Improvability Blog

I am one happy bunny!

Sophie Sharp from Australia emailed me recently.

“Hi Kim, It’s been a while since I emailed you. I studied your Colour Analysis in a Box.

I’m the colour consultant in Perth, Australia that’s been doing colour parties as well as one-to-ones.

Just recently, my little business has really taken off

I have been approached by a style company that do style parties and basically they have asked me to join them to do colour parties for them. It’s really exciting stuff and I am meeting some wonderful people. If you get a chance check out shopnfriends.com.au and you’ll see me on the colour consultancy page!

THANK YOU FOR BEING SUCH AN INSPIRATION TO ME. My confidence is now ENORMOUS. I am one happy bunny!

I have a great business opportunity

I was introduced to a jewellery company the other night and they actually create their jewellery with face shapes and style personality in mind. I was there for over three hours talking to them about colour and tones. And I showed them an example using my cream and white pearls against my gold and silver drapes. Well, they fell off their chairs and the next thing I know they are pulling all these beads and stones out from their little compartment drawers and placing them on the drapes. It was soooo much fun. They were like two little excited squirrels.

Next on the agenda is to give them both a colour consultation so that they are wearing the right coloured jewellery for themselves.

And they are going to give me a few samples of their jewellery so that I can show my clients. I also left them with a swatch of each of the seasons so that they can select their beads a little easier. I can’t wait to see their new designs.

And to think, my hubby just thought I had myself a new hobby!

A great tip for other image consultants

On another note, the other day I bought a nice-sized mirror with 4 picture frames on it.

What I have done is put a seasonal wallet in each of the frames.

I have found that when I am draping my ladies in front of the mirror it is putting them at ease because it gives them something to look at and talk about between me getting the next set of drapes - rather than staring at themselves in full day light with little or no makeup on!

I’ve attached a picture. I thought this might be a helpful tip for some of the other consultants. It’s an excellent conversation piece.

Good luck with the style training. Don’t work too hard.” Sophie Sharp

HOW TO CONTACT SOPHIE SHARP- If you would like to attend one of Sophie’s colour parties or consultations, then email her at colourswithconfidence@hotmail.com or telephone mobile 0405 076 737, or website colourswithconfidence.com

As a business owner in the world of image, you need to be aware of the latest statistics about your industry.  Here are 7 facts / statistics about the rapid growth of the plus-size clothing market.

Use them to impress your clients but, more importantly, to hone your marketing.

Fact #1

Hot on the heels of news that Marc Jacobs is set to become the first major fashion house to launch a plus-size line, statistics gathered by market research company Mintel has revealed that a quarter of UK women are now a size 18 or above.

The American designer label revealed earlier this month that it is in discussions to produce a clothing range catering for women bigger than a size 14.

Fact #2

It is likely to be a shrewd move as research by Mintel shows that the plus-size market for womenswear has increased by 45% in the past five years to £3.8 billion, compared to growth in the overall womenswear market of just 15%. Larger-size menswear has also grown steadily by 6% to £1.9 billion between 2005 and 2010.

Fact #3

However, while Mintel estimates that around 6.2 million now fall into the plus-size category, many of them still struggle to find clothes that fit.

Tamara Sender, Senior Fashion Analyst at Mintel which surveyed 20,000 Britons, said, “Rising levels of obesity in the UK mean that plus-size consumers are increasing and these shoppers are looking for improved choice in plus-size clothing and more fashionable garments.

Fact #4

“Given the numbers of not just plus-size women, but also men, with a third wearing XL clothes or bigger, these consumers can no longer be considered a minority or niche sector and retailers of all types of clothing need to wake up to the growth potential of this market.”

Fact #5

The most-purchased clothing size in the UK today is a 12, with 31% of women buying this size.

Fact #6

The second most-purchased clothing size in the UK today is a 14.

Fact #7

But with 10.1 million women in the UK (equivalent to nearly 40% of the female population) wearing clothes sized 16 and over, there is growing demand for clothing more representative of the overall population.

Over half of women who are size 18 said that not enough shops offer a range of choices to cater for different sizes and more than four in ten believe that plus-size clothes tend to be less fashionable than smaller sizes.

“Many high street retailers have still not extended their range of clothes to provide wider choices for the growing number of shoppers that do not fit into the standard size mould. With rates of obesity increasing, the new generation of younger, fashion-conscious plus-size consumers are looking for the same trend-led clothes that exist for slimmer women,” added Sender.

Image: Elena Grunert

Thanks to Manda Kent Burns who sent in this article

EN 13402 is a European standard for labelling clothes sizes. It is based on body dimensions, measured in centimetres, rather than the extremely arbitrary sizes which differ from shop to shop, and from manufacturer to manufacturer. 

Its aim was to replace many older national dress-size systems, starting in the year 2006. I’ve yet to see any evidence of this in UK shops but, then I have to admit, that I don’t go shopping for clothes very often!

As we clearly aren’t there just yet, maybe these charts will help, especially if you’re travelling.

Women’s Clothing sizes

Women’s Shoe sizes

Women’s Lingerie sizes

Women’s Bra sizes

Bra measuring guide

Women’s Hat sizes

Calculating your own hat size

Since my article about the sad passing of Kathryn Kalisz Donovan, I’ve been inundated with emails from consultants in the USA and also Australia wanting to know if we can provide Extended Seasonal colour fans or books or wallets. It seems that Kitty’s family business isn’t able to supply the 12 Tones swatch books right now.

The following is from a newsletter that I normally only send out to wholesale catalogue customers.  If you’re looking for Extended Seasonal wallets for your own business, I hope this helps.

For use with the Extended Seasonal system of colour analysis

These wallets provide 48 swatches for working with the Extended Seasonal system.

For instance, if you diagnose your client as a Bright Spring, you could give her the Spring / Clear wallet from this range as it contains only the brightest Spring colours.

For use with some tonal systems of colour analysis

These wallets are also designed to work with one of the many tonal systems out there so if you are used to diagnosing the same client as a Bright Light, then you would also choose the Spring / Clear wallet.

If, however, you diagnosed your client as a Light Bright, then you would need to go for the Spring / Light wallet.

NB. If you don’t understand what on earth I’m on about here, then you don’t need to spend any more time on these wallets!

Wallet design

There are 4 cards with 6 swatches on each of 8 sides of card, which fold up concertina style to form a slim wallet designed to fit into a handbag, briefcase or inside jacket pocket.

Each wallet includes 4 sides of text inserts which give plenty of advice on how to combine colours, especially neutrals and basics, to produce both the best assertive and calming looks for your client. 

NB. This advice is all aimed at women but the text inserts are easily removed if you want to offer these wallets to your male clients too.

Alternatives to consider for seasonal work

• Ladies’ Seasonal Wallets - card wallets, 30 swatches, with no text
• Ladies’ Seasonal Fans - fans, 30 swatches, with lots of text aimed at ladies
• Ladies’ Mini Seasonal Fans - 30 swatches only, no text

Alternatives to consider for tonal work

• Ladies’ Tonal Fabric Fans - fans, 45 swatches, with lots of text aimed at ladies
• Ladies’ Safe Tone Fans - fans, 18 swatches
• Add-ons - fan inserts, 15 swatches which can be added to the Safe Tone Fans

You’ll find all of these different wallets and fans in the wholesale catalogue.