Heart Photos 2011

As we come to the end of another year, it is too easy to beat ourselves up for all the goals we feel we ‘should’ have achieved ….. and didn’t.

The same applies to our clothes. The disappointments are ready to ambush us every time we open our wardrobe doors.

There’s the jeans we planned to fit into this year, and still can’t. There’s the new jacket we bought for that special event that never happened. There’s the jewellery that hasn’t been fixed a year later.

Girls! It’s time to pull out the 2011 heart photos to balance all that grief.

Heart photos – what are they? They are your heart’s record of the times it sang with the pleasure of being you. Sometimes there is a digital photo but mostly not. You were too busy being happy in the moment to take a photo. Yes, they can be called memories. I like ‘heart photos’ because it’s you celebrating being true to your heart.

Here’s three ways to enjoy some clothing heart photos over the next three days so that you skip refreshed and renewed into 2012.

Who We Became in 2011

Amongst your wardrobe are some clothes that defined you this year. Maybe there are clothes, shoes or jewellery that you bought or wore differently to define a better or newer version of you. You won a promotion or an award; you decided to really ‘step into your business’; you got married; you became single; you gave your first public talk or started your first newsletter.

This newer version of you is reflected in the clothes and accessories you chose to wear or buy. So take one or more of these items out of your wardrobe and thank it for supporting you when you gave that speech or dressed better at work or at networking. Your clothes are part of you. Thank them now for reminding you of who you wanted to be and who you became this year.

Pleasure Given in 2011

There are clothes and accessories in our wardrobes that always make us feel good whenever we put them on. We choose to wear them for that special feeling it gives us. Maybe we always get compliments wearing it; maybe it makes us feel energetic, younger, slimmer or more professional. It might also be clothes associated with a coffee or a movie shared with a partner or good friends.

Take those items out and thank them. The heart photo is the visual memory plus the good feelings. Remember some of the times you wore them this year. Recall the laughter and the conversations and the important people in your life.

Old Faithfuls 2011

Glamour is seductive. Old faithfuls are the basics of our lives. They are that pair of pants or skirt that can be dressed up with other clothes. They are the black shoes or the black handbag that goes with everything. They never fail you and they make whatever else you wear look even better.

Think of them like the character actors in a movie. Every big movie star knows that a great cast makes them more believable and more memorable. So take the old faithfuls out and really appreciate the background clothes of your life.

Now you have balanced the grief and the gratitude. Go and happily make your 2012 intentions knowing that you and your wardrobe are a great team.

(Article sent to subscribers of ‘The Fashion Translator’ eZine on 29 December, 2011. Click here to sign up for the eZine .)

New Christmas Stars are Shining Bright

I love Christmas and not for the reason you think.

Yes it’s time for gift giving and celebrations with family and friend. As an Image Consultant I see something extra this year. I see more women giving themselves permission to play and to shine brightly.

There are new stars I have discovered around me this year.

What has brought this dramatic change?

Christmas is a time for reflection and giving thanks for the year that is coming to a close. In the last year a jewellery designer has started to put herself out there. Kassandra makes stone and silver jewellery. As more women (including me) have started to buy and wear her jewellery, they have discovered the magic of playing with colour and accessories to be the woman they want to be. Play has re-entered their lives.

At Christmas women feel safe and give themselves permission to wear the flashing earrings, necklaces and brooches and even tie the tinsel belt around their waist. Out also come the reds and in Australia, the bright tropical colours of a beach summer. With this, bodies stand straighter, eyes sparkle and men dreamily remember the young girl they fell in love with years ago.

Here’s my Christmas gift to you if you choose to accept it. Re-discover the joys of playing ‘dress up’. Let you Christmas star shine all year. Your choice of accessories adds this sparkle.

Keep It Simple

To look and feel elegant and sophisticated wear medium to deep coloured clothes with accessories that are close in colour to that. Wear a medium to chocolate brown with a similar or slightly darker brown coloured necklace or belt. Alternatively you can wear a medium turquoise top with a similar coloured necklace, earrings or brooch.

If you want to look and feel feminine and delicate, wear light or pale coloured clothes with light coloured soft accessories. This might be a soft pink or cream top worn with delicate pearls or pale pink or silver earrings and necklace.

Raise the Bar a Little

To look and feel enthusiastic, fun or inspiring wear warm-toned toned colours with bright accessories. This could be a patterned tomato or watermelon red top with a bright red or pink necklace as one of the new Christmas stars wore yesterday. Try a violet (red-purple) top with the same bright red or pink necklace.

To look and feel confident and powerful wear a medium colour with light and dark accessories. One of the new stars yesterday wore a coffee brown dress with a dark brown and silver necklace and earrings. A client star wore a turquoise top with silver accessories.

Be a Star

For those who want to shine or need to be remembered, wear light coloured clothes with dark abstract or dramatic accessories. These get you noticed and stimulate your creative juices. Do this by wearing a white jacket with a dramatic black and white belt, necklace or brooch.

Go the opposite. Wear dark clothes with light coloured accessories to look dramatic, dignified or powerful as this regular star does. Yes this can be black clothes with any light coloured, silver or gold accessories or scarf.

I can inspire you but only you can give yourself permission to play and shine. Change the tone and contrast of your accessories and you can be a different woman for a day, a season or the rest of your life. And I may find more new Christmas stars next year.

These accessory tips are adapted from ‘Accessory Magic’ (a TAIC product) which at the moment, is out of print.

(Article sent to subscribers of ‘The Fashion Translator’eZine on 15 December 2011. Click here to sign up for the eZine .)

Keeping Jewellery Close at Hand

While we are on the subject of jewellery, I thought I would give you three simple tips for storing jewellery to make it easy to choose what to wear.

Store it the traditional way in a jewellery box. These usually have separate spaces for earrings and open spaces or drawers for necklaces. The good – all in one place; the bad – necklaces can get jumbled and you have to burrow through it to find what you want.

Store it in a clear plastic jewellery hanger. I bought one from Howard’s Storage World. It has 24 pockets and hangs in my wardrobe. The good – you can see everything at a glance; the bad – the pockets are not designed for larger pieces of jewellery.

Store it in an accessory wardrobe. These are available from discount stores. They have a slim, full-length mirror on the front and drawer and hanging space inside. The good – all in one place; the bad – you need space in the bedroom, wardrobe or walk-in robe to put this extra cabinet.

(Article sent to subscribers of ‘The Fashion Translator‘ eZine on 15 December 2011. Click here to sign up for the eZine .)