I have found at 52 I no longer like the way prints look on me. Printed tops were once a significant part of my wardrobe, but as my hair and colouring have cooled they now overwhelm me. Can you explore the types of style changes one may need to make? What are the changed I…
Dear Imogen, I am a big fan of your contrast series. I had never known about this concept before, and often kept myself wondering why some particular outfit felt off to me – but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It all really boiled down to contrast levels! I am amazed that so few…
One question that popped up for me (and is something I’m asked about) when I wrote about the expected fashion lifespan of your wardrobe staples here, is how long can you expect a garment to really last – as far as it still looking good and wearing well – how long will your clothes really…
I have a question, that perhaps others ponder too: What is the “life expectancy” of various clothing items from a fashion point of view? (not considering washing and sun and piling and wear and tear). I am asking because it would help me and possibly others to find a balance in how many items I…
SPORTSWEAR/ HIKING WEAR etc: how to assemble small capsules of technical clothing for sporting activities, when shapes and colours are often very limited. What are the few things to do to adapt such clothes to ones own personality and needs? Long gone are the days when you wore a baggy old men’s (or promotional) tee…
Dresses and skirts are great alternatives to jeans and shorts (and athleisure wear) for in relaxed environments, yet so many women worry that they will be overdressed if they choose to wear these as dresses and skirts are often associated more with more formal attire. What to Look for When Choosing Dresses and Skirts for…
When deciding what to wear, one element of fabric choice is the texture. Choosing a texture relates to your own level of texture – smooth hair and skin – smooth fabric. Textured hair and/or skin – textured fabrics (see more about that here). When your skin and hair is smooth in texture, you will look…
How do you express yourself through your clothing? In this podcast with Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types, we discuss how personality influences clothing choices, and how we can use the personality dressing styles to express who we are. There are a variety of well-known personality dressing styles: Classic Relaxed/Casual/Natural Feminine/Romantic Creative/Innovative/Eclectic Dramatic/Bold Rebellious Elegant…
Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types and I have been asked to talk about wardrobe decluttering. Some of you may regularly declutter or edit your wardrobes (this is both my and Jill’s current approach, what you might call a ‘continuous assessment’ method), whilst others may do a larger spring clean every now and again. Jill…
I have a business casual workplace, but do a lot of travel, and have many formal meetings in countries like the US and Europe. So I have many shirts, blouses and Jersey tops, and wear them mainly with light trousers suitable for the warm climate in which I work, and also for travel and business…
How we can we honour our style recipes in a retail world where quality is low, prices are high and individuality is minimum? I live in NYC and many of the interesting boutiques are gone and most stores carry very similar inventory. Honouring Your Style in a Mass Market Retail World To feel truly stylish…
If you have a relaxed dressing style how do you still be yourself if you work in a corporate business environment? This is the topic of Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types and my podcast episode. Why are you expected to dress more formally anyway? Rather than consider corporate dress codes as an imposed restriction…
How to lighten up a colourful, but medium to dark wardrobe for low/medium contrast value. Help Please! If you have overall lighter colouring but you’ve got an overall darker wardrobe, and realise that to look your best you need to lighten up your outfits – but you only have a medium value contrast – how…
The eternal question that I get asked repeatedly, is how to make your outfits stylish, but still relaxed enough to suit your casual environment? And now let’s add another ingredient to this mix – that not everyone likes wearing jeans – so what to wear instead so you don’t look either over-dressed or sloppy and…
How to figure out your body type if you have a significant difference from the usual features. For example, I have very, very broad shoulders, a slight waist, medium hips from the front and a protruding bottom. If I do a body calculator, I come out as a pear or a ruler. I am neither.…
One of the questions that came up on my Inside Out Style Lounge Facebook group was how to add interest to your summer outfits when it’s too hot for layers. Many women find cooler weather dressing much easier than hot weather, as they can add layers easily for that “third piece” element. So what to wear…
Prints: I find I usually default to solids because there seems to be an overwhelming amount of considerations with a print (color and value contrasts, size, modernity, age appropriateness, straight/curved lines, connected or individual pattern…). For example: sizewise -flower prints generally look like I’m lost in the garden, but would calico be twee? I find…
I hate shopping now. I used to be a “good enough” buyer and now I know what I want and can’t find it. I’m not sure if I’m being too picky or not allocating enough time or not going to the right stores, but I’m frustrated at having needs I can’t fulfil. For example, I…
Answering readers questions about our process of thinking about what to wear each day, from the colours and how they impact, to our processes for choosing an outfit which we shared here and here, Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types and I have been asked to answer the question of how do you know when your…
How do your shoes communicate? What is the personality dressing style of your shoes? In this video with Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types, we discuss and show examples of different shoe styles and elements of shoes so you can learn how to interpret your shoes and what they are communicating. What are The Design…
Have you ever thought about how colours communicate? What is their mood and how does your mood influence the colours you choose? How about the energy of colours and what that expresses to the world? This is the topic of this video discussion with Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types. The Energy of Colour The…
