Rebecca's Style Makeover

The Style Makeover Brief

Rebecca After Makeup Lesson

Rebecca contacted me to help her develop the appearance aspect of her excutive presence. She often felt too her clothing was too casual for her role as a corporate executive and wanted to appear more co-ordinated and stylish.

The first thought I had is that I'd be helping her find nice suits. However, as Rebecca explained her fascinating and rather unusual work I realised that working with her would provide a rather different and interesting challenge!

Rebecca works as a graphic facilitator helping organisations express their ideas and business solutions as visual images. Her role involves a lot of travel, working with clients around the globe. So it's especially important that her work wardrobe is a capsule of just the right pieces that mix-and-match and can be layered to suit the various climates of the places she works in.

Her business trips involve setting up conference rooms with the working surface she and her team need to work on. Breaking down that set up. And the 'gig' itself -- using coloured marker pens to create the art work, sometimes up a ladder, or lying on the floor! There may also be various business meetings and dinners with clients.

The Style Makeover Summary

I recommended Rebecca use my 'Upgrade Your Style' package. This includes:

• An initial style discovery session to work out Rebecca's style criteria (that is, her best colours, her body shape and how she wants to look)
• A wardrobe audit for the upcoming season
• A shopping session
• A follow-up wardrobe session to show her how to wear the items she bought

Now that Rebecca is comfortable working with me we'll do another seasonal update next season to complete the first iteration of her style transformation. From here she can either continue with her own seasonal updates, or continue to use my wardrobe and shopping services.

Rebecca's style criteria

During the style discovery session we identified Rebecca's style words (see image above). These words represent how she wants to look and be perceived.

We found that her colouring is Warm and Muted (aka Warm Autumn) -- this is also my colouring. So her hair colouring is a few shades too dark and too cool -- she'll change that over time.

Her horizontal body shape is triangle, so we need to balance her shoulder width to her hips to create the illusion of an hourglass figure. Her vertical shape is balanced and she's on the taller end of medium height.

My assessment

Rebecca already had good instincts for dressing to flatter her shape, although she'd become a bit too restrictive in her choices. She was also on the right track for the types of clothes she was wearing for her setup and 'gig' work from a practical perspective, but lacked the knowledge to create stylish outfits in clothes that portrayed her level of professional competence and artistic skills.

The main areas she needed help with were understanding her best colours, knowing where to shop, and ideas for adding style and interest to her outfits -- especially accessorising.

In her wardrobe I found a sea of black and a large wardrobe of colourful Converse shoes. Her feet were pretty much the only area where she was expressing her personality! However, I did find one lovely green and cream scarf in her colours and a fun navy and soft white blazer (interestingly her bathroom towels were also in her colours!). No wonder Rebecca didn't like her clothes.

We worked out a shopping list together for her Autumn/Winter work wardrobe. I recommended she move away from an over-reliance on Converse shoes at work -- they really aren't corporate enough (even in Rebecca's unusual situation). I also recommended she take a makeup lesson from my recommended makeup artist Petrina Milas of Studio Petrina Milas. There's no need to wear much makeup, but it is good to use a little to even skin tone, add definition and create a more polished professional look.

The results

We found Rebecca some lovely clothes and accessories in colours and styles that suit her style criteria and her work environment. She's loving her new colours and now enjoys shopping for clothes. There were a couple of items on her shopping list that we didn't find during our shopping trip (mainly pants in flattering styles and colours) and she's now managed to find these during a recent trip to the US.

Below are a few of the outfits we created in our follow-up wardrobe session. (Please excuse my photos!)

1. Rebecca in New Favourite Jacket (before sleeve alteration)
2. Rebecca in 'Gig' Outfit
3. Rebecca in Setup Outfit (she'd use more covered shoes)

(The dark colour clothing in these photos is actually navy. As you can see these are not professional photos!)

The Style Makeover Experience

Here is Rebecca's feedback about her style makeover experience...

Before choosing my style makeover services...

Q: What encouraged you to look for style makeover services?

A: I had lost confidence in choosing clothes and ended up in a rut, buying cheap, plain clothes that were often too big or just let me hide. My job requires casual clothing but I was feeling scruffy and uncoordinated, so I wanted to elevate my outfits and look more put together, but I didn't know where to start. I also wasn't sure what colours or shapes worked for me as I was not able to realistically look at myself in the mirror and assess what I saw.

Q: Do you remember how you first heard about my services?

A: I did a lot of research online before choosing you.

Q: What were your major objectives at this stage?

A: To understand colour and shapes for me, and to get a work wardrobe that would help me feel more confident.

Q: What alternatives did you consider (if any) and why?

A: I did initially go to David Jones for a stylist session but it was not a success. They were an hour late, and then told me that they didn't stock clothes in my size (14 or 16) because they were more fashion forward or mother of the bride. I came away feeling a bit crushed!

Q: Why did you choose me?

A: From looking at the website I understood that:

• You had a process
• You were generous with your knowledge and helping people to find their best looks You understood colour very well
• You were not a one size fits all solution - there were lots of different clients on your website and that was encouraging as I knew my case was a bit unusual re my job requirement
• You looked friendly and wore nice clothes and makeup in your pictures
• The videos were very human -- not glossy and unreal
• From our conversation on the phone I understood that:
  • You were a good listener
  • You had a process
  • That you would strive to provide value
• That you would embrace the challenge!

Q: What were the major attractions of the solution?

A: All of the above. I was very put off by some of the other sites I saw, where people were a bit plastic looking.

What was your experience of working with me?

Q: Tell me how you felt going through the style makeover process?

A: At first, I was quite nervous but you put me at ease and I enjoyed each phase, from the homework right through to the wardrobe integration.

Q: What were your expectations? And were they met?

A: I hoped we would be able to find a workable wardrobe and yes, we did.

Q: What are my strengths?

A: You are a good listener and I think you work very hard to find the right thing for the individual, it all felt very personal and customised to me.

Q: What are my weaknesses?

A: I can't think of any.

Q: Would you use my services again?

A: Yes, and have recommended you already to colleagues.

Q: What advice would you give to others who are considering reviewing and improving their image?

A: Don't be afraid, it is actually quite a liberation -- I feel like I have let a lot go since going through this process.

What did I achieve for you?

Rebecca in Flattering Colours

Q: What are the major benefits after your style makeover?

A: A comfortable, practical wardrobe that suits me and that I am more confident in -- so I feel more integrated at work.

Q: What will you do now that you were not doing before?

A: Oh my goodness, I am shopping and enjoying it!

Q: On a scale of 10 (excellent) to 1 (extremely poor) how do you rate your experience with me?

A: 10

Q: What further services are you considering?

A: I need help with what to wear when it is very hot.

Q: Would you refer and recommend me?

A: Yes

Q: Do you have any other feedback or comments for me?

A: I have a couple of pieces I am struggling with a little, but will keep persevering.[Jane: I've since spoken with Rebecca about these and made suggestions, and noted comments for future shopping trips]

I have had a lot of comments such as:

• You look well, especially seeing as you have been travelling so much
• You look different but I am not sure why
• That colour is really working for you

I am keen to build up my wardrobe and am holding myself back a bit so that I don't go crazy and buy everything in sight that is my colour, but that is a good place to be in comparison to how it was before.

It DOES truly feel like a liberation to wear colour and I look at my old stuff that I am hanging on to and I just don't want to even look at it.

I have been able to play more with scarves and accessories, and that has been fun.

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