Needless to say, I wore something much less form fitting for date night with my
husband that evening. Was I now limited to 'boxy' clothes that hid my body
and my curves?
I wasn't ready for that. I liked feeling pretty. I liked feeling sexy. And most
of all, I liked feeling like a woman!
What to do...
As with any challenge, you only have two ultimate choices- you either give in to
it, or you overcome it. Having the best years of my life in front of me, I was not
about to put up with the disappointment of not feeling good about my myself when
I went out in public. So I went on a mission...
First, I started to pay a lot more attention to the women around me, and to
ask questions. I discovered that the majority of women I talked with had similar
experiences and frustrations.
I wondered if I could not only help myself, but by adapting the strategies I had
used in costume design, could I provide women of all body types with simple rules
on how to maximize their appearance?
Intrigued by the possibilities, I entered into several months of research. I took
my friends shopping. I took actresses shopping. I took family members shopping.
And with each trip, I applied my strategies to the different body types.
One thing I discovered was that by simply changing the way you dress, you can instantly
look, thinner, taller, and younger.
The more I did this, the more excited I got. Not only because of how much better
I knew these women looked by changing how they dressed, but mostly because of how
much better THEY knew they looked (and how much better they FELT about themselves)!
I started getting letters and emails following my shopping trips with these women,
thanking me for changing the way they looked at themselves in clothing, for improving
their self image...for changing their lives! Many were receiving compliments from
people they had known for years and worked and lived with every day. For example,
I got this message from my dear friend, Nan Barnett:
“I knew I couldn’t dress like a teenager any more but wasn’t quite ready to cross
over into matronly. You helped me figure out how to deal with my new figure, and
gave me the confidence to shop without figuring I’d be better off in a bathrobe!”
I was excited to discover that I could help women turn their negative self talk
into positive self imagery. They could change how they felt about their bodies and
themselves by dressing in a way that enhanced their natural assets.
By the way, my husband has also been thrilled with how I've applied these strategies
to my own wardrobe. He tells me all the time how beautiful I am (and, of course,
I LOVE to hear it!)
So, people started telling me that I should become a 'personal fashion consultant'
or a 'personal shopper'. But quite honestly, I felt there was such a need
for what I had learned, and such an opportunity to help women feel better about
themselves, that I knew I had to find a way to offer this personal information in
a different way.
I was at a loss as to how to do this until one evening when I happened upon a new
television show called, "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style." He was using
3D technology to show women what their bodies look like in their current style of
dress. A light bulb went on. (Thanks, Tim!)
My brain began to go wild with possibilities...
Could I possibly use this same technology to provide the opportunity for a woman
to create her body in the privacy of her own virtual 'dressing room', and
then let her see what she looks like in both the right clothes AND wrong clothes?
If so, I could reach any woman in the world who might have had an experience similar
to the one I had in that mirror a few years prior.
It was a grand idea, but I had NO idea what I was in for.
After four years of research and making hundreds of patterns, thousands of 3D models,
filling over 50,000 files with audio, photos, and rules for outfits and bodies,
(the numbers quickly became staggering) I am now ready to share this information
with you.
Quite honestly, it's time to take the guesswork and frustration out of something
as fundamental as how to maximize your appearance, and I want to show you exactly
how to do it.
Won't you please join me?