The Tale of Six Pink Cardigans

Is doing your own wardrobe review difficult?  If you're me, yes, which is why this is hard to write.

Maybe it isn't hard for you - maybe you’re one of those enviable people who can just say ‘no, I've had you for long enough, you're tired and out of fashion; bye.’  If so, then this blog is for your amusement only.  

Oh, before we even start, I’m assuming that everything in your wardrobe is in your correct Seasonal Colours - if not, that's the first question you should ask. 

 
My wardrobe’s ruthlessly organised with trousers, jackets, skirts together and so on, neutrals on the left and then a rainbow progression from red through to violet.  This may seem to border on the obsessive but when you have many clothes it makes sense to keep them organised.

The problem with this is duplication - when I switched over to my Summer wardrobe last week it was embarrassing to find that I have no less than 28 cardigans!

  
Now, I can cope with having 28 cardigans in theory, but worryingly a closer look revealed that I had six pink cardigans!
 
I’ll share with you the painful process of whittling them down to an acceptable number.

The first question I ask myself is‘Did I wear it last year?’ Yes to everything except the shell pink one and the Kettlewell short cascade.

• Did I enjoy wearing it? Yes, except the classic round neck. 

• Is it still looking good? They're all fine except the round neck, a bit flat, and the shocking pink looks a little tired. The round neck was new last season, a cheap £10 bargain - maybe not such a bargain after all?

• How many items in my wardrobe does it go with?  The shell pink goes with nearly everything, as does the coral wrap, the shocking pink goes with three things and the ugly sister is the classic round neck!

• Lastly, do I love it? I do love the silly waterfall sleeves on the shocking pink, I'm really fond of the Kettlewell short cascade and I'm prepared to love the shell pink crop. The round neck thing is boring and I'm happy to let it go!

So there we are. Six pink cardigans reduced to five - was it worth the effort?

Well, I’ve gained the space of one cardigan and, remember, I’m now going to carry out the same exercise with the rest of my wardrobe.

The point is that there’s nothing wrong in having lots of clothes as long as they all work hard for you, you enjoy wearing them and they all look great on you.  Oh, they also need to fit and be in good condition!

It’s worth going through this process at least once every six months - even House of Colour Consultants have the odd sub-standard item that needs weeding out – do you?!

 

The Art of Communication

The G8 summit - a gathering of the most powerful people in the world.  Interestingly, whilst holding a position of authority, they also need to be able to communicate to people at all levels and to all cultures… at all times. 

 
Thanks to the power of the media, their most reliable form of communication is often visual.  Their words can be misquoted, misinterpreted or taken out of context but their clothing is, within reason, as they put it on that morning! 

So how interesting to see a whole article dedicated to the fact that all the men turned out tie-less for their photo call 

Am I old fashioned?  If I’m putting my trust in a leader, regardless of my personal or political opinions, ultimately I need to know that I can trust them; they demonstrate this by presenting a consistent appearance, whether formal or casual, a consistent level of quality, thought, attention to detail and style that tells me ‘they know what they’re talking about’….. If we perceive that someone knows what they are talking about in one area it is often assumed that this applies to many other areas as well.

George Osborne is quoted as responding to the request to ‘turn up in smart-casual wear’ as, “I have followed it to the letter: I got out my jacket and my blue shirt”!  Looking to the dictionary we have:

      Smart – fashionable, elegant, canny and shrewd in dealings with others

      Casual – occurring by chance, occasional, unpremeditated, relaxed, informal

 

So smart-casual is almost an oxymoron.  In simple terms, it’s absolutely possible to be smart and casual, but there is nothing unpremeditated about the way these leaders chose what to wear and how can something ‘occurring by chance and occasional’ also cover ‘fashionable and elegant’? 

Frequently people lose the ‘smart’ when they apply the casual, others keep the ‘smart’ but struggle to make it ‘casual’ – maybe fearing they’ll look like they’re there by chance and are not the world class leader on the global stage?

Removing some of the ‘armour’ is a great way to demonstrate to each other and the world that they are ‘open’ – a good premise for a summit meeting.  Maybe the formality we are familiar with and have come to expect (why else would going tie-less raise an eyebrow?) communicates immovable, entrenched thinking.  Relaxing the dress code communicates a friendly, relaxed get-together where they are open to finding compromises and solutions that work for everyone rather than a ‘bunch of businessmen on a jolly’?

Which is it for you?  And therein lies the problem, we each have our own interpretations, their visual communication needs to translate across borders and cultures to everyone…. Consistently!

The Red Lippy Project

Don a bright red lipstick during cervical screening awareness week 9-15 June 2013. The Red Lippy Project in association with The Eve Appeal is encouraging women to wear their favourite shade of red lipstick to create awareness for cervical screening.

At House of Colour we encourage our clients to wear lipstick as it makes our eyes sparkle and really enhances our natural colour as well as ensuring our communication is as good as it can be.  We love the transformation when clients, who have never tried lipstick before, wear an amazing shade once they know what colour is right for them, and we see the change in their confidence as the compliments flow in. Of course if you’ve had your colours analysed you will know the best shade for you, here are some of our best reds for each season:

L-R L 28 Cherry for Summers, L 499 Deep Red for Winters, L 12 Brick for Autumns and L 606 Geranium Red for Springs. All available to purchase from our webshop

Show off your House of Colour red lipstick this week and support The Red Lippy Project.

Red Lips Say:

“The initial idea was to create a platform that talked openly about the importance of cervical screenings and cervical cancer with a fun, bold, visual language that women and especially younger women can relate to.”

 

For more information visit their website 

www.theredlippyproject.com

The Power of Fear – why would you not want to?

There are many people who recognise in life that we are motivated by love or fear, in some ways this could be seen as being motivated towards or away from something.

I love the colour and style element of my job, it is so liberating to be able to wear colours that make me look healthy, vibrant, confident, young, awake, fresh and styles that flatter my figure, respecting my personality.

It’s been a bit of a joke amongst my friends who are clients – ‘better wear your right colours, Jackie’s coming’ or ‘if I’d known you were here I’d have worn something different’.

While I totally understand the comments, after all who doesn’t tidy up their home when visitors arrive, wear your best suit (outfit for an interview) – what a shame it is the fear of my reaction which has motivated the comment.

I’ve often said to clients ‘I’m not here to tell you what you can or can’t do, rather to show you what works, what flatters you and enhances your appearance.'  Knowing this, why would you not want to?