Weeding our your closet is a great idea — in theory. In practice, it can be tough deciding what should stay and what should go. So I wrote a blog post for professional organizer D. Allison Lee’s website on that very topic. Take a look! And while you’re there, leave a comment letting us know what you find most difficult about weeding out your clothes.
I love the idea of a uniform.
Not the nurse’s whites or fireman’s coveralls, but rather a go-to type of ensemble that makes you shine without giving you a lot of tsuris. That’s always been the appeal to me of Eileen Fisher, frankly, even before its aged-down rebranding attempt. There’s nothing wrong at all with reinventing your look every day — although ideally you dress with the same style vocabulary most of the time so that you are expressing your inside on the outside. But that approach can require a lot of planning and thinking, not to mention lots of closet space.
Which brings us to the idea of a uniform. It’s taken me a long time to hone mine, especially since I had basically no pressure to look any way at all during years of working from home. But these days, when I’m not meeting a client, my uniform is bootleg jeans (skinny only works if you’re, well, more skinny than not); some foundational layer — a cotton or silk camisole or a ribbed tank or, in cold weather, a long-sleeve T-shirt; fashion sneakers or ballet flats; and a long cardigan-type jacket or sweater.
One great piece can make an outfit
I usually add a fabulous bag and some great, signature pieces of jewelry (lately that’s included a giant ring with druzy agate that garners at least a couple compliments a day) and I’m done.
Meetings with clients aren’t that different, but I may swap out the jeans for a skirt and boots or some trousers instead. In fact, recently I’ve felt so good about the basic formula that even for going out I wear the same basic thing, but everything is just a little more silky or sparkly — the bag, jewelry, shoes, etc.
And that’s what drew me to this article about a woman’s first-date uniform, which she wore for a long time, so that even her friends joked about it. (She eventually went on second dates, presumably in different clothes, and then found true love.)
I love this idea that she found what worked for her and stuck with it. So the question is: What works for you? How did you identify the formula? How rigorously do you stick to it? Have you ever had one that worked only to decide, as time went on, that you’d outgrown that particular look? I’d love to hear about it. (Subscribe to the blog for ideas and tips designed to help you keep your uniform in line with your life.)
Post-recession skincare
I am not a beauty product devotee. (For a great blog by someone who is, visit Closet of Style.) I’m not immune to great packaging and branding, though. For many years I seriously loved Kiehl’s, the no-frills-yet-pricy, European-seeming skin-care brand. (Its history actually reaches back to Kiehl Pharmacy, in New York, circa 1850.)
But I digress.
With the recession, I switched to, yes, drugstore brands for most skincare stuff (I’ve never been able to break the habit with makeup). So maybe it’s a sign of the times that I’ve recently fallen in love with a super-rich moisturizer called, foolishly, Skin Nanny, from Lush, which definitely doesn’t have a drugstore price tag.
Then this weekend I saw something, I thought in the Times, that really got my interest: Midnight Recovery Concentrate, from Kiehl’s.
Love the blue bottle, love the eye dropper in the bottle’s lid, love the name.
Love the product.
As the saleswoman told me, I really needed just two drops, one for each side of my face. Because it’s winter and my skin is dry and, well, aging, I then layered the Skin Nanny on top, as the saleswoman suggested I could do if I had very dry skin.
No miracles — I’m still not 25 anymore — but several hours later, even with makeup on, my skin still feels moist and supple.
Let’s hope the economy really is on the upswing, because I’m not sure there’s any going back.
Today I arranged a special shopping trip for a few special friends, the three women who have supported, advised, and otherwise helped me as I get my image consulting business off the ground. (One more thank-you, J., L., and A.) For our outing we went to the just-opened Anthropologie in Friendship Heights, DC.
Envisioning a New You
It was a really fun time. But possibly the most interesting thing happened when one saleswoman came out of an employee-only room and I spotted a bunch of pictures pinned to the wall in artful patterns. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find out much about what they were, but I did learn that the store managers create collages to inform and inspire the other employees about the current season’s trends.
I’ve thought a lot about collages recently and I love creating them, possibly because although I’m a very visual person, for much of my life I’ve been mostly a word person. I adore a pair of scissor and a bunch of magazines. (The collage shown here is one I did to show at a recent workshop, and it’s a peek into what I love about the Spring 2010 trends.)
In my work with clients, I encourage them to locate images (and words, too, for that matter) that speak to them. The idea is to rip them out of magazines or newspapers without giving the matter much thought — this has to be an instinctual thing. The resulting collection of images represent our unconscious speaking to us about who we are and how we want to perceived, and we have to look and listen.
Start by ripping images from magazines or any other source of visual images. (And don’t limit yourself to fashion magazines; you can find inspiration in garden or home design or car magazines — pretty much anything! Because you’re looking for color, line, and other visual signifiers of your own personal style.)
(Note: I have recently seen some collages on stiff black paper, and although there’s not a thing wrong with the white board I used here, the black looks nicer. Any art supply or craft store will have it.)
I made the mistake of telling a friend the other day that it had been a really cold winter so far (where I live, in Washington, DC). The mistake? The friend is a fairly literal person, evidently: He pointed out that, in fact, winter has just started.
No matter. Fashion people are already jumping on the best spring trends. Normally I am not quite that far ahead of myself — it’s still January, after all. But a couple spring trends have really caught my eye. One is the pale pastels, like buff, that we’re going to see a lot of. (More on that in a future post.) Another is the whole utilitarian trend. I love it! It’s versatile enough to work for any age woman and any type of lifestyle or complexion.
What I’ve shown here would suit someone with warmer skin tones, but you could easily adapt it for a cooler complexion. The aqua shoes give the outfit a little pop, and the bracelet is an ornate cuff of the kind we’ll be seeing a lot off this spring. (And mine from Anthropologie just arrived in the mail a little while ago — can’t wait to test-drive it!)
So be bold: Preview spring in the magazines and catalogues that’ll be landing on your doorstep any day now, and pick something to try that’s a little outside your comfort zone and spring-ready. Winter won’t last forever.
Click to sign up for my newsletter and get '101 Ways to Look Your Best'
Contact me for a free get-acquainted session:
Ketura@TheWardrobeWorkshop.com
202.352.7120
