Febuary 2003 Newsletter

Business Basics and Black in Style

The year is finally taking shape. The kids are back in school and businesses are back into full swing again. I always find January a struggle as I start planning my year and implementing the ideas I finished the last year with. It can be a bit mismatched which is how many of you may be feeling with your wardrobes and the clothes you have to wear.

This month I am going to focus on how to wear black for those of us who aren’t winters and do not necessarily shine in black. There are plenty of tricks available to allow you to comfortably wear black and look good in it. This is something we need to keep in mind with autumn approaching, although who can tell with the incredibly hot weather and fires we have been experiencing this month.

I am also going to share with those of you either entering the workforce for the first time or deciding to rebuild your corporate wardrobe just how to go about it efficiently and economically.

I would like to say thank-you to all those who have sent me very positive letters regarding my website. It is exciting to know others are as appreciative as I am of the great job my designers at Outer Site did for me. Once again the E-Tips are doing very well. I am sad to say the How to Look Younger tips are running thin so I will be only sending four of those out per week from here on in.

If you have not yet subscribed to my E-Tips they are available under four headings
· How To Look Younger
· How To Look Slimmer
· You Corporate Style for Women
· Style and Grooming for Men

You may subscribe to just one, two, three or all of them. To subscribe simply send me an email to clare@corporateconfidence.com.au and let me know which titles you would like to be included in.

Lastly for those of you who have not heard me speak you can tune into 3AK 1116 on the AM band. I will be chatting to Yvonne Adele this Wednesday Feb 5th around 1.30 pm. I will be answering listeners’ questions if you wish to call in.

HOW TO WEAR BLACK IF IT IS NOT YOUR COLOUR.

It was back in the 15th century that the Court of Burgundy became the leaders in fashion of the time. It was here that black first became popular as a colour for men to wear after the gaiety and brightness of the other European courts. It was soon after this that it became the colour to be worn for both formal and festive events.

We can see how far black has come today when you consider it is almost the uniform of the masses. Black is the first colour we tend towards to hide our faults. No wardrobe is complete without at least one black suit, a pair of black pants and or a black skirt. Add to that a black leather jacket and a pair of black shoes. How many wardrobes have I described in that short description? Most I am guessing. Now if everyone can’t wear black how can we get away with all of this black in our cupboards?

The first thing you must keep in mind is that our face and skin tone are only affecting by those garments on our body from the waist up. So immediately you know your shoes, pants and skirts are safe. OK so how do we deal with the rest of it? What are we girls to do with our LBD (little black dress) that we all have?

Here are a few points to keep in mind.
· The more skin you show the less affect anything has on your face. So keep it strappy.
· Break it up between you face and the black garment. If you are wearing a black jacket ensure you have a top on in your correct colour toning to lessen the effect of the black. Also try and keep you collar out over the jacket.
· Wear an item of jewellery to break up the black
· If your face is lined black will only fill the lines with shadow and age you further.
· If you have a LBD that does not reveal too much skin you can reduce the effect of the black by draping a sheer wrap, in you ideal colours, over the dress and look very glamorous.

Black can be our friend and our foe. Many people tell me how they wear black to make themselves look slimmer even though they know it is not one of their colours. I point out to them here that black is a combination of all colours and therefore a very dense and heavy colour. To wear it properly you need to keep the eye moving to other areas to hide any flaws you may have. If you wish to wear all black the best way to do that is with layers. Monochromatic colourings are very slimming so I would suggest black pants or skirt and top with a lighter long line jacket over the tops to create some movement in your outfit. For men you would be better to go with a jacket with some movement in it.

BUILDING A WORKING WARDROBE

Building a working wardrobe can be fraught with dangers. This is the first time we can meet our Grooming Gremlin. He is the nasty little character that talks us into buying that amazing tie dyed silk shirt with the mismatched buttons and the see through back that will go with absolutely nothing else we own, is not practical for work and will show off more than we are willing to expose. So it will sit for a couple of years at the end of our wardrobe until we decide it is time to ditch it.

Many employers complain that the main problem they have with many employees is their grooming. Now by saying this they do come to work clean every day but after the first couple of weeks it is as if they have run out of clothes to wear and honestly this is often the case. If you follow the following steps you will have a better wardrobe. Filled with strong co-ordinates and many working options. More clothing for less money has to be good.

To begin with you need to plan these purchases. It is a bit like cooking. Decide what you need first and go out and pick up your ingredients. As with cooking the better the ingredients are that you chose the better the end result will be.

I suggest you decide upon your central colour. This will be a neutral colour that will form the core of your wardrobe. If it happens that you find it in one store in matching pants, skirt, dress and jacket then go for it. Did I mention that this might not be an inexpensive exercise so be prepared to lay-by some pieces. Ideal neutral colours are black, navy, tan, chocolate brown, tan and taupe.

You may not want everything to match in the one fabric or it may be that your wardrobe does not need to be that corporate. So in that case find a jacket or pair of pants and build an outfit around that one piece. A complete outfit only needs to be a jacket, top and pants or skirt. Now using that same jacket or pants build another complete outfit that compliments the first. So by now you will have a jacket that can be worn with two tops and two bottom pieces and combined will create four separate outfits.
If you started with the jacket to really expand on what you have started all you will need is another jacket, another bottom and four more tops. You will have 11 pieces in your wardrobe that can create up to 36 different outfits. You won’t need to wear the same outfit twice to work in over a month. As long as you ensure you start with a neutral colour in either your jacket or pants and build up from there. Fabulous trendy seasonal colours will look good for a season but don’t have staying power. Buy good quality and complimentary colours for your existing wardrobe and you can’t go wrong.

The good news is that once you have tired of the 36 pieces you already have you can start again with another core colour and build up another combination of working pieces that will keep that Grooming Gremlin at bay and show you to be a Wardrobe Warrior.

Next month I will present part #1 covering what exactly business casual means today and give you some guidelines on what the formal dress code is.
I would love it if you did not keep me a secret but that you shared this newsletter with your friends because

Everyone has the ability to Look Great

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