A Spiritual Approach to Connecting With Fashion

Well, Paris Fashion Week 2020 has come and gone, and I didn't blog about it. That's not to say that I wasn't paying attention, however, and I must say, the Chanel show really blew me away. I have a huge soft spot for Chanel. She was the first designer I really learned about, it's an accessible brand if only for fragrance and cosmetics, and Karl Lagerfeld passed away during my first real job in fashion when I worked at Saks Fifth Avenue as a style advisor. This is Chanel's second collection to be shown after the death of Lagerfeld (the first for the fall/winter season), and I love the direction that his right-hand and now new artistic director Virginie Viard has taken. For the first time watching a runway show, I actually could imagine myself in the pieces, and the way they would feel on me and the beauty that I would feel in them. A part of this visualization also has to do with my new-found confidence and knowledge acquired by working at Ted Baker, and also havi...

I am back in fashion! It is the best feeling. And just in time for a new year! As I reviewed my blog dashboard preparing for this post, I saw that despite my five month hiatus in luxury retail, I only missed writing in the month of October. This is a real testament to me that I have come a long way in my passions and what is important to me. During my brief affair in administration, I noticed the sadness I felt when visiting my professional profile on social media and seeing a disconnect from all of the amazing connections I was no longer identifying with, and all of the inspiring vocations in luxury sales that I was no longer able to aspire toward. As I start my journey at Ted Baker next week, I do experience fear. Ted Baker is a powerhouse, being in the top 100 luxury brands in the world. But in 2019 Ted's took two enormous hits. First the founder had to step down at the beginning of the year for misconduct, fully resigning mid-year, and then the company fabricated its assets...

I have always been connected to the French culture. From my laissez-faire demeanor to my under-stated appearance, I found confidence in my style when I turned 40 and realized that I was in fact fashionable, even when my wardrobe wasn't trending. I remember when I was 20 visiting my Nanny in a new outfit. She greeted me as I walked up the stairs to her porch and said I looked "Very French". She was an austere woman, and I believe that's why I have so few memories of her. But when she was clearly pleased with me, I knew something special was happening. I knew I was receiving a huge and rare compliment, and so that is a memory of her that I hold dear to my heart. In the present day, having had a career as a Style Advisor and taking strides to learn and grow for my business, I now navigate another twist of my spiritual journey through fashion. Unravelling the emotions that are intricately woven in labels, sizes, trends, money, celebrity, and society, taking me one l...

Images taken from the Saks Fifth Avenue app.

I was truly hoping to write a September piece, but wasn't really sure it would happen. The Spring 2020 fashion marathon started yesterday, so I was optimistic, but not entirely convinced. Then I had my first real moment of missing my job in fashion, just a few short hours after I completed the last day of my first month in my new job. I saw a picture of Kate Middleton , and I knew exactly a designer or two who I could have referred a client to, should someone have been wanting that "look" (and in some cases, even the designer label itself). After seeing the image I felt for the first time in 4 weeks that maybe I made a mistake leaving luxury fashion sales, but instead of letting fear overcome me, I decided to go onto the Saks website and see what was new. As I wrote in a  previous piece , there is an excitement in retail where there are many moving parts that work fast, and a little re-arranging even of floor plans or backdrops can lift the mood and foster inspiration,...

Today is the last day of the month of August and I decided this early evening to write a post. I was not completely comfortable not writing for the month of August as my goal for this blog and for my spiritual blog (linked in profile) is to write at least one piece a month. But on August 10th I left the fashion industry and in so well suspected the demise of this blog, my "journey through fashion". Two or three weeks prior to leaving the fashion industry I also apparently left my boyfriend. He was the proponent behind my industry writing. All of my fashion projects outside of my style advisor job was really him propelling me, encouraging me, and giving me strength to be more than an employee just doing my time, but to study, apply, be informative, and influence others. I will be moving into my fourth week in a new job that is such a fringe industry I don't even want to describe for it is not important at this time and in this fashion. Pun intended. But I do miss workin...

I’ve been feeling inspired after working with a first-time Saks customer who I am hoping will become a client, as we set out to find her a dress for a wedding where there will be complicated relationships and themes to adapt to. Often times when I am approached by a customer who wants to find a dress, I want to run the other way - especially when that dress is from the ball gown department. And something I realized last night while discussing my sales work and my fashion writing with this lovely beautiful woman is that a reason why dress shopping is so difficult is because of the emotions involved in the dress and in the expectations of the events for which the dress will be worn. I can sell denim no problem. I have reached such a level of blazing confidence with denim that I can even sell brands to women who are not familiar with that particular cut or wash or who were looking for their "comfort" style but I will hand them something originally unthinkable to them, and t...