Are you a busy, proactive person who wants to make the most of what you have got? Do you want to feel good about yourself, dress confidently and practically and be yourself, but you don't have time to master what is hot and what is not? If so, relax, because most of the people I shop for and style feel this way.
I am currently a Personal Shopper who creates practical fashion trends and who keeps up to date with high street brands who change style focus season to season. I enjoy seeing fast-fashion move from the catwalk quickly to capture current fashion trends, but I cannot hide that I dislike how cheap fast-fashion brands manufacture copycat fashion because this has a massive environmental impact. Fast-fashion admittedly increases levels of textile waste, pollution, chemical water waste and inadequate working conditions in an out-of-sight supply chain. Cheap fast-fashion is mass-produced in factory workrooms and in many cases fast-fashion ends up as landfill.
I am not a preachy, bossy personal shopper, who makes people feel like they haven't got a clue. My shopping, fashion and sustainability blogs are written to help shoppers so I share practical and affordable lifestyle and environmental tips for people who want to keep it real and feel good. 80% of the people I shop for and style are not a size 8 and many people have a self-image concern of sorts. We probably all do right? If I dressed everyone in the same bang on fashion trends then I wouldn't be a good stylist and people would not trust me. I source stylish, practical lifestyle and special occasion clothes that reboot and reinvent shoppers, creating and identifying curious colour combinations and a fashion style that works for each individual lifestyle.
Most of us have been a victim of something at some stage in our life, be it violence, passive-aggressive behaviour at work or online, or bullying, online fraud, street crime or trolling etc. It is easy to understand that when someone is in a vulnerable situation they can be a victim of faddishness and materialism, two of the widely recognized excesses of fashion and consequently are at the mercy of society's prejudices or of the commercial interest of the fashion industry, or of both.
A 'Fashion Victim' is a term I dislike because it is derogatory. A fashion victim identifies a person who follows fashion but is unable to identify commonly recognized boundaries of style. Basically, this is when a person alters a look from season to season, wearing clothes that do not suit his/her colour palette, body frame or lifestyle. A fashion victim is a person who wears fashion trends because they are trending, not because the style suits them.
Firstly, try not to be judgemental. While it is harmless and fun to people watch it is not cool to name call. Do not confuse a fashion victim for someone who is passionate about fashion and who wears it well. These are completely different. Avoid being a fashion victim. Try things on and have a good look at the dimensions on your body, ask yourself 'does the cut of the garment actually suit my frame?' (consider the height and build). Wear clothes that fit you properly and that make you look and feel good about yourself. While short shorts might be popular again this summer, ask yourself, 'do I suit these?', 'do they work on my body frame?', 'do I feel good in this?'. It is not what you wear or how old you are, it is how you wear it.
Baby pink and blush was a fad this S/S18. Not everyone can wear block blush or baby pink as it washes some pale people out and it is not always a good contrast on warm skin types (dark skin). You may have noticed lots of guests wearing baby pink for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding. A blush and baby pink day dress did not work on everyone who wore it and this is my point. Many of Harry and Meghan's wedding guests wore baby pink and blush because it is was trending, albeit, this is commonly known as being a fashion victim and this is avoidable. Here are a few useful tips;
1. Colour
Do: wear colours that suit you, make you feel good and give you confidence
Avoid: following fashion colour trends and fashion styles that do not suit your body frame - thus avoid being a fashion victim.
2. Be yourself and dress as you
If you have a busy life, a high-profile job or a hectic home-life, juggling children, two jobs, travel and the school run then it is easy to end up neglecting yourself and forget who you are.
Do: Be the same personality professionally and privately
Do: Make time for yourself each week: go for a quick run, read a book for half an hour on your own, walk the dog, go for a weekly massage, or have a glass of vino at the bottom of the garden with a magazine. Do whatever funds allow with your main aim being to reboot.
Do: Give old unwanted clothes to charity. If you have clothes you are not wearing and that does not make you feel good, they probably are not the right style or colour for you. DO: Get into the habit of recycling or mending unwanted clothes to help environmental waste. Small-big changes help.
3. Find your style
If you feel like your wardrobe has lost its way and you are feeling a bit drab do not worry, as many people of all ages feel this way. Consider booking a stylist who will work with you to find your natural style, give you confidence-boosting advice and reinvent you on a practical lifestyle level. If funds don't allow then make a start by following these steps:
Do: Sort out your clothes. Schedule a couple of hours to cull your wardrobe. If you don't wear it, make a pile on one side of the room. If you do wear it, make a pile on the other side of the room. Give the clothes you don't wear to charity, family or friends and review the clothes you do wear.
Do: Know your go-to clothes within the pile you are keeping i.e. jeans and top, shirt dresses etc. This will help you identify your natural style, if you feel good wearing the same thing you rocked years ago, then stick with it, but and it is a big BUT, be really mindful of the colours within the pile you are keeping, hold each garment up to your face to check your skin type suits the colour.
Remember your overtone (skin) changes as we mature, the same way your skin changes if you are on medication or you have been ill. If you are unsure get a second opinion and subsribe to my blog.