Sue Carter gives some more advice on how to enhance your fabulousness!

Sue Carter

 You’re fabulous and here’s how to show it….. 

There you are, standing at my front door with your suitcase full of clothes wondering what lies ahead.  At which point will I make you strip off and look at yourself in the mirror? 

 

When do I start prodding you and making cutting comments about your hips, knickers and bra? Should you brace yourself for the wholesale condemnation of the contents of your suitcase? You’ve been watching too much TV - I don’t work like that.


No victims
 

I don’t clothe bodies; My job is to help you to decide how to dress, what styles suit you and which to avoid like the plague.  I encourage you to try new ideas and to be you, not a fashion slave or a victim.

 

How do I do this?  I ask some questions, I look at the shape of your bum and your scale.  I don’t want to see you without your clothes I don’t need to.  This isn’t entertainment, this is real life.

 

The first thing you need to decide is how you like to dress, what personality style suits you.  I work with six basic styles:;

 
  • classic,
  • romantic,
  • eurochic,
  • creative,
  • natural  
  • dramatic. 

How do you decide what your style is – or what you’d like it to be? 

 

Classics are just that, they like a classic well put together style.  If you iron creases in your jeans you are very likely a classic. 

Romantics like flowing styles, long curly hair, dreamy. 

Eurochic is Italian women at their best, a great look for the office. 

Creatives pick the handbag and get dressed to that, or they mix unlikely colour or fabric combinations. 

Naturals like simple, easy care clothes. 

Dramatics like clothes that command attention, they walk into a room and they are there at once. 

 

If you love your denims and t-shirts then that’s what you should wear. You might need to dress up a bit for work but the golden rule for you is to keep it simple. 

 

If, like me, you need lipstick to put the bins out - that’s fine too.  The important part is that you’re yourself, and you’re comfortable in your own skin.  You know what you like try to dress that way for a while.  Ignore the media, your friends and your Mum just try being you for a change.

 

Shape and size

Why do I look at the shape of your bum?  What clues can it give me and you?  It’s simply that it helps me to decide if you have a straight body, a curvy body or an in between one. 

 

So put on some hold me in tights, shut the bedroom door and turn sideways to the full length mirror (you do have a full length mirror don’t you?).  Run your hand over your bum and feel the shape. 

 

Does it fall away, seem flat or non existent? You have a straight shape. 

 

Does it feel pert and stick out, curving back into your body?  Then you are curvy, you probably have a noticeable waist too. 

 

A mixture of the two, flat on top and curvy below or starts off curvy and falls away - you have a semi curvy shape. 

 

Look at your bum too and you will see the shape.  This works really well if you share the experience with some friends, then you’ll have the whole range of bums to feel and compare. It’s probably best to make that very good friends! The shape you end up with gives a good indication of the styles of clothes you should wear. 

 

Curvy bits need curvy clothes and straight bits need straight clothes.  A typical straight jacket on a curvy lady won’t hang right; it’ll make her look frumpy and older.  A curvy jacket will fit in all the right places and allow her to move easily.  A curvy jacket on a straight lady will gape and not fit correctly on the waist.  She’ll look like she is wearing someone else’s clothes!

 

Respect your body, be aware of its shape and you will look so much better in your clothes.  Ignore the books that have umpteen different body shapes and rules for each.  When you stand in the changing room with a skirt will you remember them?  Of course you won’t, but your bum is always with you.

 

The right scale

What is scale all about?  Scale isn’t weight; it has nothing to do with your dress size.  It’s the really obvious idea that petite women need smaller accessories and patterns so that they don’t look swamped, taller women need larger accessories as small ones look plain silly.  Think of a handbag, think of the trend for huge suitcase sized totes. They only suited statuesque women. Petite little things looked as if they should have climbed into the bag.

 

Shorter ladies needed wheels on them as they dragged along the floor.  A small delicate necklace looks great if you are five feet nothing, it looks lost if you are six.  However, if you have a large personality you can go bigger, it expresses who you are.  A natural wouldn’t want a necklace anyway and a creative has so many she needs a room just for them.

 

Over the shoulder boulder holders

The other thing I would mention is your bra.  Too many women wear bras that don’t fit them.  A properly fitted bra can do wonders for your self esteem and the way your clothes hang.  Next time you shop go and get checked out.  I favour the small, independent retailers for my bras.  They stock many different makes and you can try on as many as it takes ‘til you get one that is right for your breasts. 

 

My record so far is twelve before we found the perfect bra.  Hand wash your bras, remember that they loosen over time so you will need to tighten the straps and use different hooks and replace them every six months.  Your body will thank you for this and your washing machine will too.

 

So to sum up: love your body, love its shape and scale, dress to show off the shape don’t hide it.  Dress to reflect your personality.  Take inspiration from fashion magazine photos but remember those pictures have all been tweaked.  Don’t be a slave or a victim be a winner.

 

PS I forgot.  For all you English pears out there, invest in some soft shoulder pads and watch your hips and shoulders balance like magic.


My Background

I used to be a school teacher and that took me to Hong Kong. All those markets, all that jewellery.  That's when my interest in image began. I came back to the UK and tried to teach but decided that my talents lay elsewhere. I trained in colour and then style, added colour therapy to help me make suggestions to clients and Alchemy took off. I also trained in Reiki to help me provide a relaxing, informal feel to my sessions with clients. All this is a long way from Bunsen Burners and test tubes but I am making a real difference now to ladies lives and that is very satisfying.

My business ? Empowering women to be the best that they can be by helping them to look good on the outside and feel good about them themselves on the inside.

To Contact Sue:

E-mail: susy@purplealchemy.co.uk