MEAGHAN SMITH PERSONAL STYLIST

My favourite way to dress is to combine pieces that are designer (expensive) with low (inexpensive), from near and far and old and new. .

For me it feels more creative than wearing head-to-toe current season (which I do do occasionally – but it doesn’t seem as interesting).

For this reason I think about building a wardrobe, rather than just having clothes in my wardrobe for a season. .

Here I’m wearing a vintage embroidered blouse, which I found in a local opshop (about 8 yrs ago) for $5. With it I’m wearing, my favourite Levi’s, (bought in Melbourne), a pair of Scanlan Theodore shoes, a Maje necklace I bought in Paris and a Clare Vivier bag my sisters gave me for my birthday (which they had shipped from the States).

SIDE NOTE
While this top only cost me $5, I liked it so much I thought it was worth spending the money to have it altered. When I bought it the sleeves were too long. I wanted them to sit above my wrist bone – so I took it to my tailor and he removed the embroidered strip, shortened them, and then replaced the embroidery. Much better!

You can read what styling services I offer here

Follow me on Instagram here

This is my favourite piece of clothing (and one of my most treasured things) that I own.

My Nan made this jumper for me when I was 19. (I’m turning 51 in a couple of months)

It’s so special because it was a project her and I worked on together. (I saw a picture in a Vogue, took it to her to see if she thought she could recreate it and then between us we had to find a pattern and then the right type of wool so that it looked just like the one in the magazine.

When it was finished we were both thrilled with the result. It was just like the one in the photo.

You can read what styling services I offer here

Follow me on Instagram here

One of the aspects of my job that I love, is looking at the collections overseas.   I could get lost online for hours and hours watching videos of the shows, trawling through images and marveling at how talented and creative some of the designers are.

Much of what I see is not realistically what I or my clients would wear, but nevertheless I gain a lot of inspiration from them and use them as a way of keeping up with trends.

When I’m studying the images I’m looking beyond the fact that the clothes featured might cost as much as my yearly income or that the models may be 6ft tall and nineteen years old. Some of what I’m focusing on is:

• the lengths and shapes of skirts, dresses and pants
• the style and color of shoes the models are wearing – most importantly the shape of the toe
• the width and length of sleeves
• how they’ve accessoried the look (the decoration part of the outfit) 
• color combinations they’ve put together
• how they’ve clashed patterns
• the way they’ve layered pieces
• the way they’ve mixed different shapes and styles together
• the style of handbags they’re carrying
• how they’ve belted a trench, twisted a scarf or rolled a sleeve
• the way they’ve chosen to showcase the clothes with make-up/hair/nail-polish

While I see lots of shows that I love, I don’t often feel compelled to share them, but in the case of this one, I thought it was so beautiful, that I really should.

These are a few of my favourite looks from the Gucci Resort 2016 Collection

Sublime, don’t you think!  It’s the slightly vintage feel (You know I love old things), the unexpected matching (or non-matching) of the shoes, combined with the magnificent use of color, that makes me love it so much.  I feel inspired to race out and search for beautiful colored and textured pieces to add to my wardrobe.   ..maybe even a cat eye pair of glasses too!

You can read what styling services I offer here

Follow me on Instagram here

As much as I grumble about it and dislike the cold, grey aspect of winter, I do love the chance to rug up and wear some of my lovely warm coats.

I’ve been collecting them for years now.  I thought I’d show you a few.

The green cashmere and fur coat above was found in a charity shop in South Melbourne.  It’s vintage Christian Dior.  It needs a bit of love and attention before I can wear it.  The lining needs replacing and I want to have the arms and the back taken in.  The alterations, my tailor said, will cost me about $200, but given it only cost me $40 I think it’s worth it.

The green, black and white tweed is also vintage.  The label says it’s Made in France and I bought it over a decade ago from a little store in Melbourne’s Royal Arcade called Anonymous Posh.

I think you need at least one coat that you’ve saved for, that you’ll have for years and years to come.   Something classic, that will still be in style in 5 – 10 years time and that goes with 95 percent of your wardrobe. That’s my black Kors by Michael Kors coat below.  I picked this one up in the sales a couple of years ago from Bluefly.

And finally the camel hair and fur coat was discovered in a little vintage shop in Yarraville.  It’s in impeccable condition and incredibly warm.

Vintage coats are great for adding something interesting and unique to your wardrobe without spending a lot of money.  I know that there’s not much chance of anyone having anything like it.  I do however – despite how cheap they might be – make sure they are clean and aren’t smelly or stained when I buy them.  *Always check the lining to see what condition it’s in.

A new coat on the other hand, can be quite an investment so you want to make sure you get it right.

Given that some of you will wear it every day during winter, you want something you put on and it makes you feel great – not just some old ill-fitting, bally thing that does the job.

It needs to flatter your body shape. (Unless of course you are embracing the over sized trend then the style will not necessarily be conventionally flattering – yet style stylish)

Match your style & personality.

Be comfortable and versatile.  There’s no point having one purple coat in the cupboard if it only goes with 10% of your wardrobe.

Think of a coat like a couch.  If you buy something in a neutral tone you can make it look different by changing your accessories.  Just like adding a few cushions and a rug to change the look of a couch, you can add some gloves, a scarf and a bag or boots, to make the coat look different each time you wear it.

Details of my personal styling services (Including prices) here

Get to know me and my style on Facebook here

..& Instagram here