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Robyn Cooke Style Guide Philosophy
"Personal style is not only about the clothes. It is about knowledge, manners, the way one moves, talks and wears the clothes that make it personal for oneself." Carolina Herrera |
I believe that grace, generosity of spirit and a soupcon of glamour are the essential ingredients to a well-lived life. They add a certain elegance to the most mundane activity and bring charm to most of our daily encounters. It is not a superficial glamour, but rather one rooted firmly in good manners, warmth and the thought that has gone into how you present yourself to the world. It is my role to help you develop your own personal style, to make every one of your daily encounters full of your personality and confidence, ensuring success and the spread of a bit of charm in all that you do.
Most of us feel we have too little money, not enough time and the demands of jobs, families and friends to cope with. And so we spend limited time and attention on the way in which we visually communicate who we are to the world. And yet, studies show that this informs over 70% of how we are judged by others. This happens every day, through every encounter, and inside the first minute. So no matter how hard pressed we are for time and money, we should always carefully consider how we look, and how we interact with others.
But in order to present ourselves to the world in an authentic and credible way, with warmth and elegance, we need to know who we are and be true to this. I don't believe in creating an image. I firmly believe that real style comes from within and is 100% genuine.
Gore Vidal said, "Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn", and I believe that starting with the person you are is the only way to developing true and enduring personal style.
There are many, much published, laws of fashion and style. There are the rules on what shapes you should wear, what colours suit you and in what combinations. This is valuable and I use these guidelines liberally through all my work, every day. However, in order to be true to the person you are and the lifestyle you lead, it is also important to have the courage to break these rules, the intelligence to know how to make them work for you and the wisdom to know the difference!
The one and only immutable law of style, in my view, is that style is always appropriate to the situation or occasion. This is simply an extension of good manners.
Of course style is shaped by trends and fashions. It is not dependent on these, however, and a beautifully crafted wardrobe full of items that make you look and feel fabulous and über-confident need not take much notice of the vagaries of fashion. However, for most of you it is preferable to keep your wardrobe updated and work the trends into your personal style through each season. This may seem like a scary task, but once you know your personal style, it is simply the work of a few hours to update it each season.
Personal style is an evolutionary process; it changes as our lives change and we need to adapt our presentation to the shape of the day, the demands of the job, the growth of children, as we move through it. Physically, we have to adjust to the wrinkles, grey hair, sagging and expanding that age brings us. However, throughout our adult life our muscular skeletal structure and our personality both remain fairly constant. It is this consistent foundation upon which we base your personal style.
There are also several trigger points through our lives that motivate us to adjust the way in which we present ourselves to the world. These include leaving school (and school uniforms), getting a new job, having a baby, moving to a new place, getting divorced, losing a large amount of weight, amongst many others. Sometimes it is about remembering who we really are, sometimes it is more psychological and other times it really is a purely physical reinterpretation of our style. In all of these instances, building your personal style can be invaluable in helping to move through these changes.
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I would love to work with you to help you develop and maintain your personal style. |
| With a degree in psychology from UCT, 15 years as a director of international corporations and a qualification from London College of Fashion in personal styling, I would love to work with you to help you develop and maintain your personal style. For the price of a monthly trip to the hairdresser, I can work with you to develop a blueprint for your personal style that will make your shopping trips quick and painless, and every daily encounter filled with confidence and charm. |
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