MEAGHAN SMITH PERSONAL STYLIST

One of the most versatile items of clothing you can have in your wardrobe is a classic white shirt.  Those of you who are not typically classic dressers will no doubt be screwing up your noses at this moment – but before you think I’m suggesting you own something bland and uninteresting, bear with me until I show you a few different ways a white shirt can be worn.

My personal favourite is from Ralph Lauren, but I also have one from Gant and another from French Connection.  I prefer it to be fitted and the cotton to be thick and crisp.  Having said that, I’m searching for a men’s white shirt that I can wear large and un-tucked (channeling Audrey Hepburn) with skinny cigarette pants and black ballet slippers.  I keep mine bright white with the occasional overnight soak in warm water and NapiSan and if I want some extra crispness for a meeting or interview, I’ll give it an iron using spray starch.

Sure, the white shirt can at times, be a little tricky to wear.  White certainly doesn’t compliment all complexions, the cotton can be a bit painful and time consuming to iron and the whiteness even harder to maintain – particularly for those with young children.

But what I love about the white shirt is how versatile it is.  I love that one item of clothing can be worn in so many ways and look different each time.  You need to be creative and come up with lots of ways to wear it – with a pencil skirt, the neck open as low as you can go and a lovely lacy cami or bra peeking out the top; with a pair of denim cut off jeans, a straw hat and a French market basket or with a pair of black pants and a large brightly colored bib necklace.   Your challenge is to wear it in new and interesting ways each time you take it out of the wardrobe.

Inspiration…..

I wear mine with my black pants suit, with jeans and a navy blazer, with a vintage brocade skirt,  under my V-neck sweaters, with my black skinny tube pencil skirt and with my blue sailor pants.

Click here to read about Fab Finds & Favourite Things.

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As if the prospect of re-entering the workforce is not daunting enough, often when women want to return to work after they’ve had a long break, they are faced with the issue of what to wear.

Not only could you be confronted with the fact that the clothes you used to wear no longer fit or are no longer flattering, there is also the dilemma as to whether any of your clothes are still “in fashion” and therefore suitable for work.

It may also be that you don’t have a big budget to buy new clothes for your work wardrobe when you first start back – so clever thought and planning are needed.

The trick is to be as resourceful as you can. Play around with items that still work in your wardrobe and think about what could be added to them to create different outfits.

For example, you may have an old black skirt which is still in great condition, but the shape is now outdated.  Think about whether you may be able to take it to a tailor (or if you’re handy with a machine, do it yourself) and have it remodeled and modernised.

These days a suit is not always required for interviews and work places. As long as you are well groomed, in well fitting coordinated pieces and smart accessories, that’s all you need.

Here are a few things to consider (before panic sets in) about what to wear and how to update your look, when you return to work …

• Don’t go out and buy a whole new wardrobe before you start. Wait until you get a feel for the culture and environment of your new workplace. Some places can be very casual and others quite formal.  Look to the way your manager dresses for guidance.
• Go along to your hairdresser and get a great cut. This will immediately give you a confidence boost.  (This is my hairstylist if you want to try someone new)
• More than likely if your work shoes haven’t been pulled out of the cupboard for a while, you’ll need a new pair.  If your old shoes are still suitable, make sure they look new with a polish and maybe even a re-sole.  *Whatever you do, don’t wear your shoes like this.
• Perhaps you already have a great handbag, but it might be a bit neglected and in need of some TLC. Think about either taking it to be restored or giving it a polish yourself. If you don’t have a good quality handbag, consider investing in one.  It’ll instantly add polish to your look.  Consider a color that goes with about 80% of your wardrobe.
• If you don’t already own a pair, invest in black pants.  If you like to wear both flats and heels, opt for a style that works with both.
• Refresh whites that have been sitting in the cupboard for a while
• Consider a flattering pair of dark denim jeans for casual Fridays. Team them with a blazer and ankle boots for winter/wedges or pumps for summer.

Need help with your work wardrobe, details of my styling services can be found here

More of my style tips (including how to de-pill your knits, clean your boots, etc) can be found here and here (In the “Highlights”)

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 I received an S.O.S text message from a girlfriend this morning.

“Help!!!  I bought a dress online.  Black chiffon with a ¾ sleeve with lace and just a sack on me.  I did all the measurements and it fits but it is the wrong style for me. I am ashamed to say that it was very expensive”

Immediately I called her because I knew the dress she was talking about was for a function she was going to tomorrow and I knew she had taken my advice and shopped online. So I felt some responsibility.  When I spoke to her she said she’d done everything I’d told her to do.

• Taken her measurements to make sure it would fit
• Enquired about the return policy
• Asked questions about the fit
• Checked how long delivery would take
• Made sure the dress was her style
• Asked herself whether she’d be able to wear it in different ways and therefore be able to wear it on several occasions

She did everything I told her to do, BUT it soon became apparent during our chat, that she had neglected to ask herself (possibly the biggest and most important question)

“Will this dress flatter my shape?”

When the dress arrived, promptly and conveniently to her doorstep and she excitedly tried it on, the answer was no.  The dress did not flatter her shape.  In fact it did the opposite.  It made her appear bigger and boobier, than she is.  She “looked like a sack of potatoes”.  The fact is, she actually has a very voluptuous, womanly figure that would look amazing dressed in the right style and fabric.  But a dress like the one she had purchased made her look completely shapeless. Her boobs were squashed, making them look larger than they are, her neck looked short and her face looked chubby.  Worse still was the dress was over $300. This is a lot of money for her. Like most of us, she can’t afford to make costly shopping mistakes.

She’d finally taken my advice and bought something online and it hadn’t worked out. Certainly I felt a little bit bad that I’d encouraged her to dabble in online shopping and on this occasion it hadn’t worked out, but I reminded her that the most important thing when shopping in stores, online and even in your own wardrobe, if you want to find something to wear that makes you look and feel great, is to wear something that flatters your particular body shape

Fortunately, after she emailed me a photo of herself wearing the dress, I was able to give her a few ideas, (with the use of some cleverly placed accessories and a suitably shaped jacket) as to how she could make the dress work for her so she could wear it tomorrow.  But I was very quick to remind her that if she didn’t want to continue to waste her money on bad buys, she needed to learn and understand the styles that suited her body shape best.  Then she needed to get into the habit of assessing every part of the garment, until it became second nature and she knew immediately as soon as she put something on whether it was right or wrong for her.  Otherwise, she was going to have a huge wardrobe full of clothes that cost her a lot of money and that didn’t make her feel good about herself.

Ask yourself, are the clothes in your wardrobe making you look like the voluptuous, curvaceous, attractive woman that you are or are they making you look like a frumpy, shapeless sack of potatoes?

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I’ve had this brilliant fuchsia Bettina Liano pant suit for 8, 10….maybe 12 years.  It’s been one of my favourite trusty items in my wardrobe where I’ve worn it to weddings, the races, dinners and Christmas parties.  It’s a very classic cut so although it’s years old, it’s still current.

When I first bought it I took it to my tailor and got him to alter it so that it fit me like a glove – so I know it flatters my shape. I’ve always felt great every time I put it on…until recently.

A little while ago I pulled it out and put it on to wear to a luncheon at the races and it felt all wrong.  I looked in the mirror and felt blah.  This was odd.  It always worked.  It was my fail safe item I reached for when I couldn’t decide on anything else. This time I had to take it off and put something else on.  I felt like I was over it.   I put this down to two things. Firstly, about a year ago when my jacket came back from the cleaners, two buttons were smashed and I had to replace them.  Despite searching endlessly for something that matched perfectly, I could never find something I really liked.  Secondly, I was bored with it.   It needed to be revamped, I just wasn’t sure how.

So I put it back in the wardrobe and there it stayed, rejected, waiting for me to come up with an inspired idea as to what I could do with it.

I searched…and researched…and researched and one day came across this….

…so I did this….

I really wanted round gold buttons like the photo but couldn’t find them. (Still searching!) These will do for now, until I come across the ones I really want.  When I was sewing these on, I wasn’t convinced it was what I was after, but as soon as I tried it on, I loved it. I felt like I had a new item of clothing, and I hadn’t spent a cent.

People are often surprised when I help them go through and clean out their wardrobe, that I don’t come up with an enormous expensive list of what they need to buy to have a half decent wardrobe.  Sometimes, once we’ve gotten rid of what doesn’t need to be there and we can see what’s left, we find some hidden little treasures that can be reinvented.  There are lot’s and lot’s of things you can do to make your wardrobe feel fresh and updated without buying a single piece of clothing.  Here are five things you can do right now.

• Pull all the dresses and skirts that you don’t regularly wear out of your wardrobe and consider whether they might work better on your shape and with your lifestyle, with a different hem length
• Soak all your whites overnight in NapiSan or similar to bring them back to white white, rather than grey white
• Try all your daggy jeans on and think about whether they’re making your legs look bigger than you are and if they would look more flattering if they were slimmer in the leg.  If so, take them off to a tailor (or do it yourself if you’re clever) and ask him to run them in down the leg
• Give your leather bags and shoes a clean and polish. (I often just use Mr Sheen)  Make sure you test a small patch before you do the whole item
• Buy a thick piece of velvet ribbon and wrap it around your waist and tie it in a bow with your blouses and dresses. Attach a vintage brooch.

**I wrote this back in 2011.  It’s now five years later and this suit is still alive and kicking.  I’m about to reinvent it yet again by having the pants cropped.

READ: “What’s Hiding In Your Wardrobe That Could Be Reinvented?” Here

Details of my personal styling services (Including prices) here

Get to know more about me and my style on Facebook here

..& Instagram here