Wardrobe mistress

Would you let this woman ransack your closet? DEIRDRE MCQUILLANlooks on as Tara Crowley edits a client's wardrobe. Be warned . . . the rejects are confiscated

WARDROBE IS A VERY emotional place,” says Tara Crowley, professional wardrobe weeder, grooming and colour analysis specialist, who has built up years of experience helping women dress with confidence. “If someone comes to me, it is usually because she is at a crossroads, maybe she’s just had a baby and going back to work or she has left college and now has a new job. It could be a woman in her 60s who needs direction. So many women will complain they’ve nothing to wear and open a bulging wardrobe. When they open their wardrobes, they open their hearts.”

Crowley’s three-hour sessions with clients embrace colour analysis, advice on what suits particular body shapes and proportions and sorting out clothes in the wardrobe based on the client’s lifestyle. “It’s a big learning session for the client,” she says.

I first heard about her from a friend, who said the experience had made a huge difference to her approach to everyday dressing. So we decided to follow Crowley in action – normally a very private affair – with a brave client willing to have the encounter recorded.

Katie Molony is a marketing manager with a busy work schedule who has just completed a part-time masters degree. She is a regular at her local gym and has an active social life. Her complaint is that, like a lot of women, she’s bad at throwing things out; some clothes have emotional connections while others she never wears. Her involves a lot of meetings during the day as well as regular work related evening events.

“I wear dresses and high heels to work and tracksuits to the gym,” she says. “I don’t feel comfortable or dressed without heels.” Since going to the gym and training for marathons, she has dropped a dress size to 10.

When Crowley arrives for the session, Molony opens the doors of a double wardrobe stuffed with clothes. For the next few hours Crowley shows her the colours that suit her, using a swatch of patchworked fabrics and a colour chart to demonstrate how colour can highlight the face, and which shades suit her colouring.

Some time is spent on body shape – Molony has an hourglass figure – what suits and flatters, what to avoid. She is advised that her petite size determines the size of jewellery and knitwear. “A delicate necklace is about as chunky as you can go,” says Crowley. “What’s important is the area from the waist up – it’s what people notice first.”

Since five days out of Molony’s week are spent in the office and two are casual, Crowley advises her to “spend money where you spend your time. The solution isn’t shopping; it is working out what you have at home, deconstructing and making up outfits. A suit can be a dress with a cardigan. Katie has a lot of dresses, but doesn’t need bulky jumpers or long-line cardigans because they drag her down.”

At the end of the session, the wardrobe has been severely edited and reorganised into work clothes, casual, and special occasion wear. Discarded items have piled up on the floor The session ends with a slimmer, more organised wardrobe and the doors are closed. And to avoid any second thoughts or backsliding, Crowley takes the clothes away with her.

For Molony, the experience was a valuable one. “It was interesting to learn about body shape and balance,” she says. “You are not really aware of what colours suit you and I’ve always wanted to put more colour into what I wear to get away from so much black, and now I know what shades to look for. It is amazing to have your wardrobe organised into different areas and it makes it easier to shop when you know how to build it up.”

The exposure of her wardrobe was initially “a little bit frightening”, she says, “but there’s an element of getting rid of the old and concentrating on what works, and I would definitely recommend it. It’s a nice thing to do. You feel free talking to her and she is not harsh in her opinions. If I was there on my own it would be really easy to defend keeping things, but when you have to do it with someone else it is harder. I got very ruthless in the end.”

[ optimiseyourwardrobe.com ]

Dos and don'ts of dressing

Being stylish isn’t about following trends, but being knowledgeable about what suits you. Skinny jeans will never look great if you’re pear-shaped.

Cover up negatives and play with your good points.

Take off all your clothes, close your eyes and open them quickly. What is the first thing you see? Is it the one negative? Look for the positive.

Busty women need more tailored jackets. Even a centimetre can make a difference lifting the bust away from the tummy area and is very slimming. A nipped-in jacket can create a waist. You can come down a dress size with the right-sized bra.

Don’t cover problem areas with volume.

When choosing jeans, know your body shape. A short torso will need a below-the-waist jean. A long torso needs high heels to create height and a high-waisted jean to lengthen the leg. Trousers need to be 1cm from the ground with your shoes on.

A capsule working wardrobe could be five suits (a suit could be a dress and cardigan, a skirt or trousers and jacket), with two tops or shirts for each – it works out at 10 looks.

The clever woman picks out from fashion what suits her; young girls can get away with anything, but there comes a point when you need to get a bit serious.

93 per cent of first impressions are visual, 7 per cent of what you say.

You dress for the job you want, not for the one you have.

The older you get, the more you need to spend on quality, so basics need to be good.