Don't Say "Buy" for the Wrong Reasons

Don't buy fashion. Buy style - your style.
Don't buy for a singular use. Buy for variety to mix and match.
Don't buy into fads. Buy into adapting fads to suit your own style.
Don't buy into this year's hot colors. Buy YOUR hot colors.
Don't buy price. Buy cost. A $100 item that lasts 10 years cost only $10 a year.
Don't buy an "outfit."  Buy into outfitting your wardrobe with clothing and accessories that mix and match and maintain your personal style.

Abandon the Rainbow

If the colors in your closet reflect one of everything, snagging the "pot o' gold" known as personal style may escape you. None of us look good in every color in the rainbow. For maximum wardrobe power and style, build your wardrobe around neutrals and two core colors.

For example, the two color that compliment my skin tones and coloring are pink and royal blue. They are my core colors and my wardrobe is built around black, white, cream, and pink to blue-based red to blue-based purples to royal blue to teal to turquoise. Virtually every piece mixes and matches with everything else.

Allow yourself one other "odd" color.  Mine is olive.  It goes with cream and can mix with some of the reds and purples when I'm in a quirky mood.   I just try to keep it away from my face - it doesn't reflect well with my skin tone.

For those other colors that don't love you - the "no-nos" - incorporate them into your inventory of accessories. My favorite "no-no" is a screaming yellow handbag.  It pops againt my blues when I'm feeling extra daring and jaunty but want to stay true to my personal style.

Jewelry. Don't Leave Home Without It

Jewelry is the polish in your wardrobe that makes your outfits shine. Jewelry adds variety and changes an outfit with just a change of accessories.

Wardrobing is Integral to Style

Wardrobing (wardrobe building) is a path to establishing and maintaining your personal style. Wardrobing helps you make wise clothing investments, increases your wardrobe versatility, and allows you express your sense of style every day with minimal effort.

Fashion and Style

Fashion is on the runway. Style is on you. Style is taking ideas from the runway and customizing them to suit you, your lifestyle and your budget.

Helen's Style High Advice

You don't have to spend a million dollars to look like a million bucks. Buy quality. Select carefully. Clean, mend, and press -- no safety pins. Accessorize always. Step out with confidence.  That was my mother, Helen's advice.

Helen, was not drop-dead gorgeous but she was a show stopper.  She had style. When she walked into a room, for a nano-second everything stopped and all eyes went her way.  I'm not sure she actually realized she was a show stopper. It was just Helen's style. She always was well-groomed, well-dressed and well-accessorized. Everything went together and it went with her. Her wardrobe reflected her individuality, her poise and her confidence. Helen definitely was style high.