Global, Comfortable, Professional

Global, Comfortable, Professional

Hi! Did you miss me? I really enjoyed having a few days off, and we loved our time in Charleston. I've been so lucky lately to receive referrals from clients that have led to new clients and also to spend time with repeat clients in a new season!

I recently spent three hours with a new client named Bailey in her closet and then another three shopping with her. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me first say: HOW IS THIS WORK?! How is this my business?! We had way too much fun to call this anything like working.

Bailey is an incredible woman; she's traveled a ton, she's an artist, she's moving for a new job, and she's just incredible. We met in her adorable DC apartment to take a look at her clothing which was, well, minimal. She's really good at the getting rid of things part of closet cleansing but hasn't always replaced those things with stuff she can wear.

We worked together to define her personal style, which I always like to think of as three words. Then, once you have those three words, anything that doesn't fit at least one of them doesn't belong to you. Don't buy it, and don't hold on to it. Every outfit should have at least 2 of the words to describe it.

Bailey's style is something like global, comfortable, professional.
The global part is her incredible accessories collection. Her necklaces and belts can turn a simply professional outfit into something special, something you could wear to an art gallery or to teach a class in Bailey's case.

Here's an example of how I built an outfit off of a simple dress that she never wore, a graphic pattern shirt, and some global accessories. Those of you who have had personal styling sessions with me will appreciate that the pile of clothing in the back is completely my doing and not how her house normally looks!

I challenged her to think outside the box of how she normally wears even really gorgeous pieces of jewelry. Sure, she could wear just one shade of purple, why not two? Why not layer one gorgeous necklace over another? Why not add a brooch to the whole thing and call it a day?

On anyone else, the simple dress or the simple purple sweater in the above photos could be a fine outfit. But Bailey needs more than just a generic outfit; she, like every one of you, is special. We've got the touches of professional in the sweater and collared shirt with the touches of comfort (all washable, nothing tight), and then the global, artistic influences. Perfect!

We went out shopping to fill in some basics for Bailey: t-shirts, button downs, skirts, and jeans. These all helped to fill in some of the comfort and professional layers that she was missing.



And we laughed so hard. Does this look like a woman who told me she "hates to shop"? I didn't think so either!

If you're looking for some global, collected, unusual jewelry and don't have the time to collect it from around the world, I always like World Market, Anthropologie, and Lulu Boutique for inexpensive to more expensive but still reasonable pieces. If you're looking to spend a bit more, there's nowhere like Barrio Neal from Philadelphia. Oh-and check out my Pinterest Board for ongoing gift ideas for the women you love.