To answer this question, it’s probably best that I share with you a defining moment, and a resulting story that brought me to where I am today – coaching people like you on exactly what to do to be modern, confident and effortlessly stylish in midlife.
Read MoreMove over joggers - it’s the post-lockdown dress show!
The check list for clothes over the last year has been something like: comfort, warmth and ease with a dash of top half professional garb.
Personally, I love a jogger and won’t be packing my trusty best friends away; but I’m so ready to embrace the dress and a new way of dressing. The dress says: joy, celebration, fun and freedom - yet, it can also be comfortable, warm and easy too.
So, here are some tips to get the most out of your dresses - how to layer them up for British spring weather and how to style them for the easing of lockdown and those first social events.
Read MoreGetting ready for a date can be stressful enough without worrying about what you are going to wear - but luckily help is at hand to relieve those ‘what to wear’ anxieties; leaving you feeling confident with just the date to focus on.
Whether your date is a country walk, a coffee or an evening meal at a posh restaurant; the number one rule is to be comfortable and number two is to be yourself!
Read MoreWith new beginnings and warmer days ahead, spring is the ideal time to purchase an outfit changing, wardrobe enhancing, spanking new pair of white trainers.
Join the white trainer gang and find your perfect pair. Here are my top 6 choices (links in text) of the white trainers currently available on the ‘online’ high street; with tips, style hacks and ways to wear!
Ready for Spring/Summer?
Sitting here snuggled up in a cosy roll neck jumper, I’m nowhere near ready to wear summer clothes but I am ridiculously excited to uncover the delights of the season ahead.
Knowing the trends and colours up front allows me to; rediscover pieces in my wardrobe, create new outfit combos, put together a considered wish list and therefore shop the coming season successfully.
So, what are the brand new trends, the must-have items and the colours we’ll all be wearing this season?
Read MoreMy mission is to help real women, confidently express themselves everyday because I know that how you look, becomes how you feel - which can either set you up for success that day or knock you down flat.
A functional wardrobe, tailored to your needs and lifestyle, that mixes and matches easily; will allow you to create strong outfits - daily. The key ingredients required to master the ‘functional wardrobe’ are wardrobe essentials! You can own a vast wardrobe of expensive clothes but without the core basics you’re stuck when it comes to putting outfits together with ease.
Here are the top 5 wardrobe essentials that you need to make your wardrobe functional.
Read MoreA killer pair of leather or pleather (faux leather) trousers are the ultimate wardrobe essential this season. However, with the look being notoriously tricky to pull off, how do you find the perfect pair to suit your shape?
There is lots to love, when you find the right pair for you. They are sexy yet classy, ageless yet funky and smart yet casual. Easy coordination (they go with everything like a leather jacket does) and versatility (you can dress them up with a heel or down with trainers) make it clear, why the leather (faux or real) trouser has been elevated way beyond a passing trend, to become a ‘must-have’ wardrobe staple.
What style for what shape?
Check out the links to my favourite leather and pleather styles for each body shape and find the perfect pair for you!
Read MoreWhen I was 15, I had a purple teddy coat with large black spots. Sounds disgusting - right?
But I loved that coat and wore it until it was thread bare and out of fashion. And now teddy coats (not purple ones with black spots- it was the eighties!) are back on trend. So, when I saw a teal blue, long line, single breasted one on Zara’s website, I hurried it into my basket and couldn’t wait till it arrived!
But how do you choose the perfect winter coat for you?
Read MoreThe half-tuck, also know as the French tuck, is probably the most famous style trick there is; yet somehow it is shrouded in mystery. You’ve either never heard of it, know about it but don’t really know how to do it or wonder how you ever dressed without it. One thing is for sure; once you start, you won’t stop! And - you’ll suddenly see it EVERYWHERE.
The secret is out - here’s how to master the half-tuck?
Read MoreIt’s not just lockdown that has us reaching for our gym leggings in the morning. Lots of us live in our gym kits (even if we don’t make it to the gym) because it’s easy. So why not do it with conviction, make it stylish and let it carry you through the whole day. If you look good, you feel good. Style sparks creativity, good mood, drive and confidence! You might just be motivated to do that work out! Here are my 5 steps on how to give your gym kit a work out!
Read MoreAs a personal stylist you might assume that I’ve always known how to dress. Truth is - I haven’t! I’ve always loved fashion, fabrics, print and colour, but putting outfits together with ease that suit me and my shape perfectly, is a newly acquired skill!
Once you know your individual shape and can recognise all your best bits (we’re quite bad at that) and your ‘not-so’ good bits (we’re brilliant at that) you can start dressing for YOU! Dressing to and knowing your body shape is a secret, I wish I’d known years ago. Why? Here are 5 reasons knowing your body shape is so powerful.
Read MoreWhen Covid-19 first arrived, fashion was the last thing on our minds and any thoughts about clothes felt indecorous and foolish in the circumstances.
But as lockdown eases and we emerge from our nests with unruly hair and a few extra pounds we need energised and motivated. Looking forward and setting our sights on better times can be hugely cathartic.
Therefore, I’m embracing the Autumn/Winter 20/21 trends rather than the Summer trends, that have been absorbed under a Corona cloud, even though it was blisteringly hot last week and it feels like summer has just arrived.
So, looking forward to fresh beginnings and an uplifting new season - What’s on the menu?
Read MoreSummer trends have become a bit redundant with 4 months of in-store shopping time vanished forever. Although the majority of brands have a strong on-line presence the inability to physically shop has resulted in the fashion shopping process being stunted. The ‘trickle-down’ theory from catwalk to customer never really got going.
So, now that shops are open, what to look for?
My advice is to shop under the following 3 headings, to avoid random buys, unworn mistakes and to set you up for the exciting Autumn/Winter season ahead.
Read MoreAt the beginning of lock down, we slipped into old joggers, pulled on comfy jumpers and rejoiced in not having to make an effort. But as time has sped along - Winter has turned to Summer and working from home with video calls has become the norm - our wardrobe needs have changed. Our usual go-to pieces are no longer suitable and we are now left with fresh wardrobe dilemmas.
You want to arrive at a Zoom meeting, making the best impression you can, just as you would in a regular face to face scenario. Even more so in some instances, as we have a smaller window in which to perform. So, what should we be wearing?
Read MoreChristmas has been and gone, new year resolutions made and the decorations neatly packed back in their boxes.
So.. What’s to look forward to? Until the fresh treats of Spring 2020 hit the shop floors, we have the January Sales to feast on. However tackling unkempt rails with depleted sizes and manoeuvring retailers’ clever marketing tricks can be a daunting task.
Do you find yourself buying things randomly, simply because they claim to be 50% off?
But how do you shop the sales? What pieces should you look for? What should you avoid? And how do you find those bargain gems?
Follow my ten step guide to shopping the sales and bag yourself great pieces that you’ll actually wear- a lot!
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When I was in my twenties, I was in awe of my big sister’s best friend. She was confident, sassy, bright and simply super cool. During a lunch that turned into a boozy red wine session (she was a wine buff too) she told me that she suffered from depression.
Later that same night, sitting in the best spot in the pub (advantage of having been there all day) in cocooning leather armchairs, swirling wine in fish bowl glasses, together we came up with the Triangle Theory. OK, it was probably mainly her, but I lit her cigarettes and poured the wine to enable her to do so…
I’ve used this theory throughout my life, adjusting and adding to it and relying on it to bring me a sense of calm during hard times.
It goes like this:
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The leaves are turning and crisping into shades of russet, ochre and mahogany, signalling that my favourite season is upon us!! ….And it is one of two contrasting sides. On one team, there is Minimalism and on the other Flounce and Sequin.
I’ll be backing both teams and attempting a bit of fusion of the two. I’m thinking; an ivory lace sequinned blouse under a grey flannel blazer with distressed jeans and a high gold pump or a bohemian silk midi dress under a fitted waistcoat with 70’s knee high boots.
So, what are the key trends this season and which ones will you fall for?
Read MorePacking and prepping for a holiday is all part of the fun for me. A bit like, how getting ready for a big night out was, as a teenager. The pre-party; putting make up on and the trying on sessions were often a lot better than the ‘tennis disco’ itself!
Do you find yourself doing any of the following:
Returning home with a suitcase full of unworn clothes?
Packing everything summery you have?
Trying on lots of different options whilst on holiday and end up wearing the really nice dress you wore the first night?
Do you take things that you wouldn’t be seen dead in at home?
If you want to pack a smaller case, wear almost everything, have an outfit for all occasions and never struggle with what to wear, follow my 8 step guide to efficient, fun holiday packing:
Read MoreIm discovering that for the vast majority of us; the panic of what to wear to an event, can over-shadow the enjoyment of the occasion itself.
I witness the terrors that a lot of people experience at the thought of shopping, or should I say, the thought of having to find something/anything to wear, that hopefully, ‘fingers-crossed;’ they look good in!
Usually, it would be the other way around, the client writing a review or testimonial of their styling session with me. But I felt compelled to write about my recent shopping trip, to share these fears and to demonstrate that help is at hand, and that it needn't be a daunting task. Shopping can be a spirited, confidence building experience.
Looking good isn’t a lottery; it’s a skill! But, luckily there is a formula to finding clothes that fit, flatter and showcase the best ‘you’.
Read MoreMy book club is the craziest thing- no one reads the book!
It is strictly non-fiction (that’s a rule but reading the book isn’t!) which explains the madness somewhat as it makes it easy to read a chapter here and there and still be united by the essence of a book club.
At this month’s club, after a catch up on life and a few glasses of wine (let’s face it, that is the real substance of most book clubs) with much shock, we actually started discussing a chapter in Norah Ephron’s, “I feel bad about my neck” In the chapter entitled - “What I wish I’d known”, number eleven on her list is;
“Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of thirty-five you will be nostalgic for by the age of forty-five”
What do you wish you’d known?
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