Imogen Lamport, AICI CIP, award-winning colour and style expert, creator of the Absolute Colour System and co-creator of 16 Style Types.
The O or apple shape is fairly common. To be an O shape your midsection needs to be wider than your hips and shoulders. It tends to appear in the post-menopausal woman, when estrogen is no longer produced in the same quantities, and many women thicken around their waists. An O is most likely to…
I was given this mem by the lovely La Belette Rouge, who writes the most entertaining blog. She does not love her town of L.A. but I do love mine. The rules are as follows: 1. Link back to the meme creator: Caz 2. Link to the person who tagged you: La Belette Rouge 3.…
This book is aimed at the over 45 woman, but really it’s for any woman, especially the over 30 who no longer feels the need to wear the latest fad whether it suits her or not. I’d have to say that this is one of the better image books on the market, it’s easy to…
So we’ve looked at all the physical aspects of fabric, but now lets take a look at your personality and how that may affect your choice of fabrics. Classic If you would describe your style as of the Classic variety, you will chose plain fabrics, or maybe a discreet pinstripe at most. You will like…
Another element of fabric is the pattern or print. How to choose one that works for you? One of the main influencers on which patterns we may choose is based on our personality, which I won’t get into on this post. But what I will go into here is how to choose a physically flattering…
Along with texture and drape, another element of fabric is the sheen. Some fabrics are matte – they don’t reflect light and appear to absorb light – these fabrics are the most SLIMMING fabrics as they don’t draw attention to your body. Which Fabric to Choose – Matte – Sheen – Shine Matte fabrics work…
What is Fabric Drape? Which kinds of fabrics should you look for? Why is this question even important? Doesn’t it just matter that the style suits your body shape? Sadly the answer is that you need to take into consideration both the drape of the fabric and the style – this is why people will…
Texture is one of the pieces of the Style Puzzle (body shape is one piece too, yet so much is written about body shape, people think it’s the whole puzzle, instead of just being a small element of the whole). Textured fabrics can be anything from lace to cable knits, devore velvet to quilted fabrics.What…
Reader’s question: “How to get the best fabric mixes when shopping for durability and comfort” There are a number of elements to fabric – texture, drape, sheen, pattern, dimension – and all need to be taken into consideration when being chosen for a garment. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – it’s…
Your wardrobe is a form of self-expression and allows you to be creative every day. It should reflect your personality, say something about who you are as a person and your values. If you choose to believe that ‘clothes are not important’ you are losing out – both creatively and also in taking charge of…
So the conference is over for another year, we all had a great time. I got to meet other lovely image consultants from all over Australia and New Zealand, chat and talk shop (cos it’s not like my husband is interested in talking about what facial features you really need to go for a pixie…
Busting the Black Myth In fashion magazine after fashion magazine you will read that essential in every woman’s wardrobe is a pair of black trousers and a Little Black Dress because both these garments are the most flattering and slimming you can find. They are of course aren’t they? I’m here to bust the…
This is the shape of models, very slim, which many would call boyish. Here are some ways to flatter your I shape body 1.For many, you may wish to add some curve to your body, to make it look more feminine. To do this, think about adding detail where the feminine normally curves – so…
A lovely reader mentioned she’d like some advice on how to find her perfect white for a wedding dress, so here is my guide, and I hope it helps both her and you. White is Not White Just like any colour (blue, green, pink) white just denotes a kind of colour, but not an exact…
To be a V shape, your shoulders need to be wider than your hips, by a good couple of inches. You may or may not have a waist, many V shapes have a shorter waist, if so, then use the tips from the H shape through your waist area – that is – no tucking,…
Now to the classic womanly shape of the A, which has the healthiest distribution of fat and the least likely to have heart disease (you lucky things!). The A shape woman has shoulders that are narrower than her hips/thighs, so you can check this by measuring both at their widest points and seeing if…
. . Your hips and shoulders are pretty much the same width (you can measure them if you’d like to check), but your waist measurement is less than 9″ smaller than your hip/shoulder measurements. So you don’t have a waist, and no matter how much dieting you do, you’re never going to have one.…
Defining the X (Hourglass) Shape The X shape body has shoulders and hips relatively the same size, and a defined waist. The widest part of the body is the thighs, not the bottom, when viewed from the front. This is a defining point in distinguishing between the two hourglass body shapes (8 and X) you can…
People seem to be obsessed with understanding what their body shape is, they feel that if they just knew that then they’d know exactly how to dress, unfortunately, body shape is only 1 element of dressing your body, there are also other considerations, such as body proportions, body variations (ie. big bust, petite, luscious bottom…
If you’re an A shape, 8 Shape or X shape and want to broaden your shoulders to make your hips look slimmer, here are a few styles to consider. What we’re using here is the rules of horizontal lines (that you can read about here.) If you want to make your hips look smaller,…
I’m scared, very very scared, when I see women wearing “mom jeans” down at the supermarket, I’ve always just assumed that they’re old, they’ve been in their closet for years and years, and that the poor old mom just hasn’t had time to go out and treat herself to a nice new pair of flattering…