You walk into a store and you take a deep breath, you look around and feel overwhelmed by the variety and choice: so many skirts, tops, shoes and bags. You ask yourself, what do I pick, what do I try, what do I buy?
You see ads in magazines, on the street and online all showing beautiful people wearing wonderful clothes and you want to look just like them. You buy what they are wearing and somehow it just does not work, you still do not look like Gwyneth Paltrow in the Tod's advertisement.
Do you want to look and feel good in what you wear but do not enjoy shopping or are too busy (with more important things) to spend hours searching for what is right, only to then have to pull it all together?
Would you like shopping to become less time-consuming, feel less like a chore and seem effortless?
Then begin by defining your style:
The fashion icons most of us think of - such as Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly -all had their own unique look. They were not victims of fashion trends, in fact they set the trend. Jackie O became known for her sunglasses, Audrey Hepburn gave birth to the little black dress and thanks to Gene Kelly we have the Kelly bag from Hermes.
Fashions and trends come and go so quickly it is hard to keep up. But when you develop your own personal style it will be with you forever.
How to start?
1. Know your body and what parts you are happy to accentuate and what parts you would prefer to cover up or hide. If you love your legs, wear shorter skirts. If you have a small waist then wear belts.
2. Decide what colors suit you best. If a camel coat washes you out, do not buy it, as much as you may love it. Stick to the colors that work for your skin tone and hair color. To determine what your best colors are check out: www.wikihow.com/Choose-What-Color-to-Wear
3. Know what is age appropriate: Do not dress too old (you have a whole life ahead of you to grow up) and definitely do not dress too young (there comes a point when we need to accept that it is time to leave youth to the young and the latest trends to them, no matter how young we feel or think we look).
Once you have figured out the above you are on your way to developing your own personal style.
Are you: Classic, Edgy, Bohemian (Boho), Sporty,Whimsical or Chic?
Yes, you can be a mix the above. The most important thing is to make it your own!
Making it your own also includes adapting your look to your lifestyle and where you live.
What is your lifestyle: Do you work in an office, are you a stay-at-home mom, is the place you live in casual or more formal? What is the weather?
The styles of Milan, New York and Paris are beautiful but do not always translate well to all climates. Use the fashions as inspiration so when living in Israel, where the weather is hot, the sun is strong and the lifestyle is casual, you need to take these factors into account.
Once you have figured out your style, you might be wondering: can you buy a trendy piece?
Yes! You can purchase trends and add them to your own style and make it your own. This is a great way of keeping your basic look current.
BUT IF THE TREND DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU, THEN DO NOT BUY IT.
Personal style does not happen overnight, it evolves with time, so be patient, do not be scared to try new things, if it works you will know, you will feel confident, comfortable and great.
If you incorporate these tips, the next time you walk into a store you will be efficient, feel at ease and go home with clothes that you love.
For further guidance contact us at Individual Style
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Turn your closet into a boutique
March is almost over, spring is in the air and Pessach(passover) is around the corner. Yes it is time to open or enter your closet, clean it out and straighten it up.
How?
Where do you start?
What to keep?
What to give away?
These are some of the questions that daunt many women (and men) and therefore push off the task.
But this year is different!
This year most of us will be shopping in our closets for new looks and will try to stay away from the stores.
So here are several tips to help you organize your own boutique in your closet:
1. Empty all the contents and try on every item. (this takes time but it is worth it)
2. All your clothes should fit you now (not when you lose "the weight"). If it can fit with alterations then fix it. If not, pass it along (maybe you can even make some cash on eBay).
3. Divide and sort : winter/summer
4. Store all winter items away, make sure they are all clean (the longer a stain sits on your clothes the harder it is for it to come out). If you need to store winter items out of your closet, buy clear plastic bins, (they can be purchased at most hardware stores), list the contents on the outside for easy reference next fall. Oh ! make sure you add moth balls to your sweaters.
Back to spring and summer:
5. Look at your closet and decide what you would like to hang and what you would like to fold.
6. Fold and hang all like items together from white to black. To Help fold your tops buy the flipper, it will make sure that all your tops are folded to perfection. it can be found at http://www.flipper.co.il/
7. Basic hangers are fine they do not take up a lot of room and they do the job, for special care items buy the sponge tops for the hangers, this will help keep the shape of your knits and will prevent spaghetti straps from slipping. Do not use wire hangers, they ruin all types of clothes. I have not found a hanger supplier here in Israel, but when I do I will let you know. In the mean time check out: http://www.hangers.com/ plastic top and bottom hangers.
8. Keep the clothing you use the most easily accessible. (If you work in an office, make sure those clothes are easy to see, reach and use.)
9. Shoes and hats: Ideally, remove all your shoes from the boxes and place then heel to toe on the shelves. If you can't, and you need to store your shoes in boxes, take pictures and place them on the outside of the box. Here too make sure the shoes you will wear most often are easy to access.
Hats: Hats worn everyday should be on a hat rack or low shelves. For those hats reserved for special occasions put them in a box marked with a picture and place them at the top of the closet.
10. Here in Israel the dust goes everywhere. Especially around Pessach, after we clean our homes the sand storms come. It does not seem to matter if our windows are Marvin or Belgium, the dust makes it through to every nook and cranny of our house. The shoulders of every jacket,dress and top seem to be the final destination of the holy dust that travels through the air. Therefore I recommend plastic shoulder covers for those special items that you do not wear often. They are like garment bags but only cover the top part of the garment. http://www.hangers.com/ If you can not get your hands on any, here is a tip I got from a friend: Ask your dry cleaner to cut you a few plastic covers and use them instead.
Now once you have emptied, tried on, gotten rid of, altered, separated, sorted, folded, hanged. You will see what you have and be able to begin to mix and match and create many new styles from what you didn't even know was there.
Okay, okay you probably will still want to buy a few new things this season, but at least you will not come back from the store with another pair of black pants, jean skirt or top that was hidden under a pile, in the corner all the way in the back of your closet.
How?
Where do you start?
What to keep?
What to give away?
These are some of the questions that daunt many women (and men) and therefore push off the task.
But this year is different!
This year most of us will be shopping in our closets for new looks and will try to stay away from the stores.
So here are several tips to help you organize your own boutique in your closet:
1. Empty all the contents and try on every item. (this takes time but it is worth it)
2. All your clothes should fit you now (not when you lose "the weight"). If it can fit with alterations then fix it. If not, pass it along (maybe you can even make some cash on eBay).
3. Divide and sort : winter/summer
4. Store all winter items away, make sure they are all clean (the longer a stain sits on your clothes the harder it is for it to come out). If you need to store winter items out of your closet, buy clear plastic bins, (they can be purchased at most hardware stores), list the contents on the outside for easy reference next fall. Oh ! make sure you add moth balls to your sweaters.
Back to spring and summer:
5. Look at your closet and decide what you would like to hang and what you would like to fold.
6. Fold and hang all like items together from white to black. To Help fold your tops buy the flipper, it will make sure that all your tops are folded to perfection. it can be found at http://www.flipper.co.il/
7. Basic hangers are fine they do not take up a lot of room and they do the job, for special care items buy the sponge tops for the hangers, this will help keep the shape of your knits and will prevent spaghetti straps from slipping. Do not use wire hangers, they ruin all types of clothes. I have not found a hanger supplier here in Israel, but when I do I will let you know. In the mean time check out: http://www.hangers.com/ plastic top and bottom hangers.
8. Keep the clothing you use the most easily accessible. (If you work in an office, make sure those clothes are easy to see, reach and use.)
9. Shoes and hats: Ideally, remove all your shoes from the boxes and place then heel to toe on the shelves. If you can't, and you need to store your shoes in boxes, take pictures and place them on the outside of the box. Here too make sure the shoes you will wear most often are easy to access.
Hats: Hats worn everyday should be on a hat rack or low shelves. For those hats reserved for special occasions put them in a box marked with a picture and place them at the top of the closet.
10. Here in Israel the dust goes everywhere. Especially around Pessach, after we clean our homes the sand storms come. It does not seem to matter if our windows are Marvin or Belgium, the dust makes it through to every nook and cranny of our house. The shoulders of every jacket,dress and top seem to be the final destination of the holy dust that travels through the air. Therefore I recommend plastic shoulder covers for those special items that you do not wear often. They are like garment bags but only cover the top part of the garment. http://www.hangers.com/ If you can not get your hands on any, here is a tip I got from a friend: Ask your dry cleaner to cut you a few plastic covers and use them instead.
Now once you have emptied, tried on, gotten rid of, altered, separated, sorted, folded, hanged. You will see what you have and be able to begin to mix and match and create many new styles from what you didn't even know was there.
Okay, okay you probably will still want to buy a few new things this season, but at least you will not come back from the store with another pair of black pants, jean skirt or top that was hidden under a pile, in the corner all the way in the back of your closet.
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