By Suzanne Delahunty
“Dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is a saying that has been used a lot in the last few years. But is it true, or is it just one of those banal motivational sayings that appears too often in your Instagram or Linked In feed? And if it is true, then how do you actually do it?
Continue reading “Dress for the Job you Want – Is it true? And how to do it.”
Fashion is a means of communicating without having to say a word. Whether you are interested in fashion or not, your choice of clothes says so much about you. Your outfits reflect your personality and can often reflect your mood.
A lot of my clients have the foundations of a fabulous wardrobe, but have not accumulated the pieces in a coherent way to create an overall, consistent image or style that they are comfortable and confident with. They accumulate a mish-mash of beautiful pieces, but have no way of drawing them together to embody a coherent style that represents how they want to convey their personality.
As a personal stylist, I work with my clients in depth to identify the style that reflects them and their lifestyle, as well and ensuring they are choosing items that work best for their body type and colouring.
Not everyone can invest in a personal stylist, but there are some things you can do yourself to find your style, and give you some structure to your shopping each season.
Continue reading “Find Your Style”
Episode 7 of Freedom Hunters is out and this one is a fascinating one!
Naomi Mdudu started her career as a fashion editor for some of the UK’s biggest print publications. Several grueling years later, Naomi dreamt up a career which involved the creation of content which was meaningful to her. This led to her establishing the Lifestyle Edit, an online destination and podcast designed for and about women entrepreneurs, their experiences, their challenges and their achievements. In addition to this, she is a business coach and consultant for female business founders all over the world. Continue reading “FREEDOM HUNTERS EPISODE 7: NAOMI MDUDU”
If you have found yourself contemplating solo travel lately, then you’re not alone. The number of solo travel bookings in the UK has increased significantly in the last few years.
I have travelled solo for years, ever since I took a gap year and travelled on my own around Europe during my law studies. As much as I love holidaying with friends, I really look forward to my solo trips. It’s a time when I can do exactly what I want, where I push myself outside of my comfort zone, meet new people and make new friends.
But not everyone is as comfortable and at ease when travelling alone. And that’s understandable. Introverts can be pushed further back inside their shells and end up having a terrible time. But take it from this introvert, solo travel can be the best experience of your life.
Here are fourteen tips that have helped me become a better solo traveller and a better human as a result: Continue reading “Solo Travel – 14 Tips to Make Solo Travel Awesome”
Clerkenwell and Farringdon are areas of London which don’t have the worldwide fame of other neighbourhoods like Notting Hill or Soho, and I much prefer it that way. It keeps this creative and charming little enclave on London free from the tourist crowds.
Located side by side to the east of Covent Garden, Clerkenwell and Farringdon are home to creative agencies, renowned design houses, world class architecture firms, top restaurants, quirky cocktail bars and hip cafes.
Just to wander the streets of these two neighbourhoods is a treat. Eye-catching art-deco buildings are dotted amongst the beautiful Victorian houses, and independent boutiques are scattered around like little gems to be discovered. The creativity of the people who work in this area of London somehow permeates the air. There is a special vibe to Clerkenwell and Farringdon that has to be experienced to understand it.
And so it is a little reluctantly that I share (below) my little black book of the best of Farringdon and Clerkenwell. I really was tempted to keep this undiscovered area of London all to myself! Continue reading “Clerkenwell & Farringdon Guide”
If you are fortunate (or strategic) enough to time your trip to L.A. so that it coincides with the second Sunday of any given month, then you are in for a shopping treat. Because the second Sunday of every month is when the Rose Bowl Flea Market takes place. And it is truly awesome.
The Rose Bowl Flea Market boasts the West Coasts’ best and most extensive vintage clothing and furniture stalls. For any vintage enthusiast or keen bargain hunter, it’s like your Christmases have all come at once. From vintage cowboy boots to a 1930s chartreuse evening slip gown (which, while spectacularly elegant, sadly didn’t fit me), it’s a shopping-related dream come true.
The market is located on the east side of the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, and it is huge. So huge, in fact, that it is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of treasure troves you feel you need to trawl through. So here are a few pointers to help prepare you and avoid shopping fatigue. Continue reading “Los Angeles Focus: the Rose Bowl Flea Market”
Today’s inspiring guest on Freedom Hunters is Emily Johnston, blogger, columnist and digital content creator. Originally from South Carolina in the US, Emily moved to London straight out of university to pursue her dream of forging a career in the art world. Early on, she found a role at an art auction house and worked her way there into a PR role for the auction house.
But it was when she started her fashion industry news blog in her spare time, that life started to change for Emily. Continue reading “FREEDOM HUNTERS EPISODE 6: EMILY JOHNSTON”
Have you ever watched one of those films from the 1980s like Working Girl or Baby Boom and really looked at the corporate style of the main female characters? You wouldn’t be wrong for noticing how much the style was influenced by menswear. All boxy, broad shoulders, pantsuits and pinstriped.
Nowadays, the corporate dress code at many workplaces is a lot more relaxed. Women feel more free to express themselves through what they wear. And that masculine aesthetic has much less of an influence on our corporate wardrobe.
I’ve decided to take this further. To eschew the boxy and boring aesthetic of traditional corporate wear, I’m totally embracing pink in my work lewks. But this rose-hued display stands for so much more than a gorgeous pink, sparkly sweater with pink stripes crossing through my trousers. It comes from a full embrace of female strength and recognition of its value in a work context. Continue reading “Why I’m Embracing Pink as my Workwear Power Colour”
My recent ski trip to Courmayeur was my first time skiing in Italy. And it will definitely not be the last.
Previous ski trips have taken me to France, Switzerland and Austria. So I have enjoyed all that those countries have to offer by way of ski resort, from fondues on the slopes to vigorous Austrian folk music in apres ski bars. What Italy brings to the ski trip party is so much more.
First up, there’s the Italianness of the people there. The attitude and style of the Italians is something that I am obsessed with every time I visit their fabulous country. And Courmayeur is ideal for people watching, both on and off the slopes. In Courmayeur I saw one guy skiing straight down a black run while smoking a cigarette, as nonchalant as you please. And then there was the guy getting on the ski lift wearing ski jeans and a bomber jacket as his ski outfit. Yes, really, ski jeans. The label on the jeans said ‘ski’ and they were of a special design that fit over his ski boots.
Second, and more importantly, the Italian ski resorts excel when it comes to food. And in Courmayeur all the food bases were covered, from refined Michelin starred delights through to hearty mountain feasts ending in a Euro-style disco atop a mountain.
There used to be a time when you could repeat wear outfits at different occasions with different crowds without fear of having the offending repeat outfit identified as such. Enter the age of social media and we are now faced with a world where every outfit can end up on Instagram, seen by most people you know, thereby immediately outing itself and limiting its ability to dazzle and amaze a new crowd at some future event.
A lot of my work as a personal stylist involves creating a working wardrobe for my clients where each piece can be worn on repeat in a way that won’t get boring or tired.