Hi There!

I hope your new year is off to a fabulous start!

I am thrilled to announce that my good friend, client and talented photographer Nancy Rothstein (Yes! All of my photos on my website were done by Nancy Rothstein Photography!) featured my business on her blog this past Saturday! To be interviewed by Nancy and featured on her blog was so exciting that I wanted to share her article with you.

I know that I usually give you advice about style and wardrobe concerns. But today I’m going to add a little advice about doing interviews. First, always keep a copy of what you wrote or said to the interviewer. That way if you are misquoted or the interviewer decides to edit your written response to fit their grammatical sense, you will have a true copy of what you said in the event a grammatical change changes the meaning of your message. The interviewer may have had the best intentions, but that can happen.

My recent interview is a case on that point. In my interview with Nancy, she left out a few statements in my quote to her. A quick read of her changes on her blog will show you that she is obviously better at grammatical construction than I am. She probably saw grammatical constructions that needed mending, so she assisted me. Most were not significant to my message, but the one where this quote {“That is why with my process, I never do a closet audit until I first conduct an Initial Consultation”} was left out, was. I feel that leaving that statement out changes the message I was making which was and still is; an Initial Consultation is absolutely necessary before a stylist should do a Closet Audit.

All in all I am very pleased with the posting of my interview, I just wanted to advise you to always save a copy of any interview you give someone for future publication.

In our busy lives, I can think of no better way to start off the new year than by making sure that your closet is truly working for you. Use those tips that I shared with Nancy as your own personal mini refresher closet course!

My interview with Nancy unedited:

Style Tips With Michelle Moquin: Closet Cleaning Guide

Meet Michelle Moquin, a friend and client, certified personal stylist and fashion maven! Michelle has been a creative force in the fashion industry for over 20 years. She began her career as a fashion designer, for San Francisco Bay Area companies such as Wilkes Bashford, Jessica McClintock, Joe Boxer, and Byer of California. She designed under her own labels, “Michelle Moquin,” and “MAM” selling her sportswear and sleepwear collections to boutiques and department stores throughout the United States.Today, Michelle is committed to her clients’ success. She also conducts fashion presentations and style seminars in business settings for men and women to help them improve their professional image and achieve the results they want in their careers.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Michelle personally, and I refer my clients to her all the time. Her work has an incredible impact.  I think the most important thing I’ve learned from Michelle is understanding which colors work for me.  This changes everything!  And when prepping for a photo shoot, she is an invaluable resource.  Most people call me with no idea of what to wear; after working with Michelle, they come in ready for their own personal runway.  Truly a game changer.

As a guest blogger on my site, Michelle will help us unravel the mysteries of style!  Let’s start by getting to know her and finding out her tips for successfully cleaning out our closets (…don’t tell me this isn’t on your list for January?!?  I can’t be the only one…)

-Nancy

What is your main goal as a personal stylist? My goal is to see everyone, not just looking as good as they want to look, but as good as the right style will enable them to look. I want to show others how to use the power of color to reach their goals, meet and impress that special someone, and to make their lives, and the lives of others more enjoyable.  I want everyone to feel like my clients do after learning the POWER of style and color.  My goal is to have everyone say, “I can NOT thank you enough for opening my eyes to the amazing world of color and fit!”

What is your favorite piece in your wardrobe? Right now I am loving my knit Missoni midi skirt in black, white, coral and green stripes! I can wear it during the summer with a basic tee and colorful sandals, and I can wear it in the winter with my short boots, a cashmere sweater and leather jacket.

What current trend do you love? I always filter trends ruthlessly and I suggest the same for my clients. Wearing clothing that enhances your Body-Type, its Symmetry and Color Scheme while complimenting your Personality is ALWAYS stylish.

Who’s your favorite designer? Ohh…that is tough because I am a bit of a fashion maverick and I wear many different designers. So, I can’t say that I am loyal to any one designer. But let me say this, my favorite designer is anyone whose styles are well made, fits my Body-Type, enhances my best features, and makes me feel wonderful when I put them on!

And most importantly, what is the best process for cleaning out our closets for a fresh start to the New Year? I always recommend hiring a profession stylist to conduct a closet audit. However, a wardrobe that truly works for you begins with discovering and defining your style first, before you begin to refine it in the closet.

That is why with my process, I never do a closet audit until I first conduct an Initial Consultation so that my clients are crystal clear on what works best for their; Body-Type and its Symmetry and Personal Coloring. Once a person understands how and why what works best with their particular Body-Type, its Symmetry, and Color Scheme, he or she can make intelligent choices based on their Personality and Life-Style Requirements.

After an Initial Consultation, where we use professional stylist tools to discover and define my client’s “Style,” it becomes much easier to clean out his or her closet. When we are deciding on what to keep from items that work well with their Body-Type and its particular Symmetry and Color Scheme, there are many things to consider. The 5 important ones that I always share with my clients when I am conducting a closet audit on their closets are:

  1. If you haven’t worn it in a year for whatever reason, you aren’t drawn to wearing it, so you must not love it enough to wear it. Give it to someone who you know will wear it and love it, (You’ll love seeing it on them!) or donate it.
  2. Even if you are wearing it, but it is an item that you do not love, find a piece that you do love to replace it. Life is too short to wear items that you don’t absolutely love!
  3. If the item is too dated, worn, or stained, know that you loved it well and donate it.
  4. If the item doesn’t fit right, take it to a tailor and have it altered to fit you. If it’s too big to alter, give it away or donate it. If it is too small because you’ve put on a few pounds, but you still love it, box up the item(s) and store them somewhere else other than your clothing closet. If you haven’t lost the weight after 6 months, give the item(s) away or donate them.
  5. If you have too many of one thing, say white T-shirts, find the one, two or few, that you always wear and love, and are in the best shape (see pt 3 above), and donate the rest.
  6. Bonus Tip: If you are holding onto items for “sentimental reasons” that is perfectly fine. However, store that item or items in a separate closet or trunk, where you can pull them out whenever you want to take a stroll down “memory lane.” Do not leave them hanging in your closet – They will only take up precious space in a place I call prime real estate:  “your closet.” 🙂

One final closet tip that I learned from Michelle:  flip all of your hangers to face the opposite direction from your normal layout.  When you wear a piece, turn the hanger back to the normal direction.  At the end of a year, have a look to see which hangers are still turned backwards; these are the clothes you aren’t wearing.  Consider sending them on to a new life in someone else’s closet!

Thank you, Nancy for featuring me in your blog post! And for all of the wonderful things you said about me and my services!

If you are looking to update your website or linked-in photo, or just want to update your family portrait, Nancy is the girl for you!

Before I end, I also want to post a tip from my client Sheila who wanted to share her thoughts from the last newsletter on wearing sheer hose.

Hi I will add to the black hose issue: as an older woman and slightly overweight with nursing legs, I.e. A lot of spider veins, sheer black hose look better when I choose a shorter dress. Thx for the great newsletter. Happy holidays.

Sheila

Sheila, thanks for bringing up such a great tip. Nude hose is perfect for evening out skin tone, but sheer black hose is really wonderful at hiding all sorts of imperfections such as the spider veins that you mentioned. I find that it hides scars and other blemishes too. Thanks for sharing with me and everyone!

Speaking of sheer hose, I also want to highlight my client Angela, rocking her holiday LBD:

Angela LBD newsletter 14

Angela, I am glad you are smiling because this newsletter went out to thousands of people in cities across the country, and in Italy and France too. I want to thank you and Sheila because a lot of people wrote in saying how grateful they were that you wrote in with a question they were dying to ask, and a solution they never thought of. In fact, I hope that you both have had a chance to go to my blog post, because if you do, you will discover that there are quite a few people who are thanking you over there as well.  

Now, it’s your turn. I’d love to hear from you.  Your insights and inspiration are appreciated so please share your stories in the comments below.

Blog me.

Love,

~Michelle

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