Are you ready to take control of your personal image?

Do you feel like your style does not match your goals?

2012 is your year to shine!  If you have decided it’s time to get focused on your personal style and project the confident presence you desire, don’t hesitate to download the “Personal Style and Image Statement” worksheet and become a member of the POLISHED mailing list.

This worksheet was designed to get you focused, and dressed to achieve all of your personal and professional goals.  Also, if after you complete the worksheet you decide you need professional help, don’t hesitate to contact me.  I’m always an email or phone call way!

Simply fill out the information below and receive your free copy NOW!

First Name

I have listed the items you need to keep you warm and absolutely polished below, happy audit!

Heavy Coats: You need a coat that layers over a sweater of light weight sweater well.  No need to feel like a sausage, go up a size.

Coordinating Hat, Scarf, and Gloves: Currently oversized scarves are the trend.  I also love when the scarf is of a print in the proper scale and color to compliment a person’s natural coloring and features.

Boots: I recommend that you invest in 3 pair (1. Rain/Snow Boot, 2. Dress Boot, and 3. Casual Boot), this will ensure you have a shoe for every weather condition and situation.  Also make sure they are comfortable, walking in uncomfortable shoes in the snow is the worst!

POLISHED Tip: Don’t be caught with clashing colors, fabrics and prints in public, which can send a message that reads unorganized, or worse low self worth.  Try hanging your winter outerwear together in coordinated sets.  This ensures that you can access it easily as your running out the door.  These days everyone is on the go!

Dorothy Perkins belted coat, $89
MICHAEL Michael Kors genuine leather boots, $140
Camilla Skovgaard high heel booties, $435
Hunter sports shoes, $125
Burberry fringe scarve, $440
Armani Exchange wool knit glove, $58
Nixon hat, $30

I created this look for the individual that works for a traditional company, however still dares to be more then just another suit.  It’s all in the special details ladies.  You can be stylish, sexy and appropriate all in the same look.  Save the short skirts, and low cleavage for a non-work related event.

Their are very few designers that just make my heart stop, I don’t know if it’s her sophisticated inclusion of prints or luxury eye for great fabric.  But whatever it is I want her to keep doing her thing.  Korto is one of the few black designers that has a presence in the mainstream fashion world, and trust me she’s not going anywhere any time soon.

“My woman this season is sophisticated, chic and a woman of heightened everyday elegance” – Korto Momolu

Photos courtesy of SoLifestyle.com

Need some ideas on how to build that perfect wardrobe? Don’t be afraid to flip through one of the “fashion bibles” (i.e. Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair, etc.) to spark your interest of the latest fall 2011 trends. Be sure to rip your favorite looks straight from the magazines and get shopping. I know you’re thinking, how am I going to afford these runway looks? Well, you’re just in luck my fellow fashionistas; we have just entered spring/summer 2011 sale season. The key to sale shopping is to know exactly what to buy.

• First, you always need basics. Any chance you have to stock-up on a great white cami to go under that perfect light weight cardigan or black t-shirt to be worn under a boyfriend blazer is a win-win deal.
• Next, under garments, this really should have been first. As we all know the key to a great fitting outfit is to have an exceptional fitting bra and please ladies no panty lines. Boy shorts or thongs are the way to go!
• And lastly, jeans…Ok people stay with me – this is a great time to stock up on designer jeans for half-off. The key is to shop for jeans with an open mind. You are not going to find the perfect sale jean in the first store you go in-so stay positive! This is the kind of item where you have to be on the look-out for.

Now ladies, don’t have too much fun shopping that you end up with a closet full of clothes that you will never wear. Here are three tips to help you in your spring/summer 2011 sale shopping frenzy:

• Don’t compromise fit for price…or fashion for that matter. A garment is only a good deal when you look good in it!
• Don’t buy the hottest summer trend. Guess what?  The summer is almost over and so is that trend. If you don’t have it now you’re too late!
• Don’t buy the season’s hottest colors unless they truly compliment your skin tone.

Happy Shopping!

Akris

Sonia Rykie

Roland Mouret

Roland Mouret

Elie Saab

Elie Saab

Valentino

Zac Posen

Zac Posen

All images courtesy of www.nymag.com

The POLISHED trend report was developed to assist our clients and blog readers in making their Spring 2011 Style boards.  Take a look at some of the hottest trends that rocked the runway back in October…

(Click to enlarge)

Want an Image Boost? D.C. Has Consultants for That

Washington, D.C., has never been mistaken for a fashion mecca. It’s a place where a pop of color in the workplace can feel like a faux pas, and an outfit that fits properly is a rarity. But that’s not stopping image consultants across the city from trying to cure D.C. of its fashion ills.

“Most women don’t have a clue,” image consultant Sharon Glickman said. “And Washington is not an easy city — we’re working all the time, we’re in traffic all the time — and we want it to be easy. And it can be, with the right garments. They’ve just got to get out of the box a little bit.”

Image consulting, said Robin Fisher, president and senior stylist for Polished, offers D.C. clientele a way to escape the suit status quo.

“There’s a saturation in D.C. of professional people,” Fisher said. “These people are busy and frankly might not be interested. And they want to be confident in knowing they’re doing it right.”

But at what cost? Image consultant Lynne Glassman — who calls herself the “Doctor of Dress” — said that while price often deters people from getting the fashion aid they need, the services are very affordable. “People think you have to be wealthy to hire a personal shopper, but that’s simply not accurate,” she said. “We always have things in our closet with tags on them — I keep people from making those mistakes.”

The various consultants — all unaffiliated — offer services ranging from style consultations to life-management skills. A popular option is the closet audit, or “closet surgery” as Glassman likes to call it, to assess a client’s current wardrobe, followed up by a personal shopping trip. It’s all about color, shape, fit and that elusive quality: style.

Washington may be a conservative city, but the consultants agreed that dressing for work should never mean just throwing on a standard monochromatic suit. Most importantly, it should always mean that whatever a person wears is tailored to fit.

“Alterations are the rule, not the exception,” Glassman said.

“Since it’s Washington, it’s the Hill, women especially think they have to look very conservative,” Glickman noted. “So they buy a navy suit and that’s all they wear. Now that is fine — having said that, they need to have the jacket, suit and trousers tailored to their bodies. Good tailoring is very important.”

David Baldwin Barnes of Gait consulting, who recently worked on the Hill as the press secretary of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said staffers should consider clothes an important way to showcase their careers and goals. “It’s all about finding a way to express a positive attitude about life through clothes,” Barnes said. And for men, Barnes said, nothing beats a smart, tailored suit.

“A suit makes you feel different, more confident,” he said. “But you can’t let your suit wear you. You need to wear the suit. You could think a suit is traditional and old-fashioned, but flip through GQ — the suit is still the foundation. After all, there’s a limited number of pieces a guy can wear.”

In the all-too-traditional fashion enclave of D.C., the inclination is to dress conservatively. But with consultants out on the town — and delving into closets — D.C. just may be on the verge of a new fashion frontier.

“Rock it your way. It’s all about individuality,” Fisher said. “Being a carbon copy of somebody else is not a way to go it. It’s all about feeling confident and dressing appropriately for who you are today.”

Just make sure to get that outfit tailored.

Check out the D.C. image consultants featured in this story at their websites — Sharon Glickman at sharonglickman.com, Robin Fisher at polishedimageandstyle.com, David Baldwin Barnes at gaitconsulting.com and Lynne Glassman at doctorofdress.com.