Self-delusion makes the nightmare of shopping for clothes even worse. I bet we all know someone who is absolutely determined not to buy the next size up!
I can’t imagine how nightmare-ish shopping for clothes must be if you don’t know how to dress yourself to look and feel fabulous. I know exactly what I’m looking for to make me look gorgeous – the right colours, shapes, styles, fabrics, etc. – and I refuse to compromise.
We’re only here once, unless someone can offer me irrefutable evidence to the contrary, so I’m going to do my level best to look my best all the time. And part of my mindset means that a long, long time ago I gave up worrying about what size to buy.
After all, who else is going to see the flippin’ label?
Self-delusion makes the nightmare of shopping for clothes even worse
I bet we all know someone who is absolutely determined not to buy the next size up. For instance, they’ve totally convinced themselves they’re a size 12 so they ruddy well won’t buy a 14, even if the gates of hell were to freeze over!
This isn’t you, of course. Is it?
Or maybe this reminds you of one or more of your clients?
I’ve had a number of clients like this myself over the years and my response is always to challenge them on this with some rather pointed questions:
- How exactly did you arrive at this momentous conclusion about what size you are?
- How many months or years ago did you last measure yourself properly?
- Whose totally idiot-proof guidelines did you use?
- And, of course, you can quite safely say, without fear of contraception, that even if you haven’t put on or lost any weight since then, you’re this exact same size in every single shop in the universe?
If they stupidly answer yes to the last question, then I advise them to cover their ears and get ready for my extremely loud riposte: Utter poppycock! You may be interested to know that there’s a term for this particular form of mental instability.
It’s called ‘vanity sizing’
Retailers tinker with the sizing on their labels so that people keep on buying their clothes without realising they are getting bigger. This appeals to women who are thrilled to bits to think they are a size smaller than they really are.
Making your purchasing decisions based on a nonsensical sizing format like this is nothing but pure vanity.
There’s no reality involved.
Think about it – men’s clothes are all measured and labelled in inches or centimetres so they can buy a shirt in a sealed packet with absolute confidence that it will fit them, no matter which shop they bought it from.
If we had the same system for women’s clothes, wouldn’t it make life a lot simpler?
In the meantime and until someone can persuade every single manufacturer and retailer of women’s clothes to adopt the same size labelling policy (and I wish them a hearty “Bonne chance” with that one!), we are stuck with a nightmare scenario when shopping.
- Where can you find an off-the-peg pair of trousers that are exactly the right length, that don’t gape at the waist, in exactly the right colour and fabric, and for the right amount of spondoolies?
- How many shops would you have to raid before you found exactly the right dress in exactly the right colour and fabric, that drapes oh-so-beautifully, that shows off your figure to perfection, that makes you feel like a million dollars, and that won’t cost you an arm and a leg?
Are either of these scenarios really possible? Or are we just living in cloud cuckoo land, hoping and praying that, maybe one day, our knight in shining armour will appear – with a portfolio of design ideas under one arm and a Singer sewing machine under the other.
You don’t need fairy tales like this.
You have the power to sort this out.
You can solve your clients’ nightmare shopping problems
As a trained personal style consultant, you have the power to solve the nightmare shopping problems that your clients face. All clients want to know which colours to buy so always show them their colours first.
Follow that with one or more style sessions and show them how shopping for clothes becomes easy when they know which colours to buy and which ones to avoid, what shapes and styles to look for, and how to create the total look they want to project to the world.
My colour analysis courses and personal style training contain everything you need. Don’t forget that I’m here to help you with personal email support.
