CLUES for being STYLISh:

Are you a Romantic Rose or a Cool Classic? A Drama Queen or a Creative Chameleon? Don’t know? Then let our region’s very own Gok Wan (but much prettier) tell you at a Style Up Party. Mwaah held their very own to find out some of Image Consultant, Claire Ellis’s, style secrets. Over to you Claire...
You fling open your wardrobe doors what do you see? Probably lots of clothes but does that familiar phrase ‘I’ve nothing to wear’ still spring to mind? That probably sums up how over 75% of us feel.


The fact is many of us haven't got a clue about what style and shade really enhances our colouring and shape. Then we buy lots of items and end up with a wardrobe crammed with stuff we don’t ‘feel right’ in or makes us feel...well...out of sorts. Does that ring true with you? Well, with a little bit of expert help and advice at one of my Style Up parties and all this can be a thing of the past - your wardrobe could be full of perfectly, co-ordinated outfits that make you feel on top of the world every day of the week.
To get you in the mood for discovering my Style Up Secrets, I start with a simple multiple choice questionnaire designed as a bit of fun and to get guests chatting. ‘I’m a Romantic Rose,’ concludes Caroline, ‘which sums me up perfectly. I love fairly relaxed outfits in flowing fabrics and bright colours.’ For some the questionnaire is very straight forward and for others less so.

I want to look taller

Once we’ve discovered everybody’s choice of style it’s onto to the specifics. How many of you want to look taller or shorter or fatter or slimmer? Believe it or not there’s a style trick to satisfy every need. First up it’s Caroline who wants to know how to look taller. She says, At just 5’3” I’ve always wanted to look taller but I don’t like wearing heels on a day to day basis because I’m always rushing round all over the place! Well, there is something that Caroline can do without buying heels.
Caroline is wearing this season’s maxi dress but it stops just above her ankles showing turquoise Birkenstocks. This creates a focal point of her ankles, drawing the eyes to them, not a bad thing entirely but when you want to appear taller you need to draw the eyes upwards. The key is to close the gap between hem and floor with a longer dress or skirt and use a necklace, earrings or bright bolero to draw the eye up! I definitely never thought to buy longer dresses,’ admits Caroline, ‘but I can see exactly what you mean. It makes total sense.

I want to look slimmer

Let’s face it, most of us want to look slimmer. The biggest mistake most people make is to wear voluminous tops and dresses that billow around the body. We think we're disguising our shape, what we’re actually doing is making ourselves look bigger. Kay's the first to say that she’s guilty of this. My wardrobe is full of floaty tops – I love wearing them with leggings and flat sandals. Is that so wrong? she asks. Kay is wearing a gorgeous purple and orange top, a perfect example of how the rest of her wardrobe looks.
My first tip is to belt it in, but always wear your belt around your narrowest point, that could be under your bust, around your waist or even your hips, NEVER wear a belt around your widest point as far from holding it all in, it actually draws attention to the one place you don’t want it. So highlight your narrowest point with a contrasting coloured belt and you’ll look instantly slimmer.
My second tip is to avoid hem lines that stop at your widest point. We quite often try to cover up our shape with long tops but these usually stop at the wrong point, if hips are your issue, keep tops short so the hem meets the top of your hips or go long and make sure the hem is well below your widest point. Kays verdict, I never thought that filling out has actually balanced out my body shape – but you are right. And I shouldn’t be against showing it off by belting in tops.

Why do I always look so washed out?

Onto colour. I work on the basis that every individual falls into one of four seasonal colour pallets. Rachael put herself forward for a colour consultation. What’s fun at a Style Up Party – rather than a one to one consultation – is that everybody can see the difference the colours make to the complexion. There are loud shouts of ‘oooh yuk’ and ‘that looks gorgeous’ as I try the various swatches. Eventually it looks like we’re all agreed, Rachael is an Autumn. But the speed at which this is done makes me want to double check at a later date and she’ll have a colour analysis consultation with me and get to see how the correct make up in her colour pallet looks on her.
People have said, It was like talking to an old friend not a bossy image consultant as I'd imagined, and I felt inspired and motivated to make a change.