Pizzazz, glamour secrets, and state-of-the-art chicness... (part-1)
Pizzazz, glamour secrets, and state-of-the-art chicness... (part-1)↓
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Hello ladies, First, I want to say that this post is not meant to impress you, nor do I want to brag. Most of you already know that I come from very humble beginnings, everything I have is something I worked for ( directly or indirectly) and everything I know is something I learned and acquired. Which means it’s accessible to anyone who wants to achieve it and ready to put in the effort to do so. Now that we have the caveat out of the way, let’s talk glamour, luxury, elegance, and opulence. As we know the art of chicness is one of our greatest seduction weapons as women. My appearance is of extreme importance to me, it always has been…I am the kind of woman who would not step outside if not made up and dressed properly, and I don’t mean fancy or haute couture…just appropriate, chic, if possible outerwear, even to go run an errand. With or without money, I go to great lengths to look immaculate every day, which requires a lot of time and energy (and money) With that being said, I am also a productive working woman, by choice, and I have a lot of intellectual and cultural hobbies that I consider to be a better use of my time…Especially now at almost 47( appearance is important, but so is the mind). And to be honest… I don’t enjoy shopping, even in the most exclusive luxurious settings where they cater to your every need. I just don't have it in me to spend a whole afternoon (or many) in a store lounge, I don’t like to try on clothes, mix and match, pair colors and fabrics… I don’t like to have to keep an eye on certain brands/collections, look for stores/websites, or play brand politics… the whole process is very tedious for me…it has always been the case since I can remember, so it’s not a really a snobby thing that came with having money. Whether it’s a thrift shop or a designer store, I am the friend you’d hate to take shopping with you. Not only for clothes and accessories, I feel that way for everything that needs to be bought and updated regularly. As much as I love to be well-dressed and elegant, I hate everything leading up to it. As much as I appreciate fashion in its artistry and showmanship and enjoy learning about it and wearing it, I despise doing the mental and physical labor and exertion required to look my best. On the other hand, walking around aimlessly…that I’ll do gladly. The mind is a mysterious thing ( don’t shame my pet peeve) Also, I think I have done a more-than-fair share of running around boutiques and malls, and store hunting and outfit planning without internet assistance in my 20s than one could do in a lifetime. It felt dreadful every time, but I did it as long as I needed to. And I would do it again if, god forbid, I go bankrupt. So, as soon as I could afford to outsource the shopping process I did. Smartest decision I made. And in my efforts to not gate-keep certain aspects of wealth, I will tell you how it works. First of all, every person with means ( women or men) has a personal shopper/stylist or multiple ones if they have a demanding social calendar or just don’t enjoy the process or don’t have the time for it. And I don’t mean celebrities or publicly visible people. Even those you may never see on social media have clothing specialists on the payroll or hire agencies based on their specific needs and how much they want to delegate. The most common and mainstream practice that many people do regardless of their affluence, is hiring a professional style and image consultant to map out their preferences and how they want to, and should present themselves in different settings in addition to curating their wardrobe. I have done this myself a few times with highly qualified specialists throughout my life, in particular for color analysis as I change hair tones or tan, and body shape and corpulence analysis if I feel like slightly shifting my style and trying new cuts. Or if I need an extra degree of refinement. ( like being in the middle of a divorce before 35 and coping with it by renewing your wardrobe … therapy is good, but so is fashion) There is a great degree of detail that goes into looking immaculate, besides the grooming and beauty rituals we are all familiar with. There is a whole world of subtle elements that can be tweaked and polished if you want to go the extra mile after the basics are covered. For example, not all of your colors will look the same on you in different fabrics and textures, your signature hairstyle might not be the best choice with a particular set of accessories, some makeup choices that are already tried and approved might downgrade a specific look, and a little detail in a designer dress that’s your color and your cut can make you look stuffy and awful (speaking from very personal experience :D) … anyway, you get the idea. So, aside from image specialists and professionals, whom most people with enough means have access to on an on-and-off basis, there is the personal shopper, whose job is to source clothing items for their clients… it can start from one handbag to a whole wardrobe. There is a less common category, and for good reason is the personal shopper for collectors, rich fashion enthusiasts, and aficionados. They specialize in specific designer items that some people love to have and collect, and that’s a hobby I've never understood. Believe it or not, auctions are held for a pair of sneakers, not because they have been worn by someone famous and dead, not because they have been designed by someone famous and dead… no, just because there are 50 pairs of them in the whole world. There are also the sales assistants/ assistant buyers that high-end brands and department stores employ to cater to their most-spending customers’ needs. Their job is to assist the clients in their shopping and accommodate them in scheduling, unveiling new and private collections, limited editions, customized products, deliveries, tailoring…champagne & caviar… anything that would give the person a sense of luxury and exclusivity. Some of them as amazing talented people, but they work for the store/brand, not the client, which means, as resourceful as they can be, they are limited by the band that employs them regarding the selections they can offer. There is another way of going about it, and that’s what I do. It may seem a bit unorthodox, but it’s pretty common among people who have the means to indulge in their vanity and desire to be well-dressed and chic all the time (which is everybody’s dream men and women). It's not very spoken about in its details outside of the world of celebrities and the cliche eccentricities of some wealthy fashion enthusiasts. It’s a method in which one can incorporate anything they want to include. It can be more costly in terms of numbers, but it’s very time-efficient… It is to delegate the whole styling, tailoring, and shopping to specialists who will do it better than any amateur. It can also be a fiscally reasonable and cost-efficient option if done properly, especially when it’s a relatively big budget (There are tax deductions and “write-offs”, preferential pricing…) If you are at the beginning of your glow-up/ level-up and still figuring things out, you might think that a weekly or monthly trip to your favorite department store is all it takes to be well-dressed, and you are right about that. But there is a set of circumstances and pressures that you will start to become more and more aware of once you break into certain socioeconomic levels and entourage. Your vanity is not only driven by the desire to be well-dressed and elegant, you become motivated by wanting to be as well-dressed and chic (if not more) as the others who populate the same social sphere as you. It may not apply if you climb the financial ladder in a vacuum, which no one does (except tech billionaires, and I guess none of us is). And if you are the ambitious gold-digger I think you are, you will indulge in this “elective pressure”, because as individualist as we can be… we are still part of an environment that plays by certain rules, and we do want to reap out the benefits of being part of it. As you climb the socio-economic ladder, your surroundings are at the same level as you if not higher… which means that everyone who orbits those spheres with you has the same means and access as you. So it becomes a game of true sophistication, creativity, perfection, and state-of-the-art chicness. You will begin to notice and aim for a particular layer of refinement and finesse that comes only from having access to talented professionals to help you craft a mesmerizing appearance if you don’t want to spend your days doing it. So here is how I go about it. I have a person, who is also a friend now and whose services I employ for almost a decade now (she has other clients, She is not an employee of mine). She does everything related to clothing and accessories for me. She coordinates the tailoring and the pairing…in addition to sourcing the clothes. She knows my colors, my personal style, my lifestyle, my social and professional calendar, my cultural sensibilities, and my budget of course … she even knows the pyjamas and lingerie my husband likes. Her services with me started as a shopping assistant/personal shopper, but we both have developed a system unique to us as time went by, she is a fashion library and a very resourceful person. I helped her launch her styling business and expand her clients list when she wanted to get back to work after having her babies and I took full advantage of that fact ( don’t worry she is okay with me writing this, don’t come for me). We do 2-3 wardrobe updates per year for outerwear and 2 essentials and basics updates per year ( Staples, loungewear, PJs, socks, underwear, bedding, towels… Everything that’s essential in every household) The 3 outerwear updates are not limited to known designer brands or new collections, I have a pretty classic non-extravagant fashion style. I rarely follow any fashion trend. But I do love a good cut and a luxurious fabric… Okay, this is getting too long of a post. To keep it short and sweet I made it into a two-part newsletter. Stay tuned for part 2, where I will talk about my personal style ( which you know by now that it includes clear structures and cuts and a lot of suits 🙈), how I tailor certain items, how I decide which designer pieces are worth their prices, what I make-to-measure, and why…in addition to a little look-book of some of my personal preferences. Celine, with love ❤ |