A much happier me

Now seriously, when you suffer from Duck’s Disease and you have a figure like Betty Boop as I do, there are times when you need a little help from your friends.

I am 5ft 1″. Don’t forget the 1 inch, it’s extremely important! It’s how I earned my nickname ‘Duckie’. And it’s  been a VERY long time since I fitted into a size 8 dress. Until just recently I never paid much attention to my wardrobe because it consisted mostly of corporate wear as required by the corporate world. Dressing for leisure or casual wear is what sent me into Wardrobe Panic!

This all changed when I had a mid-life melt down and decided to go back to school.

I now operate a business from home and no longer need the corporate wear. I have also lost over 12kg which means that nothing in my wardrobe fits anymore anyway! So now we’re in the phase of Major Wardrobe Panic because I have nothing to wear at all. Uh oh … warn the neighbours! I’m going to be running around in my fluffy pyjamas and dinosaur slippers.

Before the Wardrobe Workout

My sister-in-law Carol and I showing off some colour at a wedding in Japan

Luckily for me, I have a wonderful friend and author, Deb Sawyer who has written a brilliant book called Stress Free Dressing: Mix and Match with Confidence. Deb is an amazing, inspirational woman without whose support and encouragement, I wouldn’t be blogging today.

I stood in my walk-in robe and stared at a solid wall of black, punctuated with the odd dash of red, green and blue. Depressing, I thought as I plucked out the dashes of colour that were my blouses and T-shirts and sorted them into graded colours. This at least showed that there was some colour in my life after all, even if it was muted! But there was still an awful lot of black. Who was I going to call?

Deb Sawyer at Stress Free Dressing, that’s who!

Deb arrived and we had a session over a cup of tea to decide what ‘look’ I want to achieve. I don’t want to look younger; I’m comfortable with my age. I want to look ageless, stylish, classy and confident.  With the help of Deb’s useful tools we were able to assess my style, needs, likes and dislikes. And then it was on to tackling my wardrobe!

Deb’s first words were: “That’s a LOT of black!” before she spotted the small section of colour and got to work on combinations. An hour later my corporate wardrobe was transformed into a smart casual, classy and ageless one without spending a single cent!

My post-black wardrobe with cheerful colours

Colour Matching and Accessorising

Deb showed me that all I need to convert my wardrobe is a little colourful costume jewellery and scarves to dress it up (or down) and add colour.  And how, with a few nips and tucks, I can transform items that are a little too big or unflatteringly shaped. Who would guess that something as simple as changing camisoles, buttons or a necklace and earrings can make such a huge difference to an outfit? Well, Deb Sawyer of course!

I now have a whole new look and new ideas to work with. Deb, your knowledge and advice is invaluable! You are an artist! I can highly recommend a Stress Free Dressing Wardrobe Workout.

Thanks, Deb!

Juanita

 

 

 

Hayley Solich completed a Wardrobe Workout session with Deb Sawyer on 15 March 2011.  Here is Hayley’s transformation journey, as shared on Facebook…each set of images (except the three photos) are hyperlinked to the videos if you would like to view them. simply click on the image.

Post 1:  15 March 2011

Post 2:  15 March 2011 – Hayley’s First Shopping Trip

Post 3:  Hayley’s 2nd Shopping Trip

Post 4:  The hair makeover

Post 5:  Hayley’s Emotional Thank You to Deb Sawyer

Unfortunately, this video is only available on Deb Sawyer’s Personal Page on Facebook.