"How Do I Look?"

When you meet someone for the first time – whether it is a new client, or a potential date – they often subconsciously assess “who” you are in less than 20 seconds. Before you even have a chance to smile or say hello, they have already made many decisions about who you are, and what you are capable of doing.

Are they dismissing you out of hand because of how you look?

Would you like your image to enhance your career?

How would you feel if your image could open more doors for you?

Wouldn’t it be nice to be more comfortable in social situations?

Would you like to learn how to take your business or sales to the next level?

Can you imagine what it would be like if customers or employees took you more seriously?

Wouldn’t it be great to know that your image adds to, not detracts from who you really are?

The attitude that comes with a polished appearance, including your outfit and hair style creates an instant impression and an instant judgment about who you are. When you know that you have sought the help of a professional fashion consultant, you project an image of confidence and authority, and you are far more likely to succeed in both your business and casual relationships.

We schedule a one hour fashion consultation to evaluate your current style (this consultation can be done in-person, online or via telephone). Wardrobe and beauty recommendations will be provided, tailoring a plan just for you. To prepare for your personal transformation, you will be provided with an in-depth questionnaire to complete.

To get started, Email us at info@apresentaconcept.com

Fashion Quote of the Week:

Holly Golightly: How do I look?

Paul Varjak: Very good. I must say, I’m amazed

Breakfast at Tiffany’s 1961

“I want women to really look like women from today…"

“I want women to really look like women from today. It’s not from the past and not from the future, because I don’t know what happens in the future. It is the women of today (who) I think is a seductive woman.”

Carolina Herrera

Carolina Herrera: A Revolutionary On Her Own Right

By: Boyd Davis Photo below: Carolina Herrera on the runway, Fall 2007. Photo by Giovanni Pucci

DALLAS, Apr 17, 2001/ FW/ Socialite turned designer, Carolina Herrera designs for her crowd. Prior to becoming a fashion designer, she was on the International Best Dressed List for a decade. With her inherent taste and personal style, Carolina Herrera fuses it on her creations. The Carolina Herrera woman is feminine, at ease with herself and elegant.

Born in Venezuela (1939), Carolina Herrera symbolized the South American upperclass – a wealthy husband, 4 children and a member of the jetset. Her “late-blooming” fashion career was a result of her stature in life, national culture and her generation’s definition of what a woman’s role should be. She had to be a wife and mother first before anything else. When her children were grown and relieved of the responsibility of motherhood, becoming a fashion designer was a natural course of action for her. In fact, it could be said that it was a natural evolution of her talent and taste.

She launched her first couture collection in 1981, introduced her fur collection in 1984, and her CH collections (more affordable Carolina Herrera line) in 1986. Her bridal line was launched in 1987 after she designed Caroline Kennedy’s wedding gown and her perfume lines followed in 1988. She had also expanded her lines to include menswear and jewelry.

Carolina Herrera’s decision to launch a fashion career was a path less travelled by women of her stature in her native Venezuela. In fact, it is almost revolutionary, considering the very conservative view of the Venezuela’s upper class. Carolina Herrera is part of the upper class who do not “work.” A fashion designer is a “job” not a station in life. And considering the generation she is from, it was a courageous step.

Carolina Herrera should be hailed for both her contribution to fashion and her contribution to woman’s liberation which she did her way!

Sourced: http://www.fashionwindows.com/runway_shows/carolina_herrera/default.asp

Photo images taken from http://www.neimanmarcus.com/

"…that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean."

Miranda Priestly: [Miranda and some assistants are deciding between two similar belts for an outfit. Andy sniggers because she thinks they look exactly the same] Something funny?

Andy Sachs: No, no, nothing. Y’know, it’s just that both those belts look exactly the same to me. Y’know, I’m still learning about all this stuff.

Miranda Priestly: This… ’stuff’? Oh… ok. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don’t know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean. You’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar De La Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn’t it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of 8 different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

The Devil Wears Prada is an Academy Award-nominated 2006 comedy-drama film, a loose screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea “Andy” Sachs, a recent college graduate who comes to New York City and gets a job as a co-assistant to powerful and demanding fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci co-star, with Adrian Grenier, Simon Baker and Tracie Thoms playing key supporting roles. Wendy Finerman produced and David Frankel directed; the film was distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Streep’s performance drew rave reviews from critics and later earned her many award nominations, including her record-setting 14th Oscar bid, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Blunt also drew favorable notice and nominations, as did many of those involved in the film’s production. While critical reaction to the film as a whole was more measured, it received generally favorable notice and became a surprise summer box-office hit following its June 30 North American release. The commercial success and critical praise for Streep continued in foreign markets, and it led the international box office for most of October. The U.S. DVD release likewise was the top rental during December. Ultimately, it would gross over $300 million, mostly from its international run, and finish in 2006’s top 20 both in the U.S. and overseas. It was also the highest-grossing film ever in Streep’s and Hathaway’s careers. A television series is being developed.

Although the movie is set in the fashion world, most designers and other fashion notables avoided appearing as themselves for fear of arousing the wrath of powerful U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who is widely believed to have been the inspiration for Priestly. Many designers did, however, allow their clothes and accessories to be used in the film, making it the most expensively-costumed film in history.[2] Wintour later overcame her initial skepticism,[3] saying she liked the film and Streep in particular.

Sourced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_Wears_Prada_(film)

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only…"

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”

Coco Chanel, (French Fashion designer who ruled over Parisian haute couture for almost six decades, 1883-1971)

Coco Chanel
(Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel) (August 19, 1883 – January 10, 1971)

From her first millinery shop, opened in 1912, to the 1920s, Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel rose to become one of the premier fashion designers in Paris, France. Replacing the corset with comfort and casual elegance, her fashion themes included simple suits and dresses, women’s trousers, costume jewelry, perfume and textiles.

She claimed a birthdate of 1893 and a birthplace of Auvergne; she was actually born in 1883 in Saumur – her mother worked in the poorhouse where Gabrielle was born, and died when Gabrielle was only six, leaving her father with five children whom he promptly abandoned to the care of relatives.

She adopted the name Coco during a brief career as a cafe and concert singers 1905-1908. First a mistress of a wealthy military officer then of an English industrialist, she drew on the resources of these patrons in setting up a millinery shop in Paris in 1910, expanding to Deauville and Biarritz. The two men also helped her find customers among women of society, and her simple hats became popular.

Soon she was expanding to couture, working in jersey, a first in the French fashion world. By the 1920s, her fashion house had expanded considerably, and her chemise set a fashion trend with its “little boy” look. Her relaxed fashions, short skirts, and casual look were in sharp contrast to the corset fashions popular in the previous decades. Chanel herself dressed in mannish clothes, and adapted these more comfortable fashions which other women also found liberating.

In 1922 Chanel introduced a perfume, Chanel No. 5, which became and remained popular, and remains a profitable product of Chanel’s company. Pierre Wertheimer became her partner in the perfume business in 1924, and perhaps also her lover. Wertheimer owned 70% of the company; Coco Chanel received 10% and her friend Bader 20%. The Wertheimers continue to control the perfume company today.

Coco Chanel introduced her signature cardigan jacket in 1925 and signature “little black dress” in 1926. Most of her fashions had a staying power, and didn’t change much from year to year — or even generation to generation.

She briefly served as a nurse in World War I. Nazi occupation meant the fashion business in Paris was cut off for some years; Chanel’s affair during World War II with a Nazi officer also resulted in some years of diminished popularity and an exile of sorts to Switzerland. In 1954 her comeback restored her to the first ranks of haute couture. Her natural, casual clothing including the Chanel suit once again caught the eye — and purses — of women. She introduced pea jackets and bell bottom pants for women. She was still working in 1971 when she died. Karl Lagerfeld has been chief designer of Chanel’s fashion house since 1983.

In addition to her work with high fashion, she also designed stage costumes for such plays as Cocteau’s Antigone (1923) and Oedipus Rex (1937) and film costumes for several movies, including Renoir’s La Regle de Jeu. Katharine Hepburn starred in the 1969 Broadway musical Coco based on the life of Coco Chanel.

Bibliography
Berman, Phyllis and Zina Sawaya. “The billionaires behind Chanel.” Forbes, 1989.
Brower, Brock. “Chez Chanel: Couturiere and courtesan, Coco made her own rules as she freed women from old fussy, frilly fashions.” Smithsonian, July 2001.
Kennett, Frances. Coco: the life and lives of Gabrielle Chanel.
Madsen, Axel. Chanel: a woman of her own. 1991.
Richards, Melissa. Chanel: key collections. 2000.
Wallach, Janet. Chanel: her style and her life. 1998.

Coco Chanel on the Web
Coco Chanel’s designs helped set the fashion tone for the 20th century. Find biographies and other information about one of the best-known designers especially in the 1920s and 1950s.
Coco Chanel: “Time 100″ feature includes 3-page biography, audio of Chanel’s voice, photos, a basic timeline and a fun quiz.
Chanel: Chanel’s official website, including Shock Wave clips of new collections. Requires Shock Wave to use the site.
Chanel: This history of the designer house Chanel features Coco Chanel as a “great name in French haute couture.”
Coco Chanel: Innovator and Icon: The Woman Behind the Designs: biography from Aime Joseph, emphasizing her fashion contributions
Chanel Myth: 1997 article on the way that Coco Chanel’s myth was created and promoted.
The House that Coco Built: more on the business of fashion.
Chanel, the Couturier, Dead in Paris: Copy of the obituary for Coco Chanel which ran in the New York Times at the time of her death.
January 25, 1971: Copy of the obituary for Coco Chanel which ran in Time at the time of her death.

Sourced: http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_chanel_coco.htm

"How do I look?"

When you meet someone for the first time – whether it is a new client, or a potential date – they often subconsciously assess “who” you are in less than 20 seconds. Before you even have a chance to smile or say hello, they have already made many decisions about who you are, and what you are capable of doing.

Are they dismissing you out of hand because of how you look?
Would you like your image to enhance your career?
How would you feel if your image could open more doors for you?
Wouldn’t it be nice to be more comfortable in social situations?
Would you like to learn how to take your business or sales to the next level?
Can you imagine what it would be like if customers or employees took you more seriously?
Wouldn’t it be great to know that your image adds to, not detracts from who you really are?

The attitude that comes with a polished appearance, including your outfit and hair style creates an instant impression and an instant judgment about who you are. When you know that you have sought the help of a professional fashion consultant, you project an image of confidence and authority, and you are far more likely to succeed in both your business and casual relationships.

We schedule a one hour fashion consultation to evaluate your current style (this consultation can be done in-person, online or via telephone). Wardrobe and beauty recommendations will be provided, tailoring a plan just for you. To prepare for your personal transformation, you will be provided with an in-depth questionnaire to complete.

To get started, Email us at info@apresentaconcept.com

Fashion Quote of the Week:

Holly Golightly: How do I look?
Paul Varjak: Very good. I must say, I’m amazed

Breakfast at Tiffany’s 1961

“We live not according to reason, but according to fashion”

There is so much that has been said about great fashion and the way that it has shaped our lives! I was recently reviewing a copy of Nina Garcia’s Little Black Book of Style and could not help but notice all the great quotes that have been said about fashion. Beginning today, Apresenta Concept will be delivering you a fashionable quote each week to remind us how fashion has shaped our lives, who said it first, and of course, who said it best! Hey, it’s only in good fashion…

Fashion Quote of the Week:

“We live not according to reason, but according to fashion”
Seneca quotes (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

Love from above.
Apresenta