Archive for the ‘style’ Category

Shopping Tips for Fall: Using High & Low Tech Assistance

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

I was recently talking to a client who had taken her ” Wardrobe Wizard Color Chart,” and her line drawings with her when she went shopping.  She showed these to a sales person who knew the store stock well.  The sales lady helped her pick out lots of separate  pieces that really looked “cute together.”  Unfortunately, by the time she got home she did not remember what went with what.  The solution I suggested to her was to use her camera phone or digital camera next time she goes shopping.  Here are some shopping tips that will make it easier for you to shop for clothes.

Tips when shopping for new items for your wardrobe:

Before you go shopping, shop your closet. Use your camera phone or a digital camera to take pictures of the clothing you wear most often.  If you do not have another person to photograph you in your clothing, lay the pieces on your bed and take a picture of the different ways you mix and match your separates.

Load these picture on your computer, save them and print them out. Take these pictures with you when you go shopping.  The process of shopping your closet and photographing what you wear should help you be more aware of the gaps in your wardrobe. Every time you buy something new photograph it and add it to your saved file.  Eliminate photos of any clothing you eliminate from your wardrobe.

1.  When you actually go shopping ask the sales person to take pictures of you ( with your camera phone or digital camera) wearing pieces you are considering purchasing.

This is especially helpful if you are unsure about purchasing the items.    A picture will let you know if the clothing is really flattering.

2.  Bring items from your closet that are “orphans.”  ” A closet orphan,” is anything you are unable to wear because you have nothing to wear it with.

3. Bring some straight pins shopping so you can see how the clothing you like will look when it is hemmed or altered in strategic places.

4. Bring the shoes that look good with pants if you are shopping for pants or shoes that look good with skirts if you are looking for skirts or dresses.


Nancy Goldblatt, “The Wardrobe Wizard of Baltimore,” is a Personal Image Consultant trained by Color 1 Associates.  She specializes in working with midlife women whose shape or size has changed.  She is available to work with individuals and groups in Baltimore, Md and surrounding areas. Her website is WWW.WardrobeWiz.com/

She hopes to soon be able to do “virtual image consulting.”  This will mean she can work with individuals anywhere in the world.   Watch this blog for more information to follow soon!

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Posted in Baltimore Wardrobe Makeover, Baltimore Wardrobe Wizard, Frugal Fashion, Image Consultant, Learning to Love The Way You Look, Shop Your Closet, Visual harmony, WardrobeWizard, buying criteria, closet shopping, fashion, fashion tips, get hired now, how to get the job, shopping, style | No Comments »

Secrets of Smart Clothes Shopping

Friday, August 6th, 2010

How do you make a decision about what clothing items to buy? Besides the clothing fitting you and flattering your shape and body colors, what else should you consider?

Here are 9 secrets of smart clothes shopping  from personal image consultant, Nancy Goldblatt, “The Wardrobe Wizard of Baltimore.”

1. Look at care tags, if it says “DRY CLEAN ONLY,” the item will be more costly to maintain.  If item says dry clean without the word ONLY you can probably hand wash it or even machine wash on gentle cycle.

2. Squeeze fabric in your hand for 10 seconds to see how likely it is to wrinkle. If it bounces back with few or no wrinkles you probably will not have to spend time ironing it.

3.  Can you wear it with 2 or 3 items you already own or can you wear it 2 or 3 different ways?

4.  Try it on and sit down in it, raise your arms above you head, raise your arms to your chest with your fists together and elbows out. Then bend over and touch your toes. Does the clothing  item move with you or restrict your movement?

5.  Don’t expect items to fit perfectly.  They will probably need to be altered.  So bring some straight pins with you.    The pins will enable you to see how the item will look after alterations.

6.  If you have had “your colors done,” keep your color chart in your purse so you won’t be wasting your time trying on unflattering colors.

7. If you have had a face and body shape analysis and have line drawings of your best styles bring your line drawings with you.

8. If there is a two or three piece matching outfit get all of the pieces, if they are flattering.

9. If you are on a tight budget, get items that are solids and do not have decorative designs or embellishments.  These will be easier to mix and match with your existing wardrobe.

Before I became an image consultant in 1990, I did not know what colors or styles looked good on me and I would spend many hours shopping and trying on things that looked awful on me.  The more things I tried on that looked bad, the worse I felt about myself.

Now that I know my best colors and styles, when I go shopping, I can quickly skim over the aisles.   I usually  only have to try on items to see if they fit.  This saves me lots of time and my self esteem remains intact.

Nancy Goldblatt, “The Wardrobe Wizard,” of Baltimore is a professionally trained, personal image consultant.   She specializes in working with women who have lots of clothes and “nothing to wear.”  (After you get a wallet of your best colors, and line drawings of your best styles, “The Wardrobe Wizard,” will teach you how to  shop your own closet.)   Nancy is available to work with groups as well as individuals.  Contact her at www.WardrobeWiz.com

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Four Tips for Choosing A Flattering Purse © 2010

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

+Here are four tips for choosing a purse that will flatter you.  You will need to consider color, scale, shape and where the purse sits on your body.

COLOR

  1. Because our eyes automatically search for colors to be repeated, when you carry a purse that repeats one of your natural body colors (hair, skin or eyes) you will look visually pleasing and be able to wear this purse with everything you own.

SCALE

  • 2. Here is a way to determine a good size purse that will be in   proportion to your body.  Spread your fingers apart with your thumbs  touching and measure horizontally from little finger to little finger.  This measurement is the widest or tallest your purse should be to be in proportion to your body.  Measure your hand from your wrist crease to the end of your longest finger.  This could be the depth, height or width of your purse.  (If you hands are in proportion to your body this suggestion will work for you.)

STRAP LENGTH

  • 3. If you can adjust strap length, adjust your purse to end at a place on your body that is the narrowest.  For example if you carry your weight in the lower half of your body, and have a defined waistline, shorten the straps so your purse stops at your waist.  If you are top heavy, lengthen straps so your purse stops at your lower hip or thigh.

SHAPE

  • 4. A purse that has some softness and some straightness is best for most bodies.  If you have a very angular (straight body) and angular face, you can choose a purse with sharp angles.

TRENDS

  • .  Recent purse trends include super sized handbags, clutch bags, vintage, brightly colored and metallic bags.  If you are petite, a very large handbag may dwarf you and if you are a plus size an over sized bag may emphasize parts you don’t want emphasized.

If you do choose a brightly colored purse, try to repeat the color in your outfit at least once or twice.  This repetition of color can  be done with a scarf, shoes, or belt.  As stated previously our eyes unconsciously search for repetition of color and this will help you to look more pulled together.

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Nancy Goldblatt, “The Wardrobe Wizard of Baltimore,” is a professionally trained Personal Image Consultant.  She came to image consulting as part of her own journey to look and feel good in her own short, plump body.  Since 1990 she has been dispelling “The Barbie Doll Myth,” that the media promotes.  This myth tells us that to be considered beautiful, a woman must be tall, thin, perfectly proportioned and forever young.    Nancy counters this myth by teaching women of all sizes, shapes and ages that “real beauty,” is about looking visually balanced.  She is available to work with individuals and groups in the Baltimore-Washington area.  She plans to soon begin working virtually with clients in other geographic areas.

www.WardrobeWiz.com

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Tim Gunn and Me At The Baltimore Book Festival

Monday, September 28th, 2009

About Nancy Goldblatt:

I am a professionally trained “Personal Image Consultant,” based in Baltimore, Maryland.  I call myself “The Wardrobe Wizard of Baltimore.”  I specialize in working with women whose size or shape has changed or who have too many clothes and nothing to wear.    I help my clients by first teaching them how to shop in their own closets.  They get a wallet of their best colors and line drawings of their best styles.  Most of my clients are women but I also work with men.  After I work with a client they will knew what clothing to keep, and what to eliminate.  They will also know what items they should get altered and how to fill in the gaps in their wardrobe.  Best of all , they will get rid of the panic of ” those nothing to wear moments.”

The  weekend 0f Sept 25-27th, 2009 is the 14th annual Baltimore Book Festival. This reminded me of what happened several years ago, (I believe it was 2 or 3 years ago.)  when Tim Gunn,  of Project Runway, was one of the featured speakers. I am a fan of Tim’s and I was looking forward to hearing him speak.  At that time Tim had just gotten his own show and had written a book.  He was speaking at the  Baltimore Book Festival to publicize his new book.

Unfortunately, I had trouble finding parking and by the time I parked,and walked 5 or 6 blocks to the book festival, I had missed Tim’s talk. When I finally got to the area where he had spoken, I discovered there was a long line of people waiting for him to autograph the book they had just purchased.

The book was sold out, so I borrowed some one’s book and quickly looked through it. I felt disappointed because  I did not see any new information that I had not seen elsewhere.  I have a hunch the book may have been written quickly to capitalize on the popularity of Project Runway and Tim’s new show which had just begun.

I was disgusted with myself for not arriving earlier and my lower back was in spasm and I was looking for a place to sit down. I passed a small table with two chairs.  There was a sign that said something like “Sit down, and participate in a psychic experiment.”  The experiment  was sponsored by students from Maryland Institute of Art.     I asked for more information, but mostly I wanted a place to sit and rest.

The experiment was simple, there was a sender and a receiver. I would be the sender.  There was a volunteer receiver already seated.  All I had to do was sit down at the table and concentrate on an image in my mind and try to send the image to the receiver.  He had a pencil and paper and would draw what he received.  I decided to picture “the happy face symbol from the 1960’s.”  I choose this because I was feeling the opposite of happy and I wanted a distraction from my “pity party.”

I concentrated as hard as I could to mentally picture the “happy face symbol . ” The receiver began drawing after a minute or two.   I watched as he drew a line and then made it curve around.  At the end of the line he drew two sheep.  The MICA student asked me if that was the image I sent.  I said, “No, I was picturing a happy face symbol.”  

 I looked at the pencil drawing again and started laughing.  I was laughing because I  realized the line the receiver drew that curved around was the same shape as the long line of people waiting for Tim Gunn’s autograph.  I would not have called those fans of Tim, sheep, at least I would not have said it outloud.  But when I saw the picture “the reciever,” had drawn, I realized that’s what I had been thinking.  Those “Tim Gunn fans,” clutching their newly purchased books, standing in an extremely long line under the hot sun reminded me (at least on an unconscious level) of sheep.

As I laughed and shared why I was laughing with the MICA student and the receiver my spirits lifted as I realized what was really on my mind.  I was shocked that my unconscious mind would view them in this way because I am usually very non-judgemental.    I like to believe it was a combination of the hot sun, my aching back and the fact the book the people standing in line were clutching did not seem to have any new style information.  I am still a fan of Tim’ s.  I don’t know what he is like in person but on television at times he appears a bit formal and proper but his genuineness comes through.  I am ready now to get a copy of his book and do more than just skim it. 

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Posted in Baltimore Wardrobe Makeover, Baltimore Wardrobe Wizard, Image Consultant, Learning to Love The Way You Look, Mind Reading, Ping.fm, Project Runway, Tim Gun, Uncategorized, Unconscious anger, Visual harmony, Wardrobe, WardrobeWizard, beauty, fashion, fashion tips, instant visual credibility, style | 1 Comment »

The Trouble With Bargains

Monday, September 21st, 2009

I recently  helped Theresa pare down her wardrobe.   She had many things in her closet that still had the tags on, but no longer fit . Theresa realized that she had too many clothes but couldn’t resist buying more clothes because they were on sale.  How many of you have bought something just because it was on sale?

What other criteria do you need to consider besides the fact an item is on sale for it to be a bargain?  Here are some questions to ask yourself.

  • Can you wear it with three things you already own or can you wear it three different ways?
  • Is it comfortable, does the fabric breathe?
  • Does it fit properly?
  • What kind of care does it need?  Grab the fabric and squeeze and hold for 10 seconds.   Does it wrinkle easily?   Can it be washed?  ( If it needs dry cleaning it will cost you more long term.)    Also, most dry cleaning uses carcinogenic chemicals and some of these chemicals may remain in the fabric.
  • Don’t forget color.  Does the color make your eyes sparkle, do your shadows and lines disappear?
  • Do you really need it?

When I go shopping, I have my helper, my “Wardrobe Wizard Pocket Pal.”  This includes my wallet of 50 of my best colors and  line drawings of my best styles. I still  have trouble making decisions, at times , because sometimes “my wants and my needs,” are in conflict.  So I carry a pendulum and I ask my pendulum for help in making my final buying decisions.    I believe my unconscious mind knows the right answer and projects this on the pendulum.  (yes, even “The Wardrobe Wizard ” needs a second opinion at times.)

How do you make your buying decisions?  How many so called  “bargains,”  do you have hanging in your closet that you rarely or never wear? Wondering what to do with those unworn bargains?  If you live in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, “The Wardrobe Wizard,” can work with you in person.  Currently I am exploring ways I can work with clients long distance but I have not worked out the details yet.

Nancy Goldblatt, “The Wardrobe Wizard of Baltimore,” is a professionally trained personal image consultant.  She specializes in working with women whose shape or size has  changed.  Contact her at 410-235-5325. or nrgoldblat@gmail.com.

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How to Choose Earrings That Flatter Your Face © 2009

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

“Flattering earrings can give you a polished, finished appearance.” Another nice thing about earrings is that no matter how much weight you gain or lose they will always fit. If you are a woman with very short hair,  it is especially important to wear earrings because earrings will give your face a more feminine appearance. If your hair is short, earrings that have some  dimension ( are not flat) will look best.  I like to think of earrings as a finishing touch or a frame for the face and hair.

Here are some  guidelines for choosing earrings in flattering sizes, shapes and colors.

Earrings to wear in the workplace

Consider choosing an earring that is the size of your eye when it is open. This is considered “classic size.” Look at either the height or the width of your eye.   The earring does not have to be the same shape as your eye  but if your  earring is smaller or larger than your open eye it’s no longer a classic size .    If you work  in a very casual environment you may be able to wear earrings that are  larger or smaller than classic size depending on your face and body size and “color type.” You can  go  smaller, but I do not recommend any smaller than your iris,  (The  iris is the part of your eye that has color )   (See JoAnna Nicholson’s book,  Dressing Smart for Women, to find out about color type.)

Choosing the scale of a hanging earring

Measure  the distance from the bottom of your nose to the top of your upper lip to find a flattering length for a hanging earring. You can also measure from the bottom of your lip  to your  chin.   For a longer earring, you can measure the length of your nose.  Yes, that’s  right, I said nose.  Don’t laugh.  When we repeat colors and proportion of our body its visually pleasing.  If  you do not like the length of your nose or if you have a short neck avoid this longer hanging earring because  it can emphasize your nose  and or your neck.

Choosing a shape to flatter your face

If you want to look visually balanced choose an earring that is similar to your face shape. I realize that most books say the opposite.   In previous articles I have talked about creating visual harmony by repeating shapes and proportions.   Therefore,  if you have a predominantly angular face (more straightness than curves) a more geometric shape earring will be pleasing on you.  If you have a more curved face, a more oval earring will be flattering.

How do you decide if your face is more angular or more curved? Look not only at the outside shape of your face but the shape of your lips, eyebrows, nose and chin.  Your face may be a combination of curves and angles.  Look at yourself smiling and unsmiling.  Have a friend look at your profile.  Count how many curved elements and how many straight elements or lines you see.

You are more likely to have an angular face. I say this because after analyzing hundreds of  faces, I have found most (but not all) women have angular faces.   As you shop for earrings you may find that many earrings, especially the  hanging ones with beads, are predominantly rounded.  This will make it more of a challenge to find earrings that have predominantly angular or geometric shapes.   I began making earrings for my clients when I realized this and I am always on the lookout for softened geometric shaped earrings for my clients who have more angular faces.

Choosing flattering colors

If you choose earrings that repeat your  natural body colors, particularly your eye color or a naturally occurring highlight in your hair you will be able to wear them with everything you own. For example  I have very dark brown, almost black hair.  I have hazel green eyes and I look my best in very clear bright colors and shiny metals.  As I have gotten older my hair is less dark as silver has started to appear.   I have found that I can wear shiny silver earrings with everything I own because it repeats a highlighted color of my hair.

Nancy Goldblatt, “The Wardrobe Wizard of Baltimore,” was trained by Color 1 Associates, as a “personal image consultant,” in 1990.   She is available to work with individuals and groups in Baltimore and surrounding areas.    She is also available for talks, workshops and fundraisers.  Contact her at 410-235-5325 or nrgoldblatt@gmail.com.

This article is copyrighted, it  may be copied or printed elsewhere only if credits and contact information is included or a link is provided to the original post.

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Why Is It Important To Know Which Shade of White Is Right for You?

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Because only 50% of people look good in “pure bright white.”    For the other 50%  of you, “bright white,” will look harsh and or wash you out.  Everyone can wear “winter white,” which is a less intense white. When wearing “winter white,” be careful not to pick a white that has yellow in it.

Can you guess which shade of white is most flattering to Michelle Obama? Take a look at recent pictures of her in a pure white top.  Do you look at her or the top first?    Can you guess what shade of white Oprah looks the best in?  What about Jessica Simpson and Hillary Clinton?

Find the answers at the end of this post.

How can you determine which white is your best white?

Use the “blink test.” Stand 5 feet from a mirror in good light , put on or drape a pure white item over your top half and close your eyes and then quickly open them.  Where does your eye go first?  If it goes to the white before your face, the white is too bright for you.  If you look at your face and the white at the same time and your eyes sparkle and your skin looks fresh and radiant you may be able to wear bright white.

You need to take something else into consideration when you are choosing the right shade of white. What color are your teeth?  Even if the pure white works with your skin, if it makes your teeth look yellow or grey you may be better off wearing “winter white,” at least near your face.  Speaking of teeth, if pure white does not flatter your skin, if you ” over whiten.” your teeth this can make your teeth look like they are false teeth.    I am not against whitening teeth, I am just cautioning against over-whitening them.

(Answer to questions)  Michelle Obama looks better in “winter white.”  Bright white is too bright on her  because she has “muted.” coloring.   Oprah also looks her best in “winter white.”   Jessica Simpson and Hillary Clinton both look great in ” bright white.”

*For more information on choosing colors get Joanna Nicholson’s books, “Dressing Smart for Women,” and “Dressing Smart for Men.”

Nancy Goldblatt is a professionally trained, personal image consultant.  She was trained by Color 1 Associates.  She specializes in working with women in Baltimore and surrounding  areas whose weight or shape has changed and or who have lots of clothes and “nothing to wear.”  Reach her at nrgoldblatt At g-mail DOT com/ or 410-235-5325.  She offers a complimentary initial telephone consult to help you determine if her services are right for you.  She also works with men, and groups in the Baltimore-Washington corridor.

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Posted in Baltimore Wardrobe Wizard, Frugal Fashion, Learning to Love The Way You Look, Looking in the Mirror, Trends, Visual harmony, Wardrobe, WardrobeWizard, beauty, choosing flattering colors, fashion, fashion tips, instant visual credibility, real beauty, shopping, style, using the right white, younger looking skin | 1 Comment »