A Sense of Proportion

Many of you will have seen this picture before, but not all.  What do you see when you look at it?  A Young woman or an old Hag?  They’re both there, suggesting that it's your perspective that gives the perception of reality.

In some ways, ‘looking good’ is just an optical illusion – the trick is knowing what to draw the eye towards or away from and how.  Knowing what we've got to work with and then dressing it with a little magic and a dose of common sense.  

We all have things that we think are ‘wrong’ with us, but maybe it’s just our perspective which is ‘wrong’ – try these:

• "My bottom is too big!" – or are you enviously curvaceous?
• "I’m short-waisted!" – or is your shorter torso balanced with long legs?
• "I’ve got no hips/bust!" – if you ‘haven’t’ got it, then you can add more detail to balance the other part of you… unless you have that straight androgynous body shape that looks really stylish in something simple, straight and boxy.

Understanding your body shape and proportions is a vital part of the Style Class.  You learn how to ‘redress’ your balance to create interest in a deliberate or intentional way - using emphasis to reinforce a statement about yourself that could be any number of adjectives such as ‘creative, reliable, knowledgeable, sporty, rebellious, relaxed’ and many more.

And for you non-believers?  There’s hope!  The Gestalt Principle “...maintains that the human eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts”.  In Michael Tuck’s detailed article about using the principles of design, it’s refreshing to read that good design can be intuitive, a natural ability.

“Gestalt Principles aren't artificial constructs that people have concocted to apply to design; they are attempts to describe and verbalize how we naturally perceive things....… in at least some sense, "design talent" is an ability to naturally — and perhaps even unconsciously — understand how human perception works, and how to create designs for websites, paintings, or wedding dresses that are artistically beautiful and functionally efficient by appealing to it.” 

A relief to know!

“Some of the best designers in the world know nothing of Gestalt Principles. They use them intuitively; when designs look and feel right, usually they incorporate these principles whether the designer recognises the terminology or not.” 

So, back to you; what of those features which can't take clothing e.g. 

• "I’ve got a big nose!"  Let’s be honest, these 'family features’ be it nose, chin, eyebrows even skin are not usually declared in a positive light. 

Wearing clothing and accessories that suit you in a way that compliments you, we call being ‘In Focus’; your look is balanced and attractive.  When you’re not wearing things that compliment you, you’re ‘out of focus’, out of balance and appear less attractive.  The feature you’d rather diminish often becomes more prominent.

Therefore, if you have a 'distinguishing feature', it’s amazing to watch it blend and harmonise when your whole look is ‘In Focus’.  We all have fabulous parts of our bodies, unfortunately we’re hard-wired to notice the negatives rather than highlighting the positives.  

One lovely client, a size 20+, arrived wearing palazzo pants and a long over shirt, complaining that when she was younger she had a waist!  I pointed out that she still had a waist, maybe bigger than it used to be, but still a waist that needed defining to show off her figure – demonstrating how to do this in a way appropriate to her current size and shape meant she immediately looked slimmer and gave her a massive boost of confidence. 

And then there was the male client who thought his legs were ‘long’ because he had difficulty finding trousers long enough.   I gently pointed out that at 6’4”, a 34” leg length while long, wasn’t disproportionately long, if anything it was a little on the short side for his height!  This left him able to focus attention on his clothes by getting the emphasis right on his torso, redressing the balance.  

There are few universally applicable rules.  In order to emphasise your uniqueness, we need to work with each of you individually.  Lisa Wade wonders “what it would be like to live in a world where the fashion industry encouraged us to “emphasise” our differences from one another, instead of trying to make us all look the same?”  You're all unique individuals; we focus on your uniqueness. 

You may have heard this from me before– it’s not what you’ve got but what you do with it that makes the difference!  

Getting a sense of proportion allows you to make the most of yourselves - you deserve it!

Justice is Aspirational: Judgement is Inevitable

On passing my local court quite early in the morning, two young men were standing at the entrance obviously waiting for the doors to open so that they could go in.

One was dressed in a dark, pin-striped suit.  In one hand he carried a briefcase, the other held a mobile phone to his ear, his shoulders were back and he was obviously paying attention to whoever he was talking to on the other end of the phone call.

His companion was dressed in jogging bottoms and a grey hoodie. He was hunched over his cigarette, looking totally disengaged from everything and everyone around him.

We might think we don't judge, or even try not to pre-judge on appearance but it was impossible not to make the assumption that here was the defendant and his legal representative. 

We all make instantaneous judgements, often on only a few seconds of visual input. The more we are aware of this the more we can be in control of the judgements people might make about us.   We know this!

However, appearance isn't the whole picture.  Amy Cuddy gives a Ted Talk illustrating how body language shapes who you are and how you can change it to cause a different outcome.

 

Awareness is the first step in being able to change and influence anything.  Being aware of who you want to be, gives a starting point for addressing all aspects of your appearance in support of this goal.

"Progress is impossible without change."   George Bernard Shaw

And practice makes perfect; Objectively reviewing any changes you make will give you the ability to know whether you're making a change in the direction you want to, or not.

Good luck!

Christmas gifts for all colours, shapes and sizes!

If your loved ones are stuck for Christmas gift ideas try dropping a few subtle (or maybe not so subtle!) hints about the beautiful range of jewellery and scarves available from House of Colour.

I get cold in the winter and love my scarves but I also tend to wear relatively plain tops which I love accessorising to add interest and style.  So it’s very exciting that we’ve discovered some beautiful new products that make great presents.   Rings, bracelets, necklaces and scarves – covering a lot of bases - read on!

I don’t have a lot of red but when I’m wearing an outfit with red in it I often want red accessories and so on. How many times have you created an outfit from your wardrobe and wished that you could tweak your accessories just a little to match/complement/contrast it better? 

Enter MelanO, a Dutch brand of contemporary jewellery offering a wide range of interchangeable coloured stones on either white (cool) or yellow (warm) metal, beautifully designed and engineered to a high standard with a sophisticated finish.  At House of Colour we have chosen to supply the versatile ‘twisted’ range of rings and bangles.

I love them; I can wear a combination of rings and colours to suit my outfit.  Every stone is interchangeable, giving each finished piece a unique character created by the wearer and the opportunity to dress an outfit up or down depending on the event.  The same stones fit the rings and bangles, making this your perfect mix and match range.

The cool jewellery, suitable for Winters and Summers, is offered in high quality stainless steel while the warm pieces, suitable for Autumns and Springs are plated in rose gold.  If you’re lucky enough to be a Blue Spring who wears mixed metals, this is a perfect solution!

Rings are available in a wide range of sizes; bangles come in small, medium or large; stones are either small or large; all stones fit both rings and bangles.  Choose from Cubic Zirconia (sparkly, faceted, flat topped) or semi-precious (domed, smooth stones) mounted in the appropriate metal for your season, creating a wide variety of combinations; all stones can be ordered in either metal or size.  What more could you ask? …

…There’s also a range of side rings, which fit alongside the twisted rings offering even more interchangeable combinations.  Rings can be worn singly, choosing your stone to co-ordinate with a particular outfit, or 2, 3 or 4 deep combining stones and side rings to give texture and scale.   Tailor the combination to suit you because all the elements of your season and style can be reflected through colour, scale, density and texture.   

These are available through some consultants, please contact HQ to find your nearest consultant who carries this range.

On the Web shop we have a new partnership with House of Glass with some amazing and vibrant creations for pendants, earrings and cufflinks for the men!  Again, in a variety of sizes and colours to suit each season.  For specific advice regarding your season and style, contact your consultant. 

But these don’t keep you warm!  Scarves are one of THE essential accessories to any woman’s wardrobe adding colour and interest to your outfits all year round but particularly in the winter.  We have teamed up with an artist who hand paints an exclusive range of striking silk crépe de chine scarves, designed for us and in consultation with us, these are available in four colour ways, one for each season as an annual special edition; something you’ll always treasure:

• Springs will love the splashy Aquamarine, Hyacinth, Corn, Mint or Cream
• Summers enjoy a harmonising blend of Rose, Amethyst and Rose Madder that blends into soft Pink Beige.
• Autumns will adore the rich depth of Kingfisher, Peacock, Lime or Rust. 
• Winters will revel in strong Royal Blue,  Fuchsia, Damson with Silver contrasts.

Gifts can be tricky to get right so knowing your season and pointing your loved ones in the right direction means a colourful, accessorised and stress free Christmas for everyone!

Why I won’t be wearing black this Christmas

We’ve just booked this year’s Head Office Christmas party and as you can imagine a lot of conversation will take place between now and then about what we’re going to wear!  This type of conversation is taken to a whole new level in our office as we’ve all had our colours and personal styles analysed so we know exactly what the perfect party frock should look like depending on our season and clothing personality.

However, this year we’ve been set a challenge - half of us in are Winters and this year’s dress code is not to wear black!

At last year’s Christmas party our table was a beacon of colour set amongst a sea of black. With all the fantastic colours now available on the High Street, it surprised me that a lot of women still went for the staple ‘LBD’, maybe because of the connotations that ‘everyone looks good in black’ and it’s the ‘safe option’ but it seemed a little predictable, perhaps wearing colour still scares some people?

Our clients will testify that colour analysis is an inspiring experience that helps you discover the right colours to wear which really enhance your natural complexion. When you wear the right colours you look healthy, more vibrant, successful and often younger - so, why wouldn’t you?

This year we’re going to our Christmas party in an array of colours - I’m sure we’ll stand out from the crowd and hopefully others will notice that colour makes all the difference which could start a whole new conversation! 

 

If you’ve had your colours analysed, ditch the black this Christmas and join us by stepping out confidently in colour, you’re our greatest ambassadors so let’s spread the message of colour this season (as well as good will!)

A True Gift

With 2 children under 4, I took advantage of a treat that actually seemed like a good investment.  We all have our own variation on ‘leading a busy life’ and I hadn’t been shopping for anything but maternity clothes, stretchy tops and jeans for 5 years.  I teach this stuff and knew that by embracing a totally different lifestyle it was easy to lose myself! I took the opportunity of a shopping trip with a Fashion Stylist. 

 

As an Image Consultant myself, I was fully aware that hiring someone, an 'expert' to help me make the most of a rare day’s shopping should be an excellent investment,; this is what I had seen my clients experiencing time and again when shopping with me.  Focus and objectivity is the key.  Staying objective when you are losing the will to live in changing rooms is a type of sanity worth paying for.  We all find it difficult to stay objective about ourselves and I’m no certainly no exception. It’s so much easier to be objective when I’m working with a client but I needed to become the client!

Within a few weeks of this shopping trip, the opportunity arose to go shopping with some of my colleagues at House of Colour, all fully trained Image Consultants.  Due to other commitments my available time was only 3 hours not the whole day, so off I went.

 

Both days were fun, both days included a break for lunch and both days resulted in me purchasing some great pieces for my wardrobe and looking outside my normal comfort zone for inspiration.  The real value for either option was making the most of someone else’s expertise to get a job done more efficiently, effectively and enjoyably than I would on my own.

 

Success is generally a subjective measure which in the case of clothing also needs to consider cost per wear for each item.  With my tendency to analysis, I weighed up the two alternatives which revealed the smarter investment was employing a fully trained image consultant. 

Statistical Analysis	Fashion Stylist	HOC Consultant
Investment	£300 + travel	£150 + travel
Time invested (hrs.)	1 day (7 hrs.)	3 hrs.
Items tried	Approx. 60	11
Items purchased	11	6
Items returned	3	0
Items kept	8	6
ROI Ratios
Productivity = items/hr.	1.3	2
Returns	27%	0%
Wasted energy = (Items tried x hrs.)	420	33

The added value came from savings in time and energy and keeping hold of my ability to make clear decisions. This relied on my ‘shopper’ remaining objective and keeping me focused – which became harder as the day progressed.  I could also see that the training of the HOC Consultant ensured they remained objective rather than being influenced by their own styles or preferences.

 

As a result, some of my nearest and dearest are receiving HOC gift vouchers for Christmas this year (let’s hope this doesn’t spoil the surprise!).  As well as being a useful and valuable present, it’s my contribution to a greener Christmas – fewer ‘things’ that they have to find a home for, less mistakes in purchases and the bonus of supporting a fully functional wardrobe that carries fewer unused, often excessive, items (frequently disguised as ‘bargains’)!

Gift vouchers are available for a class, a product or an amount of money (note - wardrobe reviews are sometimes more valuable and almost as much fun as shopping trips!).  You can purchase them from your local consultant or you could take advantage of free Post & Packing on all Gift Vouchers from the House of Colour web shop until the end of December. 
Happy Christmas everyone! J

 

Making the Most of Yourself and Your Business

There is one main (personal) reason for writing this blog - I have always been passionate about helping people to make the most of themselves.  Whether it’s job prospects, securing the home you want for the right price, careers advice, how to get out of a ‘hole’ you might be stuck in – I’ve realised over time that my skill set has developed and is consistently delivered around a central theme of ‘making the most of your assets’.

The internet, an infinite resource, has so many tips and tricks about how to make the most of your assets, whether it’s your body, your health or your business prospects.  You don’t need to hang around long before a plethora of advice and opinions will cross your e-path.  It’s fascinating and very easy to learn bits and pieces that add and enhance your skill set and knowledge base (beware – it’s a time bandit if you don’t keep focused!).  Every now and then, it’s not so much advice as a clear example of why something is possibly more important than previously thought.

‘The Tale of Two Tailors’ is a perfect example of why you need to make the most of yourself, showing yourself and your business in its best light and how the invisible cost could be the tip of the iceberg of not doing so. 

The management guru Tom Peters sums it up nicely in this quote:

‘It’s a brand new world ….Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You’.                                                 

A few years ago, I was involved in a charity event where I took 3 local professionals through a House of Colour business ‘make-over’.  The DJ, The Chief Exec and the DJ were asked to turn up wearing a ‘typical work day outfit’ - their images speak for themselves!

(© stevewilliams_photo@btinternet.com)

This kind of transformation is typical of what you can achieve when you participate in the Business and Personal Brand sessions available at HOC in Business.

It’s clear that making the best of ourselves is beneficial both to our inner confidence as well as promoting confidence IN us from outside sources.  Make the best of yourself, enhance your assets and count the benefits that you receive, you may have more to do with attracting it than you realise!

 

Going Grey: A refreshing approach

Our colouring is rooted in our genetics therefore any changes in our skin or hair colour are linked to our own unique colouring.    As our hair turns grey, it will turn a shade that works with our skin tone.  Take a look at the shades Chris Evans has moved through and you can see consistent warm colouring.

 

Stylist magazine goes into the reasons, scientific and psychological, behind going grey.  However, when the odd grey strand turns into a block, are you more in the ‘I’m not quite ready to go grey yet’ school or the ‘I’ve earned every one of these and I’m proud of them’!  (Yes, they exist, people who are frustrated by their distinct lack of grey hair!)

My belief is that we’re best when we make the most of our natural selves and I’ve always encouraged people to work with their natural hair colour.  We need to soften our look as we get older, putting less ‘authority’ statements in because grey hair does carry authority.  As well as having practical savings in time and money, it can look fantastic.

But, I have neither the inclination nor motivation to commit to spending copious amounts of time or money at the hairdressers in a 12 month period:

 

Entrance stage left, my hairdressers El Esha, they have found an Italian brand product, Sens.us,  which is a professional range of toners and shaders that serve several purposes, depending on what you’re trying to achieve:

  

• Distort the white i.e. tone down the grey!
• Revive colours i.e. making your colours last longer between visits
• Freshen natural hair colour i.e. enhance your natural highlights whether they are blonde or silver!
• Neutralise unwanted tones on streaked hair 

This was the advice from, El Esha:

• Silver – great for bleached hair, to brighten white or to knock out warm tones, especially the yellowing that heavy smokers experience - I would imagine Winters loving this!
• Beige – for someone who wants less white, taking it to a light blonde (similar to Chris Evans’ colour above!)  This sounds as though it would be good for Springs.
• Gold – for keeping golden highlights fresh, it can add a gold tinge to medium brown hair.  Sounds like Autumns and Springs to me!
• Copper – to brighten naturally auburn hair, old highlights or tone red down to copper.  Autumns and some Springs.
• Red – can be used on any red but is primarily to keep your fashion red topped up.  Winters and Autumns are probably most likely to use this but if you’re daring enough to go for Red, this is for you!
• Brown – for those not quite ready, this naturally distorts the white, including re-growth, between colour visits. This is ideal for Winters and Summers, Autumns and darker Springs could also find it useful.

Brown, Red and Copper are shaders, as deeper colours they need to be left on for longer while the Silver, Beige and Gold are toners that need no more than 5 minutes. 

El Esha don’t currently have a web shop but are happy to take phone orders and offer advice on 01733 310879.

Remember, it’s not what you’ve got but what you do with it that makes the difference, never more true than with our hair. I might not be ready to embrace my grey yet but I certainly want my hair to continue looking as natural as possible while remaining ‘low maintenance’!