Remember helping clients style their wardrobes to compliment new jobs, job interviews and special events. I literally visited their homes and rearranged their closets and accessories according to their activities. This involved some re-mixing and re-matching and shopping trips.
In college I studied fashion design, I loved clothing and instinctively knew what was appropriate to wear to work, regardless of the industry. I knew how to play off color and lines to fit the individual's personality and body.
Alternately, when I was assisting these individuals, most who were women going to work for the first time, I edged them toward dropping the synthetics, the denim, the sweats and their homemaker gear to more fitting clothing for the job market. I developed style-tacs that fit my customers. Some adapted easily into clothing that matched the jobs they were starting work in and below are some of the attributes, I saw take hold in their efforts:
Mr. / Ms Corporate – Your appearance projects to the world who you think you are. You wear:
- Suits and low-coordinated outfits
- You are a minimalist
- Ties, but never a pocket hanky
- You have never owned a handkerchief
- Matching, but understated accessories
- Simple make-up and low maintenance grooming
- You’re trim and trimmed
- Your appearance has an edge to it
- Your look is very linear & razor sharp
- You’re conventional, like “old” money with a slight “metro” twist
Old School – You are traditional and you remember what you learned in Trade School:
- You prefer the look from your youth
- You still tease or pomp your hair
- You wear shoes that make sense
- You are not into color
- You would never consider wearing anything to focus attention to yourself
- You spend a lot of time trying to keep your style like it used to be.
- You didn’t like the 60s, but found yourself in the 70s & 80s
- You stopped trying to understand the 90's and beyond
Cliché Chic
- You know what goes with what
- You would never mix stripes and prints
- You choose colors in the same family – e.g., light blue with navy blue
- You don’t understand chocolate, but you understand the dark brown
- Black or dark brown are your basics and you would never mix colors in another tone
- Every belt you have must fit to your waist, never above it or below it.
Maverick – Very independent– will wear something old, something borrowed or something that blew in. You:
- Are unconventional and would never conform.
- Think of yourself as kind of a rebel
- You accept being called eccentric or eclectic
- Don’t care what the latest styles are –
- Don’t care what others think
- Don’t match styles or accessories
A Bit of A Gypsy – You like drippy styles and accessories like:
- Chandelier jewelry
- Wrapping your body with scarves & shawls
- You love wearing deninm and matching it head to toe
- Lots of interesting leather, suede and fringe
- Your look indicates that you like to linger.
- You have a headband and hat collection
- You sashay and you sushi.
Babe On A Budget – You only shop the sale and clearance racks.
- You know what size you are in every brand
- You can calculate discounts in your head and with the calculator on your phone
- You have a set price to spend for every item of clothing and you hate to go over that amount
- You like designer quality, but you’ve come to recognize it in the lower brand designers
- You are not ashamed of your vintage collection
- You will shop a resale or consignment shop, if their prices are right
Designer’s Doll – You wear only the chicest clothes and accessories:
- All your clothes are expensive
- You’re hot and you know it
- You like designer everything - outerwear, underwear, everything
- You are allergic to clearance rack items
- You could care less if others think wearing all designer objects d’art is cliché
- You would never wear denin on top of denim, even if it is the same color, the same designer brand and the same style.
{rokcomments}