Eternally 27 And A Half

All my life I was known to be a strong and opinionated woman. Most of the times I only shared my views with the people very close to me. I often yelled at the TV, or argued (in solitude) with the writer of an article or survey. 

Why am I getting into this?  I came across a survey that made me wanting to be louder with my opinion. I bet that many of you heard or read  “Dove's” latest survey, where we clearly see the insecurities of our fellow women. I was shocked to see so many girls and women not living a fulfilling life, just because the way they feel about themselves.  

I started to have mixed feelings of sadness and the “I knew it” feelings. Yes, I seen this coming, over the last 30ish years in the fashion industry (and yes - I started really young), I had the opportunity to see  how the customer feels.

How did we get here?  Fashion houses, magazines, the media is painting a picture of a beautiful woman, that doesn’t exist in real life. We are being compared to a picture that is prepared by many professionals to look great in a setting, that is prepared by an other group of professionals to take thousands of pictures. There will be one image selected and corrected, retouched by an other set professionals. At the end of the day we are shown this "work of art", and since it doesn't look like any of us,we feel  less deserving of looking and feeling good.

My experience:  In my long career, I dressed women of every size, background, religion, profession, financial and social position. The one thing that they ALL had in common, was the desire to feel great while looking good.

We all heard that ”clothes don’t make the person". I totally agree. I just hope that I'll have the opportunity in later posts to share some experiments and surveys that clearly show how clothing affects our brain and emotions. Clothing is the first thing that others see, before they can see your eyes or have a chance to talk to you. Clothes are the biggest influence on how we feel. You will sense immediately the discomfort of a “beautiful” woman when she is wearing something uncomfortable. 

Our mistake:  In our busy lives, we run into a store (mostly a department store) and grab whatever we see that we might like, pay for it and run home, or sit in front of the computer and click the button until we think we have enough.   

When we put our purchases on, we could clearly see what we got. Some good and some not so good pieces. We hang them in our closets and forget about them.  Next time we need something for special occasion, we run out again and go home with another bag of “treasures”.  If we do this we end up with a closet full of clothes that have nothing in common with us, and each other.

How it happened?  Long, long, long time ago, when women were proud to be sophisticated and well-dressed there were boutiques, dressmakers, designers that opened their business for the success of making women look and feel good. 

They worked long hours catering to the customer. Their success was based on the success of their clients. These businesses were not endorsed by celebrities, the clients were everyday women, just like you and me.  Ladies went to a certain boutique, because they seen or heard about the service and the quality of the garments that they offered. 

These professionals had kept books on their clients on what they liked, their measurements, their previous purchases, events that the clients attended, etc. This service was connected with others that provided accessories, hats, purses, shoes, undergarments. There was an effort made to keep the customer happy, these designers sometimes were critical if they had too, but at the end of the day the client looked and felt like a million dollars.

Today we might take a friend to go shopping with or ask our partners “how is this on me?”

We lost the professionals that were passionate about the whole clothing industry. This is one of the jobs that a paycheck is not sufficient to compensate for the work that one puts into it, it really needs someone to have a special passion for serving others, to be creative, to be loyal, to be innovative, a great problem solver and having an incredible devotion toward fashion and style.

My goal:  I want to change the way we feel about yourself. 
Throughout the articles that I will post over time, I will try my best to give you, all the information that I collected over the years, to help you with all your style problems. To have a wardrobe that works for you, where you will always have a great outfit for every occasion, to find the clothes that will make you feel as the most beautiful woman. To give you the confidence that you will give to others in return.

I will be brutally honest (I don't believe in being "politically correct"), hopefully funny and always caring in this journey that we take on.

I will post articles every two weeks (fingers crossed), where I will give advice, proven techniques for women that feel stuck in a style, or have difficulty transitioning from one style to another.

If there is a specific problem that you have, please just ask the question, and I will try to respond as soon as I can with a solution.

Since I can remember, I used fashion to express myself, either the way I dressed or the way I designed for others. I want to share my passion for the “schmatte” business with you all.

What's next?  If you look in a style book, the topic of lingerie will be at the end of the book, if they ever take on the subject. I experienced that, since we don't talk about it, most of us don't know how important it is. That is why my first article will be about underwear in detail. 
Stay tuned!