Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Party and Special Occasion Season doesn't have to cost a bomb!!

Isn't it always the way that party season seems to happen all in one swoop. We have school formals that seem to culminate in the second half of the year, that many a parent can go broke over, Melbourne Cup and race season and Christmas Parties to top it all off. After that comes New Year's Eve and before you know it, not only are our wallets detoxing, so is the body.






Most of us can face this time of year and really start to dread it. What's suitable for raceday isn't usually right for a Christmas Party. What is gorgeous and special on Christmas Day, you'd probably never wear if you're a mother of the bride. As a Stylist I find with so many different body shapes and styles out there, it's special occasion dressing that seems to be the biggest nightmare and create the wallet dent that takes a while to patch up. They're often from boutiques that are hard to find and when you do find the perfect garment, it's the wrong size, it needs adjusting and if you've just about given up, it's when a dressmaker is searched out and then it's never quite the same when completed.



Why is it that typical mother of the bride or special occasion wear is made from shiny fabrics or heavy structured fabric that makes us look bigger, needs dry cleaning only and then sits in the wardrobe for another year without ever being pulled out again.





I spoke to a bride and her mum only a couple of weeks ago. On the hanger the mums dress looked gorgeous but when it went on the body, the seams were wrong, the fit was wrong and she didn't feel as fabulous and glamorous as she wanted to. But of course, it was her daughter's day so she kept quiet about it. A bridesmaid admitted later that her dress went to lifeline straight after the occasion as she felt it was simply unwearable.


I've even dreaded when a client comes to me saying 'I need a special occasion dress' when I know most boutiques can help us with business and every day, but when you want to look special and spectacular, they're few and far between.


Not any more. My favourite designer of special occasion wear now has her outlet at Burleigh Heads. There's hundreds and hundreds of dresses all under one roof and I'll be running an educational style, colour and fit class there. You'll get to try on the dresses, actually see what works and what doesn't, plus you'll shop at exclusive designer outlet prices. Up to 70% and more off the usual retail price. We'll do it over gorgeous morning tea, at your leisure and you'll get to see what suits other body types and colouring, so you'll have a far better idea.


Who's the Designer?: Diane Freis

She's been around for ages and perfected her style year after year. Her spring summer 2010 collection is just exquisite.

Where: The Diane Freis Outlet, 15/4 Leda Drve, Burleigh Heads

When: Saturday October 30th, 10am til about 1pm

Cost: $25 to cover morning tea and individual styling

Call and prebook: Anne on annen@tpg.com.au


I'll give you eft details when I speak to you. and email me for the full pdf flyer if it doesn't look clear enough here.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Fashion & Style Masterclasses for the curvy figure

Do you feel totally confident in your own personal style when you go shopping? Or do you simply pick up what's on sale and hope for the best.


Do you try the gear on or trust that it will fit because it's loose and you don't want get undressed in the changeroom for fear of that drop in self esteem?




Do you find that shopping is tedious for your fuller figure because, let's face it, the shops for the larger bodies aren't usually loaded with great stuff!

I've been there. For a long time I found shopping for fashion no fun and far from a confidence boost.




We've all lived with the eager shop assistant who tells us we look great in anything - and we know we don't. I remember the stress of needing that perfect outfit for the event coming up on the weekend and no matter how many shops you scour and how sore your feet are or how cranky you're becoming, you just don't find it.

There were many times I wished I had someone who could simply take a look at me and really see ME!! Someone who could understand my body shape, my colouring and help me put it all together would have been so appreciated way back then, but Personal Stylists used to be like Personal Trainers. Only the rarified few celebrities ever had them.

How many times have we admired someone else's style but didn't quite manage to pull it off for ourselves? I remember when the 'layered look' first came in. The girls in the mags looked so well put together albeit a little chaotic and messy in their look - I just managed the messy.

I got so tired of never feeling as stylish as I would have liked, so I went out there and got skilled up because I know how amazing I felt and how others reactions changed when I did get it right. I wanted to get it right more often!! Over the years I observed why women weren't as noticed as they deserved to be, why many of us were overlooked across the crowded dancefloor or for the company promotion and thought 'damn it, I've got to do something about this and help women who are ALL naturally gorgeous find out how to put it together on the outside.'

No matter what size you are you can wow any audience and my upcoming Fashion and Style Masterclass will help you to find your WOW!! But there's a catch......... You MUST be a curvy size 12 PLUS!!! This class is for the fuller figures only.



Style is learned. We're not blessed with it, no matter how great someone else looks.

Ever wished you had your own stylist right there in the boutique with you? Why not come to our Fashion & Style Masterclass on Saturday afternoon, the 24th July!!

Where?                Ferrari Woman Boutique
Where's that?       Shop 2/267, Given Tce, Paddington in Brisbane
How much?         $25 will cover a champagne (or two) and nibbles plus your styling lesson
What time?          2pm till about 4 or 5pm   depending on how much fun you're having
RSVP?                 email me back on annen@tpg.com.au that you're coming

This first class (look out for details for MORE) will be for the curvy figure from size 12 to 24 who wants to look flattered and stylish. How do you know how great you can feel until you try being professionally styled?

Future classes and shopping tours will be held at various boutiques around Brisbane for all shapes, sizes and ages. Keep an eye on this blogpage for all the details of what's happening.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Putting fun back into Personal Styling and Shopping!


What better way to shop is there, than with a bunch of friends over champagne and pizza?
That's what we did last Saturday at Bobby Brown's Boutique at New Farm.   A few favourite clients and personal friends bought their friends and got outfitted.

We started out with a short understanding of colour, body shape and style and the photos will speak for themselves.    As you'll see by the wide smiles and laughter, we had a ball and literally had to get tossed out at closing time!    This is the way to shop!


We sometimes can get a little confused over our unique body shape and personal colouring.   But once we have it right we can look dynamic.   Here, Wendy tried on a gorgeous silver trenchcoat.  What better accessories than an Italian red leather belt and matching boots.

Wait till you see a few more coats by David Pond on some of the girls - just gorgeous.    Keep scrolling!


Wendy and Linda both have a gorgeous look.
Wendy's a soft light winter with beautiful silver grey hair and Linda has a deeper winter look.

There was so much to try on.   At Bobby Brown's in New Farm, you'll see an eclectic range and by the shots as you scroll through you'll see it suits ages from mid 20's right through to elegant 60's!!


Another gorgeous winter.   Women love a garment that can be mixed and matched, rolled up for travelling and if it's a plain black, then we need some gorgeous accessories or a fabulous lipstick to set it off.

This range of knitwear is phenomenal.   It's a great price, great style, makes just about any body shape look fantastic and comes in colours that can make any business woman happy.
Here's Zoe in a dress and wrap coat, worn with boots or with gladiator sandals, it's going to look beautiful.

As the afternoon wore on, we didn't take ourselves too seriously.   We had a ball, Suzy entertained everyone but some serious fashion knowledge and styling was achieved.
There were over 10 women there and every single one felt they got a great sense of what works for them, went away with some wonderful purchases and managed to see what suited others and we helped each other.
When one came out in something that just wasn't quite right, we were all honest, sent her back to try on something else, and out she came in something better.

The girls found a look that really worked.   Coats were being swapped, necklaces were being thrown over different necks and jackets were hilariously being fought over.
Some comfort zones were stretched, but all in all, Wendy, Julie and Mel found a look they loved.   Maybe a bit of tweaking here and a size change there, but they walked away with giant smiles and a sense of 'fashion satisfaction'.


This was one popular coat!   Lucky there were two - here they are shown two different ways.   This David Pond soft knit in the deepest purple looked great on our lovely summer and winter models!

I think just about everyone in the store tried these coats on and looked fantastic in them.

We learned that we all have a unique body shape and we don't all fit into categories.  Every woman has a goddess within and my mission is to help her come out.

Private shopping and Personal Styling can be so much fun.   It doesn't have to be a nightmare or frustrating or a chore.    I'll show you how to work with your body shape and colouring and how to find your style.  

Make sure you contact me for more info on my private shopping excursions where you get to see what works for you, you don't get talked into buying what you hate, and you walk away knowing so much more about your signature style.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

12 Week Journey to Total Transformation

"A woman's relationship with her body is the most important relationship she'll ever have. More important than husband, lover, children, friends or colleagues. This isn't selfishness - it's just fact," says health and fitness expert Diana K Roesch. "The body is, quite literally, our vehicle for being, for giving, for loving, for moving, for feeling - and if it doesn't work - it's fairly certain that nothing else in our lives will work either.!"


When I heard that quoted by Diana I knew it resonated big time with me and many women around me. If we don't keep ourselves fit, strong, healthy and keep up a good strong healthy dose of self esteem then we're of no use to anyone, particularly ourselves.

From one end we're bombarded with unreal magazine images that are impossible to attain and from the other we're misled into all sorts of food and nutrition myths that lead us even further down a path of misinformation, poor health and eventually disease. A 40+ friend of mine said to me over the weekend 'I can't understand why I've put this weight on. I was a perfect size 8/10 years ago and now look! I've not changed any habits. Why can't I drop this weight.' Then another who has breast cancer said 'I've been doing everything right, I eat low fat everything, plenty of fruit and still this has happened.'

We need to take responsibility to do our own research and find what resonates with us and makes us feel good about ourselves and what path we've chosen to follow. And the most important is to never have a closed mind. Science is proving all the time that new discoveries with food, health and disease are being uncovered daily.

Here's just a few points that I've learned the hard way that I can tell you have saved my life and my sanity:

* good quality fat will not make you fat

* sugar is a slow quiet and deadly killer

* doing strength work will not make you muscly but will keep you lean

* meditate and destress

* turn the destructive internal chatter around to positive self talk

* make your peace with those who matter

* the body was designed to move, so walk and exercise daily

* have a facial or massage at least monthly

* your skin is the barometer for everything going on inside you, feed it from the inside

* the more fat you carry the hungrier for junk you will be

* the leaner you become the less you will crave sugary foods

* be open to the right nutritional supplements, they're crucial to good health

* if you're over 40 and can't shake the middle weight, have a hormone test and make sure you're not producing too much cortisol

Today, instead of hating your body, make peace with it. Choose to conciously love and honour the sacred garment Spirit provided for this lifetime's journey. This means to feed it well and cherish the outside of it as much as the inside.

To know more about how we're teaching women to do exactly this ask me about our 12 week Total Transformation Program

www.ResetReshapeRestyle.com/events.html

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Here’s 10 tips to Stay Youthful, Fit, Healthy for Life, Keep Ageing at Bay, Boost Confidence and Stay Full of good positive Self Esteem while at the same time, Project a Powerful Image.

Mind and Body,

Health and Wellness,
Image and Self Esteem are all inextricably linked.

Just as mind and body are closely linked, so too is image and our sense of wellbeing.


For example, the state of our mental health will affect our physical health and vice versa. So too will the state of our self esteem affect our external image and our external image will affect how we feel about ourselves.

And so, my 10 Key Tips are:
1. Cut out Sugar – Sugar is a reasonably recent discovery (last century) and our body is simply not designed to deal with it. Sugar and sugar related foods can be blamed for many diseases such as Diabetes, Coronary Heart Disease and Cancer. If you want to age quickly, eat sugar.   It's been written by many a cancer specialist that cancer cells thrive on sugar.   What would be the best way to kill anything???   Starve it or cut off it's lifeline - that's sugar.   My belief is - to stay cancer free and age well - don't eat the stuff.


2. Moderate Exercise – There’s no need at all to slug it out at the gym for hours on long gruelling workouts. In fact, science proves that the excess free radical activity that’s generated from over exercising can do more damage than good. Quick short bursts of good quality heart pumping exercise like dancing, swimming, walking and jogging are enough. Follow that with some resistance training to shape the torso but more importantly to give both the core and the upper body strength. It’s vital to keep from the waist up, strong and upright. When muscles and bones are strong, we stay youthful for life and ward off diseases like osteoporosis.

3. Stretch – So you’ve gone walking with a little jog, done some squats and lifted a few weights. Don’t forget to stretch out those muscles that you’ve just worked.  It’s so easily forgotten. Why are you stiff and sore later in the day or even the next day after a workout? It’s because you’ve not stretched. This simple and enjoyable activity after exercising or even if you don’t exercise will help elongate muscles and improve flexibility.

4. Meditate and Visualise – I can’t stress how incredible the effects of meditation and visualisation are! What body and what level of health and fitness do you want? What do you want from life? Meditate on it. Visualise it and believe it. It’s powerful. It’s an amazing way to destress and change what you want to change in your life.

5. Detoxify – The main organs of detoxification in the body are the lungs, bowel and skin. It’s well worth detoxing the body a couple of times a year and not with chemicals and tablets you buy over the counter. What’s the point of putting chemicals into the body that promise to send chemicals out. There is no detoxing program out there that will rid the body of all the lead, mercury and petrochemicals we carry. But there is a good old fashioned one using ingredients in your pantry right now that you can try.  Check out my previous post, I've laid it out there for you. It’s very successful in ridding the body of many of those same chemicals. It improves your skin, makes you feel much lighter, improves energy and you feel the benefits of it for weeks afterwards.

6. Know your Personal Colouring – Colour is powerful and spiritual. When you stand naked and look in the mirror you emit a certain colour. When wearing a colour that clashes with what comes from you naturally we have a tendency to look ill, tired and listless. Not the message we want to send out to the world. We want to attract the world to us and the use of colour is instrumental. When wearing colours that enhance us, we look vibrant, healthy and welcoming. It then attracts compliments and in turn boosts our esteem.

7. Know your body shape - You’ll save thousands of dollars on the right clothing when you know what suits you. Cuts, shape and lengths are all crucial to fit. Think of architecture. To create a beautiful building needs a blueprint and a floor plan. Knowing our shape and how to dress it is a little like the blueprint for the amazing creation that is our body.

8. Take Good Quality Vitamins – The debate about whether we need vitamins will forever go on, but my personal opinion based on experience and medical facts are – take good quality vitamins. We hold toxins in our body, most of us don’t eat organic, we’re stressed out, we take over the counter drugs like panadol and antibiotics, we breath in car fumes, we work in air conditioning and we absorb chemicals from the air and from food. In order to prevent the ageing affects of premature disease you need a good quality supplement. Some of the best for an antiageing affect are good quality omega 3 fats, grapeseed extract, coenzyme Q10 for skin and heart, Resveratrol (the fountain of youth) and a good quality probiotic for a healthy gut.   Check out my site at http://www.annemike.usana.com/ to learn more about the best vitamins on earth!

9. Use paraben free, antioxidant laden, mineral oil free skincare – Never underestimate the antiageing affects of clean, exfoliated, well moisturised skin. Face AND Body. Remember, the skin is a detoxification organ. We sweat out toxins. Our skin is a barometer of what’s going on inside us. Health problems show in our skin and it’s the difference between looking 40 when you’re 50 or looking 50 when you’re 40.

10. Have a massage at the very least 3 times a year. Massage is particularly beneficial for the ageing affects of stress. There’s something very therapeutic about the stimulation of the skin, the circulatory system and the lymph system. Whether you massage for reasons of sports injury, pain or deep relaxation, it’s proven to lift spirits, boost endorphin release, deeply moisturise dry skin and destress.

Remember – whatever is going on inside us is a true reflection of what’s happening on the outside and whatever the image being projected to the outside is a reflection of our health and self esteem on the inside.

For more information email me on anne@resetreshaperestyle.com

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Good old fashioned detox helps to make the Skin look brighter, help toward Weight Loss and lift your mood!

There’s so much out there about detoxing the body.  How necessary is it and what do we choose?

There’s lemon detoxes, herbal and chemical detoxes available from the local chemist or your naturopath. I’m sure all of them have their individual benefits, but I’ve just experienced one that is famous for cleansing the liver and ridding the body of excess petrochemicals, toxins and particularly mercury. Today, now that it’s all over – and it was only a 7 day process – I feel great and my skin looks fantastic. So this blog entry will be to tell you about my experience.


So why should we detox?
There’s 2 or 3 schools of thought about detoxification. There’s one part of the medical fraternity who believe we need to clean out our colon by literally hosing it out, there’s another who believes we should simply eat healthy with loads of fibre and detoxing should never be necessary. Then there’s the school of belief who feel an assisted detox, whether it be simply eating nothing but fruit or soup all week, or buying some herbs or tablets to clean out the bowel is absolutely vital.

My thoughts are – I’m in agreement that the body needs to have a detox from time to time.
We human beings are constantly absorbing toxins every minute of the day whether it’s via the food we eat, the air we breath or the toxic cocktail we constantly load onto our skin via cosmetics.  The more we allow the toxic buildup, the more chance we have of disease taking hold.    But be aware, there is no detox out there that will completely eliminate every form of chemical in our body. There is absolutely no such thing. By ‘detoxing’ as we know it, we’re simply elminating some of the excess load that our kidneys, liver and pancreas need to deal with.

Kind of like, helping our house cleaner along by picking up piles of excess clothes we’ve left all over the house to make her job a little easier, but knowing full well within a month or two, the house is going to look just as bad!!

So my detox this week was the good old fashioned ‘ghee flush’. Naturally, if you’re uncertain, go and check with your physician first about detoxing to get appropriate advice. I absolutely do not believe in buying tablets from the chemist or buying sachets to mix in water – I’m never totally sure about what chemicals they’re still putting INTO my body, in order to send others out. So the ghee flush is simply the cost of a tub of ghee and a bottle of castor oil – that’s it. Nice and effective. The ghee works on cleansing the liver and the castor oil helps eliminate loads.

Today I feel lighter, cleaner, my skin looks great and my energy is high. Two or three other friends of mine have also just completed it and I can actually see the difference in their skin. My experience was that the ghee was a little hard to take. It’s just the texture – swallowing fatty oily liquid triggered off the gag response with me, but I really was fine. My husband did it as well and he had no problem at all.

Here’s the instructions – give it a whirl if you dare.  I promise, if you stick with it for the whole 7 days, you’ll feel great.

Ghee Flush


Ghee is clarified butter which contains virtually no milk proteins or lactose.

Ghee can be made by preheating your oven to around 60-120deg Cel (250 deg F) then place a large block of quality Butter into a container;

Leave it in the oven for 45-60 minutes then take it out and carefully pour the golden fat from the top (Ghee), making sure that the white liquid at the bottom stays in the container.

Discard the white liquid, and keep the extra ghee in Glass Jars in the refrigerator for use in cooking.

For the Ghee Flush place some Ghee in a container eg:(glass) in a bowl of warm water until melted.  To be taken away from food, about 1 hour after a meal.

Day 1. 1 teaspoon of ghee in the morning and at night.

Day 2. 2 teaspoons Ghee morning and night.

Day 3. 3 teaspoons Ghee morning and night.

Day 4. 4 teaspoons Ghee morning and night.

Day 5. 5 teaspoons Ghee morning and night

Day 6. 6 teaspoons Ghee morning and night

Day 7. 2 tablespoons of Castor Oil in the morning, about 1 hour after breakfast.(and stay home)

If diarrhea occurs take 2 capsules of activated charcoal.

The charcoal will stop the diarrhea and bind up any toxins before they can be reabsorbed.

Going through this technique does two major things:

1) it helps shock the intestinal nerves into doing what they are supposed to do naturally;

2) it helps get rid of a variety of toxins such as petrochemicals, pesticides and heavy metals especially mercury and excess bile derived cholesterol included.


If you give it a whirl, please leave a comment and let me know how you went:o))

Anne,
http://www.resetreshaperestyle.com/
Email:   anne@resetreshaperestyle.com

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Everything you ever wanted to know about a Total Makeover but weren't sure what to ask!

Come and join me on this makeover with my good friend Ally.

She’s a great sport and has agreed to allow me to show you some of her photographic record of the makeover I gave her last week. We both had a ball and by the end of the day were both exhausted. I want to share this experience with you so you can see what kind of fun we both had and most importantly, how fabulous Ally looked at the end of it all.   Here's where we began.




We started by going through her wardrobe, working out what still works and what’s passed it’s use by date. Followed by an instructional makeup, where I showed Ally how to bring out her natural beauty. Ally has a sunny complexion, jewel green eyes, with a golden sunkissed underglow. Man, she looked gorgeous with a deep terracotta shadow around her eyes and a touch of bronzer.




Then we hit the shops. Ally has a gorgeous hourglass shape and is after a certain look. An hourglass shape with a great pair of legs looks great in shapes that set a good bustline, a great waist and pins off and really gets that sexy ‘goddess’ look happening but still with a sense of style without being too 'out there'.  So we were looking for dresses that really worked for her, a great cut pair of trousers and a jacket that would be suitable for business but not look too ‘tailored’. And we found exactly what she wanted.





I have favourite boutiques that I like to take clients to. I rarely will take a client to a department store, simply because it’s overwhelming, confusing and rarely is there someone to help us. The reason I like private boutiques is because you’ll always get help when you need it and I would like to thank Anna at Network at Greenslopes because she worked just as hard, helping to make Ally feel beautiful.

Mind you, I’m tough! I’ll make you try on stuff you would never normally even consider. Check out the results!




After seeing and photographing Ally in at least a dozen different outfits, then she had to make a decision on what she felt she really needed. Considering her lifestyle and work needs and budget, she went for the items that she knew she’d get great wear from.

Do you think she’s having fun??? Yet another garment that really made her look and feel just how she wanted to look and feel.

Then it was off to the hairstylist to warm her up and shape the hair beautifully and set off her natural facial shape.

Here’s what Ally herself had to say.


"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Anne, for a fun, wonderful experience of my "makeover" on 15 October 2009.


As my small business has been growing steadily, I felt that I had all the skills and the training to be a successful businesswoman, but there was a gap - my image and my self confidence. I knew I needed to change my image to project myself differently, more professionally. I heard Anne talk about her makeovers, and I knew this could be the answer. I wasn’t disappointed by Anne's skill in motivating, persuading and inspiring my transformation.

Anne helped me to see my beauty that I could not see myself.


By showing me how a belt over a dress shows off my hourglass figure


By helping me feel proud and confident about my body, face and hair.

Anne saw the potential in me and gently coaxed me to see it too, to bring out the WOW factor!


When we went through my wardrobe Anne was gentle about suggesting what was not suitable, however I appreciated many of her suggestions and as a result we discarded a big box full of clothes.


I love how she did my makeup, accentuating my eyes and showing me how the right colours can make SUCH a difference to the way I look (and feel)


I found Anne's enthusiasm infectious, especially when we found a dress or outfit that suited me and the feminine professional "look" that we were searching for. - Allison Thomas, Tantric Massage, Personal Organiser and Coach.

Someone said to me once that if you're not doing something to make another person feel great about themselves, you're not doing enough.    My vision for my Personal Styling and Image business is to bring out the true beauty of every client even if they lost site of it themself many years before.    I watched Ally's body language and self esteem blossom on our day out.    I know now that she has a whole new approach to life and business.
 
I love that Ally finished her day with me feeling absolutely wonderful and gaining that missing confidence.
 
Make sure you call or email any time if you want to talk about giving your personal image a 'workout':)