So this season….

This site has now been moved to its right full home at Chameleon Fridays

Celebrity style clinic

Here are the best and worst from this month……………….

A tale of two premieres;

Christian Bale seen here wearing a French navy Prada suit. He compliments this with a slightly lighter shade shirt to really make his eyes go ‘pop’. Overall we can see, sharp tailoring, which for a man made up of angular features = a sharp look………………..

Article continues in full at this sites new home

Dress For Business Success

The Houston Chronicle recently wrote about the increase in popularity for corporations to hire in Image Consultants.

Increasingly, employers are complaining that many of the new recruits have the necessary knowledge to do the job, but none of the client facing finesse that a successful career requires. We are all judged on first impressions and sadly, no matter how amazing your skills are, all good sales people know that you have to get in the proverbial door before you can demonstrate that.

Jeremy Little’s metamorphosis is like a fairy tale.

He came to Houston last year down on his luck. On the East Coast, a friend recalled, he was known as a nerd. He lived with his parents in Springfield, Mass.

Today, he can be spotted at exclusive parties sporting Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent and hanging with River Oaks glitterati.

It’s all because of his new job.

In a relative instant, “my life has gone from Catcher in the Rye to Absolutely Fabulous,” Little said.

His makeover was born the moment he joined On the Mark Communications, a public relations firm.

It is a new two-man operation: Little and his boss, Mark Sullivan. On the Mark’s chichi clients include Cafe Annie, Gravitas and Omni Houston Hotel.

Sullivan hired Little because of his writing and organizational skills but knew he didn’t look right for the part.

“I could already talk the talk. I had to figure out how to walk the walk,” Little recalled.

It happens a lot in business. Employees are great at what they do but don’t know how to present themselves. So the company hires an image consultant.

A refined image can boost one’s confidence, image consultant Helen Perry observed.

“I’ve been sent guys who have the mannerisms and body type of Mr. Rogers,” she said.

“But once you put them in custom Italian suits, they grow into the part. They really enjoy the reaction they get.”

However, “you don’t go from frog to prince overnight,” said Cathy Fitzpatrick Clearly of Cathy Fitzpatrick Clearly Image Consultants. People change gradually, she said.

Little may have access to Cerón’s amazing closet, Clearly said, “but he’s got to fill those pants and suits with confidence.”

Image consulting has become “a normal kind of thing” in the corporate world, noted Jill Bremer of Oak Park, Ill.-based Bremer Communications. When she started 25 years ago, it was much more unusual, she said.

“It’s like finishing school: ‘You’ve got to do this, or you won’t get that promotion,’ ” said Bremer, who has served on the board of the Association of Image Consultants International.

The association doesn’t have keep data on the industry, but spokeswoman Katherine Wurzburg said that in recent years there has been “huge growth” in image consulting, particularly in Asia and the U.S. Full article

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Free Personal Shopping: What’s the Cost?

We may be entering a credit crunch, but personal shopping services are booming in popularity. As customers are becoming more cost conscious, they are increasingly employing the services of a personal shopper to ensure those precious pounds are well spent. Customers are searching for clothes that fit in with their existing wardrobe and making sure that what they purchase will not only go the distance but, are good value on a cost-per-wear basis. Add to this the tantalising offer of a personal stylist to whisk you round the shop for free, and thousands of customers are signing up to the ‘in-house’ services across the country.

Sounds great until you start to realise the actual cost of that free service. What if the person ‘advising’ you had no additional training than anyone else on the shop floor? What if that person worked on commission, gaining a higher paycheck for greater sales? Suddenly the flattering service they so tantalisingly offer, with the separate changing room, massive mirror and rack of specially chosen clothes (never from the sale section), isn’t quite so seductive.

For qualified and experienced style consultants across the country, it’s been an interesting dilemma, most of us have continued to work steadily, as the quality of the work speaks for itself. Some customers will always go for a free service, much like some people will always chose the cheapest builder. However, they rarely factor in the additional cost of having the work re-done.

The huge changing room to yourself in a brilliant weapon in the psychology of sales. Everyone looks smaller in a large room (most customers want to look slimmer), you then have a rack of clothes chosen ‘especially for you’, cue the British politeness of being obliged to agree with the sales person, as they have made the effort. The rooms are often white, making the clothes ‘pop’ out and appear more attractive. Then, add an enthusiastic ‘expert’ telling you how wonderful you look and it’s no surprise that most customers leave with bags full of shopping and an significantly lighter purse.

So, how do you let the the new customers know that you do get what you pay for and that the service we offer is actually better?

Customers are seeking advice because they don’t know what suits them. Many of my clients have been stuck in a rut and really have lost the ability to see themselves in a new light. Makeover shows work on the ‘wow’ factor where people undergo huge transformations but, it doesn’t always have to be such an ‘extreme makeover’ to create a massive impact. You can look 10lbs slimmer in the right clothes, surgery is not mandatory to looking better!

For the private style consultants, this just makes our job slightly easier, customers are increasingly saying they saw someone for free, but just didn’t feel they came away looking better. Many pulled out the clothes at home and didn’t get the desired reaction from partners, family and friends.

It might take customers slightly longer than before, as they go on the bargain detour, but quality will always win out.

The real value is always in qualified, experienced and perhaps most importantly independent advice.

For personal shopping services contact Chameleon Fridays.

Jodie and Cocaine

In 2007 Jodie Kidd the 29-year-old supermodel was reportedly caught selling cocaine to undercover reporters. As a result of this she lost her  £250,000 contract with M&S. The highly successful advertising campaign now featuring Myleene Klass, Twiggy, Erin O’Connor and Lizzie Jagger has since gone from strength to strength.

Jodie Kidd

The car manufacturers Maserati also distanced themselves from Jodie Kidd, who represents them at a number of sporting events, including the annual Gumball Rally. A source said: “Maserati were talking about severing all ties with Jodie and at one point wanted to confiscate the car they gave her. Jodie will have to wait and see what happens.”

Jodie, who has worked for some of the top names in the industry, including Chanel, Gucci and Alexander McQueen and many others, dropped out of London Fashion Weeks Charity Catwalk event in 2007 following the incident.

The story was the result of an undercover journalist for News of the World

Jodie Kidd Dropped by Agency

Jodie Kidd has been ditched by her model agency after she reportedly gained too much weight.

Jodie Kidd, is not known for being even curvy let alone overweight and regularly battles media attention for alleged eating disorders due to her stick thin frame. Despite this her Agency, Independant reportedly dropped her after gaining a few pounds.

Jodie’s increased eating habits (for that read normal eating) are reported to have started after she lost her contract with Marks and Spencer following the cocaine scandal.

Fashion tips for Brides

Here are some practical tips for getting the best look for your special day;

• Be realistic
  What you dream of wearing may not be the dress for you. Take into consideration your height and figure; there is a vast and exciting selection of bridal wear from the short and sexy to the rich and regal. Look around and try on lots of styles before you settle on a dress – it may be completely different from the one you envisaged!
• Keep in budget
  Think about what you can spend, not what you want to spend. This may well be the deciding factor between haute couture and a less expensive dressmaker. See High street brides for budget altearnatives.
  
• Be seasonal
  Consider when you are getting married. Winter weddings are becoming increasingly popular and with them they have brought an advent of new and exciting bridal wear. Rich velvets, medieval-style hooded cloaks and bejeweled tiaras are some of the attractive and unusual accessories for a revitalised wedding season.
• Follow nature
  Each season brings new and vibrant colours and fragrances, they are there for a reason. Consult your florist on the appropriate flowers for your season, he/she will be able to offer you creative ideas that you will not have imagined.
• Be prepared for your hair
  Have a hair rehearsal well in advance of the day. As with your dress your idea may not suit your style. Your hairdresser will take into consideration not only your veil and headdress but also your choice of bridal wear and wedding theme/season. Source
• Be Make up ready – View Bridal beauty for make up tips on your big day.

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Designer: Viktor & Rolf

Models with own lighting for Autumn 2007

Victor and Rolf are best known for being a an incredibly close dutch design duo. They describe themselves as twins and both dress the same and finish each others sentences.

Viktor & Rolf met while studying fashion at the Arnhem art academy. After graduating they moved to Paris, interning for brands such as Maison Martin Margiela, designing their own clothes in the evenings and presenting them in the art circuit.^[1] In 1993, Viktor & Rolf won the Festival d’Hyeres prize.

In 1998, Viktor & Rolf put on an unauthorized, underground fashion show during Paris Fashion Week designed to attract members of the press. Ready-to-wear and their menswear label “Monsieur” were to follow over the next five years. Viktor & Rolf also produces women’s shoes and hand bags (designed by Dutch designer Fredie Stevens), glasses (Asia only), neckties, scarves and lingerie. Viktor & Rolf have also worked as curators for several exhibitions, and have designed stage-outfits for several theatre productions. According to the designers, “For us, fashion is an antidote to reality.”

In 2003, the Fashion Museum in Paris presented a 10-year retrospective of the designers’ work. In 2005 they opened their first, flagship shop in the Golden Quadrilateral (Quadrilatero d’Oro) in Milan, and were contracted by L’Oreal to develop their first perfume, called Flowerbomb. In 2006, their first men’s perfume, Antidote, was introduced in the US. Viktor told Harper’s BAZAAR the fragrance was “all about the power of transformation. The power of every individual to turn anything into something positive.”

In November of 2006, Viktor & Rolf followed Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney in designing a line for the Swedish-based retailer H&M.

Characteristics of their clothes include layering, distorting, exaggerating and repeating of classical design elements (blouses with 10 nested collars, upside-down and lop-sided dresses). Full article.

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Bride-to-Be Takes a Chance on eBay for a Bidding Bridesmaid

As the credit crunch hits the US hard, A bride in the US has taken the unprecedented step of autioning a place at her wedding in the guise of a brdesmaid or bridesman, to raise funds. The New York Times reported;

Being a bridesmaid can be expensive, as any woman who has been fitted for a dress she did not pick out, or spent hundreds of dollars for a plane ticket, can attest. But, then again, most bridesmaids know the bride.

Then, there is Kelly Gray and her fifth bridesmaid. Ms. Gray, a Virginia Beach hairdresser, auctioned off the chance to be a bridesmaid in her April 2009 wedding on eBay. The winning bid on Wednesday was $5,700. Ms. Gray, 23, had long dreamed of being a bride, but she and her fiancé, Karl Gau, could not afford the $7,000 wedding they have planned at the Virginia Beach Conference Center. “While other children would say they wanted to be a teacher or singer when they grew up, I would always say that I wanted to be a beautiful bride!” Ms. Gray wrote on eBay. She said she did not want anything fancy, no horse-drawn carriages or ice sculptures, just a three-layer cake and dancing. “I want a wedding,” Ms. Gray said in an interview. “Normal is expensive.”

Ms. Gray said she had tried entering contests, saving money and writing to talk shows to help pay for the wedding, but nothing worked. Her boss, Gwen Lala, came up with the idea to auction off a spot in the wedding party.“I thought it would be fun,” said Ms. Lala, who said she had trolled eBay and realized people would pay for bizarre things. “They just have to stand up in the bridal party, and we hope somebody wants to come and do it.”

The winner, whom Ms. Lala would not identify, must also pose for pictures and the wedding video and join in “any other wedding activities.” The bridesmaid will wear an apple red dress and shoes of Ms. Gray’s choice. The dress is likely to be A-line and floor length, Ms. Gray said. She might be renting a tux, however, as she is willing to have a bridesman. The winner can eat from the still-to-be-chosen buffet, but must pay all travel expenses.

Ms. Gray realizes she is taking a chance, but she and her fiancé are undeterred. “I know some people out there are crazy,” she said. “We just want anybody who is willing to have fun. We’re fun, and we’re hoping someone won’t come in and ruin it for us.” Source

“I know some people out there are crazy?!” Wow, what a great way to talk about the your wedding benefactor. Let’s hope they’re so fun they can look past that comment.

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Viktor & Rolf design wedding range for H&M

Continuing with the success of their popular range of clothing for H&M,the cheeky designers Viktor & Rolf

The design duo launching the range

have ventured into the wedding market.

Launching their collection with only one dress, fashion concious shoppers snapped up the gown, only for them to appear on Ebay at double the price hours later.

They have also included a mens tuxedo and other wedding appropriate wear to the range. See High Street Brides for more budget alternatives.

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