Strategic Style
Welcome
Welcome to "Strategic Style". Unlike most fashion blogs. it doesn’t spotlight how great I look in the hottest seasonal trends. I occasionally use my clothes as examples, but this blog isn’t about ME - or about trends either.
It’s about YOU, and classic design principles to determine wardrobe choices that showcase the fabulous things about you. Then you'll shop strategically, dress effortlessly and feel confident about your appearance no matter your lifestyle, age, size or budget.
It is the clothes’ responsibility to make YOU look good -- not the other way around. You'll look best in clothes and accessories that have “points of connection” to you. The more characteristics in common between you and your clothes, the more fabulous you'll look. Your stuff will look classier too, based on that repetition.
Things that connect with you also connect with one another, creating more mix-and-match than you ever imagined. Shop less, spend less and feel great about how you look every day. Put wardrobe issues on the back burner and head out the door every day with confidence to play your special role in the world! Welcome aboard!
My cutie-pie husband says (about our past dating lives, but it applies here I promise) “You figure out what you want by figuring out what you don’t want.” In wardrobe terms, we’ll be setting up a system of filters over the coming weeks, identifying your optimal clothing choices by ruling out things that aren’t so right. Last week’s exercise was the first filter – defining the things you want to move away from in your wardrobe. So let’s start this week by getting them out of your closet … and your drawers and shelves and storage boxes under the bed ….
continue reading ...Even though we’ll do more weeding out in future lessons, this is the ideal time to define a system for keeping your clothes organized and accessible. Here’s the process I use when I work with a private client: Step 1 – Get everything that isn’t clothing out of your closet. No more luggage, gift wrap, tennis rackets … nothing but clothes and accessories.
continue reading ...I’ve been reading the book “The Slight Edge” about the power of small changes sustained over time. And thinking about how it applies to our wardrobe and appearance. Makeovers you see in magazines and TV shows are usually a great showcase for the skills of a hair colorist, stylist and makeup artist. Before & After photos are dramatic, but the lasting impact for the woman is negligible at best. By contrast, small changes are relatively easy for a woman to do – nothing huge and dramatic- but cumulatively they add up to a sustained boost in confidence and a wardrobe that really…
continue reading ...Step 4 in our Instant Update series is: Opt for Better Underwear. Your clothes can only look as good as the shape your undergarments create inside them. Your first step may well be replacing a worn-out or ill-fitting bra with one that gives you the smooth, proportional, lifted look that makes the most of your figure.
continue reading ...
Melissa’s company hired me to update the image of their client-facing staff. She arrived that day in a too-long skirt, too-long sleeves and boxy shirt — all of which dragged her look downward — and drab colors that drained her bright coloring…
continue reading ...