Personal Coach in Image, Fashion Style and Posture. Michele Benza, Confidential Image Consulting Featuring European Style and Elegance. Face-to-face and online.
Looking Back and Looking Forward
By
Michele Benza
Wishing You All You Wish For Yourself
And Those You Love
in
2010!
2009 was a great year! Thanks to so many of you. I am so grateful that I had the privilege to meet with some of you online and even face-to-face.
If 2009 had some bumps in the road I saw those as positive experiences as they made me wiser and stronger and brought me back to reality. As my younger son, Greg, said to me one day: “Mom, when I have obstacles I think of a river full of boulders. The river flows around the rocks and just keeps going.”
During 2009, I addressed quite a few subjects in my columns – from “Style on a budget” to high heels and hats! And very importantly, “Beauty From The Inside Out”. I had a lot of fun writing these newsletters for you. The most fun was “Hats are Back, Hats are Hot!” The day I wrote that was very busy and I was late with my column. Between two clients, I ran to “Hats on Post” in San Francisco and told Peg Purcell, the owner, about the column. In fifteen minutes, with my cell phone as our only camera, we documented the article. It was fast and it was fun!
“Style on a Budget,” the newsletter published early 2009, especially received many positive comments. I was still in shock about the financial collapse and was wondering what would happen next. Naturally, I wondered if my small enterprise could survive. I’m happy to report, not only did it survive; it thrived! I’m especially happy to have helped so many men and women who came to see me because they did not know what to wear for a job interview, or because they were feeling lost or in a rut. With a little tweaking of their image, a reevaluation of their wardrobe, they felt refreshed, inspired and managed to regain their self-confidence. And thanks to technology I’ve been able to help many people in small towns across the USA and across the oceans east and west.
So what’s up for 2010? I’ll keep contributing to 50fabulous.com and Bay Area Women’s Journal. I’ll work hard to bring you relevant and interesting topics.
As I’ve said many times before, fashion happens on the sidewalks–no longer on the runways–for everyday people like you and me. As for the magazines, they’re fun to read but remember all those beautiful men and women perfectly coiffed and dressed, are there to seduce you into spending money. Those beautiful people on paper do not exist in our everyday workplaces and communities. Don’t let them bring down your self-esteem! These days’ photographs are altered so rapidly and so dramatically that the models always appear to be ‘perfect.’
Since January is a time when we often make New Year’s resolutions, I have a good suggestion for you: start your own style notebook. Be your own model and your own fashion reporter.
My wish for 2010 is that natural beauty prevails and becomes the new standard.
Bonne Année à tous,
Michèle
P.S. If there are any topics you’d like me to write about, please let me know.
*Work with Michele*
You can work with Michele on-line or face-to-face.
Call or email for a private appointment with Michele
You’ll be thrilled with the results.
415.956.3025 michele@mbenza.com
Personal Coach in Image, Fashion Style and Posture. Michele Benza, Confidential Image Consulting Featuring European Style and Elegance. Face-to-face and online.
Personal Coach in Image, Fashion Style and Posture. Michele Benza, Confidential Image Consulting Featuring European Style and Elegance. Face-to-face and online.
I love the “puffer.” It is soft, warm and lightweight and can be worn in town as well as in the mountains. The “puffer” is also a good way to resist colds and flu as it will keep you toasty warm and protect your from freezing winds. By the way, the French translation for “puffer” is “doudoune.” I like this better as it makes me feel as if I’m nestled in down and feathers.
Designers, it seems, are enamored with the “puffer” this season, so I decided to head to the department stores in search of the perfect way to combine fashion with function this winter.
The first puffer I found looked perfect but it was bright gold. Pfff. I don’t think so. Gold? Honestly, who wears a gold puffer?
Lots of puffers got my attention but there was always something that did not work for me: a fake fur on a hood that made it look cheap, or the material looked like it should be used for garbage bags, or the puffers were either too short or too bulky…
I was on the brink of losing heart but decided to go back to my first find: the gold puffer. I looked at it closely, considered it again and again, but no—I really couldn’t wear it. It looked like something to be worn on stage at a rock concert. Not my style, and, simply put, too flashy.
As a professional shopper I am very persistent and when I am looking for something, I make sure I find it. I found a sales associate, and asked her if the gold puffer was available in black or brown.
She came back from the stockroom with every color of the rainbow, except black or brown! “Did you look in the fitting rooms?” I inquired. “There may be one there.” She had not. Luck was on my side! There was one in a fitting room, in black!
Upon closer inspection, the fabric was acceptable and it was made of down and feathers. Enough feathers to provide structure and enough down to provide warmth.
Let me just say, it is a real penance to try on a puffer in a department store in the middle of summer. The things we do for fashion! But at least, I know I won’t be cold this winter.
The size small was a bit snug in the hips but back on the rack, tucked in behind the original gold puffer was, if you can believe it, a size medium in black! Quelle chance!
The medium fit me very well and has a totally acceptable “look.” However, items like these always seem to be priced accordingly. One must pay dearly for a perfect fit. The brand is “Dries Van Noten” not a brand known for its “petits prix” (small prices). Courageously, I looked at the price tag: $1200, but it was on sale: 50% OFF!
I jumped in excitement. And, in addition, this particular day the store was offering an additional discount of 30%!
This was in my budget, so I paid up immediately knowing that I would wear my puffer often. I happen to take the ferry to work and back and usually walk about 20 minutes each way. With my fabulous new puffer, I am now eager for the weather to cool off enough to warrant wearing it. I just wish that my new purchase had a hood, but no big deal. I will find a great hat. But what the hey…this will be the subject of my next column. Stay tuned.
But meanwhile, check the new puffers out. They’re fun, functional and fashionable!
Michele
Feel free to forward to anyone who could benefit from this newsletter
A HOLIDAY GIFT THAT WILL LAST A LIFE TIME!
*Work with Michele*
You can work with Michele on-line or face-to-face.
Call or email for an appointment.
You’ll be thrilled with the results.
415.956.3025 michele@mbenza.com
Personal Coach in Image, Fashion Style and Posture. Michele Benza, Confidential Image Consulting Featuring European Style and Elegance. Face-to-face and online.
