Shopping with a plan
By Bridgette Raes
One of the first questions I ask a potential client is how they make their clothing decisions when shopping, and in particular, if they have a plan when they hit the stores. Many clients tell me that their shopping is a bit of a haphazard experience because they don’t have a plan. Shopping with some sort of a plan in mind is so out of their realm of thinking that some of them are shocked to even consider this option.
While shopping with a client recently together the outing was so successful that I thought it would be great to write about “how” and “why” it was so successful, with the hopes that you too will be able to experience the same results when you go shopping.
Before this client and I hit the stores we got together and I learned that she had just gone through some major transitions in her life. She had lost about 40 lbs., was in the midst of a divorce, and in the process of launching her own publishing company, where she had just released her first book. In addition to these changes, she had a class reunion coming up in the very near future in Europe and was in need of an entire ensemble for travel. So aside from being in need of a new look for her new body and life, we also had to plan a wardrobe that could travel. On top of all of this, with a burgeoning career, her finances were a bit limited and we only had about a week to pull all of this all together. Needless to say, this was a very tall order to fill.
We started in her closet and purged about three-quarters of her wardrobe. It had been so long since she cleaned her closet that most of what was in there was either extremely dated or was now too big for her much smaller frame. I started to panic on the inside a bit as the situation went from bad to worse; not only did we have time constraints and financial limitations, but there was next to nothing in her existing wardrobe that was usable. I wished at that moment that I had a magic wand in my handbag to “poof” and make the situation better, but I didn’t, and I assured her that we were going to have her fabulous in time for her trip— gulp, I hoped.
Following her closet purge my client gained immediate clarity. It really is amazing how a clean closet can help anyone feel more in control, not only of their wardrobe, but their life. In a time of some heavy personal transitions, letting go of the past in her closet empowered her, even though her finances were limited and she didn’t have much to wear. Letting go of things in her wardrobe that no longer served her gave her an instant surge of inspired energy to begin allowing new things to enter her life.
Next was shopping. This is always a tricky thing, no matter how long I have been shopping with clients. There is a lack of control that I always feel when I take a client to a store. Normally a client books me to take them shopping for several hours. In this particular case we had booked just two hours to shop, which is on the lean side. The reason taking a client can be a bit unsettling is that I have to count on the stores to deliver what I need them to, and I have to make sure that I am picking the perfect store for each client. I have been doing this for so long that choosing the right store for the right client comes as easy to me as a sommelier choosing the right wine for a dinner party. But even though I may be able to choose the right store for each client, I still have to deal with whether or not the merchandise is going to be there in the right size. Considering that I was shopping with this client in June (when most of the summer merchandise has been well picked over) I had concerns that we would find many things we loved in the wrong sizes, another potentially challenging situation to face.
When shopping day arrived we hit the store and started looking around. Normally when I start with a client we go to the right upon entering the store, because studies show that when people shop they instinctively go to the right upon entering, and so most stores house their best merchandise to the right of the entrance. My client and I started by pulling anything that we liked. If we liked it, we pulled it and started piling up our arms with merchandise. It wasn’t long before a sales associate took our selections and started a dressing room. During our once-over of the store I don’t always worry about having the perfect outfit or, the perfect encapsulated look of several items in hand. Our first pass is to just pull what we love and load that dressing room up with stuff to try on.
Once we had a decent amount of merchandise in the dressing room we started trying things on. I always start with pants in the dressing room for several reasons; first, because pants require the greatest amount of effort. Trying on pants can be an extremely emotional experience for many clients. The second reason I start with pants is because I always build an outfit from a pair of pants first, so to start with pants ensures that the foundation piece of a great capsule is set. The first pair of pants that we loved was a gorgeous pair of cinnabar colored crop pants that fit her like a glove. I loved that the color was still sophisticated yet different, and I loved that this was a great color on which to base our capsule. Now, with some sort of focus, I started to look at what we had in the dressing room that could work back to these great pants. I found a stunning long sheer tangerine colored over-blouse. We ran out to the selling floor, grabbed a great thin layering piece in white and threw it under the sheer over-blouse. My client walked out to the mirror in the store and was in love with the outfit we pulled together. What was even more amazing was how her gait changed after she saw herself. While we were standing there talking about the outfit she stood there confidently and comfortable in her outfit, as if she already owned it.
Excited, we now had a great place to start with the rest of her mix and match capsule. We looked at the other pants that fit her and identified three more pants that worked back perfectly to our initial outfit; a brown pair, a khaki colored tan pair and a light stone pair. She now had four pant options to wear back with this tangerine colored top. But the fun didn’t stop there. We grabbed a basic white button-down shirt with interesting seaming details, and then a light olive colored thin knit, and threw those pieces on with her eye-catching cinnabar colored pants and identified some more outfits. She could easily wear this white shirt and light-olive knit top back underneath to all four pants that we chose. We now had eight outfit options. I wanted to add another color to the mix and found a crisp silk shantung blouse in a bright magenta. I pulled it into the dressing room and it looked stunning. The blouse didn’t exactly work back to the cinnabar colored pants, but it looked amazing with all three of the more neutral pants in brown, tan and stone. Another three outfits were created, totaling 11 outfits.
Now it was time to add the pop novelty pieces. I started looking around with the sales associate and found two blouses that were really exciting. One was a gorgeous striped blouse that tied in our two pop colors along with the neutrals. The stripe was shades of pinks and tangerines with some tans and browns. Next I found a sheer Indian-inspired tunic with embroidery that, again, encompassed our pop colors of pink and tangerine. I brought them into the dressing room and my client practically fell over with excitement, we now had two blouses that tied the whole color story together. Everything fit perfectly. By the end we had pulled together a total of about 30 outfit combinations with only 12 pieces.
Next it was time to accessorize. This is a key step that is often overlooked. We found two necklaces: one was a shell necklace that was in colors of tangerine and pink, and another was more natural colored necklace. A low slung belt pulled the outfits together, and lastly, we found two earrings sets that (like the necklaces) worked back perfectly.
My client was set - all we needed were a pair of shoes for this capsule. She had one pair of more comfortable shoes so we wound up purchasing a pair of tan sandals that she could wear with any of the looks we had chosen. The most exciting thing in this whole experience was the fact that after we were done my client grabbed her handbag and we realized that her gorgeous embroidered handbag in natural and tangerine shades worked perfectly to the whole capsule that we created, and this happened without us even trying!
Even though it sounds “too good to be true,” this truly is an account of an actual shopping trip. To summarize, here are some key points that you can follow from our experience:
#1 - Scan the store
When you go shopping, go through the whole store and pull everything that catches your eye. Even if it is something you would never have tried before, you just never know!
#2 - Don’t count solely on what the stores tell you is an outfit
A lot of stores will showcase outfits that they think you should buy. This is very user-friendly but it is often predictable and boring. If you want to get more creative with your outfits look all over the store, including the sales racks. The tangerine blouse and cinnabar pants that my client and I found were way back in the sale section of the store, while the striped blouse that tied the whole group together was showcased in the front.
#3 - Look for the theme
When you are in a dressing room try to pull one outfit together and consider it your theme. For example, we identified the cinnabar colored pants and the tangerine shirt as our base theme, and we built from there. Having a starting off point ensures that all of your choices are bought for a reason.
#4 - Shades of tans and browns work better than a basic pair of black pants
What made this capsule so workable was that the colors of the pants were shades of brown and all of them worked back to the tops that we bought. If we had stuck with black instead, we wouldn’t have had as many options. Not one piece my client and I bought that day was black. Another option is to work jeans into this capsule, which my client was thinking of doing when she got home. By doing this she went from having 30 outfits to almost 40 outfits!
#5 - Accessorize last
After your capsule of outfits is created, think about the color and find accessories that work back to that theme.
(c) 2005 Bridgette Raes Style Group
Sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.bridgetteraes.com
One of the first questions I ask a potential client is how they make their clothing decisions when shopping, and in particular, if they have a plan when they hit the stores. Many clients tell me that their shopping is a bit of a haphazard experience because they don’t have a plan. Shopping with some sort of a plan in mind is so out of their realm of thinking that some of them are shocked to even consider this option.
While shopping with a client recently together the outing was so successful that I thought it would be great to write about “how” and “why” it was so successful, with the hopes that you too will be able to experience the same results when you go shopping.
Before this client and I hit the stores we got together and I learned that she had just gone through some major transitions in her life. She had lost about 40 lbs., was in the midst of a divorce, and in the process of launching her own publishing company, where she had just released her first book. In addition to these changes, she had a class reunion coming up in the very near future in Europe and was in need of an entire ensemble for travel. So aside from being in need of a new look for her new body and life, we also had to plan a wardrobe that could travel. On top of all of this, with a burgeoning career, her finances were a bit limited and we only had about a week to pull all of this all together. Needless to say, this was a very tall order to fill.
We started in her closet and purged about three-quarters of her wardrobe. It had been so long since she cleaned her closet that most of what was in there was either extremely dated or was now too big for her much smaller frame. I started to panic on the inside a bit as the situation went from bad to worse; not only did we have time constraints and financial limitations, but there was next to nothing in her existing wardrobe that was usable. I wished at that moment that I had a magic wand in my handbag to “poof” and make the situation better, but I didn’t, and I assured her that we were going to have her fabulous in time for her trip— gulp, I hoped.
Following her closet purge my client gained immediate clarity. It really is amazing how a clean closet can help anyone feel more in control, not only of their wardrobe, but their life. In a time of some heavy personal transitions, letting go of the past in her closet empowered her, even though her finances were limited and she didn’t have much to wear. Letting go of things in her wardrobe that no longer served her gave her an instant surge of inspired energy to begin allowing new things to enter her life.
Next was shopping. This is always a tricky thing, no matter how long I have been shopping with clients. There is a lack of control that I always feel when I take a client to a store. Normally a client books me to take them shopping for several hours. In this particular case we had booked just two hours to shop, which is on the lean side. The reason taking a client can be a bit unsettling is that I have to count on the stores to deliver what I need them to, and I have to make sure that I am picking the perfect store for each client. I have been doing this for so long that choosing the right store for the right client comes as easy to me as a sommelier choosing the right wine for a dinner party. But even though I may be able to choose the right store for each client, I still have to deal with whether or not the merchandise is going to be there in the right size. Considering that I was shopping with this client in June (when most of the summer merchandise has been well picked over) I had concerns that we would find many things we loved in the wrong sizes, another potentially challenging situation to face.
When shopping day arrived we hit the store and started looking around. Normally when I start with a client we go to the right upon entering the store, because studies show that when people shop they instinctively go to the right upon entering, and so most stores house their best merchandise to the right of the entrance. My client and I started by pulling anything that we liked. If we liked it, we pulled it and started piling up our arms with merchandise. It wasn’t long before a sales associate took our selections and started a dressing room. During our once-over of the store I don’t always worry about having the perfect outfit or, the perfect encapsulated look of several items in hand. Our first pass is to just pull what we love and load that dressing room up with stuff to try on.
Once we had a decent amount of merchandise in the dressing room we started trying things on. I always start with pants in the dressing room for several reasons; first, because pants require the greatest amount of effort. Trying on pants can be an extremely emotional experience for many clients. The second reason I start with pants is because I always build an outfit from a pair of pants first, so to start with pants ensures that the foundation piece of a great capsule is set. The first pair of pants that we loved was a gorgeous pair of cinnabar colored crop pants that fit her like a glove. I loved that the color was still sophisticated yet different, and I loved that this was a great color on which to base our capsule. Now, with some sort of focus, I started to look at what we had in the dressing room that could work back to these great pants. I found a stunning long sheer tangerine colored over-blouse. We ran out to the selling floor, grabbed a great thin layering piece in white and threw it under the sheer over-blouse. My client walked out to the mirror in the store and was in love with the outfit we pulled together. What was even more amazing was how her gait changed after she saw herself. While we were standing there talking about the outfit she stood there confidently and comfortable in her outfit, as if she already owned it.
Excited, we now had a great place to start with the rest of her mix and match capsule. We looked at the other pants that fit her and identified three more pants that worked back perfectly to our initial outfit; a brown pair, a khaki colored tan pair and a light stone pair. She now had four pant options to wear back with this tangerine colored top. But the fun didn’t stop there. We grabbed a basic white button-down shirt with interesting seaming details, and then a light olive colored thin knit, and threw those pieces on with her eye-catching cinnabar colored pants and identified some more outfits. She could easily wear this white shirt and light-olive knit top back underneath to all four pants that we chose. We now had eight outfit options. I wanted to add another color to the mix and found a crisp silk shantung blouse in a bright magenta. I pulled it into the dressing room and it looked stunning. The blouse didn’t exactly work back to the cinnabar colored pants, but it looked amazing with all three of the more neutral pants in brown, tan and stone. Another three outfits were created, totaling 11 outfits.
Now it was time to add the pop novelty pieces. I started looking around with the sales associate and found two blouses that were really exciting. One was a gorgeous striped blouse that tied in our two pop colors along with the neutrals. The stripe was shades of pinks and tangerines with some tans and browns. Next I found a sheer Indian-inspired tunic with embroidery that, again, encompassed our pop colors of pink and tangerine. I brought them into the dressing room and my client practically fell over with excitement, we now had two blouses that tied the whole color story together. Everything fit perfectly. By the end we had pulled together a total of about 30 outfit combinations with only 12 pieces.
Next it was time to accessorize. This is a key step that is often overlooked. We found two necklaces: one was a shell necklace that was in colors of tangerine and pink, and another was more natural colored necklace. A low slung belt pulled the outfits together, and lastly, we found two earrings sets that (like the necklaces) worked back perfectly.
My client was set - all we needed were a pair of shoes for this capsule. She had one pair of more comfortable shoes so we wound up purchasing a pair of tan sandals that she could wear with any of the looks we had chosen. The most exciting thing in this whole experience was the fact that after we were done my client grabbed her handbag and we realized that her gorgeous embroidered handbag in natural and tangerine shades worked perfectly to the whole capsule that we created, and this happened without us even trying!
Even though it sounds “too good to be true,” this truly is an account of an actual shopping trip. To summarize, here are some key points that you can follow from our experience:
#1 - Scan the store
When you go shopping, go through the whole store and pull everything that catches your eye. Even if it is something you would never have tried before, you just never know!
#2 - Don’t count solely on what the stores tell you is an outfit
A lot of stores will showcase outfits that they think you should buy. This is very user-friendly but it is often predictable and boring. If you want to get more creative with your outfits look all over the store, including the sales racks. The tangerine blouse and cinnabar pants that my client and I found were way back in the sale section of the store, while the striped blouse that tied the whole group together was showcased in the front.
#3 - Look for the theme
When you are in a dressing room try to pull one outfit together and consider it your theme. For example, we identified the cinnabar colored pants and the tangerine shirt as our base theme, and we built from there. Having a starting off point ensures that all of your choices are bought for a reason.
#4 - Shades of tans and browns work better than a basic pair of black pants
What made this capsule so workable was that the colors of the pants were shades of brown and all of them worked back to the tops that we bought. If we had stuck with black instead, we wouldn’t have had as many options. Not one piece my client and I bought that day was black. Another option is to work jeans into this capsule, which my client was thinking of doing when she got home. By doing this she went from having 30 outfits to almost 40 outfits!
#5 - Accessorize last
After your capsule of outfits is created, think about the color and find accessories that work back to that theme.
(c) 2005 Bridgette Raes Style Group
Sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.bridgetteraes.com
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