Improvability Blog

Part 1 – In the Ladies’ Style (LSL) forum recently I posed this question to style consultants:

If you get a moment, watch the introductory video on the Ladies’ Style in a Box website. It’s straight from the actual training course when 10 real consultants who actually care about their clients (plus me, of course) get down to discussing:

What is the point of a style consultation?

Watch it, muse on our ideas, and then please let me know what YOU think the point of a style consultation is. You’ll also get to hear what happened when I first had my own style analysed, way back when, about three thousand years ago. Horrid, horrid, horrid!

And that’s one of the main reasons I started offering training courses because I never want this kind of thing to happen to anyone else, ever! If you think the same way, then watch this short video, and let us all know how you feel! Kim

Petalburga’s reply sums up beautifully what I was blethering on about:

“Hi Kim. I have my opinion of what style consultation should be like and know definitely it will not be like the one I had a couple of years ago.

My visit started with being measured from top to toe, height, weight, bust, hips, inner leg, neck, shoulders (you get my point).

The consultant then went to her computer punched in all this information and started printing out my handbook, telling me I have a lovely hourglass figure but am a pear because my ‘boobs’ aren’t big enough to be hourglass shape.

She then went through her 84-page collection of clothing styles, double ticking, ticking and crossing which styles would definitely suit my balanced pear shape, which would be okay and which would not.

Information handed and off I was sent. End of consult. Did I learn anything? “No”. Well, yes – that this was not how I would do it.

So I am looking forward to your training method as I so loved your approach in the colour training.” Petalburga, Australia

What’s the point of a style consultation for THIS consultant?

• to follow her notes or manual religiously, without consideration of whether they were relevant or appropriate for the unique human being in front of her
• to measure poor Petalburga to within an inch of her life, purely to provide the data to make her computer program work – I fail to see how this information is going to help Petalburga one little bit!
• to tick madly at an overwhelming list of information that Petalburga hadn’t a cat in hell’s chance of absorbing right there and then

And the outcome of this attitude for the client?

Petalburga learned very little that was useful to help her dress to enhance her style personality, her body shape and her lifestyle.

In fact, as she said herself, the only thing Petalburga learned was never to do that to one of her own clients!

So, for the client, this consultation was about as much use as a chocolate teapot!

Read Part 2 -
What is Petalburga looking for from her style consultation?

Here’s an email I received from Ethelreda who trained with me in both Colour Analysis and Ladies’ Style. She was about to deliver her very first Style consultation and was naturally a little nervous:

“Kim, Please can you send me the Dressing Points quiz and the 6 pages of Style Personalities – Natural, Classic, Dramatic etc. and anything else you think I will find useful tomorrow.

I am not so sure how to begin with Style – this pure white-haired Winter lady has had her colours done in the past by someone else. She loves bold reds and blues and black and white. She is probably curvy and always dresses femininely – low cut tops with a skirt and jacket, etc and never trousers! 

Am thinking I should begin by doing her Colour Personality and even draping her to make sure she is wearing the right colours.  Then do the quiz and let her look at the Style Personality descriptions. I’m certain that I won’t have time to do body shape, scale and all the other things. I am finding this a lot more complicated than colours but good fun.” Ethelreda, UK

Dear Ethelreda,

Before you dive in and offer this lady everything in your tool box, you need to take a deep breath and take control.

This lady has booked a Style consultation with you, so deliver exactly that.

<- This style?
It looked so much
better in the shop

Where to start

I would just check her colours using page 13 from the Colour Analysis manual, either on paper or in the back of your head.  There’s no need to get involved in draping if it’s going to cut into your style time. 

This lady sounds a Cool Winter to me.  If she needs (or would like) a full colour consultation or update, then book that for another time. 

You can do colour and style in any order that you think is right for your client (and for you, of course) but I wouldn’t offer them both at the same time.

Your client is only going to remember 20% of what you tell her, she’s only going to remember 3 important points (and right now, you have no idea which ones they might be!), and one of those is going to be the very last thing you say as she walks out of the door…

Style personality

Style personality is the most important bit of the first Style consultation, because she will be able to identify with it immediately.  It’s all about her, and that’s what your client wants to know.

Body shape

Doing the body shape first can often produce the opposite effect as ladies do not see their bodies the way the rest of us do, and it is often a process of adjustment to come to terms with the analysis of various bits that she’s not keen on, and this may take some time. 

Create trust first by doing something ‘psychological’ and fun, and then hit her with the body shape and scale stuff when you’ve got a real relationship with her. 

Then, shift the emphasis back to the positive and soften the ‘blow’ with ‘how to put it all together’ including colour and all the other evidence you’ve collected on the Image Profile.

Timing

See how the timing of this consultation goes and, if you find you’re really trying to fit too much in, then split future Style consultations down into two (or more) sessions. You could do Style Personality in one, and body shape, etc. in the next one.

And if all else fails…

… have a good laugh.  If your client enjoys the session and goes away with some useful information that she can use today, you will have succeeded.  The detail is not as important as you think right now!

Good luck, Ermentrude, and let me know how it goes. Kim

We have so many more Ladies’ Style resources now!

By the way, everyone who trains with me now with Ladies’ Style in a Box automaticlaly gets their own online resources account. This already contains all the handouts and quizes that Ermentrude was asking about (above) plus lots more besides.

Take a look at what you get:

• Getting Started – An 11-page document to help give you some ideas of what to do with all the information in the Ladies’ Style training course (including the 10x DVD boxset) and the online resources below:
• Style Personality Client Handouts for 6 different types (plus 2 extras)
• Ladies’ Body Shape Handouts for 3 different body shapes
• Client Feedback Form – personalise for each client
• Blank Image Profile form – which you can personalise for each client
• Image Profile Examples – two real-life examples with specific wardrobe needs so that you can test your new skills out
• Style Personality – 3 different methods of helping you and your client discover her own style personality, and what else she’d like to be!
• Body Shape – 5 ways to determine your client’s body shape without using a ruddy tape measure or having to touch her at all!
• Additional Information – Shopping for your Body Shape, Shopping for your Style Personality, Dressing Points, Shapes and Lengths, Types of Necklines, Glossary of Necklines, Types of Waistlines, Visual Fashion Dictionary, Worldwide Size Tables, Vanity Sizing, Size Survey Results
• Business Ideas – articles, hints and tips on how to market your services, how to run style workshops, and how to create programmes for your clients
• and, of course, my very own (and rather essential) Ladies’ Style Training Manual

Find out more about Ladies’ Style in a Box Training options.