If there is one thing I’ve learnt from a couple of decades working in the fashion industry, it’s that having a wardrobe filled with mountains of fabulous clothes to wear every day doesn’t mean a damn thing if you end up feeling totally wrong in them.
It’s taken me a long time and a lot of trial and error to figure out what works best for me, to get to the stage where I can get excited about a new trend or the big colour for the season, admiring its drape and design or the delicious hues, but know that it simply doesn’t suit me or who I am. And, most importantly, to call upon my inner reserves of willpower to turn the other way when I see it hanging, siren-like, on the rack at the front of the store, inviting all who enter to try it on and abandon all sense of reason.
Some looks are tricky. Sometimes you just need to walk away and admire it from afar on those young enough, thin enough or curvy enough to pull it off. Some looks you will never own no matter how hard you try, and knowing when to let it pass you by can be tough. But sometimes all you need is the right version of your new-found love to embrace it wholeheartedly and make it yours.
Every season has its share of the great and the grisly and it can be really hard to sort through it all and choose the ideal garment that encapsulates the mood AND your own style.
But of course for most non-professionals this is all easier said than done. Where do I find these elusive garments, I hear you ask? And how do I choose the right ones without spending half the rent money? And once I have bought a fabulous new item, how does it fit in with what I have in the wardrobe already?
And then there is the business of just wearing clothes every day. To be able to get dressed quickly in the morning and know that it all works together, is suitable AND suits you? If you have a function to go to, how do you put an outfit together with the minimum of fuss and without having to buy a new one if you don’t want to?
Well. After years of being immersed every day in the business of bringing fashion to the marketplace – who is doing what and doing it well, how a range gets put together and produced, why you see what you do in the stores, what suits different people and how outfits go together – I felt it was time that I used all this knowledge to talk about things from your perspective. A style translator, if you will, doing all the background work to make your shopping experience faster, more pleasant and with more bang for your buck.
So if you are looking for fashion and styling advice that you can put into practice every day, read on…
THE STYLE BAR 