What (not?) to wear? Style or colour advice

[sprout]

Has anyone ever tried out those colour or style advice people you see in the yellow pages? Was it worth it, or just a gimmick? "What not to wear" on the BBC(and dh's kind comments about me dressing like my mum!) make me feel I need a re-vamp, but I don't know where to start. And of course, I don't have a fortune to spend either (more's the pity).
Any advice?

Yip I had a Colour Me Beautiful consultation once, they give you a panel of colours that has been in my handbag (ie always with me) for the past 5 1/2 years, I always use it when choosing clothes. They are well worth the money these people and will look at your wardrobe and tell you what suits your shape best and how to hide flaws - not that you will have any. But yes a ver +ve experience.

Agaazaa, thanks for such a quick response. As the alternative would seem to be a new body - and I certainly can't afford that one! - I'm willing to try most other less painful options to hide the many flaws.

I got the "What Not To Wear" book and it is very good. I chucked out loads of my old clothes as well and have been much more picky about what I wear and have had compliments which is nice. But one thing about the book is that it doesn't really cover colour ie; what colours suit you best.

Sorry to get down to the nuts and bolts but how much is such a consultation likely to cost?

Good question, bozza. I should have added that to my original post as I have no idea. I suppose it depends on what it covers and how much time they take over you.

futurity, does it show you different body shapes - or just the people they've had on the show? I've got this image of those cut out pictures from comics when we were little, with clothes that have 'tabs' over the shoulders

What a great Christmas present that would be though ! Think I might ask dh if I can have a "colour-me-beautiful" consultation rather than the tasteless yet expensive jewellery he normally gets me !!

I agree Scatterbrain. Wonder if I might persuade DH to fork out next year for my 30th.

Did a CMB consultation with some friends a few yrs ago and it was very good. I love my colours, including some I would never have tried. The styling make sense too. It worked very well for my friends too, and we could really see that what suited one of us made another look awful. My MIL had her colours 'done' and it has been very useful - my dh has the same colouring as her, so he follows her guidelines. If you are good with colour you could probably do it by yourself, but I like the added confidence it has given me in choosing and wearing things.
I think it would make an excellent Xmas present, because not only would you get a couple of hours of pampering, it would probably (as in my case)have a long-lasting and morale-boosting effect.

You can get personal shopper advice free in many dept stores nowadays. Selfridges is good, but the service is available in other stores inc Debenhams. I have done this myself in Selfridges and Harvey Nicks and it truly is no pressure to buy and you get a huge changing room, someone running around after you and free tea and biscuits. The quality of the advice does vary, but then it would anyway. Does anyone else find themselves in shops thinking, 'colour with colour' and the other Trinny & Susannah mantras?

Hmm, had a Trinny and Susanna moment today - pink top with black suit, a combination which makes both look cheap!!!

The book has different sections called "Big Bum" "Big Breasts" "No Waist" etc and each section has Trinny and Suzannah showing What Not To Wear and then on the opposite page what they should be wearing. So they will have best trousers/skirt/jacket/dress etc. The only BUT about the book is that it is just them doing the modelling and their definition of a big bum is Trinny's...not exactly real world!

I just wish Trinny & Susanna would take the time to explain what I'm meant to wear with all my black work stuff then. More black??

sprout - as long as they are not bright colours, you should be ok. Jewel colours for instance.

Those personal shopper things - is it truly just a case of asking? I always wondered if you had to be looking for a particularly expensive outfit or a range of clothes to do one of those. I'm intrigued now.

Also like the sound of the Colour Me Beautiful thingie - would also like to know how much for a session though!

Done the personal shopper thing twice, once for a particular outfit and once for a 'get me out of my pre-pregnancy wardrobe because I can't work out fashion anymore' session. Both were excellent, I ended up with stuff I'd never have tried on which even people I bump into in the gym changing room comment favourably on.

Definitely recommend it, it helped that I got on well with my person and we had a good laugh at some of the dodgier looking stuff.

You don't have to spend anything to use a store's personal shopper service, and they aren't on commission so they aren't pushy.

Color Me Beautiful gift packages are here . Not exactly cheap but I guess it can stop you making expensive mistakes!

EEP! Hmm, maybe I'll ask for it for my Christmas, birthday and valentine's presents combined Still don't fancy my chances though... can't really justify it as I'm a SAHM The platinum package looked really cool though!

Someone told me about cmb a few years ago - we were shopping and she picked out bright golds, burnt orange and stuff and said it would suit me and I was amazed, having worn mostly black and pink for years - the two colours which I now know suit me least! I have no instinctive taste of which colours suit me so I've learnt a lot from it. It saves money too - I now know to avoid pastels etc so don't buy the wrong stuff.

I did a CMB make-up prescription a while ago using the Tesco Clubcard vouchers. They still do it, it's £5 for Keyholders and £2.50 for Premium Keyholders for about 1/2 hour. That was invaluable as I was able to buy the right foundation (reasonably priced I thought) and a lipstick, again after years of not looking my best in pink lipstick! It's a good introduction to the colours if you do the make-up as you should get tips about colours for clothes too.

I'd love to do the full style consultation with them. Maybe when I go back to work if I can find a job where I don't have to wear jeans...

I did a couple of consultations with House of Colour (based near Piccadilly) a few years ago. The first consult did colour and make-up, and the second did style and textures of clothes. Both were very good, and the second especially was useful for a work wardrobe - they spent a time explaining the best style of tops, blouse and suit, and also covered accessories etc. Can't remember how much it cost, but it can't have been too extreme as I went with my then-flatmate, a newly qualified teacher.

They also offer to make outfits for you but I think that the price of a suit started at over £500 (this was 8+ years ago!).

The only drawback seems to be that I now dress almost permanently in blue!

One thing that worries me - my favourite colour is green - I would be gutted if they said it didn't suit me!!!

GeorginaA - at CMB they say that most people can wear most colours, it's the shade that's crucial. For example I can wear orangey-reds in clothes or lipstick but not a blue-red as it makes me look washed out. So you'll be ok!

I have to say, I've got the Trinny & Tranny book for my birthday and I thought, great ? now I know just what I need to hide all those post-pregnancy wobbly bits (apparently a kind of floaty crossover top coupled with a fishtail skirt with a ruched front). Could I find them when I went shopping in Covent Garden this lunchtime for a party I've been invited to? Why is it that all party-type clothes are designed for 25-year-olds with no bum? Any shopping tips much appreciated.