Am I a good candidate for an in-home styling session?
If getting dressed is a chore, then yes! Getting dressed should be fun. It's one of the biggest perks of being a chick! But for many women it's completely uninspiring. And overwhelming. Rather than work with the clutter behind your closet door, you feel you either have to schlep around in the same old outfits or spend money you don't have replacing them. Luckily, you're wrong and I can show you how to love getting dressed again!
What's the process like when you work with Barbra?
Before I step foot in a client's home, I ask a series of questions:
- How long you've been living there
- What you do for a living
- If you have children
- How old you are
- If you travel frequently
- If you like to shop
- If you regularly edit your closet
- How you organize your clothes.
Next I ask you to eat before the session (once you get rolling, the sense of liberation is so powerful that you don't want to stop); to wear something easy to get in and out of; to pull out everything you're not wearing; to make sure all your shoes and handbags are accessible; to lay out your jewelry; to have large garbage bags on hand for your alterations, donations and resale items; and to have a digital camera at the ready to capture the many looks you and I will create together.
What are the results of an in-home styling session?
One woman told me the work we'd done together had given her the confidence to switch careers and go for the job she really wanted. I have a client whose anxiety about getting dressed to go out for the evening had caused friction between her and her husband. That oh-my-God-nothing-looks-right-and-we-have-to-leave panic is gone. Another client said to me recently, ‘Thank you for helping me get through the last couple of months in style.' Apparently, she was dealing with some life issues, and I'd been able to help her. That means everything to me.
A big part of what I do is free people from their internal shackles, from the limits they put on themselves about what they can and cannot do. They are capable of so much more – creatively and practically – than they realize. When a client says to me, ‘You have changed my life,' I immediately turn around and say, ‘You came to me; this change was your doing. You recognized that you needed some help, and you asked for it. I'm just grateful that you invited me along.
Will I need to buy a whole new wardrobe?
Not even close. Like so many other things in life, you already have everything you need right in front of you, you just have to change the way you look at it. For example, it's time to start looking at your ex favorite sweater and think, "how could I tailor it? What color could I dye it? What would it look like with the arms chopped off?" Being fashionable and looking good doesn't have to cost you more money. This is the basic thought behind everything I do.
I work with the clothes my clients already have - I dream up new combinations, transform old pieces into new and exiting ones and recycle the stuff that's never going to work. And I do it using my three signature guiding principles: eco-selfishness, sweaters in my head, and small space, big dreams.
What is Eco-Selfishness?
Eco-selfish is how I describe why I do what I do. Eco: ecologically minded and oriented toward helping others. Selfish: taking care of yourself. Give yourself permission to take care of number one. My mother, who first introduced me to this concept of recycling, revamping, and reselling to get what you want, said, "When your friendly airline attendant says to put the oxygen mask on your face first and then your child's, it is the adage of life. If you don't take care of number one first, you can't take care of numbers two, three, four, and five."
Being eco-selfish means working with what you have rather than constantly buying more. I take what I'm not wearing and dye it. I cut off sleeves and shorten skirts. I work with a tailor to alter the proportions of a garment instead of tossing it. If I no longer want a piece, I sell it or trade it. The point is, I acquire new clothes and still, nothing goes into a landfill.
The less waste you produce, the less stress you are putting on the environment. You can make a difference, whether it's by picking up a piece of trash or revamping a tired skirt. Today, U.S. residents produce approximately 4.5 pounds of garbage each day. That's almost twice the amount produced per person 40 years ago. Knowing this, I was dumbfounded by a client who wanted to just throw away what she didn't want anymore.
Being eco-selfish helps the environment, the resale stores, the tailors, the clothing swaps, the women who buy your old clothes and your fabulous, eco-selfish self.
What are Sweaters in Your Head?
Once, while helping a client sift through sweaters, we chatted about our experiences with men. It seemed somehow appropriate to be purging her wardrobe while we were purging our emotions. Then she said something poignant: "It's hard to let go of that sweater in your head."
That statement really affected me. It's not the actual sweaters in my wardrobe that I have trouble purging, it's what they mean to me, the people and the experiences the garments represent, that I struggle to let go. It's the sweaters in my head.
I may not have clothing cluttering my closet, but I understand what makes it difficult for my clients to let go of their outdated clothing. My talent for editing wardrobes not only helps my clients flush out the clothing they no longer wear, it often aids in clearing out some of the unnecessary sweaters in their heads, too.
Are you aware of the sweaters in your head? Are you ready to purge them? You can remove the tangible sweaters from your closet a lot more easily, I know, but it will do you and your wardrobe good to purge a few from your head. Your clothes are vibrating with the energy of everything that you have experienced: the light, happy times as well as the heavy, sad times. Not only do the surrounding circumstances get pressed into your memory, your clothes absorb the events, too. Just as a snake sheds its skin, you need to shed the clothing from certain times of your life. Shedding your old wardrobe can go a long way in helping you shed a former life that no longer fits you.
This mindset is beneficial for everyone. When you purge your wardrobe you will cast off emotional attachments, which is a healthy release. You will not only be refreshed by your new clothing and uncluttered closet, you will also gain buying power through the money you get from reselling what you no longer want.
