Bridgette Raes

When I first met my friend Bridgette Raes 3 years ago, I told her I was a lost cause when it came to fashion- no matter that she’s a sought-after NYC style expert, with a popular blog, YouTube channel, books and TV credits -I thought I was beyond help. When I was in my formative years I once got trailed by a gang of mean teens who siren called: “AWOOOOOGAH, AWOOOOGAH – call the fashion POlice, there’s fashion CRIMES going on here!”  In my 20s and 30s, when I wasn’t actually a fashion ‘Don’t’ I was a fashion ‘Didn’t’ – as in, so scared to go wrong I just threw something on and said I didn’t care, or put on an Ann Taylor Loft dress and called it a day, or dressed all in black.
It turns out though, the old saying “nothing ventured, nothing gained” which I say all the time in facing fears, applies just as well in fashion.  “Style takes a certain level of confidence…of boldness…of risk taking and of not knowing what the end result will be,” Bridgette says in her recent YouTube video “Do You Have a Fear of Being Stylish?” “Expressing yourself with your clothing is no different than expressing yourself with your words.” As a writer, it’s clear how a mess of words, saddled by fear, gets in the way of communicating anything meaningfully.  “If you’re not trying because you’re afraid,” Bridgette continues in the video (you must watch this video!) what is that about? “Are you afraid to be you? Are you afraid of what people think? Is it easier to blend in?” What was I hiding behind clothes that didn’t quite fit, that didn’t say anything about who I am that’s different from anyone else?
One of my all-time favorite, life-changing, pieces of Bridgette wisdom is in my book Some Nerve, and I hope you’ll take a look (it’s in the fear of public speaking chapter – which is really all about the fear of being seen and the fear of rejection). And I love her guest post  “How to Beat the Wardrobe Blahs” here and our discussion on the Blogtalk Radio show “Where Are You Going in That?” that she hosted a while back. Keeping up with her on any (and all!) of her channels is a constant reminder to be proud of who I am, to take a stand in how I dress.
None of us is beyond help, in anything, but especially in fashion. You can even hire Bridgette to help you, in person or via Skype. Take a look at what she concocted for me out of my own closet:

How to Dress & Flatter Woman Body Types

Woman body types is treated clearly and concisely in Style Rx by Bridgette Raes.  The book covers two dozen diagnoses and prescriptions for short and long necks, narrow and broad shoulder, chests, arms, waists, fannies, thighs, legs, tummies and even feet.
This is almost the perfect companion book to Mary Lou Andres’ Ready to Wear.
Andres writes that we must try on every outfit in our closet – in a three-way mirror – to see what looks best. Raes focuses on the guidelines for making decisions about what works by effectively explaining how to draw attention away from body type problems and focus on assets.

This book is lavishly illustrated with photographs of ordinary women that compare and contrast outfits that flatter and detract from appearance.

Intensity Enhances Color Compatability

A shorter but fascinating part of the book discusses four elements of “Balance and Harmony: intensity, texture, movement and necklines.”
I doubt that most of us make much effort to consider intensity – the quality of our skin tone, hair color, and eye color.
Photos reveal how colors that are too bold can wash out the appearance of a woman with low intensity, lighter features or darker features that are low intensity because they are too similar.

I am not sure that I fully agree with Raes’ suggestions in every instance. In one case, for example, I thought that the dark suit and white shirt was more flattering on a dark-haired, African-American female than a suit and lighter, grayed-out suit and blouse.

Three Reasons to Like Style Rx

I recommend this book for three reasons. First, Raes and Berkowitz use ordinary women. This provides more realistic images of how these style suggestions will look on us. Second, the section about color intensity provides a fresh perspective when building a wardrobe. This book exemplifies the philosophy of Fashion after 50: Every woman can look her best with a bit of effort and imagination.

Virtual Styling Session with Bridgette Raes

In my last post, I shared that I recently had a virtual styling session with Bridgette Raes.  I highlighted my reasons for doing this, included excerpts from my pre-session questionnaire, and showed some inspirational images of style aesthetics that I appreciate  Today’s post focuses on my actual session with Bridgette, including the style advice that she gave me.  Please note that the session was really jam-packed with information, too much to include in a blog post, even considering the extra-long posts I often publish.  I’m including enough here to give you a taste of what it’s like to work with an expert stylist and how it can benefit those who are struggling to cultivate and express a resonant and appropriate sense of personal style.
I hope you’ll find the information that I share helpful and will be able to glean useful tips to guide you in your own style journey.  I hesitated about what and how much to include in this post.  I have to admit that I was wary of sharing my outfit photos after my last experience with this, but I’ve opted to do so in the interest of better illustrating Bridgette’s points and the value of my work with her.
Leading Up to the Session
A few days prior to our session, Bridgette sent me a report to review.  This report included her overall impressions of my questionnaire, outfit photos, and style inspiration images.  She also gave me specific written feedback on each of the ten outfit photos I had sent her.  It was great to be able to review and reflect upon Bridgette’s feedback prior to meeting with her, as it helped me to come up with additional questions to ask during the session.
In addition to the pre-session notes, Bridgette also sent me a color combining book based upon my personal coloring.  Although she was unable to do an official color analysis remotely, she felt confident placing me in the “Winter” category based upon my coloring, the colors I gravitate towards, and the way I look in the colors in my outfit photos.  She told me later that she is able to color type approximately 90% of her virtual clients and send them color booklets.
The color combining book includes swatches for base, accent, and pop colors, as well as a number of examples for how best to combine these colors in my outfits.  Since I enjoy wearing black, I was happy to learn that Bridgette feels I look good in that color (as long as I don’t become a “blackcident” by wearing too much of it!).  Below are the accent and pop colors that are recommended for me to wear.  I was very pleased to see many of my favorite hues in the mix!

Types of fashion

The garments produced by clothing manufacturers fall into three main categories, although these may be split up into additional, more specific categories

ntil the 1950s, fashion clothing was predominately designed and manufactured on a made-to-measure or haute couture basis (French for high-sewing), with each garment being created for a specific client. A couture garment is made to order for an individual customer, and is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric, sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. Look and fit take priority over the cost of materials and the time it takes to make. Due to the high cost of each garment, haute couture makes little direct profit for the fashion houses, but is important for prestige and publicity.

Ready-to-wear clothes are a cross between haute couture and mass market. They are not made for individual customers, but great care is taken in the choice and cut of the fabric. Clothes are made in small quantities to guarantee exclusivity, so they are rather expensive. Ready-to-wear collections are usually presented by fashion houses each season during a period known as Fashion Week. This takes place on a city-wide basis and occurs twice a year. The main seasons of Fashion Week include, spring/summer, fall/winter, resort, swim, and bridal.

Currently the fashion industry relies more on mass market sales. The mass market caters for a wide range of customers, producing ready-to-wear garments using trends set by the famous names in fashion. They often wait around a season to make sure a style is going to catch on before producing their own versions of the original look. In order to save money and time, they use cheaper fabrics and simpler production techniques which can easily be done by machine. The end product can therefore be sold much more cheaply.

 There is a type of design called "kutch" design originated from the German word "kitschig" meaning "ugly" or "not aesthetically pleasing." Kitsch can also refer to "wearing or displaying something that is therefore no longer in fashion." Often, high-waisted trousers, associated with the 1980s, are considered a "kitsch" fashion statement

Designing a garment

Fashion designers work in different ways. Some sketch their ideas on paper, while others drape fabric on a dress form. When a designer is completely satisfied with the fit of the toile (or muslin), he or she will consult a professional pattern maker who then makes the finished, working version of the pattern out of card or via a computerized system. The pattern maker's job is very precise and painstaking. The fit of the finished garment depends on their accuracy. Finally, a sample garment is made up and tested on a model to make sure it is an operational outfit.

Fashion design is generally considered to have started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who was the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments that he created. Before the former draper set up his maison couture (fashion house) in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses, and high fashion descended from that worn at royal courts. Worth's success was such that he was able to dictate to his customers what they should wear, instead of following their lead as earlier dressmakers had done. The term couturier was in fact first created in order to describe him. While all articles of clothing from any time period are studied by academics as costume design, only clothing created after 1858 are considered as fashion design.

It was during this period that many design houses began to hire artists to sketch or paint designs for garments. The images were shown to clients, which was much cheaper than producing an actual sample garment in the workroom. If the client liked their design, they ordered it and the resulting garment made money for the house. Thus, the tradition of designers sketching out garment designs instead of presenting completed garments on models to customers began as an economy.

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Tieks Worth the Price

Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories such as bracelets and necklace, because of the time required to bring a garment onto the market, must at times anticipate changing consumer tastes.
Fashion designers attempt to designclothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. They must consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which it will be worn. They have a wide range and combinations of materials to work with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear falls within a narrow range of conventional styles, unusual garments are usually sought for special occasions such as evening wear or party dresses.
Some clothes are made specifically for an individual, as in the case of haute couture or bespoke tailoring. Today, most clothing is designed for the mass market, especially casual and every-daywear.
Fashion designers can work in a number of many ways. Fashion designers may work full-time for one fashion as 'in-house designers' which owns the designs. They may work alone or as part of a team. Freelance designers work for themselves, selling their designs to fashion houses, directly to shops, or to clothing manufacturers. The garments bear the buyer's label. Some fashion designers set up their own labels, under which their designs are marketed. Some fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions for the mass market. Large designer brands which have a 'name' as their brand such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Justice, or Juicy are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction of a designer director

Clothing fashions

Early Western travelers, whether to Persia, Turkey, India, or China, would frequently remark on the absence of change in fashion there, and observers from these other cultures commented on the unseemly pace of Western fashion, which many felt suggested an instability and a lack of order in Western cultur. The Japanese Shogun's secretary boasted (not completely accurately) to a Spanish visitor in 1609 that Japanese clothing had not changed in over a thousand years.  However, there is considerable evidence in Ming China of rapidly changing fashions in Chinese clothing. Changes in costume often took place at times of economic or social change, as occurred in ancient Rome and the medieval Caliphate, but then a long period without major changes would follow. In 8th-century Moorish Spain the musician Ziryab introduced to Córdoba  sophisticated clothing-styles based on seasonal and daily fashions from his native Baghdad, modified by his own inspiration. Similar changes in fashion occurred in the 11th century in the Middle East following the arrival of the Turks who introduced clothing styles from Central Asia and the Far East.

The beginning in Europe of continual and increasingly rapid change in clothing styles can be fairly reliably dated. Historians, including James Laver and Fernand Braudel, date the start of Western fashion in clothing to the middle of the 14th century.  The most dramatic early change in fashion was a sudden drastic shortening and tightening of the male over-garment from calf-length to barely covering the buttocks, sometimes accompanied with stuffing in the chest to make it look bigger. This created the distinctive Western outline of a tailored top worn over leggings or trousers.

The pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women and men's fashion, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally complex. Art historians are therefore able to use fashion with confidence and precision to date images, often to within five years, particularly in the case of images from the 15th century. Initially, changes in fashion led to a fragmentation across the upper classes of Europe of what had previously been a very similar style of dressing and the subsequent development of distinctive national styles. These national styles remained very different until a counter-movement in the 17th to 18th centuries imposed similar styles once again, mostly originating from Ancien Régime France. Though the rich usually led fashion, the increasing affluence of early modern Europe led to the bourgeoisie and even peasants following trends at a distance, but still uncomfortably close for the elites – a factor that Fernand Braudel regards as one of the main motors of changing fashion.http://www.bridgetteraes.com/2014/03/12/tieks-worth-price-review/