Join us beginning Wednesday, January 13, for this exciting six-week class, “Beauty from the Inside Out and the Outside In.”
Over our six weeks together, you will discover:
Classes will be held on Wednesdays from January 13—February 17, 2010, at the Life Guidance Center of Charleston (located in West Ashley near Costco) from 6—8 pm.
Seating is limited. Reserve your space today!
*Save $70 with the coupon code earlybird. Hurry, this offer will only last for a limited time.
To: Mom
From: Lynn Ely of MomEvolve, and our Friends:
Stacey Crew of The Organizing Mama
Erin Goodman of exhale. return to center
Lee Heyward of Charleston Style Concierge
Melanie Hope of Hope Health & Happiness
Sarah Hays of YuDu Concierge Services
“’Tis the Season to be Stress-Free, Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La!”
Does this song sound familiar? Does it sound like a holiday wish come-true? Well, it is! And, the best part is, you can make a difference in a needy child’s life by giving your Self the gift of a stress-free holiday this year!
MomEvolve is partnering with these wonderful mom-focused friends to present a special holiday treat – a 2-part holiday teleclass event called Peace, Joy & PJs – A Holiday Stress-Reduction Charity Teleclass Event! All proceeds will be donated to the Pajama Program, which provides warm pajamas and books to needy children, many waiting and hoping to be adopted.
Please join us in brightening the holidays for children in need and
Give yourself the gift of a Merrier ME for the Holidays!
Click here to find out all of the Holiday-licious details!
Before you can discover a style that is right for you, you need to know why having a style matters.
1. Style is fun. Think about how much fun you had as a kid playing dress up. It was an outlet to be whatever you wanted to be. All you had to do was put on a frilly dress and you could become a princess. Actually when we get dressed each morning you do the same thing, except your clothes are no longer kept in a box in the playroom. You put on certain clothes and you feel more confident, more bad ass, more put-together, more modern, whatever strikes a chord with you. If you haven’t felt any of those feelings in a long time, I recommend playing dress up in your own closet.
2. Style affects the way people perceive you. Your style makes up your appearance, which sends a message to the rest of the world about who you are. 55% of the judgment people make comes from your appearance alone. You may think that anyone who would make judgments based on appearance alone is egotistical and not someone you would have a lot of contact with. The fact is, we live in a very visual society. Without even realizing it you make judgments about all sorts of things just by glancing at them. Things like, whether or not to try a new restaurant based on the way the outside looks, what fruit looks the most delicious, if you want to be friends with the neighbors that just moved in, everything! Judging by appearance alone is simply human nature.
In the spirit of trying to play by the rules and wear what you think is appropriate, or, what you “should” wear, it is really easy to end up losing yourself in a style that just isn’t an authentic version of who you are. Often times you end up thinking something is your style, when it is actually the opposite of the look and feel you want to achieve from your clothing.
To feel more authentic about who you are in your clothes you have to dress intentionally. This means you purposefully choose clothing that makes you feel and look a certain way. You become very disciplined about what you buy and what is allowed to live in your closet. If a shirt doesn’t make you feel great and doesn’t help you portray who you are, it’s simply not for you. That doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with you, or your body, it just means that it’s not the shirt for you. There will be plenty others!
Clothing then becomes something that you enjoy wearing, not something you have to wear because you can’t leave the house naked. Getting dressed becomes easier each morning. Think about the days you are able to dress quickly and easily. Those are usually the days that you love what you are wearing. Alternatively, it takes a few tries to put on an outfit that doesn’t match who you are. You’ll change your clothes over and over again because they never feel quite right. It never feels authentic.
The next time you are out shopping, or editing your closet, I encourage you to really think about your clothing. Does your clothing match the image you want to portray? Does it make you feel great? If not, spend some time figuring out the disconnect and become disciplined about what clothing truly puts a kick in your step.
This is the season for shopping! Follow these shopping rules for a more successful shopping experience.
1. A deal isn’t always a deal.
You only wear 20% of the clothing you own. For a second go back and think about the 80% of your clothing that you don’t wear. How much of that did you buy because it seemed like a great deal? Deals can often get you into trouble. Based on price alone you often end up buying items you don’t really need. You’re seduced by the price tag, not the way they can serve you and your style. Be disciplined about what you need. If you know that you desperately need shoes that are appropriate for work and only have a certain budget, a designer dress no matter how great of a deal, isn’t going to help you figure out what shoes to wear on Monday morning.
2. You should be able to think of more than one way to wear something before purchasing.
The second rule of shopping is that you shouldn’t buy something unless it can be worn multiple times or in multiple ways. When you are shopping for new items think about how they can mix in with the clothing you already own. If you’re considering buying a great jacket, think about whether or not it will be versatile enough to wear to work and also casually on the weekend with a pair of jeans. Or is it a jacket that you don’t have anything to wear with. There are lots of pieces that make up that 80% of your clothing that you don’t wear that were bought because you figured you would find something to wear with them later, but never did. Be disciplined about what you need and how it can work for you.
3. Your body is not the enemy.
The third shopping rule is to remember that your body is not the enemy. That may sound funny, but what’s not funny is that for many of you shopping is really frustrating. We end up taking out our frustration of not finding something on ourselves. It is not your fault when something doesn’t fit you quite right. The challenge is that we are all totally different sizes and proportions. Some brands and cuts simply might not work for your body shape, but others will.
I recently bought this Karina dress at one of my favorite stores, Mary Mojo Boutique. It is kind of wild for me, but the fit is perfect and I loved the idea of trying something bold and different. Prints get a bad rap for being too memorable making them hard to wear over and over again. On the contrary, prints offer a chic and sophisticated look and can definitely be styled different ways. Check out the ways I’ve worn this fun dress.
The Dress
This dress can be worn with any of these 5 pairs of shoes.
For a casual look I added a jean jacket, red belt, and casual black boots.
For a more professional look I added a red heel and fitted black jacket.
How can you wear something different from your closet? Add a tight? A jacket? A cardigan? Play dress up in your own closet and see what you come up with.
Message from Lee
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of being perfect. You work hard to have the perfect career. You workout at the gym to get the perfect body. You buy more and more clothes in search of the perfect outfit. I think that the pursuit of perfection can drive you nuts! Is anyone or anything ever really perfect?
Style is never perfect, and that is what is so great about it. My perfect outfit could be your least favorite outfit, and your perfect pair of shoes might be ones I can barely walk in. Style is all about you. It exists to tell the world who you are, not set a standard of perfection you must meet to be considered stylish.
When you look at fashion magazines and see women who look perfect, don’t assume you can’t have that “perfect” style too. Why not? All you have to do is learn how to adapt that “perfect” style to work for your body shape and lifestyle. It’s easy to give up and conclude you can never look a certain way. I believe with a little knowledge about who you are, you can have the look or style that you want to achieve.
Check out this article on Sara Blakely, the brains behind Spanx, from Ali Magazine. It all began from cutting the feet out of panty hose. Very cool story.
I am really obsessed with Sandra Bullock’s style from The Proposal. It is effortlessly chic and classic.
Michelle Salater, president of Sumer and my personal marketing guru, is hosting a PR class that I am attending. I’m so excited about this class that I wanted to share the info with you.
“The Secrets to Influencing Your Online Market”
This 4-week bootcamp will show you how to shift your focus, change the way you connect with prospective customers, and get results.
Here are some highlights of what we will cover during the 4-week bootcamp:
Learn more about this excitng class here. See you there!
More often than not, each piece of your brand image was created when you needed it, but not altogether in a strategic fashion. Your image may look fine, but does fine help you grow?
Eventually as you scale, your image foundation cracks, and the way your business presents itself no longer helps propel growth – costing you time and money to fix.
When you unlock your brand power, you get to pick and choose how people perceive you and your brand.
Our Image Mastery System™ takes the 5 key brand components that you already have and ties them together in a way that amplifies your results and achieves your vision.
