I’m back! Well, kind of! I am in the middle of teaching a fabulous group of ladies in my Autumn Diploma in Personal Styling in Dublin, busy getting into life in the UK and also busy building a house (that Paul and I may rent out!) in Dublin too So, all in all, I have been doing! I wanted to share something with you guys. I have been an avid follower and have become a bit obsessed with the Irish Times Abroad and the inspiring, sad, happy and reflective stories they share about people whose lives take them away from and in some cases back to the Emerald Isle. If you haven’t read any of the content, you should. It’s mostly very inspiring to share a little part of what people from Ireland go through in living around the world.

Anyhow, having burnt myself out last year after 8 years on the treadmill of my business journey in recessionary Ireland, I was inspired to pack my bags and take off last year (by myself) to Vietnam for an 8 week journey of self discovery (no Eat, Pray Love analogies lol:-). In short, it was amazing. It completely opened my eyes again to the world and the amazing people in it. You get a bit blinkered I think when you are trying to grow a business. I discovered amongst lots of things, that I wanted to change things in my life and I wanted to share my story. Even if it was up until now just with myself, on paper! I used to love to write and of course I’ve had my Stylefish blog. But I haven’t for a long time just sat down and written something personal. And it was lovely. So, here I am sharing with you guys for better or worse a bit of my story and my journey to being in the uk. I would love to know what you think.

Should I share with the Irish Times Abroad??

Julie x

Flying free, holding on.

It started when I was nine or ten. Sitting excitedly in my wooden dolls house, busy carving out a new business, all the time watching him; my Dad. He would go on to mould my sense of what it felt like to be the boss and work hard. The thrill of creating something new, the excitement when my first imaginary customer bought something ‘I’ was selling. Something I had created in my little dolls house. Nothing in the world beats that magic. The magic of knowing that the drive, ambition and dreams you have in your heart come from such a special place in my childhood.

It happened for real for me in 2009 when I started my own ‘real’ business and nothing since, in the world has beaten that feeling of freedom, or been so hard and terrifying all in the one heart wrenching eight year journey. This journey I have called my ‘flying free’ journey because after all, I gave up my ‘safe’ career to create freedom and income on my own terms, however hard.

Looking back at those years now Ireland and my journey and experiences with my business have become forever rooted in me, in my heart as I start a new chapter living with the man I love in Dorset, sunny south west England. Let me take you back.

I didn’t always know I would do it in real life. The ‘own business’ thing. Not really. Not until I realised my disposition was such that the fear of not doing the thing that scared me was always greater than doing it.  That, and the fact that I loved fashion more than life itself (insert memories of sitting on the couch at home with my sister and brother at home, washed, preened and ready for our babysitter, excited as our mum came into the sitting room wafting of beautiful perfume in a black sparkly jumpsuit for a dinner date with my dad). Things were ‘normal’ you might say before this realisation. I got the good steady commerce degree from UCC followed by a career ladder job. So far so steady. Except that’s when I realised flying free and holding on mattered to me, a lot.

It was 2009, Ireland had just been hit by one of the worst economic recessions known and Julie was throwing away her corporate job and company car for a business where my love of fashion and teaching inspired me to create a little brand I called ‘Stylefish’.  I mean, up to this point I had my pick of jobs, opportunities and salaries. Surely, making money doing something you loved would be easy, right?

I will never ever forget that feeling I got from teaching my very first styling class, a class I had dreamt of, written, created and filled with wonderful, excited, fashion loving students who all wanted to pay to be in a class ‘I’ was teaching. There was twenty-one of them and they came back every week. For ten weeks. My heart never felt so happy: I made money, I created a website, a brand and a baby that in eight years would become a database of over 3,000 women I had met and taught. It became a passion for teaching bigger and bigger groups. It became a wonderful PR story of hope for small businesses in fashion when I managed to convince Norah Casey, Gavin Duffy and Sean Gallagher to want to invest in Stylefish on Dragons Den in 2011. All I had to give them (literally) was a girl with a dream and they gave me back support, belief and ultimately a brand I owned that was recognised nationally. (This was a particularly high point).

This is me at one of my first classes to hold (The Beacon Hotel, Sandyford) – note the blond hair!

I tried to franchise my classes in women’s homes (training Stylefish branded teachers) but realised quickly not everyone had the same ease for flying free that I did, especially in a recession in a small country like Ireland. My wings wanted desperately to grow bigger, faster, louder but my little country and economy made it hard. Very hard. What I had created on the outside, began to look very different to me on the inside. Worry, anxiousness, a feeling of constant reinvention, propelling myself forward to the next step on my ladder was fulfilling and exhausting all at the same time. In many ways, I loved it too much, worked too hard and forgot what the flying free bit actually was as I dwelled on the hard bits, and the feeling I wasn’t doing enough. Along my journey I met many other entrepreneurs who started businesses in ‘the good times’. Insert loud expletive. Mine was a work your arse off, one step forward, two back, never give up kind of story. A labour of love as they say.

My decision to fly free also led me to meet him. My person: Paul. Another free flying soul. It’s funny how when you change one thing in life, so many other things can change too. He is English. He had my heart. My business, it had everything else. For five years we too’d and fro’d between England and Ireland. He supported my every move, my big dream. He was there when I was graciously flying high above the surface and he was there when I flapping madly below it. He got it. He’s also an advocate of this flying free malarkey.

(This is a very old and very embarrassing photo!)

But I realised in 2016 that something had to give. I was completely burnt out, in a negative mind space and unable to quite lift myself out of it. That realisation has been the hardest thing to deal with. It was also scary just how powerful a mindset can become. Fly free no more. I felt like flying free was so attached to Stylefish, like I could only fly free if I had this business and lost sight that it was actually attached to me and my choices in and outside of Stylefish. No matter where I go.

It is important to note here that I like many of us, are very patriotic when it comes to our little country. I’m very Irish and although the recession and decisions I feel our government has made have somewhat tainted my view, I am a little in love with my country and what it feels like and stands for. It’s where I started my business. It’s home. It’s roots and no matter where you travel too, flying free or rooted steadily, home will always be home. My business will always be Irish. I will always be Irish.

Me with a group of my diploma in personal styling students in 2015.

But sometimes in life you’ve got to make a choice. What does flying free really mean anyhow? I’ve asked myself this a lot in the last year and decided that moving to Dorset was the best decision for me, for my freedom, for my sanity. I crave Ireland. It has my heart. But I am proud of allowing myself to always fly free, to not live by fear of change or taking a chance, something many Irish have had to do thanks to what our little country has been through in recent years. I am proud of what I have achieved, built and believed in and I know sometimes removing yourself from something is the best way to feel your way back. And so I decided to pare it all pack and focus on the things I loved most about it – teaching women through one course, (my Diploma in Personal Styling) who want to be given the chance to explore their love of fashion and helping others. I continue to do this in Dublin.

Building a business and a dream business no matter how hard is a feeling nothing else can match. I recognise what I have built. I am told all the time by others who aspire to do what I have done, to make money doing something they love. I did that. I built something special. Something great. But to me I am a different person now because of that journey. I want new things and being in the UK is giving me a new perspective on that. I have felt anger that I missed out on lots of my ‘life’ because I was busy working on a business that really did burn me out but I also feel immensely proud that I created something special that made so many women happy. I wish things were easier on my journey on our great little Emerald Isle. I wish the Irish government was made up of more people who believed in supporting those who fly free and create new things. I didn’t feel that.

I wish I stopped to smell the roses a bit more but I also wish for anyone who feels the itch that I do to fly free and go and do the things you want to do, because as the great Maureen O’Hara once said ‘above all else I’m a tough Irish woman.’

 Julie Cobbe, Founder & Proud Creator of Stylefish

The post Flying Free, Holding On appeared first on Stylefish.

• Customer focus groups to garner insight around stores interiors and shopping experience.
• Recruitment campaign for Personal Shopper.
• Training the successful candidate and help to set up this brand new service instore.
• Initiated starter marketing plan to get the service off the ground including organising a photoshoot with the RTE Guide and Weight Watchers, which was the first media coverage garnered for the service.
• Organised corporate event in the Westbury Hotel with Pamela Scott to also raise awareness for service.
• Instore launch inviting in VIP customers to see firsthand the changes that had taken place and to introduce the service.
• Putting together and initiating a staff uniform alongside all inshore staff training.

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Hi Y’al,

Ok, I know I have been absolutely rubbish lately. I’ve been taking somewhat of a Stylefish hiatus and breather to smell the roses. I highly recommend it! So between travelling on my own around Vietnam for 7 weeks and moving to the Dorset countryside in the UK to be with the man I love :-), I have not ran my Diploma in Personal Styling for sometime and for that I am sorry

However, I am here now to make up for that! This Autumn is your chance to explore your love of fashion, to develop a whole new perspective passion for your own style and of course from this you will gain the ability with my support to help others to build their confidence in having a wardrobe and style they love.

I will be running my Diploma in Personal Styling, part time weekend course starting on September 16th and running for 3 weekends (7 days in total – Sept 16th & 17th/ October 14th & 15th/ November 10th, 11th & 12th) in our very own private mews on Lad Lane, Dublin 2 (more details on the location below). I run my course over 3 weekends as over the last few years this is what my students have told me they want! I get women coming from all over Ireland and generally weekends suit people best.

It’s best to say even though it is a short course, IT IS JAM PACKED! I fit pretty much a 2 month full time course into 3 full weekends! Again, because this is what students have told me they want. This is also why I offer my 6 months post study support to help you take in, assimilate and practice what you have learnt! Plus if you are thinking of setting up a blog or offering services following my course, I am there to support you and offer my tips and advice.

What can you expect?

This course is geared towards anyone who has a passion for styling real women, from understanding body shape theory in detail to colour analysis and creativity. You will learn not just about the specifics of styling but how our style develops but how and why some women lose their style mojo i.e the psychology around our style, how style and confidence go hand in hand and how you can help your clients develop both as a qualified image consultant or personal stylist.

The Specifics

Detailed learning and practice around the core styling modules of body shape and colour analysis. Learn how to take a client through 2 hour colour consultations in both. In colour we use both the seasonal and/ or tonal colour systems looking at make-up, skin tone, hair colour and building the perfect wardrobe around the right colour palette while still being creative. (note: I don’t just teach you how to ‘put your client into a colour category’, I teach you how to help your client get creative with colour once they have an understanding of their core colour palettes.)

Learn how to take a client through a 2 hour body shape consultation from understanding their body shape to, identifying proportions, scale, identifying their wardrobe essentials but also how to put this into practice during a personal shopping trip with both yourself and your potential client! Learn how to understand all the theory behind picking the perfect outfit for yourself/ and or clients.

Learn how to take yourself and/ or client through a wardrobe weeding session.

The psychology of personal styling

Understand why style & confidence go hand in hand and how you can develop your clients styling using confidence coaching,  image development and even the background to how and why body dysmorphia occurs and just how you can encourage more positive thought processes about body image with your clients. This module is the one that surprises students the most. My approach to styling is very holistic. Feel positive about your shape on the inside and you are much more likely to feel confident about your style on the outside.

Other topics

Understanding your own and reading other style personalities and finally nailing ‘your look’.

Understand the business of personal styling – how you can make money, how to run consultations, how to get customers and how to create a small business. I will teach this by giving personal insights from my journey aswell as learning from my business and marketing module.

Have fun on the shop floor styling each other, yourself and a real client during your learning.

Read more about my modules here…

Personalising the course for you

Receive 6 months post study support, helping, mentoring and supporting you should you decide to set up a blog, start your business or just continue your journey with your own wardrobe.

Course materials

Receive a detailed Stylefish Training Folder complete with sample colour analysis swatches, detailed Stylefish sample colour and body shape consultation booklets, summary styling cards for use with clients, Stylefish Diploma and social media, online certification stamp.

More about course materials here…

How have past students used their course?

Read more here about the opportunities, career paths and options open to anyone who completes my Diploma in Personal Styling.

What else?

My promise really is that my training will open up a whole new perspective on your own personal style and the possibilities to continuing to develop your passion in this exciting industry. I don’t promise to set up your business for you and I can’t promise you will make a million but I can promise a fun filled, relaxed, professional and personal journey from which ever single student of mine has changed their approach to their style.

I take a very small number (6 ladies) so I guarantee personal one to one attention and understanding of what you want to get out of the course. It is personal to you and it is personal to me. That’s just my way and has been my wish in building my business. To get to make it personal

Course Location

My course is ran in a lovely private little mews at the back of Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2. Number 3 Lad Lane to be exact. It is an open plan mews with a big bright classroom, sitting room and kitchen. There is private parking for students. It is a 7 minute walk to Stephens Green.

Lunch & Snacks

Lunch of sandwiches, wraps, fruit and nibbles, water, tea & coffee are all included in the cost. You can opt to pop out for lunch if you wish.

Cost

The course cost is €1600. You must pay a deposit of €400 in order to secure your place. This can be followed by a payment plan what works for both parties.

What other students have said

“I completed the Stylefish Diploma in Personal Styling. I absolutely loved the course. I learned so much about Personal Styling and guess what it even gave me the confidence to go on and open my own Personal Styling business. I couldn’t recommend Julie Cobbe enough she has a wealth of knowlege in fashion, a real guru. She has a great way of teaching. You will learn so much.” Julie Phelan, Kilkenny

“My sister and I just recently completed the Diploma in Personal Styling with Stylefish. The reason we choose this course was that it covered a range of modules & it also offered a 6 month support service after the completion. The course was everything we hoped for and more and we especially loved the practicals in Dundrum as these helped us to learn by doing. The class size was perfect as we all really bonded together making the classes friendly, relaxed and enjoyable. Julie had a relaxed teaching approach which put us at ease and which made it easier for us to learn the course materials. She had lots of knowledge and experience to share with us from the fashion industry but most of all she made sure we had fun and enjoyed the course. So glad we choose the Stylefish Diploma in Personal Styling.” Catriona Walsh, Waterford

Read more testimonials here..

If you have any other questions, would like to arrange a chat or arrange to speak to past students of if you would like to book a place, simply email julie@stylefish.ie or call 087 4130336. I would love to meet you!

Big fashion love,

Julie x

The post Explore your passion for fashion with Stylefish this Autumn appeared first on Stylefish.

Last Wednesday Pamela Scott had a customer evening in their Grafton Street store. Much more important than the opening itself, this was the first chance for Pamela Scott’s much loved customers to see the wonderful store refresh and of course to experience and find out more about the Style Suite and Personal Shopping service.

I am delighted to bring you a behind the scenes look at what you missed and of course to give you all the fashion from the night!

Gorgeous new store just before the event!

The brand new shoes and accessories floor downstairs

Just before customers arrived team Pamela Scott had time for a quick piccy!

(From left to right; moi, Marketing Director Robert Barron and Personal Shopper Emma Grant)

Emma, Pamela Scott’s new instore Personal Shopper styled 16 looks on the evening as part of a fun fashion show. We had 5 ladies who did a fantastic job at modelling the new Autumn collections. A big shout out to Pamela Scott customers Colette and Sharon who modelled alongside staff Anne, Martha and Caroline. They inspired us all!

Emma talked us through her inspiration for the looks she created as she mixed and matched brands from throughout the store and of course showed us NEW brands just introduced such as Cartoon and Absolute Jewellery. A big mention also to all the gorgeous shoes from the brand new shoes and accessories floor.

Stylefish fashion class

I had some fun with customers as I shared my top tips for shopping for your body shape this Autumn alongside my top three ways to get creative with the gorgeous new autumn collections.

(Above, I’m wearing an OPUS stripe top from the ground floor here teamed with a Veramont lace skirt from the occasionwear department).

But the highlight of the evening for me was seeing all the hard work Pamela Scott has done really appreciated by the people who matter most, you, the customer.

Seeing big smiles, cocktails in hand as the store was filled with fashion chat, warmth and gorgeous style is what this great Irish fashion brand is all about. Pamela Scott’s ethos to always put the customer first and provide the customer with a personalised customer experience of course is something I hold very close to my heart.

We all know as women, what we want is real. Real inspiration. Real women and a real love for helping the customer put together outfits that excite and inspire!

Roll on lots of fun shopping trips and hopefully plenty more customer events. Drop instore, or click to make an appointment with the lovely Emma and get your name on their VIP customer list NOW!

Some of my other fav looks created by Emma:

Brands in this look include Zapara, OPUS, shoes from the new Shoe Lounge and shawl from Jaeger (if my memory serves me correctly!)

Brands include Jaeger coat and scarf, Cartoon jumper, Joseph Ripkoff trousers, loafers and bag from the new shoes and accessories floor. All modelled by Colette.

Zapara trousers, OPUS jumper and Cartoon shawl cardigan modelled by the lovely Sharon. Oh and the sparkly shoes (did someone say Christmas?) from the new shoe lounge.

Sharon is modelling a gorgeous Closet high waisted skirt and off the shoulder body suit also from Closet. This look was one EVERYONE loved, mostly as Emma inspired us all not to be afraid of the body suit!

Staff member Anne is modelling a mixture of brands here in pastel shades from Cartoon, Betty Barclay and OPUS. I think I got this one right!

Julie x

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It’s been a busy 10 days in Pamela Scott’s on Grafton Street. A brand new look store has opened. The very special Style Suite and personal shopping service has launch with Emma Grant, their new Personal Shopper at the helm and all shop floor staff have been retrained as Style Advisors by my lovely self. So, what’s with all the change?

 A wise person once said…

“When your finished changing, your finished.”

The truth is you, the customer has changed. What you want, need and maybe don’t even realise you need has changed. With so much choice both online and offline, personal is what matters and personal is what I do! What I have loved most about this project is at their heart Pamela Scott really want you, their customer to get the best help, the most personalised advice and a feeling that you are really really valued from the moment you walk through the shop doors and all the while you browse and shop in store.

‘To work as a team to create a personalised shopping experience our customer can be proud of.’

Of course at the centre of that training (and my work) has been the introduction of The Style Suite and introducing Emma Grant as the stores dedicated Personal Shopper. So what exactly can a personal shopper do for you? Is it just for those with lots of money to spend? The answer ladies is a no! Ask yourself these simple questions:

1. Do you ever walk into a store and all you see is lots of stuff?

2. Do you ever feel the clothes are beautiful clothes but I wouldn’t know where to start?

3. I often find myself saying “I don’t know what’s best for me”.

4. Do you find one thing you like but haven’t a clue what to team it with?

If the above resonates with you, a Personal Shopper is definitely for you!

A good personal shopper will offer help. A great personal shopper will listen to you, inspire you and find what your looking for while also showing you new ways to style it!

Below Emma has mixed this gorgeous pleated Closet skirt with an everyday basic top from Opus.

So, just before the store reopened I spent a fun afternoon with Emma! We had some fun styling lots of looks from the stores brand new Autumn collection to show you what a Personal shopper see’s that others don’t….mainly because they know their store and their stock, inside out!

Here are the things Emma loves!

She loves to mix brands (Here Emma has teamed a more expensive beautiful Jaeger Coat with some essential Opus everyday basics).

She loves to try new things and new ways of wearing items. (Emma says of herself ‘print and pattern’ can be a challenge to me so I like to pick items I may be unsure about and give them a go!’. This Sophie B top works great with this pair of wide leg Jaeger trousers.)

She loves to accessorise. (It can be simple and effective – Jaeger necklace and jacket with Opus basics).

She loves layering up! (Well Winter is coming!)

She loves to try out the latest trends (The bomber!)

She loves a good dress! (Need we say more!)

So, what are you waiting for? Fun is waiting to be had!

Make your appointment now before the season gets really busy. Email personalshopper@pamelascott.com, call 087 094 8837 or click here, fill in Emma’s booking form here and she will give you a call to arrange an appointment that suits.

Julie x

The post Making Every Outfit Count appeared first on Stylefish.

I cannot believe we are coming to the end of September and with that I am now in my fourth quarter of consultant training with the Swedish beauty brand Oriflame. I have loved every minute!

With Dublin, London and East Midlands now complete, our final date to join in if you are an Oriflame Consultant or are considering becoming one is Barnsley on Saturday October 8th. We have had over 90 consultants taking part in this quarters groups and what I love most is the buzz and energy that comes to your business when you get together with like minded people and focus on the things that really help to bring you results!

This session we ran a make-up lesson making sure each consultant is confident (and had fun) with a range of new make-up products including showing some fabulous new ranges (my fav is the My Destiny range) along with my other make-up  favourites; Giordani foundation, the One Compact set, the eye brow kit and of course the brushes!

Along with the make-up fun of course no Oriflame day would be complete without business inspiration and support.

This training session we looked ahead to create our 12 weeks of Christmas business plan focusing on skincare and wellness. One topic of conversation that everyone loved (and related too!) was the topic of PROCRASTINATION! As a small business and when you work alone it can be hard to keep motivated, keep on track and stop putting off the really important things! Sometimes you feel your the only one that needs a good slap! I loved teaching more about this topic and we all feel it everyday, even when WE ARE working hard! We looked at ways to set goals and how to keep on track!

So, there is still time to sign up for our last session in Barnsley on Saturday October 8th. Simply contact Oriflame customer care! Below are just a few more shots of the fun we had! Oh and have you ever wondered if you are a procrastinator? How many of these do you do??! Read the list below!

1. Writing lists to beat the band but getting through very few of them!

2. Reading and then re reading emails before you put on the kettle!

3. You like to ‘wait for the right time’?!

Lol Julie x

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The super girl I have been lucky enough to find, train and work with over the last 8 weeks for Pamela Scott as part of their brand Style Suite flagship one to one Personal Shopping service.

Pamela Scott have been working hard on a refurb for their flagship Grafton Street Store with the unveiling of the brand new store on Thursday September 22nd (date for your diary!).

As part of that refurb, they are designing and launching a brand new, private Style Suite, where Emma will offer a one to one Personal Shopping appointments for customers. It is a completely FREE service with a focus on making every outfit count for the customer! Emma is massively creative, super friendly and just a gorgeous girl. Having come from Marks & Spencer’s she is used to working with customers of all ages and her big passion is for making the customer comfortable in the clothes she picks and excited by the looks she picks!

Why book?

• Emma will shop the whole store for you, picking outfit options across a broad range of brands.
• Discover fresh ideas and inspiration for mixing and matching for your wardrobe.
• Learn what styles and shapes work best for your body shape.
• Be inspired when it comes to colour and accessories.
• Work with your timeframe and budget.
• Sit back, enjoy our private Style Suite, a cup of coffee and embrace a little one to one help!

My work with Emma

I have now introduced Emma to my obsession for styling women for the shape they have and helping them to create a style they love for that shape while still injecting that special creative element we all need when it comes to our style!

That’s the very important role a Personal Shopper can play you see!

Westbury Hotel Fashion Show

Emma has already been busy styling looks for a fashion show in The Westbury Hotel where we introduced Pamela Scott’s brand new Autumn collection!!

Our work with the RTE Guide and Weight Watchers

We also had a super photoshoot for Weight Watchers in the RTE Guide. Emma met and styled 4 gorgeous ladies and one lucky guy as part of the shoot. Here are some behind the scenes shots from the day but look out for the full piece in the RTE Guide on the shelves on Monday September 12th!

Getting the service up and running

We are currently working on an appointment booking page on Pamela Scott’s website but in the meantime we would LOVE to start taking bookings so if you are looking for some inspiration for your Autumn wardrobe or you have a special occasion coming up, Emma’s appointments are super friendly and COMPLETELY FREE – all you need is a spare hour and a willingness to have some fun trying!

Appointments run each day, but must be booked in advance. Appointments last approx 1.5 hours but can be tailored to you. To book your appointment email personalshopper@pamelascott.com, call 087 0948837 and Emma will call you back to arrange an appointment that suits you within 24 hours.

Pheww. It’s been a busy few weeks but watch out for September 22nd, lots more excitement to come!

Julie x

The post Pamela Scott’s brand new Style Suite! appeared first on Stylefish.

It’s that time of the year, Autumn is upon us and I for one think is the most exciting time in the fashion calendar! It’s so much easier to look stylish in Autumn, don’t you think? Less flesh on show, more layers to play with! What’s not to love.

So, of course I have been soaking up EVERY fashion website, catwalk show and magazine to bring you my ‘best of the rest’ AW Trend Report. Hope you are inspired to with all the opulence the season has to offer!

VELVET CRUSH

The catwalk has spoken and the verdict is in, velvet is hot news. It’s not a new trend by any means but by adding a little colour this luxe fabric has had an on-trend make-over. Everyone from Prada to Gucci have all paid homage to this opulent fabric. Go for rich, classic colours like moss green and burgundy and they’ll work hard for you year after year.

FRINGING AND TASSLES

Grab your curtain ties and get to work. Tassle earrings are the accessory of the season. Expect to see skirts, jackets and lots and lots of handbags with this super fun, super sexy detailing taking influence from Moschino and DSquared2

THE FASHION RENAISSANCE

The fashion world is not one to shy away from dramatics and this season’s renaissance trend is definitive proof. Design giants like Gucci, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton were just some of the shows which incorporated renaissance-inspired embroidery, jewels and ruffles.

STUDS, SEQUINS AND TINSEL

Yes, a little early for Christmas bling but put up with it, we may! Christmas is coming early! Sparkles, studs and bling are shown in a whole new light this season. Dolce and Gabbana, fend and Adam Selman all picked up on the trend and made the catwalk shine. We are beyond obsessed with Adam Selman’s tinsel covered jumper dresses.

MILITARY VIBES

This is a trend that resurfaces a lot. Whether it is tailored jackets at Marc Jacobs or edgy, structured pieces from Alexander wang, military inspired utility pieces are big news for Autumn.Expect the high street to really catch on to this one with Zara, Monsoon, New Look and a whole host of others already offering up this trend in spades.

COSY CAPELETS

For those days when you just need the tiniest cover up ever, designers present us with this option. A little retro but also very chic. Take inspiration from Christian Dior, Burberry, and MSGM.

METALLIC DETAILS

Not for the faint hearted what shocked most about this trend is that metallic was seen in detailing not just on ‘out there’ designers but also more demure fashion figures. Check out collection from Alexander Wang, Ji Oh, Dion Lee and Michael Kors.

ASSYMETTRIC SHOULDERS

Off the shoulder shirts have had their day. Now it is time to make room for a new shape. Spotted on no fewer than 5 shows, it was popular on the runway. It was seen at Herve Leger, Rodarte and Self Portrait, which is one of the hottest brands crossing the designer – high street fashion line right now.

PLENTY OF PLEATING

One of the top fall 2016 trends and spanning further back than that is the look of pleats. It was Alessandro Michele who made the pleated midi skirt and lacy underwear combination so enticing and that is where we have continued onwards from. Pleats exist on just about every piece of fashion now. We see them on Gucci quite a bit, with multiple layers of colorful goodness, Arthur Arbesser, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo and many more adding to the pleated fashion collections.

SIMPLY SUEDE

The suede is very much a trend left from 2015, where the 1970s was the era of choice and the designs were retro and blasts from the pasts. One of the most practical and wearable fall/ winter 2016-2017 fashion trends, suede has that special shine to it that only suede can have, the softness of the pieces all the more reason to invest in this winter-perfect material. At Tory Burch, we see suede in denim blue colors, falling to mid-calf. Narciso Rodriguez brings in lovely suede coats worn over satin slips, and Derek Lam does a dual colored midi skirts in pencil dimensions to keep up the cowgirl meets 21st century look alive.

LEATHER

We have always loved the leather jackets, the leather tops and skirts and everything in between. How can one get enough of leather anyway? Leather skirts in black, falling to mid-calf, appear under oversized sweaters at Rag & Bone. Leather was found on trousers, skirts, dresses and more, even on hoodies for a cleaner effect. Leather was spotted in synthetic, shinier forms on Mulberry, with high necks, ruffled front, long sleeves, and above the knee hems.

Effects at Mary Katrantzou were a little more on the psychedelic side, with images of blue butterflies, red stars and a whole lot more appearing on those skirts.

EMBROIDERY & LACE

While more common in 2015 and on the spring runways, both embroidery and lace are still a vital part of Autumn. At Mulberry, the gorgeous lace dresses also come with leather jackets worn over and shiny studs adding to the swishing effects of the skirts, making the pieces all the lovelier to own. Roberto Cavalli and Alberta Ferretti were two of our favourite designers showcasing this beautiful trend.

Happy Autumn everybody x

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This weekend I had 9 of my lovely students for session 4 & 5 of their Personal Styling course and colour was the topic! The reaction I get from students every time I teach colour analysis never ceases to amaze me!

It excites, inspires, scares and provokes people to think about colour, personal styling and shopping in a whole new light. Just like understanding your body shape can help you to make better choices, understanding the colours that suit you best makes a monumental difference in how you begin to build your wardrobe and how you put things together. It can be hard however if you believe certain colours suit you or for a long time you have been buying certain colours only to realise through the science of colour analysis that actually you have been taking the wrong direction all this time. That’s hard.

In fact this topic prompted me to write this post.

I hate the idea that colour can make people feel restricted by what they can now wear, buy and try. I get that as part of the learn process you can feel that you now know the ‘answer’ if you like to what suits. Even if you don’t particularly like that answer. I have never met anyone who has not grown to love and respect their colour palette. But that aside my personal feeling is that knowing what colours we are made of allows us to make all our choices with deliberate intent, whether we are following our palette or not. I would hate in fact to follow the formula all the time but I do want to have a consistent theme running through my wardrobe for which colour plays a big part. Probably about 40-50%.

My colours are ‘deep’ and ‘warm’.

Earthy if you like. It took me a long time to accept this as I used to be very much a ‘pink’ person and like many had to go through that process of understanding, looking in my wardrobe at all my (sometimes silly) choices and start my styling with a fresh perspective (which included a lot of trial and error) and a fresh approach. But so many of my choices are also driven by other things that are equally important to me. Things like is the item ‘modern’, ‘comfortable’, ‘quirky’, ‘sophisticated’. This is me. My personality. The things that are equally important to me. I am thinking about the overall look you see, not just the item. In fact there is a whole school of theory around the topic of buying colours and clothes to match our personality called Fashion Feng Shui but that’s another day’s work!

I also like to play around with lighter and darker shades of my ‘earthy’ colours. Here for example is a peachy coloured Zara coat I bought, which I adore. Is it a ‘Deep’ colour? No. Do I love it? Yes. I like to team it with more definite colours, here with the definite nautical stripes in this Vila dress. Definite prints is just another way to play with the ‘Deep’ overall impression I should give in a look if I am following my colours. Sometimes I team with a stronger orange costume accessory or a coral lipstick too.

You see, colour is about having fun.

Understanding what suits you is just the starting point to creating a wardrobe you love and helping others to do the same! The ultimate question we need to ask ourselves is ‘how do I feel?’ in the item or outfit. If it feels just like you, then I always say go for it. There are so many more things at play that form part of the decision over and above colour. If there is ANY niggling doubt about it, don’t do it. This is a rather simple rule of thumb!

Finally, the amazing thing about colour is that every colour has so many shades. In fact, if you love a particular colour and you are afraid to find out whether it will suit you or not, fear not! There is a shade of every colour that is your ‘wow’ shade. Have a read of this article I came across called ‘The Colour Thesaurus’ to read a little more about all the options and words used for different colours! Below I have just included a couple from this article:

My take away for today is, I love seeing the difference an understanding of colour can make to women and their style. For me that starts with teaching my own students and seeing how it affects and excites them. From these wonderful women, they go on to spread colour love with their own friends, family and clients!

Julie x

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