What made me want to dress people professionally?

I have a kind of muddled background.

I went to Business School, because I wanted to do Law and didn't get into the nearest school (READ: I didn't apply to the nearest school because I wanted to move to London ;) ). 

You want me to WHAT???!!?? :)

After my first Law class, I decided Law was not for me. How on earth were you supposed to remember all those names and dates and details?? So I stuck to Business and in my 2nd year, I discovered Marketing. Wow, where was this my whole life of 19 years? I found I had a real knack for putting things together and creating unique ways to promote them. I went on to do a Post-Grad in Marketing and become a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

I was offered a job as an assistant buyer for Laura Ashley but turned it down for a more marketing focused position.  One of my few regrets. Who wants to count dresses all day? (SMACK HEAD)

As life often does, I came to a turn in my life's journey and found myself living in the United States of America, in beautiful sunny California. My Post-Grad, Degree and large network weren't worth much here but I saw a niche in the market and started what I thought would be a side business. I became a makeup artist.  Fast forward 10 years and I had a successful Bridal Makeup, Hair & Styling business with a great portfolio and several editorials under my belt. I had expanded the business to cover not only Northern California but also Texas, USA and Toronto, Canada. Fully booked during wedding season. It was fantastic but life had other plans.

Once again fate took over and homesickness plus some other issues appeared and I found myself back in the UK. I'd lost my niche market since the UK has a surplus of makeup artists. I worked for another company offering personal makeup workshops and loved it.  Sadly this company went under
and I found myself looking for work in my original field.

I made some personal changes around this time and found it difficult to match my lifestyle to that of the marketers I so wanted to emulate. Too much socialising, after hours events, drinking, it just didn't fit with the way my life was going. I wanted a stable job where I worked set hours and could switch off, come home and spend time with my family. Whewwww who know that doesn't actually exist? ;)

During my 2 years of job searching and working for various organisations, I noticed some things about the way people dressed.  As I'd be waiting to be interviewed or leaving an interview, I would see people coming in or going out in clothes that were rumpled and untidy looking. I saw mismatched pinstripes, odd colour combinations, inappropriate high heels, some people dressed as though they were going clubbing rather than to a place of work, all sorts of weird occurrences.  I thought to myself, "surely these people aren't interviewing, they can't possibly be offered the job".  I'm pretty certain they weren't but as time went on I saw more and more of these styles in the workplace.

Something so simple could help them land that job.

Check out Madame Noire's List of Taboo Clothing  items here

I noticed women seemed to either dress as if going to a party or then at the polar opposite, they dressed as though they were wearing men's clothes. No femininity. Where were the middle people?

That's where I want to help. I know how to dress for an interview or your first day at work. I know how to make an unforgettable first impression. Hey, look at what you're competing with, I can help you find the style you want that will get you the job you want. 

I recently read an article about how many people are held back from promotion.  There have been studies done on how more attractive people tend to get jobs and promotions. Do you realise how much discrimination there is on people's appearances? Yes, there are some laws to protect vulnerable groups but how do you PROVE you aren't being hired because of your appearance? It isn't easy, there's always another reason or list of excuses.



So how do we overcome this discrimination? 

Dress better and try to look your best so you can get what you want. 

PS Here's the article that got me thinking about this whole endeavour.

What I learned when I started wearing makeup for a week

No, no I didn't write that. It was an interesting article written by Maycie Thornton at Buzzfeed.

I came across this article a few days ago. Someone had shared it on Facebook and it was a fellow makeup artist so I had a little peak and found it quite insightful.

The interesting thing this lovely woman discovered was that if you feel [fill in the blank - confident, pretty, clever], you will become that.

She had some amazing pearls of wisdom fro newbies to makeup:

So go on, give makeup a go. What could go wrong?.....

The beginning

I've been fortunate to do a lot of things in my life. I've lived on 2 continents, I've seen poor people begging on the street as well as the rich in their luxurious homes.  I've worked 2 jobs concurrently and in a lot of different fields; retail, hair modelling(if you know me, you'll realise the irony of that), telemarketing (yes, I was one of those people that called you up in the middle of dinner to ask you if you wanted to renew your Vodafone contract ;) ).

I was also fortunate enough to attend University (first girl in my family to actually complete a degree) and even started my own multiple location business.  These things weren't easy and I learnt a lot of things along the way. Each experience, each event, each twisty turn added something to my personality and oddly my sense of style.

I went from geek to sophisticated woman. It wasn't easy and it wasn't even something deliberate but something organic. If I dressed a certain way people spoke to me differently and treated me differently. I learnt quickly that dressing well got you more respect and attention.

 Interesting read and images from the Secret Geek Society

Having worked in the fashion industry for 10 years, you learn a thing or two. Mainly what looks good. And what doesn't. But that also comes from a personal sense of style. Everyone should know what their style is and what makes them look good. That's where I come in. 

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