Atl_Gadget_Grrl but u can call me Charlotte
My awesome day with my Image Consultant
Aug 19, 2013
Today, I had my first in-person visit with my image consultant, Karen. She met me at the door with "You're so skinny!" followed by "you're all legs! Definitely good to hear. :)
I arrived wearing my new size 16 (note: no "W" following that number) pants, a sweater in a color I thought looked good on me, and a new XL blazer. All from NY and Company over the weekend. I love the new pants as I feel I actually have LEGS in them. For the next three hours, we did all sorts of things that weren't rocket science, but left me feeling as if I had discovered the secret to the universe.
She had given me (and my daughter) a homework assignment: Parse through magazines and cut out those pictures that resonated with me (and her, about me). We had fun and had cut out the same picture a number of times. I walked through each of these with Karen, telling her what I liked about each photo and why. We used this to develop my style personality, which is "classic". She explained why I have (had!) clothes in my closet that may have fit great, but that I didn't like to wear - because they didn't fit my style personality. She said I should complement my "Classic" wardrobe with items that are sporty, versus items that are dramatic or traditional. She also said that most of the items sold in stores are traditional, and so I need to not make the mistake of falling into the traditional trap and grabbing what is offered. I need to stay true to my personality. Princess Diana was/is one of my icons. I marveled over her grace and poise, and it turns out that she is/was one of the quintessential "Classic" personalities. That just fits me.
Here is one of Karen's blog posts discussing style personality: http://www.styleyouniversity.com/style-personality-dress-to-express/
Then we moved on to color analysis. I had a little mini-facial to remove my makeup and she dressed me in a gray hairdresser cape and gray surgical cap to neutralize my hair and clothing color. She, herself, even wore a gray smock. She sat me in front of a well-lit mirror, and proceeded to drape me with different fabric swatches about the size of placemats. It was fascinating to see how my skin tone, dark circles under my eyes, and skin smothness changes as she changed the swatches. Dark colors that I THOUGHT looked good on me washed me out and gave me dark circles. Colors I knew looked bad (orange!) still looked bad, but we stumbled across a subset of colors that evened out my skin, took away the shadows, and made the red in my skin less noticeable. It turns out I am a "pure summer", which is also called a "cool summer". I ended up with a swatch book of colors that I should look for. This link tells a little more:
http://www.carolthompsonbeautysecrets.com/summer-color-analysis.html
She then took my measurements (different from the ones I have been measuring, actually), for something called the Fashion Code, which turned out to be a custom-generated book (52 pages) of best-bet lengths for hems, sleeves, and necklines. It was in my inbox when I got home today and it blew. me. away. Why do I like certain shirts but not others? The neckline was wrong. Why do some of my skirts look frumpy? Wrong length. Etc. etc etc. This all was based on MY measurements, so now I know what to look for in anything I buy, and why I love some of my scoop neck shirts just make me look and feel so good. OMG, this needs to become a must-buy for any woman entering the workforce.
Here is more information on it, including the play-at-home version: https://thefashioncode.com
We ended the day with Karen giving me a hit list of items to pick up. I need to start with foundation pieces in my neutral core colors of charcoal and black. This means I need to grab pants, jackets, skirts, and dresses as I find them. Then, she wants me to pick up different items (shirts, sweaters, blouses, etc.) in two accent colors I pick for the season. This will give me a good, basic, workable wardrobe that I can build on to. I think I am going to focus on cranberry and green, both of which I love, have confirmed will look great on me, and are in ready supply this fall. These little hotties are definitely on my list:
http://www.clarksusa.com/eng/product/wessex_wyvern/26064576
She gave me tips on accessorizing, telling me that there is an animal for each woman, and based on what I showed her, she's encouraging me to look at some leopard print, perhaps like this. How fun is this?
Our next stop is shopping prior to my trip to London in October - my first international facilitation gig! I am really worried about finding a coat that will get me through as long as possible. She found this one, which she thinks MAY fit me in a size 12-14 and get me through most of the winter if I layer. I may order one to see how it fits:
My head was swimming as I got home because of ALL THAT KNOWLEDGE! But, as I related the information to my husband and daughter, it all made good sense and I realized I understood it better than I thought it did. I just love feeling so empowered and knowledgeable on how to be beautiful.
