Improvability Blog

Stories from the changing room
When was your last fashion buying mistake?

Mine was just last week!

I don’t believe how misguided my own clothes’ choices can sometimes be! I had literally just run a training course for Ladies’ Style, using a photo of Faye Dunaway some years ago wearing a black and white vertical stripe blouse in an effort to explain to my lovely trainees that stripes over a curvy figure just do not work, so you’d have thought that I would have known better, but what do I go and do? I order a black and white vertical stripe beach cover-up for my own curvy figure. You should have seen me when I tried it on - helplessly hysterical with disbelief at my own stupidity and at the balloon-like image staring back at me from the mirror. I should be taken out and beaten severely! And yes, it went straight back to the shop.

I know what you’re thinking, “Kim, you have all this experience as an image consultant and, yet, you still manage to get it wrong!” One of the main things I’ve learnt in this business is that you can never be totally objective about yourself and, consequently, we all muck up from time to time. We’re all just human beings, after all!

I had been looking for a beach cover-up that would double up as an evening wrap - ever practical, that’s me - and I just focused on the black and white, flimsy, gauze-like material with the buttons that I’d been craving, and totally missed the zebra-like stripes that I should have known better about. I guess this often happens when we go out to the shops, looking for that one item in particular. When we’ve got the bit between our teeth, it’s almost like we cannot return home without it, so any old thing that vaguely resembles our original vision will suffice. And throw into this adorable melting pot the fact that I hate shopping in real shops too… No wonder I goofed!

Perhaps I should have booked myself a shopping trip with a good image consultant? Now, there’s a thought!

Maybe I’ll just stick with catalogues and internet shopping instead. At least that way I can have the screaming ab-dabs in the sanctity of my own home when I inadvertently make myself look like a blob from another planet!

Train to be an image consultant

Thinking of a new career for yourself, or perhaps you want to add to your current skills set? We can now offer two ways for you to do this:

COLOUR ANALYSIS
Personal courses in Chesterfield, UK
Colour analysis training details and availability

COLOUR ANALYSIS
Multimedia DVD-based self-study course
Colour analysis training wherever you are in the world

We know that you just love loads of information about who and what sashayed down the catwalks and about what’s going to be in the shops, so we put together eBooks for you which are ready to print and / or download straight to your computer; one for women’s wear and one for the gentlemen.

These publications feature twice as many themes (or more) than those featured in our fashion trends pages, plus we’ve added loads of photos from the catwalks, plus extra notes about some of the fabrics and terms used.

We work with a very knowledgeable and well-respected trend spotter who has written the trend reports. She is also a qualifed image consultant and trainer, so she understands colour, body shape, abd scale, which makes her contribution so much more useful! And we have added photos from key designers to the text plus extra notes about some of the fabrics and terms used.

We have a varied collection of eBooks which contain:

• A trend report covering the key themes supplemented with photos and extra notes
• Photos from the catwalks, sorted into the leading trends, plus mood boards

If you are really into fashion, then this is for you!

Browse the fashion trends eBooks catalogue.

Can’t find the same size to fit you in different shops?

It’s no bloomin’ wonder!

A survey by Which? magazine discovered that women’s size 14 clothes vary by several centimetres in different UK high-street chain stores.

Good grief! What took them so long to work that one out? We’ve all known this all along, haven’t we? We’ve been complaining for years about the difference in clothes sizes, which means you slip into size 12 trousers in one shop but squeeze into a size 14 in another.

Read the clothes sizing facts

I become Mrs. Angry from Chesterfield when I read all those silly scribblings by self-delusional so-called stylists who attempt to advise us all what to wear based on our dress size. (and the above tends to put all this into perspective somewhat, doesn’t it?) Some examples for your perusal:

• Hortense and Hermione are both size 8. Hortense creates a dramatic and powerful look in her Winter hues while Hermione radiates fun, warmth and vivacity in the warm tints of the Spring palette. Should they both wear the same clothes?
  Absolutely not!
• Three friends all wear size 12; the first is curvy, the second is built like a table-tennis table, the third has a curvy waist but no bottom (poor darling!). Should they all wear the same clothes?
  Absolutely not!
• Two sisters are both size 14 and very curvy. Ermentrude is very ladylike and elegant and was probably born with a glass of champagne in her hand! Ethelreda is outgoing and gregarious, loves digging up gardens and drinks cider by the pint. Should they both wear the same clothes?
  Absolutely not!
• Both you and your neighbour are a size 16 and straight up and down. You are 6 feet tall while your neighbour is 5 feet nothing. Should you wear the same clothes?
  Absolutely not!
• You could be size 14 and have shoulders wider than your hips. Great Aunt Jemima could be size 14 and be pear-shaped. Should you both wear the same clothes?
  Absolutely not!

Please don’t listen to GENERAL advice

You are not general and you are certainly not average* (spit, yuk, spit again!). Book yourself some me-time with a real image consultant, and find out:

• what body shape you are
• what your scale is
• what your style personality is
• which colours make you look healthy, gorgeous and alive

Put it all together to create a wardrobe of clothes to suit YOU, your personality, your lifestyle, your bodyshape and scale, etc. because, after all, there’s no-one quite like you, is there?

*Average - here are some definitions of this dreadful little word which, in my opinion, should only ever be used in the field of mathematics:

• Usual or ordinary in kind or character
• Average and medium apply to what is midway between extremes and imply both sufficiency and lack of distinction
• Mediocre stresses the undistinguished aspect of what is average
• What is fair is passable but substantially below excellent

If you believe any of these apply to you, you need to see a psychiatrist immediately. Absolutely NONE of these apply to you so I hope that from now on you will NEVER refer to yourself as ‘average’ again!

Colour Analysis Training in a Box

COLOUR ANALYSIS training
Multimedia DVD-based, self-study course

Train from scratch in the comfort of your own home, wherever you are in the world. No assignments to complete, but I provide full support DURING and AFTER your training.

Visit the multimedia colour analysis training website.

Check out the course content, frequently-asked questions and answers, business potential, colour supplies, extra resources exclusive to Improvability consultants, watch the video, lots of free downloads, and much more.

Skin care and make-up tips

My top 10 make-up tips…

1. Make sure the colour of your foundation exactly matches your skin tone
2. Put concealer on top of your foundation. Using a brush will cut down on leaving grease stains from your fingers
3. Avoid using too much black eye liner and mascara. There are plenty of black/brown combinations available or go for brown instead
4. Avoid too much blusher and only put in places where you blush!
5. Lipstick and cheek colours must blend! Pink blusher with a bronze lipstick looks awful!
6. Check teeth for stray lipstick smears
7. Don’t wear make-up colours that don’t suit you, even if they are in fashion. Find out which ones complement your skin tone and your personality
8. Be discreet with your perfume. Please don’t reapply it at every opportunity throughout the day - you may not be able to smell it, but we can!
9. Don’t rub your eyes if you have eye make-up on. You’ll end up looking like a panda!
10. Take all your make-up off before you go to bed - no matter how late

Read more skin care and make-up tips