When you’re out shopping and deciding whether or not you should bring home a new item. How do you know it’s a winner and will earn a place in your wardrobe? Or is it just going to end up as clutter that fills up your precious space? This is a really important step to take…
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…
Whenever I visit London (and I realised on the way over on the plane – in that 24 hours that is such fun in a tin tube – that it’s been 16 years since I was last here), I love to visit Liberty of London – just off Regent Street in Central London – as…
In this podcast episode, Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe and I discuss how solid garments can still be classed as heroes. Not all statement (hero) items are prints, so what other elements of garments can be heroes and how can you tell the difference between a hero print and an interest print. Which Kind…
The era of disposable fashion is coming to a close (well I really hope so), that buy it, wear it once or twice, then throw it out fashion that has been rampant in what is known as the “junior market” (that is the young women’s fashion 16 – 25 age market). And I believe that…
Have you ever thought about whether you are a hunter or a gatherer when it comes to your shopping style? In this podcast episode (yes it was a very fuzzy video), Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe and I discuss how the concept of hunting and gathering from ancient times is still an applicable idea…
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…
Inside Out Style Reader Question Online shopping tips, please! How to get a good enough match with the colour in the palette from Imogen as each of the colours in the swatch has their own names; can I use it for online shopping? This is a tricky one – sadly there is not a fabulous…
Sponsored by Godfreys Welcome to my studio, come inside and I’ll show you around as I road test the Vorwerk Kobold VK200 Upright Vacuum Since you’re coming over, I thought I’d better just give the place a quick tidy up! Welcome to Inside Out Style Headquarters Today I thought I’d share with you a…
The 7 Words to Listen For That Tell You To Definitely Not Buy a Garment Beware, next time you’re in the store changing room, trying on some clothes and want to know if the colour is right or wrong … How often have you been trying on something in a store and the ever ‘helpful’…
Sponsored by Airpufs I have a reasonably sized shoe collection (my husband would say large, I say reasonable) which I’ve gradually acquired over many, many years (actually I still have two pairs of shoes from the mid 90s). One of the reasons I have so many is that when I was about 19 years old…
Social media, Instagram in particular, is changing the way many women consume clothing. This is the topic of discussion with Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe in our video. The ubiquitous outfit photo that is posted daily on Instagram creates a pressure to turn over your wardrobe, or just acquire more and more new items…
From stocking stuffers and Kris Kringle/Secret Santa/White Elephant gifts to useful and desirable things for your family and friends (or even something to hint at for others to give you. I’ve been looking around to find fun and fabulous gifts to give. Where To Buy Gifts Under $10 Unicorn pencil case Egg separator Leopard scarf…
How can you love everything in your wardrobe that much more? Is it even possible? In this video, Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe and I discuss a technique to make sure that what you buy is what you love, so that you do feel excited and inspired by your wardrobe each day. Use the…
Op Shops, as they are known in Australia, Thrift stores as they may be known outside of this wide brown land, are a fantastic place to find clothes and accessories. Why is this? Well not everything is tired, worn out and old (yes there is some of that) as so many people have unworn garments…
Before I purchase anything (in fact before I even bother to try it on, as I don’t get naked if it’s not got some chance of working), I always, always, always check the label on the clothes for: Fibre content Care instructions Why is this? Well I know that some fabrics pill easily (you know…
Shopping professionally for a living (and having done it as a hobby since I was a teenager) I’ve got a lot of experience in this area. There are many “high street” or “chain stores” that you can find at every mall. And sure they are useful to find some basics, it’s often much harder to…
In this video discussion with Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe we delve into a reader’s question on the topic of wardrobing and budgeting for “control people”. Jill relates to being a “control person” (aka control freak) in having a sense of stability in knowing exactly where everything is and exactly But you don’t need…
Say “Aye!” if you are frustrated by shopping because what looks great on a hanger doesn’t look great when you get it into the change rooms and try it on your body? We are led to believe that all women LOVE shopping. That all we want to do is shop til we drop, day after…
Is All Fashion Frippery? Is fashion shallow? Is caring about what you wear unimportant? Is buying clothes wasteful? We have to wear clothes as we don’t live in a nudist society. There is so much diversity in the human race and in cultures, yet we all wear clothes. So why is fashion demonised so much?…
Fashion trends, they are something you may love or hate or just not care about. One aspect of fashion trends is how much you buy into the trend for fashion’s sake or ignore them for the sake of figure flattery. Fashion Trends vs Figure Flattery In this video with Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe,…
