A lovely reader asked if I could do a post on wearing Red – as she bought a pair of red shoes in Paris, and was thinking that maybe they looked a bit ‘clownish’ – so here are some tips. Red comes in many guises From bright to dusky, from warm to cool, light…
How can you help others hear your message and be taken seriously in the workplace when the traditional business colours (dark cool neutrals in a high contrast with a light top) don’t suit you, either because your overall ideal value is light and dark colours look heavy, or you are high colour contrast and you…
In This Video Do different women need more simple outfits and patterns, others more complex outfits and patterns? How does someone with a medium to dark ideal value assemble a warm-weather wardrobe that doesn’t wash them out? What are some guidelines on wearing dresses over pants? Choosing Patterns and Textures T is for Texture…
The appeal of minimalist dressing, especially for intelligent, high-achieving women, lies in its promise: fewer choices, less overwhelm, and more trust in your own taste. A streamlined wardrobe isn’t about owning less for the sake of austerity. It’s about owning the right garments for you. The right colours, the right shapes, the right textures –…
The ageing process changes many aspects of your life, from body, to lifestyle and how you approach style. And then of course there is colouring too, which is the topic of the video in this post as Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types and I discuss how colouring changes with the ageing process (and show…
Time constraints can make it challenging to curate and coordinate outfits that work well together. If you’re looking for strategies to streamline your outfit coordination despite a busy schedule and recent wardrobe changes, here are some actionable tips to help you efficiently put together outfits that work for your current lifestyle and body shape 1.…
Brights Bright accessories pack a punch and work in a really exciting way to make your neutrals work in a whole new way. Look for a bright statement bag or shoe to create some zing. Alternatively think about adding in some block colour to your neutrals, try green and pink together with navy, red and…
As many readers are curious about what their colour contrast levels are, I’ve posted these celebrity examples to give you some clues on your colouring. Monochromatic – Low Colour Contrast Monochromatic means one (mono) chroma (colour) – so, in essence, means just one colour at a time. Gwen Stefani with your brown…
I recently read this quote from writer and designer Edith Wharton, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, on what causes old age: “The producer of old age is habit: the deathly process of doing the same thing in the same way at the same hour day after day, first from carelessness, then…
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…
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…
Accessories can be a great way of adding contrast in your outfit. You can add interest with pops of colour in accessories and create focal points for which to draw attention and encourage the eye to linger. You can raise your colour contrast. You can raise or lower your value contrast. This is why accessories…
I just wanted to say how much I love your transition to ‘grey’. The colour and hairstyle suits your cool colouring so well. I note that in the photos, you always include touches of blue that tone in beautifully with your hair and skin. Did this change entail a huge wardrobe review and discard of…
How to Confidently Mix Colours and Patterns Without the Overwhelm Do you ever open your wardrobe, pull out a few pieces, and then put them straight back because you’re not sure how to put them together? You’re not alone. Many women I work with—even highly intelligent, accomplished women—tell me they struggle with mixing colours and…
So you’re a bit scared of colour and you tend to wear black and grey and then combinations of black and grey as you’re just not sure how to add colour and you really don’t want to look like a clown. Now neutral outfits in black, white and grey abound on our city streets and…
When you think about the value of someone with a darker skin tone, usually they have also darker hair which makes their overall value down the deeper darker end of the value scale. But what is their value contrast and colour contrast? Frequently their colour contrast is monochromatic – one colour – dark brown eyes, skin…
Have you ever stood in front of your wardrobe and realised… It’s a sea of black? Black is everywhere. It’s in every store, every online catalogue, and likely, every corner of your closet. But here’s the question we need to ask: Why? Why do so many intelligent, capable women default to wearing black, even when…
There is so much out here on the internet about wardrobe capsules. When I started writing about them six years ago, it wasn’t something that people talked much about. Now, they are everywhere and there are hundreds (if not thousands) of blog posts giving advice on how to create your ideal capsule. But what I…
If you’re a fan of the TV show Nailed It, all about home cooks attempting to make hugely complex cakes…. when I’m giving feedback here, about having nailed your outfit, I mean that your outfit is so much better than any of those cakes turned out! Instead, I’m here to offer you tips to help…
How Do You Plan a Colour Scheme for a Wardrobe Capsule? If you have a colour palette from a personal colour analysis this tool makes it super easy. But even then, where to start? Start with Your Hair Colour The first place to start when choosing the neutrals to base your wardrobe capsule around is…
The Colour Properties of Black Every colour has three properties. Value, undertone and intensity. Every colour palette also has these three properties as well. The colours that harmonise with your own colouring are the ones in your colour palette (if you’re not sure of your palette you can find out with my 7 Steps to…
