Monthly Archives: December 2016

Key to My Style

Key to My Rainbow

This is about my most recent passion – COLOUR.

Understanding my colour pallette and how to put them together to make me look at my best is the biggest discovery in terms of my style that I have made over the last year or so. Being able to help my clients with that too is the most rewarding thing ever.

I realized some time ago that I used to surround myself with colours (or lack of them) that didn’t always flatter me and my overall image.

A process of discovering my own unique style has been filled with trial and error. I looked online at blogs and vlogs and what I found was often more confusing than helpful. Advise that I found about ‘finding your style’ was to collect images from magazines and articles, anywhere that you can, and make up a board. This is helpful only to some extent. It helps you find a pattern of things that you like so that you can then start copying it. I absolutely hate and disagree with the idea of copying. Most times it means struggling to find the exact outfit and most importantly, rarely looking as amazing as the model/celebrity on the picture. Waste of money, disappointment and still not feeling myself.

Since I work in the fashion industry and spend more time learning and studying it, I realize how subjective it is. Trends are awesome to get inspired by them and choose ones that work for us but we are all ONE AND ONLY and that is the best trend ever. I do believe in inspiration boards and have a giant one myself that I keep updating and changing. It has everything that inspires me in terms of style but also all aspects of my life that I feel are important. It also has pictures of me and those that mean the most to me. Those are pictures of ‘memories’ that make me feel good and inspire me to keep those feeling alive but also to stay grateful as there is so much to appreciate.

In terms of the colours and seasonal pallettes, finding which one I was, was a process. There is a lot of help online but it can also be confusing. I have no idea what I used to base my choices on. I think most of it was the fact that I loved certain looks on other people and I kind of hoped it looked as good on me as it did on them (we often see what we want to). I often felt that the more I tried the worse the result. Then sometimes I’d go for an unexpected choice and ended up with a WOW outfit. It was exhausting though. Not to mention the stress involved with finding outfits for social gatherings where I knew I was going to see people that were so stylish I could never even imagine of being like them… .

It was not until I figured I definitely have a cool skin tone to start changing my clothing choices and getting rid of a lot of pieces that just ‘don’t belong here no more’.

Another part of the discovery was to find out that I am a winter. Oh, how fun it is now to gradually be adapting changes. I love knowing what’s good. Its not just the fact that I have a pallette of colours to choose from. It’s knowing what to avoid that seems just as important. It’s the accessories and it’s power that when chosen accordingly add a sparkle (also to my eyes;). It’s the knowledge of ‘what with what’ that makes me excited for putting outfits together now. It’s also make up. I use less of it that I have for years to find that actually not much is needed when used in line with my skin tone.

I guess what I am trying to say is that nothing seems more important and exciting than doing whats right for you. YOU are timeless and so is your style. Of course it will change with time, just like your life and that is amazing but we really don’t need to be buying a whole new wardrobe every time a new trends come.

I want to share couple of pictures taken by me recently to let you see for yourselves how, just by changing few colours, a face can come to life and even smile more 😉

 

  

 

I hope you can see that the first picture illustrates how the ‘positive’ colours can make me feel and look more radiant, healthier and generally more happy. The second one, I used much more eye make up, the same foundation and blush as on the first one, but different lipstick. I am definitely not happy with the result on that one. I don’t like looking pale, ashy and tired. Choice of jewellery can have a great impact too. Generally speaking whatever is the closest to your face will have an effect on your appearance.

The following pictures proved to me that I really don’t need to be drowning my eyes with heavy make up to make them ‘pop’. It is much more important to make my completion healthy and do nothing to ruin that. So less really is more. I am no make up expert and I often have  up to 5 minutes to do make up. That is why lately more than ever I treat myself to my shade of red. Apart from little foundation, bronzer or/and blush and mascara I add nothing else. I’m happy with this 😉

        

To sum up I NEED to share this. When working with my clients I ask them who their style inspiration is. I am often surprised and it is always interesting to see who and what is it that they like and get inspired by.  One of my first clients, an absolutely amazing and inspiring woman, opened my eyes. I love the fact that every client teaches me something and makes me want to do better every time. It is so exciting to be sharing ideas and experiences with them.  I always take pictures of clients (not always publish them though). We put outfits together and I want them to keep reference to make getting dressed easier once our time together ends but also for them to see the transformation. This lady picked one photo from our session and messaged me saying “Gosia, on this picture, I am an ICON for myself.” ( and I don’t think she meant a style icon only, she meant a life icon ). I still tear up when I think of it. This was one of the most inspiring and rewarding things to hear ever. I thanked her for it and said I couldn’t be happier to hear it. I realized that this is IT. That’s how I wish every women feels about herself. Has a picture of herself from the past or present close by and gets INSPIRED BY HERSELF. Doesn’t want to look like another Kardashian, the world is full of them already. YOU are the ONE AND ONLY. Please accept yourself, love and have fun just like you deserve to. That is my wish this Christmas for all you ladies. Be empowered by YOU. For me it is colour that gives me the power and fills days with fun. I hope you know or find whatever it is that you need to be happy and inspired, to keep smiling.

“Style is a deeply personal expression of who you are, and every time you dress, you are asserting a part of yourself.” -Nina Garcia

Would love to hear from you. Please share if you liked the post. Let me know if you didn’t too and I would love to hear suggestions for the future.

Love,

Gosia

Key to My Style

Key to My Prolonged Style

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I cannot stop myself from sharing this with you all.

This is about couple of pieces that I love for two reasons. First, they were gifts from my husband, and second, I just absolutely adore them. That is why I simply could not give up on them. Somehow I knew they can still be as glamurous as when they were new 😉

When it comes to my amazing Kurt Geiger’s shoes, I got them and for first few month I only wore them to special occasions (placed where people would not come too close and the chances of getting my new shoes scratched were slim to none). Then I realized how silly that was and wore them everywhere. Those were one of the most comfortable pair of shoes I have ever owned and it just made sense to wear them. That meant wearing them to nightclubs too thought 🙁 Let’s just say there were scratches now. Anyway, I felt they lasted a looooong time considering all the impact. Nevertheless I was not ready to let go. They got pushed aside and left for a while.

Now, when it comes to my beautiful Karen Millen bag (I know it sound as if I was talking about a puppy or a child, but I’m sure some of you will be able to relate to almost having a relationship with certain pieces or accessories in your wardrobe. It is probably comparable to the relationship that man have with their cars ;)). This bag was not only beautiful, it was super comfortable. You know what I mean when I say you can ‘operate’ it one-handed (e.g. other hand busy holding a child or busy carrying bags of shopping). Hopefully some of you will feel my pain when I say that it got permanently ruined.

Husband took me away to London on a first child-free break since our son was born and the bag was there too. We were busy going from one place to another and got squashed between people when travelling on the underground (enough for the mini hair spray in my bag to go on for about a minute and leave an ugly stain on it. How silly is that?

I tried everything to wash it; soap, washing up liquid, vinegar, olive oil, lemon, I even put it in the washing machine (twice). NOTHING! I let go of anything else in my wardrobe that no longer serves a purpose apart from these two. I left the bag aside too.

Few days ago I came across someone talking about a leather dye. I decided this will be it. I couldn’t believe my excitement. Ordered a bottle of dark brown leather dye after reading few reviews on it. It was delivered after 3 days and here is what happened next :)))

 

 

Since the bag was washed already I only wiped it with slightly damp microfibre cloth and used a baby sponge and a make up brush to apply a dye. It was super easy to apply (but make sure to use gloves and protect the surface you do it on (in spite using both, my hands got slightly dyed too ). It dried withing an hour or so and I applied another layer. I did the same with the shoes in the mean time. I let it dry and following day I did the same. I probably applied about 5 layers of the dye on the bag and 4 on the shoes. Once completely dry and I was happy with they result, I washed the hardwear of the bag with a little alcohol on a q-tip. Then I applied a little bit of olive oil all over the bag and the shoes (on a cotton wool ball) to give it a little shine and finish.

 

 

Can you believe this? I have a new upcycled bag, all to myself 😉 Christmas did come early this year 🙂 and check out the shoes now.

 

 

 

I have done no editing to the pictures (except cropping) as I wanted you to see the exact transormation. I hope some of you will find it useful. Please comment and share your opinion. I love hearing back.

Love,

Gosia

Key to Her Style

Key to Her Evening Style

This one goes out to all of us. We all dream of the red carpet scenario at some point or another. Turns out we all deserve it and it can be done without thousands of dollars or celebrity status.

I feel so grateful to have been a part of the project that took place last week between myself, amazing photographers from Foton Artisic Society, amazing make up artist Gosia Targonska and our model Kama Szczesna.

I have met Kama about a week prior to the photo shoot in order to get to know her and find out a little about her. I don’t believe in styling anyone without getting to know them first. We needed to find out what is it that she does and does not like. What is her skin tone, her body shape. I ask a lot of questions that may seem irrelevant at times but it all always falls into place in the end.

We went through her wardrobe and found few amazing pieces she owns. My only concern was that most of them were black and I needed to make sure we add a bit of colour to it in order to make her sparkle.

Yes, we were getting ready for an amazing project but I wanted to make sure that she takes something away for more than just one night.

I was over the moon when she send me some pictures of new pieces she now bought with flattering colors in mind. What a transformation. When I first met her she was wearing nothing but black and 80 % of her wardrobe was filled by black pieces.

When she arrived for a photo shoot, the only black piece she was wearing was a great hat. AMAZING!

Now, about the big day. I am so thrilled to be sharing these amazing pictures with you (would not be possible without guys and girls from Foton Artistic Society).

The first one was the glam evening outfit. Perfect for a ball room New Year’s celebration or other fancy occasion. It is amazing to see what happens with a women when she raps herself in a fur over a flattering LBD with an amazing statement sparkle and a touch of red lip and matching red nails. Classic and absolutely stunning.

 

 

 

The other styling from the night that I want to share with you is a little edgy combination of an evening sexy look with a touch of colour. Kama has quite a few incredible pencil skirts but I wanted to add something other than a black top or a crispy white shirt. She also owns an amazing leopard bodysuit that worked great under this beautiful true blue blouse that I added. I wanted a blue accent on her face too. We were so lucky to be working with very talented make up artist that created two separate looks for each of the styling. The leopard print under the blouse worked great with the gold jewels. I layered couple of necklaces for that one too and we added multiple bangles on one arm. This look would not be complete without the killer heels. I love these Kurt Geiger’s heels. Her legs seem to be going on forever and I love the slightly messy hair style. She told me when we met that she wanted to try something sexy and maybe a little provocative. I feel that we managed to accomplish that without crossing the line. What a transformation. I feel so blessed to have been there to witness that.

 

 

 

What do you think? Which styling is closer to your personality and your style? Which one do you prefer on Kama? Share your opinion.

Love,

Gosia