Finding one’s true self and celebrating them; this is how I approach my styling business. When I have a new client, my eyes are my first tools of discovery. I begin to assess the immediate requirements of dressing them to look their best. What color are their eyes? The undertones in their skin determines what colors will complement them. Their stature and body type start to determine certain silhouettes that will enhance their body type. This is the practical information, but the real source of my service is the information I gain from our discussions. These conversations I have while we are assessing their current wardrobe are more important to me because I need to understand each of them as an individual. I want to know their lifestyle and I begin to ask them how they wear certain items. This guides me to what will feel comfortable on them and what they will be open to when we start looking for fill in pieces. My career at Hysteria working with so many clients gave me valuable techniques of finding out about people. How people see themselves is very enlightening and that knowledge is key to helping them dress.
My three season office is the balcony above S. Fairfax Street where I have lived for the past 7 years. I love the view and chose the location for my street style post this week. It’s the place I feel most comfortable and I understood it’s value to putting me on the other side of the camera. Working at my computer in the morning and having my coffee, I watch people as they walk toward King Street to go to work. On Sundays, they are heading to worship. There are ghost tours, mothers with strollers, dog walkers, farmer’s market shoppers, parades, and at any time, someone dressed in colonial costume. Studying what they wear and how they put things together is a feast for the eyes for me because it is real.
Fashion is the theater of dressing. Designers make strong statements in order for us to come away with some thread of their vision. The seeds they plant start to impact our choices even as we select items at Target (or the Gap…recalling Miranda’s monologue mocking Andie regarding the “stuff” in The Devil Wears Prada).
This fall feels very modern to me with much more sensibility and choice. Hemlines are vast, pants have a variety of lengths and leg widths, and there’s a lot of room for interpretation. We’re in an era of rapid fire information and almost everything we wish to find can be Googled, Yahooed or Binged. Dressing needs to be authentic and although I am a follower of trends and appreciate the vision of the pounds of fall fashion magazines that I purchase each August, I’m most impressed by people who know who they are and own their style regardless of what those pages profess. This is why I love what I do. My clients are as much a canvas as they are a window to their essence. Getting to know them helps me, help them (“Help me, help you!” ~ thank you Jerry McGuire).
Style is an ongoing process and fashion trends are our guide to staying relevant to the times. As a new season is about to begin, assess the fall trends (Stylebook will introduce each one in the coming weeks) and determine which ones work with who you already are and will enhance the person from within.
