VOIR COUTURE

So much has been written on "style", i.e., personal style, power dressing, signature style, color style, etc. It seems that every editor, writer, consultant or group wants to categorize individuals. Why? Style is individual -- an expression of each person -- not an attempt to fit each individual into a group.

If you are in a group, how are you remembered? By your name? By your business? By your category? By your style?

Individual style is created by the selection of one aspect of your physical image that is consistently used. An example is "Mary Kay Pink". This color is used consistently by the company in business cards, packaging, cars, etc. How can we forget Mary Kay?

Your business style can be worn as a particular piece or type of jewelry, a special color (even carried through to your business card), an accessory such as a hat. Repetition creates recognition. Recognizing an individual creates comfort, like seeing an old friend. It is a subconscious reminder of the familiar; we remember someone, even if we are not sure why. We feel more relaxed because a common ground immediately exists.

Part of the fashion style we are asked to adopt are the colors promoted each fashion "season". These may or may not look good on you, may not be your individual style. As you have probably noticed, new makeup colors now available complement the clothing colors currently being shown. For example, earth tones, golds, greens, browns, bright orange, and rusts are "in" this fall, and, supposedly, others are "out". Does this mean that you have to wear colors that you don't look good wearing, that you don't feel good wearing, that aren't your personal style? Your clothing wardrobe should be composed of garments in colors and shades that are your personal style and transcend the "in" fashion styles.

Your makeup wardrobe as well should reflect those colors which complement your coloring. You can "seasonalize" your preferred colors without using unflattering ones and still be fashionable. This fall, for example, if your wardrobe has blue or plum shades predominating, try the new smoky shades of blue and purple or simply soften shades you have with gray. (Blue eyeshadow is not "out", just the bright and iridescent versions -- and that applies to bright colors other than blue as well. Remember, shadow means an illusion.)

Creating your individual look may mean using a feature you have been told to camouflage. Who decreed that a round face needs to be shaded to appear oval? First, why is oval the ideal? Second, does a shaded round face look like an oval or a shaded round face? What if you decided a round face was the ideal and started accenting instead of shading? Would the result be an honest acceptance of you, easily embraced by those around you? Gentle accenting without extremes denotes an individual stating and projecting a real image that is remembered.

Another example. Every makeup artist has told me I need to darken my blonde eyebrows. But I see women with dark brown hair and eyebrows who lighten not only their hair but their eyebrows as well. They are supposed to match, but I am not? Had the experts told me ways to accent my eyes without drawing on dark eyebrows, I would have bought their "expertise".

But the best example was taught me by a large woman who wanted a black dress because black made her look smaller. I designed a dress for her in off white, her favorite color. She felt good in this color but had been convinced she could not wear anything but black or dark colors because of her size. Less than a week later, my client called to say "Thanks". When she wore the dress, people had complimented her on her appearance, consistently asked if she had lost weight. No, she had not lost weight but had begun to accept herself. Incidentally, this same client lost weight, not because of a miracle diet but because she accepted herself.

What feature have you, the Judith client, been told you need to camouflage? How can you accent and use this feature to individualize and personalize your real image? What you have determined as a fault could be your asset in designing your individuality.

Dr. Kinder, in his book Going Nowhere Fast, urges us to concentrate on self-acceptance rather than self-improvement He discourages our search for perfection and says, "Develop your foundation of confidence rather than the quicksand of deficiency."

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Voir Couture is the recognition and confirmation of each Judith, Couturiere client. You are confident and distinctive, value tradition, and demand quality and individuality. Voir celebrates your uniqueness!