Fifty colours. That’s exactly how many are in my Absolute Colour System palette swatches. And they are a great guide to the 50 000 you could potentially wear. And you’ll look gorgeous when you wear them. But it can feel overwhelming at times when shopping for your wardrobe. It’s hard to build a wardrobe around…
You Bought It for a Woman Who Doesn’t Exist Yet Go and open your wardrobe. Not metaphorically, actually go and look. Somewhere in there, I’d put money on it, is a garment with the tags still on or never worn. Something a size down from where you are. Something for the gallery opening you don’t…
How to Express a Style That Is Functional, Genuine and Unique A lovely reader emailed me: how do I express a style that is functional, genuine and unique? It’s a great question, and it has a slightly annoying answer. You have to go back to the beginning. Not to the shops, not to your wardrobe,…
“I’ve Retired, But My Casual Clothes Are Still Boring” A reader recently asked me a question I hear all the time from women who’ve just left the working world behind: after years of dressing for business, how do I actually express my personal style now that “casual” is all I need? You don’t even need…
You Didn’t Fall in Love With That Dress. Your Nucleus Accumbens Did There’s a moment in a shop that we all treat as sacred. You’re walking past a rail, not really looking, and something stops you. You reach out. You hold it up. And you get that small internal lift, the one that says Oh.…
Why Do I Look Frumpy? The Real Culprits (And How to Fix Them) “Why do I look so frumpy today?” A reader wrote and told me that that’s how she feels in many of her outfits. If you’ve ever caught your reflection and thought exactly that, I want you to know it isn’t a mystery.…
If You’re a Shopaholic With “Nothing to Wear.” Here’s What’s Actually Going On. “I’m a shopaholic, yet I feel like I have nothing to wear, and it gives me anxiety because I have too much stuff.” This was emailed to me by one of my lovely readers. If that sentence made you wince a little…
Why You Packed a Hat and Never Wore It (And What To Do Differently Next Trip) A reader recently wrote to me with a confession I suspect a lot of you share. She’d packed a hat for her trip, a good one, chosen specifically for sun protection. It came home unworn. Why? Because nobody else…
What are the key wardrobe basics I need? Type this question into Google and you’ll get the same answer fifty times over: a white shirt, dark jeans, a trench coat, a little black dress, nude heels. Pin it, buy it, you’re sorted. Except you’re not, because that list was written for nobody in particular. It…
Do You Actually Suit Prints? (It’s Not a Matter of Taste — It’s a Matter of Physics) “I find prints tricky, I’m not sure about finding my preferred shapes and colours when trends don’t necessarily reflect them. My daughter says I should just wear solid colours and neutrals, but I like some prints,” wrote a…
A delightful reader wrote to me with this query: “I can’t believe that it’s now been about 10 years since I started reading the blog and taking all of the programs and masterclasses, and I would still say that it’s some of the best money I’ve ever spent! “I turned 60 in March, and maybe…
You’ve probably experienced this without quite naming it. You put on an outfit that’s perfectly “fine” – good fit, flattering colour, nothing technically wrong – and yet it feels a little flat. Then, on another day, you wear something with just a hint of sheen… and suddenly everything feels more elevated. Not overdressed. Not flashy.…
I have been asked this question so many times I could answer it in my sleep. And honestly? That tells you everything. If “business casual” were actually clear, nobody would need to ask. Here’s the uncomfortable truth. “Business casual” and “smart casual” are not dress codes. They are dress code suggestions written by people who…
Lois wrote to me recently with something I hear all the time: “I’ve got too many clothes and I love them all. I need to donate more and I can’t seem to cull them out.” Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Wardrobe overwhelm is one of the most common things my clients come to me with,…
I had a question from Margie recently that I suspect a lot of you will relate to. She’s a Classic style personality living in Texas, where summer temperatures sit in the high 90s to low 100s Fahrenheit, which is roughly high 30s to low 40s Celsius for everyone else. She wanted to know: how do…
You’d think finding a pair of comfortable pants would be straightforward. Something you can move in, bend in, sit on the floor in… and still feel like yourself in. But if you’ve ever stood in a fitting room wondering why everything either feels good or looks good – but never both – you’ll know it’s…
In our Top 10 Most Googled Style Questions, the next on our list is “How Can I Dress More Confidently and Powerfully?” It’s an interesting question, as research on confidence suggests that it comes from action and building skill. This is why just following the style formula of someone else, who is not you, won’t…
You don’t actually need more clothes. What you need is a wardrobe that works harder for you. A wardrobe full of clothes that work seamlessly together, rather than separate outfits that you can’t split. Because more clothes rarely solve the problem. They usually make it harder to see all your options, even though having those…
The Wardrobe Problem Nobody Warned You About Nobody tells you, when you are building a career, that you will spend a significant portion of your professional life trying to solve a problem that has no official name. It sits somewhere between “what should I wear to work?” and something considerably more complicated, something closer to:…
Following on in our deep dive into the most commonly Googled style questions is “What are the latest fashion trends and how do I wear them?” It’s an interesting question: as fashion trends change, the older we get, the less aware we often are of them. Yet how we are perceived can be influenced by…
You do not need a wardrobe full of shoes to create stylish, cohesive outfits. In fact, having too many options often makes getting dressed harder, not easier. What matters far more is choosing the right shoes that work across multiple outfits and occasions. When you understand how to match your shoes to your outfit using…
