Sunday, August 29, 2010

Love, Loss & What I Wore

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the stage adaptation of Love, Loss and What I Wore a monologue-style play by Nora and Delia Ephron adapted from Ilene Beckerman's book of the same name. My girlfriends and I sat in the audience, at turns nodding, laughing, and tearing up as we listened to stories that seemed like a universal consciousness.

Don't we all we all have stories about clothing items that were with us during a pivotal moment in our lives? A graduation outfit, the first item we bought with our own money, a wedding dress or tuxedo, a special colour or style a grandparent always wore? I am always excited when I visit a client's closet for the first time, and am greeted with a bounty of these stories. Clothes are a special breed of personal history.

The clothing we aspire to wear, that which we love or despise, the colours we love and loath, all just might stem from experiences we have had with clothing throughout our lives. Sometimes we hold on tight to them, just so we always have the same feeling we had at that time. Clothes might be tangible manifestations of our memories of the past, but it is the feeling that they gave us that we can translate and bring to life again in a new way that's right for the present or future.

Dressing each day is an opportunity for us to greet the world in just the way we want to be seen. With the right clothes, we can feel confident, playful, intelligent, capable, secure, trustworthy, calm, flirtatious, creative, mysterious...the essence of who we are defined, just by a few meters of cloth. No small thing, is it?

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Map Your Style with a Style Vision Board

In my book, Fall is the unofficial start of the New Year. The magazines are the thickest, trend forecasters are in high gear, and you get that familiar ‘coming back after summer vacation’ feeling...


Naturally, it’s a perfect time to think about what really works for your personal style. What will make you excited to get dressed in the morning? What ideas do you love right now, and which would you want to retire? What will forward your personal style goals? The question is: ”What’s really me?”

A Style Vision Board can help organize your thoughts and remind you of how you’d like your personal style to look. Here’s what you need:

  • A big pile of current magazines
  • A pair of scissors
  • A glue stick
  • A big piece of blank paper or cardstock

First, tear out all the pages that show clothing that piques your interest. Don’t worry if you’ve never worn the style or colour before, we’re looking for possibilities! Take a little break, perhaps for a day or two, come back to those photos and narrow them down to the ones you really, truly love. Use them to build a collage that will tun into your Style Vision Board!

Check out these Style Vision Boards for two very different Style Types:

Rocker Queen!Fashion Trends & Styles - Polyvore
Eclectic IndividualismFashion Trends & Styles - Polyvore

Fashion Trends & Styles - Polyvore

Next, take your Style Vision Board to your closet with you and take a look inside. Pull out some of your accessories, your hosiery, and shoes. Are there new combinations of items hanging in your closet that would fit this new vision for Fall? Try them on and see how they feel! Would one or two new items really complete your new look? Create a Shopping List! You're on your way to seeing your ideal style come alive!

Finally, post your Style Vision Board up where you will have access to it on a regular basis. A Style Vision Board is only as useful as your line of vision to it!

Fashionably Yours,


Tamara