Dress for success 4 top tips
How to dress for success everytime
Want to know the keys to successful styling every time?
Here are the 4 top elements I have discovered work wonders. By adopting these easy principles you'll be looking 10 years younger and top to toe chic instantly.
Lets use the C A P S principal. C Dress your Colour. A Dress your age. P Dress your personality and S Dress your style or shape.
C-Dress your colour
As a colour consultant, I can't get away from the powerful influence of colour. Not just any colour, but your colours.
Simply put, wearing your colours makes you look your best. Always when you're wearing the colours that suit you, you look younger, more attractive and more vibrant.
Why don't women wear the right colours if this is the case?
Because there are over 2.6 million colours or indeed an infinite number, the only way to determine the right colours, is to have an accurate analysis.
A-Dress your age
We've all heard that expression, "mutton dressed up as lamb" .
Here's a good example of wearing inappropriate colours and style in the before shot and although I would still make changes to the after shot with hair colour and hair style, you have to agree that the after shot is a great improvement.
To avoid that look the best thing to do is to make an assessment every decade.
We can't look like our 35 year old daughters no matter how hard we try.
As we mature, things change. Our body is different, our skin is different and our hair isn't as glossy and luxurious as a young woman's.
The best thing to do is to cover up more and to avoid things that highlight our less than perfect features. Be more subtle in our choices draws the right sort of attention.
Things like shimmers and shines draw attention to our flaws.
Avoid too much detail and buckles and bling. And certainly look at the length of skirts and the depth of necklines.
P-Dress your personality
Chic and very stylish
I could be styling 2 women of exactly the same age and shape and colours but I would dress them completely differently according to their personality type.
Some women have bolder personalities and some have a more shy demeanor. Obviously I am not going to style the shy lady in bold styles, she just wouldn't be comfortable making such a bold announcement.
Even though there are many style genres, classic, chic, elegant, bold, boho, soft and feminine etc. you don't have to stick to one style. You will find there are many style types you can very comfortably wear. All this can be discussed at the time of your consultation to explore the style personalities that you feel very happy wearing.
S-Dress your shape
Here's another classic example of what not to wear. Unflattering shapes are just that, very unflattering.
So how do we dress for success and how do we know what shapes or styles suit us?
I find this is the easiest way to determine the shapes that suit you.
Imagine yourself as a rectangle. You may be a triangle with broad shoulders and smaller hips or you may be an inverted triangle with small shoulders and wider hips like the image above. How are you going to balance out this look?
Think of broadening the narrow parts of your body and narrowing the broader parts.
So to broaden shoulders go for wider collars and padded shoulders. Draw attention to the top half of the body with featured jewellery and colourful scarves, or patterned tops as long as they're in your colour palette
Slim down hips by wearing sleek close fitting tops with no detail and pants with no features on the hips. Slimline skirts are flattering.
For more details on colour and style tips contact your colours and style.
Five ways to know if you're wearing your Colours.
Getting your Colours right is just so important to your Ultimate Image so read today's blog with 5 ways to tell if you do have them right or not.
How to wear your neutrals
How to wear your neutrals
What is a neutral colour?
I would describe a neutral colour as one that is quite benign. One that's not screaming for attention, and one that's a base for all of your other amazing colours.
Not everyone feels good in a pink and green outfit for example but they may enjoy wearing perhaps a green top with a neutral like grey.
It's good to start your wardrobe with your neutrals then add your colour in next.
But are all neutrals created equal? Definitely not. Many stylists are firm about having a base of dark cool neutrals like black, pure white, greys and navy’s with a splash of brown thrown in. But those neutrals are only found in the Winter Palette. Black doesn't go with everything, as we've been led to believe. And Winter neutrals don't go with Summer, Spring or Autumn neutrals.
As a colour consultant of 20 years, I have found these ideas to be quiet damaging as a whole to the fashion industry. Using black as a style staple is not useful to your Image picture.
Here's an example of working with a warm Autumn neutral and Black a cool dominant neutral to create a mismatched look.
YOU NEED TO FIND YOUR COLOURS AND THEN WORK WITH THE NEUTRALS IN YOUR PALETTE ONLY
For a stylish, complete, co-ordinated wardrobe that suits you down to the ground, you need to work with YOUR neutrals only.
The reason being, neutrals from another palette will not look good on you, and also will not go with the other shades or neutrals in your palette.
THE NEUTRAL COLOUR PALETTES.
Some stylists categorize people as neutrals. But I like to call only colours neutral not people.
Every colour is either a Cool Deep or dominant colour,(Winter) a cool muted colour,(Summer) a deep warm colour (Autumn) or a warm bright colour (Spring)
That's it. Every colour on the planet will slot into one of four palettes only. And you will be one of the four palettes as well. No sub colours or flow people in my opinion. Some colours "flow"but not people.
THE COLOUR SWATCH BOOKS FOR THE FOUR SEASONS
Get your colours right. There is Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. What season are you and there is no need for any sub seasons.
You will have thousands of colours to choose from that will all look amazing on you.
So what are the four types of neutrals I’m speaking of?
Warm Deep or Autumn neutrals are lovely deep olive greens, rich creams, clays, golden browns, deep apricots, muddied burgundies and pumpkins to name a few as well as rich warm khakis and golds.
The bright Spring neutrals on the other hand are still warm but much lighter than their deep counterparts, so colours like light soft caramels, light creams, warm light browns, tans, peaches and apricots are part of the Spring neutrals.
Moving into the cooler palettes we have the boldness and clarity of the deep Winter colours, black, pure white, all greys, silvers, dark navys and deep deep browns.
Forget burgundy as some may include in the Winter palette. I reserve that for the muted cool neutrals of Summer. The denim which is a winter denim is dark navy blue.
Summer neutrals are cool and soft and muted. Ones like off whites, soft grey, cool taupes, cool beiges, light cool khakis, burgundy and maroons create a nice base and don’t forget your dusty navy’s. Please don’t forget light denim teams best with these colours.
With all this in mind you can see there is a plethora of colours, considered to be neutral.
So once you know your colours, you can stick to the neutrals within your season for best results. Ask your consultant how to incorporate these into your wardrobe.
It’s always best to get professional advice about your colours and be sure the colours actually “fit”with you.
If your not happy with your results after a colour analysis, my advice would be to get a 2nd and sometimes even a 3rd opinion until you get your colours right.
I have had so many clients over the years who have had their colours done incorrectly.
There is a mindfield of systems now so I hope you find a solution that’s right for you.
HOW TO TELL IF YOU HAVE THE RIGHT COLOURS?
Here are a few checkpoints.
You'll look younger and more attractive in your colours
Your hair colour will compliment your colours
3. Your make up will blend into your skin and not sit on top
4. You will have 100’s and 100’s of colours to choose from
5. You will feel at peace in your colours
6. All the clothes in your wardrobe will coordinate
7. You will have heaps of outfits even if you have a small wardrobe (capsule)
8. You’ll always get compliments about what your wearing
9. You'll find it easier to accessorize and mix and match
You’ll look very stylish all the time.
For more information contact Your Colours and Style Sydney