Image consultation - are there books on the subject?

[squashpie]

Hi,

Am fed up of buying clothes that when I get home really don't suit me. I can kind=of see that the balance is not right but can't consistently work out where I'm going wrong. Can't really afford to go to an image consultant (and not sure how I'd go about finding a good one) but wondered if there was a book out there that told me that given my neck length, my blouses should be no lower than 2 cms lower than my hips or whatever it is that is the traditional formula. But I do need HELP!!!!!!!! Can anyone recommend a way forward? TIA !

Well, I'm getting my colours done on Saturday with House of Colour. Whilst you are not specifically talking about colours etc, its sounds like a reasonable place to start. A lot of people who have had them done say how easy it is to add to their wardrobe and put outfits together etc now they know what suits.

They apparently talk about makeup and clothing shapes etc that suit body types and all that malarky so for £99 I reckon its fairly low risk - and cheaper than taking an independent image consultant shopping with you - because you'd do a big spend there and then whereas this way you can take the information away and use it as and when.

I'm not recommending it as such because I haven't had it done yet, but I'm happy to bump the thread and let you know how I get on once I'm done on Saturday!

You could check out House of Colour's website in the meantime, but there are other colour analyst companies as well...

I didn't really answer your question about books.

There are lots of books on dressing and presentation of yourself but they are all a bit fluffy, really. You've got your various Trinny and Susannah and Gok and Vogue style bibles and whatnot but to be honest they are generally little more than magaziney in terms of content and they are not personalised to you, so its all a bit general really and if you have trouble applying it to you personally then it wont help and will sent you back £££ (though you could order some from Amazon, have a flick through, keep any that you really like and send the rest back, I suppose...

Hi Tatty,

Had my colours done a while back (color me beautiful) but that was nothing about style etc. Wd be interested to hear about your experience with House of C.

Most department stores offer a free personal shopper appointment - could you go for this? At least then it's offering you stuff from a selection of shops, and you are under no obligation to buy anything! I did this a few years ago, went to Harvey Nichols for a personal shopper consultation then went down the high street finding cheap alternatives!