Client: Kim
Service purchased: Seasonal Starter Kit
Includes: Shape/color assessment, closet therapy, shared shopping, wardrobe wonders, aftercare video consult. Duration: Six months, 12 one-on-one hours with image expert + consultant project time.

Age: Generation Y, Age 28
Lifestyle: Newly married, works at an ad agency, manages a team, business casual (except when presenting to clients); Highly stressful environment and struggles with life balance.

Challenge: Kim defined herself as a “Plain Jane wanting a perk” and wanted to feel more confident. She was ready to enter the transition of moving from dressing like a teenager to feeling like a woman. She managed a team at work yet knew her image didn’t match that of a managerial professional, nor was she the ideal callosum personal brand – polished, consistent and memorable. She wanted to know how to put outfits together. She wanted the ability to buy items and fit them into her wardrobe by herself. Outside of the office Kim knew she was being lazy and her husband was ambivalent to her lack of style.

My insight: In getting to know Kim it’s clear she’s quite sharp, witty and a go-getter with internal sass and an eye for fun. How would we bring this internal pizzazz to the outside? How do we take the over-the-top preference for extreme and make it palatable for a professional environment?

Shape: Combination of neat hourglass and pear

Skin Tone: Clear / Cool
Palette:

Inspiration: The Devil Wears Prada, Clueless, Betsy Johnson

Personal brand: Clever Prep. You lean to the classics and admire creative details and over-the-top feminity. Raising the bar to dress for your age bracket, yet keeping the spunky style you want to embody, we’ll take your existing classics and ratchet them to a level ten to present you as the intelligent witty gal you are.

Muse: Age is irrelevant to a point – as it’s about the lifestyle you lead in conjunction with color and shape characteristics. It’s unusual to find a muse with all three characteristics – similar skin tone, body shape and personal style. So we’ve chosen a combination.

Rachel Bilson for style and skin

Style: Rachel is a true hourglass. She is petite and always highlights waist. She is known as a fashion maven – including having a column in Lucky Magazine. She knows how to mix and match outfits to create as chic and approachable. She is a subdued mix of Betsey Johnson and Blair Waldorf.

Shape: Note her shape in this first photo – hip and shoulder are parallel yet her hip appears wider. She is very similar to you.

Leighton Meester as “Blair Waldorf” in Gossip Girl for style and shape

Style: Leighton’s character, Blair, is high fashion over-the-top prep and socialite. You celebrate eccentricity by selecting quirky prints and accessories. Pops of color bring outfits to life and keep it fresh. You integrate feminine details like lace, bows, ruffles. You gravitate to structured items with fun details. To align with your personal style “clever prep”, choose 1 statement piece per outfit. It’s a shift from vogue sophisticate to tongue-in-cheek witty.

Shape: Leighton shifts her hair color frequently. When similar to yours, her skin tone matches well.

Client favorites: Kim had two favorite components of our time working together — the Strategic Shopping List and Shared Shopping.

• •  Strategic Shopping List: With an analytical personality, Kim embraced her strategic shopping list. A strategic shopping list is a go-to cloud -based Excel spreadsheet which organizes the necessary wardrobe pieces to create a well-balanced wardrobe by prioritizing wardrobe items that aligns the client with their new personal brand. A living document, the file is updated regularly by consultant and client. View a sample strategic shopping list.
• •  Shared Shopping: Kim is a believer in learning by doing. After an assessment consultation and closet session, we headed out to shop together with her strategic shopping list in hand. I shopped and she shadowed – listening to me talk out loud why (and why not) I was selecting items. With focused goals we shopping 7 stores in 3 hours and purchased 17 pieces off her list (and stayed in budget). How can you beat that for efficiency?!

Kim Speaks: “My Paris work trip and Barcelona vacation went really well. The first Paris day was internal, so I wore the striped tee, chain and pearl necklace, Banana Republic black blazer (sleeves rolled up) and wide leg jeans, which my husband and I are big fans of. I presented wearing the cream sheer blouse, Zara navy blazer, Anthropology polka dot skirt and red tights. The red tights really set it off and I never would have thought to do that.  The tights, and whole outfit, got a lot of compliments. I picked up a few fun items in Paris. I’m actually wearing one today and was already complimented and got to say “Thanks, I got it in Paris,” which was very exciting.

Spain was also really fun and it turned out that packing for both work and play was fortuitous.  I never would have packed blazers for the trip, but they worked out really well because the weather was in the high 60s a lot and it was perfect to wear a tank and blazer and be comfortable without having to lug around a coat (and look way less ugly and American, thanks to my stylish blazer).  Great lesson learned.”

Kim would love to speak to you directly to share her experience. Ask us to make an introduction.

Read about our Wardrobe Consulting Services.