A Profile of

“Absolutely Fabulous Image Consultancy”

Michele Gillett and Sharron-Del Wakely

Michele and Sharron-Del are qualified Image Consultants expertly trained by The Australian Image Company, one of the world’s most respected image organisations.

They each have 20 years experience in the beauty and image business and showing people how to dress to look and feel fabulous. They have mentored and trained men and women from diverse backgrounds, ranging from socially disadvantaged young people through to professionals in executive positions.

They love working with the power of line, design and colour to transform the way people dress, accessorise and shop. Many people and especially women, wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time and thereby waste a great deal of money on clothes that don’t get worn. With the right information they can change their buying habits so that they develop a wardrobe that is effective and fabulous.

“Absolutely Fabulous Image” offers consultations, seminars and workshops for individuals and business organisations. Michele and Sharron-Del know the importance of a great first impression. An individual’s character, personality and credibility is partially assessed on the basis of their personal presentation. It can deny or create opportunities. Knowing how to dress at times, is serious business.

It is crucial in today’s rapid paced and competitive world that an individual creates a positive first impression. It also needs to be remembered that the professional image of any organisation is the collective visual image of its people. This image can enhance or undermine the success of that organisation.

Our Passion

Giving people the skills and confidence to know how to dress so they can look and feel absolutely fabulous every day.

Call then now to find  out more about their services.

Tel:  02 9542 3042

Mobile:   0409 914 583

Email: michele.abfab@gmail.com

Technorati Tags: How To Dress, image consultants

When a man is seeking a new job or a promotion he well might seek the professional advice and services of an experienced resume writer.  He would appreciate the skills and knowledge this person would bring to bear on his quest for advancement. After all, a resume says so much about a person’s work experience, qualifications and aspirations. A prospective employer makes important judgements based on a resume. The job seeker would acknowledge this fact and that a professionally presented resume makes a positive impression.

However, would the same job seeker recognise the importance of his own personal presentation and accept that an employer makes equally important judgements based on this? The saying, ‘you can’t judge a book by its cover’ may be true, but when there are thousands of books vying for readers, it helps if your book attracts positive attention. And I’m not sure that this analogy is completely true for people. We tell the world a lot about ourselves in the way we visually present. People may not always interpret us correctly but the point is that people use our appearance to form opinions about us.

Many men would acknowledge that appearance matters. Many others would challenge this premise with arguments that the quality of someone’s work is what really matters. However, few men would truly understand the subtleties of subliminal messages and visual short cuts. The job interviewer does not have the time to get to know the candidates sitting before him. Consciously or otherwise he or she will use visual shortcuts to form opinions about a candidate. Often they will rely on their intuition to decide whether they trust and like the person in front of them. The way a man dresses, stands and speaks tells the world a great deal about who he is, what he does, how he feels about himself, where he comes from and where he is headed.

Consider two professional men looking for a job, one in a conservative law firm the other in an innovative advertising agency. Both men will wear a suit and tie for their interviews. Both men need to be judged as qualified, capable and professional. But one needs to convince his prospective employer that he is learned, conservative and careful, the other needs to be perceived as creative, dynamic and a risk taker. Both need their visual appearance to support them. How do they do this?  Engaging the services of a personal stylist would be a great option.

Stylists understand the subtle nuances created by the colour of a tie, the cut of a suit and the nature of accessories such as watches, briefcases and cuff links. A personal stylist can assess a man’s current image and give him an honest appraisal of the tangible and subliminal messages he is sending about himself. Then the stylist and the client can decide if those messages are conveying accurate and positive information. If not, the stylist will lead the client on a journey of self discovery to create a visual image that will truly reflect his personality, abilities and potential. The stylist will help the client present in a way that best suits the position to which he aspires.

No visual image will ever replace professional skills, work ethics and qualifications however an appropriate visual image will afford a man opportunities that a poorly presented person rarely receives.

Image Consultants would agree that de- cluttering your wardrobe makes so much sense. To clean out your existing wardrobe and eliminate all things that are of no use to you may sound a little distressing but it is an important step in the process of reorganization. In every woman’s wardrobe there are clothes with invisible guilty tags attached to them. They lie in wait for you to remind you of how much money you paid for them and how few times they have been worn. Keeping these clothes will actually cost you money and take up valuable space in your wardrobe.

You have decided to change your buying habits and bad clothing purchases will become a thing of the past. So it’s time to forgive yourself and give them away. Take a close look at the items in your wardrobe and put each item into the following categories:-

1. Items to keep

• Those that require no alterations to fit
• Those that are in harmony with your personality
• Those that are comfortable to wear to wear and fit well
• Those that flatter your figure and make you feel good
• Those that are in good condition and repair

1. Items that need attention

• Those with missing buttons and fallen hems etc
• Those that are soiled
• Those that require alteration
• Those that require another item to be purchased before it can be worn

1. Items that need to be given away or discarded

• Any item that is now too small or too large
• Any item that is out of date
• Any item unworn for three years
• Any item that no longer fits your lifestyle needs
• Any item that is an unflattering style
• Items in colours that are unflattering on you
• Anything you hate when you put it on

Now stand back and take a deep breath. How liberating does it feel to be rid of that dead weight and look at that new space in your wardrobe! Now before you rush out to buy more clothes make an inventory of what is left. Determine what you need to buy in order to expand your wardrobe options. An Image Consultant will then also help you to shop wisely explore all the possible combinations you can make with existing garments and any new purchases.

If you want to look youthful i.e. vital, positive, engaged and living in the present, an Image Consultant is a very useful person to have around. Why? Well, for a number of reasons.

1. They are trained in Colour Analysis, a simple but enlightening process that determines the colours, contrast levels and textures that flatter you best. The right colours will ease the appearance of lines and wrinkles, even your skin tone and bring out the colour of your eyes and the highlights in your hair. These colours will imbue you with a healthy and youthful appearance.
2. They are experts in line and design. They understand the power of vertical, horizontal and circular influence. They assess your figure’s natural proportions and know how to create a more balanced silhouette for you. They will enable you to walk taller and slimmer.
3. An Image Consultant understands the power of stereotypes to create negative or positive impressions. Peter Pan collars, cardigans and pearls may look sweet on a 20 year old but when someone over 40 wears them, they ‘scream’ establishment’, maturity and common sense.  Not necessarily bad things but together they create an impression of ‘age’. An image consultant can show you how to avoid the stereotypes that will unconsciously age you prematurely in the minds of others.
4. Being current in our dress is an important element in creating a youthful appearance. This does not mean ‘mutton dressed up as lamb’; nothing advertises your age more. However, embracing the current trends (as opposed to fads) is a great way to look youthful. Your Image Consultant can guide you towards discerning the trends that work positively for your appearance while eliminating those that do not.

An Image Consultant will help you look younger and feel fabulous. They will be an investment in your appearance, your self esteem, your present and your future.

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Colour Consultants won’t deny that lots of things help give you a more youthful appearance. Skin care treatments, anti-aging creams, Botox, cosmetic surgery, a healthy diet, exercise, drinking lots of water and sleep all affect the way we look.

But most important of all is knowing and understanding what colours will make you look fabulous and what colours will make you look tired and sick. All sounds a bit mysterious? Well it isn’t really.

The impact of colour should never be underestimated. Colour consultants are able to inspire others to enjoy the benefits of perceptive colour selection. We admire and appreciate the existence of our colourful world.  We take pleasure from watching the colours of a setting sun. We are fascinated by the beauty of a rainbow or a field of spring flowers.

Many of us even have a basic understanding that colour is not only seen but felt. The whole experience of colour is influenced not only by light energy that enters the eye from our surroundings, but also by subjective factors from within the brain. So is it any wonder we can even have positive or negative reactions to colour. For example the colour red can evoke feelings of excitement or threat. Yellow can be associated with cheerfulness or apathy and purple can relate to Royalty or depression. These are just to name a few as there can be almost as many reactions and responses as there are actual hues.

So why does colour have such a profound effect on our appearance? Colour is reflective , and when worn near the face reflects up onto the skin, hair and eyes. When a colour is worn that is in harmony with a personal natural colouring, that person will appear healthier, brighter, more youthful and alive.  The human eye responds positively to harmony and balance. It is aesthetically pleasing when colours relate to each other in some orderly logical way. In fact wearing the wrong colours can give the wearer the appearance of being older, unwell, and tired. So don’t reach for the expensive face creams or sign up for the Botox just yet.  Simply find out what colours look great on you.

Colour Consultants can make us look younger because they have an understanding of certain areas of our colouring that are important and should be considered in combination. That is skin, natural hair colour and eye colour and intensity. We all have the elements that make up our colouring in varying amounts, i.e. hemoglobin, carotene and melanin.

Because the human eye responds positively to harmony and balance and it is aesthetically pleasing when colours relate to each other, it is logical then that the information from Colour consultants would be of huge benefit in the quest to look younger.

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It’s at this time that many women may entertain the idea of plastic surgery. Looking at ways to turn back the clock on their aging appearance simply because it does not mirror how they feel from the inside out. A Colour Consultant would recommend that before you outlay all that money, go through all that pain and suffering, and put aside all that down time to recover – have your “colours done.”

A colour consultation will provide you with the knowledge about your unique colouring that will impact on what colour clothes will suit you, the best make-up colours for you and how to colour your hair. The result is harmony and balance with your natural colouring. Your complexion will look smoother, your eyes look brighter and your overall appearance will be one of health and vitality. In other words you will look ten years younger.

Colour is the first thing that is noticed about a person’s appearance. It affects mood, apparent body shape, apparent age, your outlook to life and the overall impression you make on others. Wearing your best range of colours will make you look healthier, vibrant and energetic. You can discover the colours that work best for you by contacting a colour consultant. From your consultation you will receive a professionally made swatch containing 50 of your best colours. This takes the guess work out of shopping so that you will come home with garments that look great on you.

But looking ten years younger doesn’t stop there. For a more youthful appearance wearing make-up plays a crucial part. As a woman’s face begins to show signs of aging it is very tempting to try to camouflage everything with a heavier foundation. With many things in life, ‘less is more’ and make-up is no exception. A good foundation will be the perfect colour for you. A Colour Consultant will establish whether it needs to be warm, cool, or neutral depending on your skin tone. Discovering which colours are best suited to and show off your fabulous eyes are also a part of the consultation, along with your best blush and lipstick colours.

And finally colouring your hair is probably the most dramatic thing you can do to turn back the clock, especially if you are grey. But turning back the clock involves more than grabbing any bottle of colour.

A successful colour is one that suits:

• Your natural colouring.
• Is in tune with the changes caused by aging. As we age our skin gets paler and cooler and our eyes lose their intensity. Women who don’t realize this often purchase hair dyes that no longer suit their colouring.

A Colour Consultant is mindful of this fact and will make a recommendation for the right colour hair for you.

Looking ten years younger, therefore, will be as a result of discovering the perfect colours for you through engaging the services of a Colour Consultant.

“A man’s elegance stems from his knowledge of clothes, of how to wear, buy and care for them. It is this awareness that others notice about him: he is no self-aggrandising dandy but a man whose confidence is perfectly balanced by the beauty and suitability of the clothing he wears. We step back and  admire the eloquent nonchalance of one who knows the rules and has successfully and joyfully mastered them.” Richard Martin,Curator of the Costume Institute, Metropoliatan Museum of Art.

This journey will alter the way he thinks about himself and how he looks at clothes well into the future. The expert advice of a trained professional will make shopping easier and dressing for any occasion more successful. Many men are initially stunned by how much they don’t know and how much they have to learn because good grooming goes way beyond choosing a tie and buying a suit.

A fashion image consultation for men should include many things:

• Body Analysis. This allows a man to develop an awareness of his silhouette, vertical proportions and positive or negative features. This information determines the styles and lengths of garments that enhance and flatter him.
• Line, Design and Colour Principles. This is the theory that underpins so much of the art of good dressing.  Few people are trained in these principles and consequently make poor choices regularly when shopping for clothes.  If they have an instinctive notion that what they have bought isn’t flattering, they rarely know why and so consistently repeat the mistake.
• Garment Selection. Using the information gleaned from the body analysis, he should receive a comprehensive list of clothing styles that will help him look his best on any occasion.
• Accessory Knowledge. This is an invaluable element of the consultation because accessorising appropriately is very important to a man’s visual image. It is this aspect of a man’s wardrobe that enables him to express his individuality and style personality.
• Wardrobe Organisation. This part of the consultation trains the male in the art of pulling many disparate elements together to create a winning outfit. It is an essential skill for minimising duplication and maximising cost effectiveness.
• Style Personality. Every man has one, and it comes from his life’s experiences, vocation, education, life style, interests and physical attributes.

Many men may think that seeking the services of a fashion image consultant is an exercise in vanity and self aggrandisement.  And perhaps for a few it is. Clothes and personal grooming is only one facet of a man’s life, knowing how to maintain perspective and balance is essential. However, there is plenty to learn and much to be gained by investing in the services of a fashion image consultant.  After all, when a man knows that he looks good it raises his self esteem and self confidence. He will attract positive attention and positive people. He will dramatically increase his visual credibility and create opportunities in all areas of his life.

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Colour Consultants can explain the three qualities of colour; temperature, intensity and depth.

The temperature of a colour refers to the presence of yellow (warm) or its absence (cool). The intensity refers to a colour’s light reflecting properties; highly reflective colour is bright while matte shades are muted. The depth of a colour is the most obvious trait to observe.

The colours that will best suit you are those colours that share the same qualities that you possess. For example if your overall depth of colour is medium, then you will be best suited to colours that are of medium depth. If the intensity of your colouring is muted, then you will be flattered by colours that are muted, softened or toned down. The fairer you are the more disconnected and unbalanced you will appear when very deep colours are placed below your face. Conversely, when someone with very strong and deep colouring wears pale colours they will appear drained by these shades. A colour consultant explains and demonstrates the quality of colour by a visual assessment of her client and the draping process. This allows you to see the impact of colours and their varying characteristics on you.

The knowledge and understanding that you acquire from a colour consultant will effect some very positive changes in your appearance, shopping habits and wardrobe organisation. When you embrace the colours that harmonise and balance your own colouring you will appear healthier, younger and more vital. Your skin tone will be more radiant and your complexion more even. Minor imperfections recede and the colour of your eyes and hair will be intensified.

You will find colour to be a great starting point when you hit the shops. A quick scan of the racks in your favourite boutique or department store will reveal whether there’s the likelihood of finding something fabulous. If the colours are not for you, there is no point in looking at the styles. …Move on!

Back in the wardrobe at home, use colour as your way of organising and arranging your garments. Keep your neutral coloured items together and then group similar coloured garments together. Its great when all your black camis and tops are in the one drawer and not spread throughout your cupboard. When colour is the system you are working with, your clothes will remain in a logical and accessible order. This great strategy will serve you well on those mornings when the alarm doesn’t go off, the cat has disappeared and you’ve burnt the toast.!!!

So, will a Colour Consultation change your life? That’s still debatable, however what is absolutely certain, is that she will impact your life in a very positive way.

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Ever thought about it, or rather fantasised about it because after all you have seen the ‘before and afters’ on countless TV shows and in glossy magazines. You’ve seen the gorgeous transformations that take place and quietly thought that you have no less potential than those ordinary men and women plucked from the crowd and given the star treatment.

“So why not find yourself a personal stylist and treat yourself?” Because on your budget, it’s out of the question.

Well, being mindful of where your money goes and how far it needs to stretch may just be one of the best reasons to engage the services of a personal stylist.

It is frequently said that women in particular, wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time. That means hundreds if not thousands of dollars are wasted by the average woman. The bargain top or skirt that never gets worn is no bargain. The jacket that can only be worn with one particular pair of pants is anything but versatile and if it’s not versatile, then it’s expensive. So, when money is tight, it is all the more reason that any garment purchased should be successful.

A personal stylist or image consultant is trained to recognise just what suits you and what does not. You will benefit from their understanding of line, design and colour. They can identify your body shape, prominent features, colouring and style personality very quickly. This enables them to identify those garments that will flatter you and help you look current, younger and fabulous. They know just what to leave on the racks for others to spend their money on instead of you. They will lead you to purchases that you will love to wear and that you will wear time and time again. This is not money wasted this is money saved.

A savvy stylist can help you structure your wardrobe around core colours and key items, minimising the quantity of garments required. They will use the rule – ‘if it doesn’t go with 5 other items in your wardrobe, then don’t buy it’. They will train you in versatility; how to wear a single item in a multiplicity of ways. When you have a wardrobe of clothes that you love, it doesn’t have to be a big wardrobe. You won’t feel the need to keep on buying because what you already own looks sensational on you and serves a variety of occasions.

The initial financial outlay for a styling session may be as little as the cost of a couple of hair cuts; an expense many of us budget for every 5-8 weeks. The difference of course is that what you learn from your stylist is information that will stand you in good stead for years to come. Some clever person observed that most of us spend more money on what we put on the outside of our head than what we put inside it.

Technorati Tags: Personal Image, personal style, Personal Stylist

Colour consultants can save you a fortune!

Most of us will plead guilty to wearing the same garments time and time again, while dozens of outfits are stuffed in our wardrobes and drawers rarely seeing the light of day. Our favourite clothes are often neutrals such as black and grey. Without a sound understanding of the qualities of colour and in particular the qualities that suit us, we shop in a random and ad hoc manner. Our wardrobes are full of stand alone items rather than clothes that effortlessly and seamlessly co-ordinate.

One of the great benefits of having a colour analysis is that you learn how to develop an integrated wardrobe of clothes. When you begin to only buy garments that are in your best colours you create a wardrobe of items that mix and match. Virtually all your tops can be worn with all your pants, skirts and jackets. Your shoes and accessories can also be worn with many garments rather than a few. This greatly expands your options and provides you with a wonderful array of possible outfits for a much smaller financial outlay.

Colour consultants can raise your self esteem.

When you are shown how flattering your best colours are for you, it’s hard not to feel good about yourself. Your best colours make your skin appear radiant, healthy and youthful. They bring out the highlights in your hair and the colour of your eyes. They make you the star rather than what you are wearing.

Colour consultants can increase your confidence levels.

You will become much more confident about shopping and dressing. The more you learn:

• how to look fabulous, easily
• how to shop, discerningly
• how to resist fads, firmly
• how to co-ordinate, effectively,

the more your self confidence will soar.

Colour consultants can open your eyes to a world of colour choices.

Many people suffer from the misconception that a Colour Analysis offers you a small range of colours and is thereby limiting and restrictive; quite the contrary. You will learn how to combine colours in different and innovative ways, only limited by your imagination. Your options are exciting.

Colour Consultants can educate you.

You will be shown how to work with textures, fabric surfaces, patterns and contrast levels. The choices you make with these elements are as important as colour itself.

We each have our own textural quality and contrast levels.  When we understand these things about ourselves we can understand why we are drawn to certain patterns and fabrics.

With understanding comes order and organisation. Our shopping becomes systematic and sensible. Our wardrobes become functional and effective. We become masters of our own image rather than slaves of fashion trends.

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