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| Katie circa 2010. Katie, pregnant. Katie, happy new mommy. |
Katie is a successful Physician's Assistant with a growing career, an all American beauty with blonde hair and playful curls.
Katie had a baby about a year ago and is getting re-aquainted with her body, her budget...and her closet.
This is the story of her wardrobe dilemma.
Like many new moms, Katie fears purchasing new clothes, as her size is still shifting and her son ruins everything. She recently took a position in a well maintained Pittsford gynecology office with a fashionable staff of many other women.
Pros and Cons
Pros: the office culture allows her- nay, ENCOURAGES her- to dress more feminine instead of the traditional, old-fashioned, white lab coat.
Cons: Katie has to think about what she wears everyday and needs to look sharp.
Style coach to the rescue! We gave Katie a Wardrobe and Hair Assessment to help her prepare for stepping into a position with confidence and poise about her.
Step 1. Wardrobe Assessment
DeClutter. Clear your wardrobe of anything you didn't like, want, or have not worn in 3 years (ONE year if you aren't having babies or major operations). For Katie, we kept a few things that she is looking forward to wearing when her body completely returns to pre-baby shape.
Toss Repeats. Sorted through needless repeats of the same items and got rid of redundancies. If you keep buying black cardigans, it's because you don't really love the other 6 you own. OR, you need to start purchasing other colors. Katie definitely had a surplus of denim that she wasn't wearing.
Identify Wardrobe Basics. We went through Andrea's Essentials Wardrobe Basics Checklist and discovered where there were gaps. This is where professional guidance helps you sort through needs V. emotional attachments.
Set Priorities. Make a wardrobe shopping list based on top priority. For Katie, clothes that she could immediately wear to the office were more important than buying her first, perfectly fit designer denim, although both were on the wardrobe basic checklist. She decided to price hunt her denim on Amazon and Ebay until she found a deal.
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| Balance. A structured, yet feminine, blazer dresses up designer denim. |
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| Priority. Katie discovers the difference between well fitted denim and decides to search out this pair online for the best price option before purchasing, |
Step 2. Hair Revamp
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| Katie, Before |
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| Katie, After |
Lifestyle. Choose a cut and color that are easy to maintain for your lifestyle. Katie enhances her natural blonde and chooses to embrace her natural waves in order to keep her maintenance as mininmal as possible, while still looking youthful.
Personal Style. Identify your personal style. Do you like to turn heads when you walk into a room? Do you prefer a subtle approach. Is your hair the focal point of your outfit or is your outfit, itself, the focal point?
Time and Financial Investment. Do some research about the rates you expect to pay for cut and color services and use this to create a realistic budget for yourself. Making your maintenance a PART of her monthly or bimonthly budget, keeps Katie from appearing or feeling neglected as a busy young mom. Making time for yourself means planning ahead whether you are planning hair appointments, or exercise time. BUDGET time, budget money.
Katie...young mom, young professional with relaxed, feminine, classic style.
Katie saved herself time, money and headaches by employing a style coach to do a personal image consultation that identifies her style, a wardrobe assessment, and a mini shopping lesson.
With her targeted objectives and shopping check list, she stayed within her budget and knew EXACTLY what she needed to save and shop for in the future.
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Katie, on a casual day off...she stopped by to show off her latest shopping finds and fabulous curls.
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