I have been developing and refining personal styles for over a decade now, I have completed personal shopping and fashion styling courses, I've seen myself what works and what doesn't and I am of a very strong believe that there's no golden rules for what to wear. Yes, rule of thumb yes, many of them but I've always wanted to get further rather than applying golden and thumb rules. I specialise in personalised services therefore my one and only rule is to treat every single client as a unique individual. Not a pear, not a soft summer, not a mum, not an accountant. We are all an amalgamation of features which I always do my best to dress into their own personal styles.
You've been reading about what we should wear but here I compiled the most common rules which I don follow. Let's begin.
Every woman should have a Little Black Dress in their wardrobe
Unless you haven't parted with the 80s.
Why, why, why should I have a little black dress if I don't wear dresses? Why should I wear black if I'm a light spring, have I died and are they laying me in the coffin?
The thing is everyone should have staples suitable for their style, colour preferences and lifestyle.
Wear only your Seasonal colours
I always explain to my clients that although I define their seasonal colours the last word belongs to them. If you love black or pink so be it. I will find you the best hue and tailoring to suit your personal style.
I've seen those wielding colour swatches everywhere they went shopping just to make sure they choose the right hue for them.
When you're building your wardrobe, you need only a handful of hues to define it. Having approx. 4 main colours and 3 accent and 3 neutral ones is absolutely sufficient to lock your closet into.
Believe me, once you know your palette of perfect 10 you feel relieved. Everything matches (colourwise), shopping is easy, you look stunning.
Less is more
Most of the time and for many of us, yes but think about the time when you saw this passer-by who was dressed from top to bottom in accessories and adorned clothes, carrying more than one bag and you thought to yourself - Darn it bloody works. How does she/he do it.
Have you seen Iris Apfel?
Amazing, right? You might not want to steal her look but you do agree she's got her own style and all works. As soon as she takes off one item of her ensemble something seems not quite balanced.
Style gurus might tell you less is more but I say, make sure you know your style and make it work.
You Dress for yourself
Yes, we do and we want our outfits to feel like the second skin (as you will always hear from me). We want the clothes to speak our soul (another cliche slogan by I AM the Brand) but at the same time, if we continued working from home for the coming decades would you bother buying trousers and shoes? Maybe, perhaps for Instagram post. How many of you had an entourage when choosing the perfect wedding dress praying to not hear from them: "It's hideous!"
We dress to impress ourselves and others and that's the bottom line. Yes, the priority is how you feel in your second skin but the next question is: What do people say? and especially in the social or work environment.
Always try to achieve an hourglass silhouette
In 20s it was a column, in 60s it was a twig, in noughties it was a perfect hourglass, nowadays it's more of an inverted triangle. These are the shapes that moulded our souls to reflect who we are supposed to be. Feminine, masculine, boyish, androgenic... It's you who decides. Clothes have this magic power to create silhouettes you want. So go and choose yours.
Don’t forget who’s the boss! (Hint: It’s you, the one with the wallet)
“The most important thing to remember about personal style and fashion is that you are the client. Fashion is here to work to fit you, not to make you work to fit fashion!” —Hernandez
Buy Some expensive investment items
Too often I have heard from my clients that at some point in the past they had a session with a personal shopper or a stylist and who insisted on purchasing crucial "investment pieces" swearing they would wear them for ever. I had a client who had got herself leather pants she never wore and a client who was told she had to own a classing pencil skirt.
I always say - one person's staple is another person's out of the question wardrobe choice.
Knowing yourself and knowing your style will allow you understand what makes you feel you.
When it comes to cost there's this misconception, that an investment item must be expensive. Not necessarily if you know how to look. I know some thrift-shop lovers who find leather jackets in mint conditions for a tenner and woollen designer blazers for a fiver and they wear them forever looking effortlessly stylish. I have bought investment pieces for my clients in high street shops purely by choosing a suitable tailoring and textile.