Cluster of the week (Indian Office Wear)

This week, I am showcasing an Indian office wear cluster. Simple elegant lines that give attention where required.

Indian Office wear Summer Cluster

Kurtas:

Brown - Rs 1299.00: Shopforw.com

White & Yellow - Rs. 999.00: Shopforw.com

Bottoms:

Beige - Rs. 599.00: Shopforw.com

Black Leggings by United Colors of Benetton: Rs. 799.00: Myntra.com

Shoes:
Beige Color by Carlton London - Rs. 2299.00: Yebhi.com

Bag:

White hand bag by HiDesign - Rs. 4795.00: Jabong.com

Watch:

Titan Raga Watch (Model: 9931SM01) - Rs. 7995.00: Titanworld.com

Sunglasses:

Sunglasses by Carrera – Rs. 3581.00: 99labels.com

An Image Consultant helps clients by doing a complete Lifestyle, Personal Style analysis followed by Wardrobe evaluation and will help you with Personal shopping as well. You can get further details on the services here.

Please click on the "Email Me" link on the right hand side of the page with your details and I can get back to you.

Why hire an Image Consultant?

A lot of people ask me:

• Who is a Image Consultant?
• What does (s)he do?
• Why do it? 
• What are the imperatives?
• What does it cost?

I attempt to answer the questions using the slide show embedded below.

You can get in touch using the Email Me link on the right hand side of the screen, in case you have any questions. 

Glad to help! 

Scent of a Woman

While the blog is named after one of my favourite movie starring Al Pacino, it has little bearing to the movie. This blog is all about perfumes.

The word perfume used today derives from the Latin “per fumum”, meaning "through smoke."

I know of many men and women who have difficulty in selecting the types of perfumes to wear for different occasions. 

Did you know that there are day perfumes and then there are night perfumes? Why are there different types of perfumes based on the time of the day?

The types of activities that you do are different in the day than in the night and that is why we have different perfumes.

Day perfumes: These are usually lighter, subtler and don’t overwhelm your co-workers.

Night Perfumes: These are muskier, heavier and usually more heady. They usually have a more carnal, vulgar, romantic element in them which are more suited to activities one does in the evening! :-)

Now that we have the definitions of day and night perfumes out of the way, lets look at how perfumes are classified.

Perfumes are usually classified as:

• Floral: These are mainly perfumes that are created mainly from flowers, often blended together to produce a bouquet.
• Oriental: These are usually a mix of spices. Suggestions of warmth and sensuality.
• Fresh: These are made from naturally refreshing and uplifting usually tangerine and citrusy with marine notes and grassy odors.
• Woody (or Chypre: pronounced as SHIP-ruh): It’s a woody and mossy fragrance.

The Fragrance Wheel is a classification based on the notes above and was developed by Michael Edwards in 1983.

The Wheel is shown below:

The Fragrance Wheel

Perfumes from the floral and fresh families are considered day perfumes, and oriental and woody families as night.

Fougere Perfumes are usually known as the “universal fragrance family”, blends flavors from all the four other classifications. Most male oriented perfumes come from this family.

Every perfume has 3 notes and are:

• Top Notes: This note is perceived immediately after applying it. The perfume molecules evaporate immediately and these note generate the first impression.
• Middle Notes: As soon as the Top note dissipates, the notes that then appear are the middle notes. This is the main body of the perfume. These are also called as the heart notes.
• Base Notes: These appear as soon as the middle notes dissipate. These lend solidity to the perfume and usually appears after around 30 minutes of application of a perfume.

Notes of a Perfume

Note that the same perfume can smell differently on two different people based on the skin type (dry or moist), body heat and inherent body odor. So be cautious while picking a perfume for someone you love!

Please ask for coffee beans at the perfumery before you buy one. It helps in clearing the nose.

Apply perfume where you would like to be kissed i.e. in the most sensual places like behind the ear lobes, your wrists and on the sides of your neck. Usually one round of application is enough unless you perspire a lot. If you do, another round usually suffices.

Be very careful while applying perfumes especially if you are wearing a silk scarf, tie or sarees. It could ruin your silks.

Some etiquette tips on using a perfume:

• Please don’t drench yourself in perfume. It can leave people around you choking for hours.
• While flying in an aircraft, do not overdo the perfume. It could be uncomfortable to your fellow passengers.

Coco Chanel is quoted as saying "A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future.” 

How you smell is a key component of your Image and we take this aspect very seriously while Image Consulting for you.

Jewelry (Jewellery) as an accessory

Since the time mankind has learn to melt metal, women have been wearing jewelry of some shape or kind. In fact, even before metal was found to be malleable, women have used flowers, animal hide, bones, teeth, and feathers as embellishments.

Humans have various needs as is depicted in the Maslow's hierarchy:

As human beings, we tend to move higher up the hierarchy, once our basic needs are satisfied. It has been found that women wear jewelry for 4 reasons:

• To attract men (for reproduction)
• As a Social need (a part of the Love & Belonging section of the pyramid), to fit in
• For self-esteem
• To showcase creativity (or as self-expression)

What can you do to maximize the effect of wearing jewelry?

• Remember the maxim “Less is always more”. It is easy to overdo the jewelry.
• Identify the kind of outfit you are wearing, especially the neck line of your outfit. (Is it elegant, frou-frou, simple or fancy?)
• Identify all the bare areas that your outfit is showing.
• Understand where you would like to get the maximum attention.
• Choose whether you want to wear a matching bracelet to the necklace or would you want to stick to a watch.
• Allow yourself some leeway on wearing faux gems and not just original pieces of jewelry.(Unless of course, you have an allergic reaction to some of the metals out there). Please don’t mix and match faux and original stuff.
• Ankle bracelets can be work, but be wary of the occasion. It doesn’t bode well to wear one, if you are at work. You don’t want the attention drawn towards your legs.
• Treat yourself for manicures if you are sporting a ring.
• Earrings are just as important, based on the occasion, you could pick danglers or studs.
• Above all, ensure that your jewelry, bag, shoes, scarf all work well together.

For formal occasions such as your workplace, pearls are considered the most formal. Think about Michelle Obama or Indira Nooyi (the CEO of Pepsico) and how they carries off pearls.

Diamonds have the next highest formality followed by Platinum/Silver, but it is important to keep them simple especially if it’s a formal occasion such as your workplace or a black-tie dinner.

Some tips based on necklines:

• Collared shirts that you wear to work, keep it simple. A string of pearls can do wonders and ensure that it sits within the shirt. It is important that you don’t draw attention to your bust at your workplace.
• You might want to wear a longer length necklace with Cowl necks and Boat necks. Alternatively, pearls work very well too.
• For a strapless dress/gown, you don’t really need anything at all. Try and pair them with a dangler earing and a hair piece. You could wear a choker as well.
• For a V-neck, use something that will fill space and mirrors the shape of the neckline. Large pendants work very well as they shape the necklace.
• For a Polo/Turtle necks, use something long that will sit on the bust. A turtle neck leaves a harsh visual at the chin and the long necklace mitigates it very well.
• For cowl necks, a necklace with long length, creates a more flattering look.
• For a keyhole shirt, try omitting wearing a necklace as the keyhole is a great embellishment by itself.
• For a slot collared shirt, once again there is no need to wear a necklace as the collar itself is designed like one as is the same with a Peter pan collared shirt.
• For a shirt with ruffles, a classic item with beads or pearls look great.

Mark Twain commented “Let us not be too particular. It is better to have second-hand diamonds than none at all.”

We provide these kinds of inputs on a personalized basis when you opt for Image Consulting services.

In my next post, will try and describe necklines. :-)

Do keep reading and spreading the word.