of his teachings is that suffering occurs from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power. Well indeed, that which was written thousands of years ago, is still relevant today. How we "adorn" ourselves, is totally within our control, then we should strive to do it as best as we can. But first, as he says, we should answer the question: "Who am I?" Let's see if I can help you answer that question when it comes to your Style personality.

Fashion can be bought, anybody can dress fashionably, and it is not a matter of economic power anymore. Nowadays you can buy fashion at very affordable prices. And that means fashion is accessible to almost everybody. Along with the concept of fast fashion, the globalization, the outsourcing of factories to third world countries, and we know how that is going...I will discuss this further on another post. But we cannot deny that fast fashion as fast food, can be detrimental to us all, on the long term. 

Fashion comes and goes mainly as Trends. Trends can be a new prints, new hem lines, new silhouettes, a new vibe, a hair color, a hair style, a color, a type of handbag, a type of shoe, a certain rule...etc, etc, etc, you just have to follow them and stick to the rules of the season, and you will be fashionably “uniformed”. But Style, comes from who you are, it is unique, it has no rules but yours, and no trends of the seasons.  You are expressing who you are all the time, to the outside world, so it is imperative that you can identify your own style, therefore you won’t be swept away by every trend and fad that comes along. 

Every time we get dressed we are asserting parts of our personality, we are asserting our identity. When we are aware of our own style, we dress putting our own selves first, we dress to tell others the story of who we are.  

In the previous post I asked you to think about any Style Icons, that you may have. What did you think about that question? Was it hard?
How many people could you think of? 
What do you admire in them? Do you identify some aspect of your personality with theirs? 

Usually what makes people style icons is how they portray their uniqueness, they are not afraid to show the rest of the world, who they are. And they are not afraid to NOT FOLLOW. In fact, they are Non-followers, they don’t abide by somebody else's rules! They have their own! They have learned from others who they admired what was important in defining their style. They have a great sense of taste and proportion. They have a very strong sense of self, they are self confident, because they know what makes them great and they are not afraid of showing it, in fact they have learned how to showcase successfully those parts of themselves they are most proud of to the rest of the world!

You don’t necessarily need to be in show-business to understand the relevance of taking care of your image. But it is true that there are certain “careers” in which people are more aware, and have a primordial need to learn about Image and to find the ways of communicating effectively their own unique Style. We are all the stars of our own lives, so no matter what your job is, or who your Style Icons are, you can and will learn to define your own unique Style.

Think also about the brands or stores where you usually buy your clothes and accessories, do you think they match your personality? Grab a lookbook from that store/s and see if you can picture yourself in it? I am not saying that you have to look like a model, maybe you do, maybe you don’t, it is irrelevant. Can you see yourself wearing the looks put together in the lookbook? If not, why are you shopping there? 

Now remember I asked you to find a brand or store you “ADORE”, find their lookbook, and see if you can picture yourself there? Do you get excited just thinking about it? Wouldn’t it be glorious if you had the chance to be on their lookbook? Wouldn’t you love to be dressed like that? If don’t feel that way then maybe you don’t adore that brand after all!

Do you think that sometimes you just like some items in a store, and you would never wear others? It happens, and if it is happening to you, that is a very good sign. I will tell you about that in the following posts. But for now, stick with me here and realize that we don’t have to “marry” a brand, we are just trying to define and find our own style. To do so successfully we need to understand why we are attracted to certain brands or style icons, or stores, and why we absolutely would never wear or dare to enter others.

That is our next step. 

Try to find some brands or stores, or Style Icons, that you absolutely DO NOT LIKE. Think about what it is about them that you don’t like? Do they remind you of something? Don’t you like the way they put looks together in their displays? Don’t you like that maybe they are too “androgynous” or masculine, and you are quite the feminine romantic? Maybe it is the color palette they always  use, is it too muted? Gloomy? And you are a Happy go Lucky kind of girl? Just think of what is it that doesn’t resonate with you, because usually it means we value the opposite characteristic.  Understanding what you don’t like at all, is a very good way to find out about your style, in case you get stuck, and can’t think of anything, this is a great tool!

I will give you another tool that will help you to realize what your style is:

Ask somebody you trust and  like, and that you admire for their own style. Usually we have a girl-friend who dresses uniquely, who has a very strong sense of self, and is confident enough to wear what makes her feel and look great!  You don’t necessarily have to love the way she dresses, most probably you would never dress like her, but she does so effortlessly, or so it seems, she must know a thing or two! Talk to her, and ask her, How does she perceive you, in terms of the way you dress? Can she point to you some ideas about how you dress, or characteristics of your personality that she really likes? Those can help you define your style. 

Remember we are all the time communicating who we are to others, so it is a great practice to ask somebody else: "How am I coming through?" Maybe she says that you have "kind of a grungy look"…and you actually view yourself as a feminine romantic who wished to come across as "girly and polished"… Then you might be doing something wrong! You are either not that much of a feminine romantic after all,  or you are not dressing according to your personality. So think about any incongruences you find along the way.

So by now, you should have a notebook or a mental note of lots of answers. Go through them, sort them out. Do a quick calculation, does any one idea or thing come up more times than others? Maybe you realized you always shop at The Gap for your clothes, and The Gap’s brand characteristics are simple and classic. Then you talked to your friend and she said according to her you are a "classic". That is definitely giving you a clue as to how you are dressing now. Think if that is really your own style. Are you communicating what you really want to communicate? Try to come with some conclusions as to what is your style.   

Are you very confused?

Do not worry, I am here to help, and let me remind you of something Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, and I always need to remind myself:

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves”

 

Till tomorrow…keep posted, as more on Defining your Style is coming your way…

Find or Define your Personal Style...

Find or Define your Fashion Style...

Part 2 of The 5 keys to Dressing Well

Style is directly related to our personalities. Once we understand our fashion personalities, we will have an easier time pulling an outfit together in the morning. We are like artists with a blank canvas, each morning we wake up, and the first decision we make is: What should I wear? So why do we sometimes take the issue of dressing so lightly? Why do we sometimes just buy whatever is on sale, even if its not the right fit, color, size?

My objective is not to create drama, but to help you simplify. In order to simplify we do need first to start doing a bit of work. It will feel as if we are complicating ourselves even more, it's normal to feel that way, and it is necessary to go through it. The results will be worth it!
We can only simplify the decision of "What should I wear?" once we have a solid foundation, once we know and have defined our own personal style.

So here we are again, trying to navigate the amount of options we have out there. If we don't know what is our fashion personality or personal style, we won't know where to go, and we will be overwhelmed by the amount of choices we have! Of course we always have an economic limit! our budget! If we define our own unique personal style, then we can better invest our money, in pieces that communicate who we really are, that are extremely comfortable to wear, and that make the best of our own assets, such as our unique coloring and silhouette.

Once you know your personal style or fashion personality you will have the foundation to project your best self forward, whatever the situation or occasion.

There are a few more questions you should ask yourself, in order to "discover" your own personal style:

• How do you like to wear your hair? Do you go to the hairdressers often? Do you style your hair everyday? Is your hair long? Do you like to have it short? Do you color it? What color is it?
• 
  How about make up? Do you wear it everyday? If so, what are your must haves? Do you wear lipstick? Or you just wear black eyeliner and mascara? If you never wear make-up, ask yourself why? If you wear make up religiously every single day, in fact you won't leave the house without it, why?

Remember, these are not questions to answer to the world. This are questions to ask yourself in your own privacy. 

Think about this - Those things that are visible in those first 30 seconds to a minute upon meeting someone, are the things we are going to focus on first. 

But isn't this about "dressing" ? Why should I focus on hair and make up? Because we are just trying to help you define or find your personal "style" or your fashion personality first. Without you knowing this, you won't be able to dress for yourself, and you will be  lost in terms of asking the question: "What should I wear?"

Do you know that one of the things that people search online more for are: What to wear?, yes that is right! The majority of people are clueless, they do know the importance of dressing well, but they just don't know what is their own style. My goal here, is for you to KNOW, for yourself, without having to consult with anybody else, what communicates who you are well, and looks best on you! 

A few more things to ask yourself:

• Do you have any fashion role models? style icons? Who do you admire? It doesn't have to be somebody famous, maybe it is your grandmother? or a friend? Think about what it is about them that you really like? Is it the colors they wear? How they combine them? Their pose, grace, elegance? Maybe the accessories? Try to define it as much as you can. 

Fashion comes and goes, and there are lots of trendy options you should incorporate in your wardrobe, but first you should have a solid foundation to which incorporate the trendy pieces. No more asking anybody else, there is nobody better than yourself to define your fashion personality! Be yourself, find that style, and dress for it!

The 5 Keys to Dressing Well

The 5 Keys to Dressing Well 

The importance of Personal Image cannot be underestimated.  In the first 30 seconds upon meeting someone for the first time, they assess and form a mental “impression” about us. 

These are subconscious decisions that people make about our personality, occupation, economic and educational levels.   

Dr. Albert Mehrabian is known for his research on body language, and has established the classic statistic for effective communications:

7% of meaning is expressed through the spoken word

38% is expressed through the way we speak those words

55% is expressed non-verbally

Is that fair? May be not!

Is it true? You bet!

My own experience tells me that what is important is not only the way others view us, but how we view ourselves that determines how we are perceived.

The way we dress, is only one of the main constituents aspects of Image. But it is precisely one of the aspects over which we have 100% control over. Isn’t that amazingly good news?! There is so much we can do to improve our image! And let us not forget that improving our Image, is directly related our own self confidence and sense of self esteem.

We are not defined just by the way we look, but still our image is a big part of who we and how others define and relate to us every single day.

So we have to take this 100% controllable aspect, “The Way we Dress” and do the best we can! Instead of struggling with things we have no control over. 

The 5 keys to dressing well are:

1.        Define your own personal Style and match it with your clothing 

2.        Complement your own personal Coloring

3.        Flatter your body lines, proportions and scale

4.        Choose clothes that are appropriate for your Event/Lifestyle/Occasions.

5.        Dress Current – Be up to date with Trends, and choose only those that complement all the other 4 points  above.

Let’s start with the first one: Define your own personal Style and match it with your clothing

There are as many styles as there are people out there, everybody has their own unique style. You think you don’t have any? or maybe you don’t know what your style is yet? Well in any case, even if you don’t know what your style is, or you do, there are some tools, that I will teach you that can either help you find it, or refine it!

One easy way of trying to find or define your style is to look at your shopping preferences.

• Where do you usually shop? What is the store’s name?
• Any brand or brands you prefer? Search online for that brand’s characteristics, or personality? Does it match yours? It should, if it doesn’t then ask yourself what is the reason why you shop there?
• Is there any store that you particularly “ADORE”, I didn’t say “like” …You have to adore the brand, the clothes, the store’s image and personality…If you found at least one, take a note on what is it that you especially find so appealing about them.
• For now, just take either mental notes, or even better, in a small notebook for later reference.
• One more aspect you can think about, is how do you usually accessorize your looks? Do you even accessorize? What type of accessories do you prefer? How many do you use? Take notes.

I will give you a list of defined “styles” to start familiarizing  yourself with, and see if you “fit” into any, or many:

• Classic
• Natural
• Modern
• Bohemian
• Masculine
• Sophisticated
• Dramatic
• Creative
• Feminine
• Romantic
• Alluring
• Urban Chic
• Sporty
• Elegant
• Punk
• Simple

These are just a few, start thinking about your own unique style, and see in how many of this categories you would somewhat “fit”.  In my case, I am a little bit of a natural urban chic combined with a bohemian sporty elegance, and I cannot forget that I am also a Romantic! 

Yes, you see, this is not about labeling or categorizing is about giving you tools, to define your style, so that you can Dress for who you really are, so when people form a quick opinion of you, they will form the most accurate one!

Invest in your appearance and let it show the real you, make investing in your Image a priority and you will see how you start to relate better to yourself and to others as a consequence!

Part two of Defining your style…tomorrow…