Client Style File: Laura

{Watch the video to hear story}

Laura’s point of view before working with me:

“I am moving up in the professional world and am not confident I am putting my best foot forward in professional settings, especially in locations where the weather is hot all the time. I also feel that I would like to express my own personality at work, without being too overly sexy or going outside the boundaries of professionalism. Finally, I would like to feel confident that I am looking great in my clothes, and that they fit me well without being too tight or too baggy.”

Laura, 45, lives with her husband north of Manhattan. She had risen in her job, moving up in the professional world as a traveling tech consultant. However, as her life was moving forward, her style was being left behind.

When I first met Laura, I thought she was an introvert based on the clothing she wore, and what was in her closet. But, as we went through a complete style makeover with the Style Re-invention package, it became clear to me that Laura’s true personality wasn’t being expressed at all by her clothing.

We eliminated all of the less-than clothing and accessories from her closet. She didn’t have much to begin with, but we edited it down even more. Gone went the tops that were ‘meh,’ and the shoes that were uncomfortable. Also subtracted were dresses and pieces that now felt too young or junior-level for her.

We found that one of the biggest holes in her closet was her lack of appropriate shoes. She had the toughest time finding shoes which fit her and felt comfortable. Her other major challenge was traveling to Arizona four days every week for work. In AZ, there is the challenge of facing the extreme heat outside, and then air conditioning inside, which can make dressing for success a bit difficult. She also mostly works with men, and found that the style in Arizona is way more relaxed than in Manhattan. She was concerned about being too dressy, or “New York,” for her team. Dressing appropriate to one’s environment comes up over and over with my private clients.

Laura wanted to dress in a more powerful way. Together, we discovered that her style intentions are: Powerful, Dynamically Chic, Subtly Sexy, and Feminine. We also defined the best colors and shapes for her unique face and body.

Her budget for shopping was about $5,000. We focused on dresses that would go from day to night, and also from casual to dressy depending on how they were accessorized. Because she travels so much, I wanted her style to be easy. I knew that dresses would fast-track her to feminine professionalism, and also make packing a breeze.

We focused on really dynamic and fun dresses that would show off her personality, staying within one to two color palettes that she could mix and match easily. We layered in shrugs and easy light jackets to go over the dresses. All of the dresses worked with the three pairs of shoes that we found for her. Finding comfortable shoes that would work in Arizona and be work appropriate was a major win for Laura.

During our style session, Laura wore an outfit using the new pieces we bought, and she accessorized it perfectly. We did more styling of her new wardrobe, pulling everything together. We created dozens of outfits with jewelry and accessories, as well as editing out several pieces.

Laura shared with me that after a week of wearing her new outfits and getting rave reviews from friends and her husband, she purged even more from her closet. Her husband told me during our style session:
“She stands different. She walks different, she talks different. She’s like a different woman… for the better.”

If you would like to have your own Style Re-invention with Alexandra in New York City you can find out more info and apply here.