MEAGHAN SMITH PERSONAL STYLIST

“70 percent of the clothes you own should be meat and potatoes. 30 percent should be icing and fluff — that’s colour, pattern, shine, accessories. Too many women get the proportions the other way round, then can’t figure out why they can’t get dressed” — Michael Kors.

If your wardrobe is made up of 70% fluff and 30% meat & potatoes, (rather than the other way around)  it could be why you often feel as though you have nothing to wear.

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I aspire to be half as stylish and elegant as Italian born, Vogue contributor, Costanza Pascolato, when I’m 80.

We can take a lot of inspiration from seeing how Costanza dresses and styles herself.

She keeps the canvas very simple – generally in slim black pants and a top – then adds great jackets, lovely shoes, statement jewellery (Did you notice her skull ring?), and oversized sunglasses. And then, of course, there’s her signature coiffed hair. 

About aging, Costanza was quoted as saying..

“I am a lucky person. All women in my family were strong and positive. They taught me to accept aging. But of course, they were intelligent, elegant, and my mother was very beautiful. The new generation follows their examples: my daughter Consuelo is 50 and looks great. And Alessandra is 48 and looks much younger than her age. We all have a sense that life is a privilege. So we treat our bodies (and souls) gracefully. I do a lot of exercise, eat well etc., but I do not try to look much younger than I am. I only want to look the best for my age, and that, happily, makes me stay away from anxiety.”

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“Tell me about this floral (pink, yellow, green, orange, red, blue) top”, I ask my client during her Wardrobe Overhaul, “Do you love it?”

“No”.  She responds. “I bought it because I thought I should add more color to my wardrobe.” “I hate it!”

There’s a misconception, I’ve discovered since doing this job, that to look interesting, you need to wear lots of color and pattern – but it’s simply not true.

In fact, stylish and sophisticated looks can be achieved by simply wearing black and white.

My tips to make sure your black and white outfit looks chic, rather than bland, are to:

• Keep the black, very black, and the white, very white 
• Make sure the fit is (really) good. (Because black and white is so clean, an ill-fitting silhouette will be highlighted)
• Keep the cuts and styles modern (Rather than outdated)
• Put plenty of thought into how you decorate your black and white pieces (Don’t let down an otherwise great outfit with a daggy, sensible shoe or scruffy handbag)

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It was 2000 – 2001-ish and I was looking for something to wear to one of the Spring Carnival race days. 

On my lunch break one day, I spotted this suit in Bettina Liano. While I rarely wear pink it was actually the beautiful color that caught my eye – but, at around $1000, it was way beyond my budget at the time. Nevertheless, I went back and tried it on and looked at it 3 times until I finally decided I had to give up on it. I just couldn’t afford it…

Then a few weeks later I was shopping with my sister and we stumbled on a Bettina Liano outlet store…..and there was the suit – for $50. I couldn’t believe my luck. We both bought one. Some things are meant to be…

I got heaps of wear out of it. To the races, to Christmas parties, weddings, etc – and then I retired it. I think I got a bit tired of it, but also then it felt slightly dated and it became too snug…

Recently I pulled it out – it hasn’t seen the light of day in about a decade – tried it on and had a good look at it. It was too firm across the back (could hardly button it up) and tight on my bum. (I could stand but not sit) It looked silly. Like I was squeezing into it. So I took it to Jose to see whether he thought he could do anything to it. (We worked together. I told him how I wanted the suit to look and what I thought needed to be done and then he looked at it and told me honestly, whether he thought that was possible.) He wasn’t sure how much there was available to work with at the seams, but he’d give it a go. When I went to pick it up, it was spot on. He has let it out in exactly the right amount of places, (in the right places) so that it wasn’t too much, or not enough.

Then next up I replaced the old buttons to update and modernise the look. (The original wooden buttons had been broken at the dry cleaners many years ago and new ones were put on that I was never really happy with) . *I just found these ones at Lincraft. 

…and yesterday I wore it again to Oaks Day. It’s looking a bit disheveled here. I got wet on my way home. If you scroll down you can see what I wore on my head, etc. (The headpiece was bought at the same time as the suit. My sister and I went halves. She’d wear it when she wore her suit and I’d wear it when I wore my suit… 

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