Get your sock on!!!

Hello all. So I was thinking today about men and how they can add to their look by using key accessories just like women. You're probably thinking I've lost the plot but let me show you what I mean. Often men think that their choices are limited when it comes to dressing i.e. they can only change their shirts, pants and shoes to create different looks but believe me there is so much more you can do.

Today I am going to talk about using socks, believe it or not, to take your outfit from plain to fabulous. I think most guys have gotten stuck in the habit of wearing socks that are the same colour of the shoes they are wearing. If you want to create a really great look all you have to do is use your stocks to add to your outfit by matching them to another item of clothing you are wearing - specifically your shirt, jersey or tie. So if you are wearing a purple shirt, jersey or tie, try wearing purple socks, and couple it with black, grey and white - so black shoes, black/grey pants, a white shirt (if you're wearing a jersey) and a black/grey coat.

This look can be used whether you are wearing a suit or jeans and trust me when you sit down and people see your coloured socks, you'll be surprised at the compliements you will get! When you're wearing jeans you can be more outrageous in the socks you choose so I'd go for ones with cool funky patterns using 2 or 3 colours. Just make sure that they really are cool and that they don't have pics of dogs on them or something - stick to stripes, blocks and checks.

Below are examples of cool socks I found and the price is between R25 and R35 so its a really inexpensive way to take your look to another level! The first 2 are from Woolworths so if you like them go and buy them!

So come on guys! Be brave and try it out!!! You wont be sorry!

For more tips and advice you can follow me on Facebook under FashionSavvy Consulting and on twitter @MazFashionSavvy.

Keep up to date with the latest fashion trends, tips and advice!!!

Hi there all you fashionable obsessionistas.

If you want to receive daily tips and advice as well as info about the latest trends and celebrity looks, go like the FashionSavvy Consulting Facebook page below:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/FashionSavvy-Consulting/191328367568683

You can also follow me on twitter - @MazFashionSavvy

Happy Monday xxx

Belt up Part 2...

Hi everyone. I got a specific request after my last blog post asking me to please do a follow up blog on how exactly to wear belts. So here it is..... For me the thing about belts is that you need to try different ways of wearing them because you'll actually find out just how interchangeable they can be. I always say that if you never try something you'll never know if it will look good or not - trust me you'll be happily surprised when you are able to create a whole new look simply by wearing the same belt in a different way.

I specifically decided to choose just one belt and show you all how exactly the same belt can be worn in different ways, with different outfits to create different looks. Just because this is a "high waisted" belt, doesn't mean I can't wear it at my hips sometimes - the trick is to buy one size bigger so that you can wear it both ways.

Smart casual look

Party look

Weekend look

Corporate Business look

Funky look

One thing to always keep in mind is that belts DON'T have to only be worn in the traditional way!!! So for instance in the third example above, I have put my belt over my jacket instead of under it and I have worn it around my waist eventhough it is meant to be a "high waisted" belt. Regardless of whether the belt is thick in width or thin you can try all the above looks with them and decide what looks good or what doesn't work. It all basically comes down to trial and error but the more you try the more new looks you will create by wearing your belts in new ways. 

Hopefully this has inspired you all to think out of the box when it comes to your belts ad how you wear them. Go dig in your wardrobe for all your belts because Im sure you all have lots, and play around and "revive" them. You'll be shocked at the awesome results you'll achieve!!!

For those of you interested you can follow me on twitter - @MazFashionSavvy - for daily tips and advice. My webpage will hopefully be up very soon so Ill keep you all updated as to when it goes live so you can go check it out and find out more about what services I offer. 

Belt up!!!

Hi everyone!!! Im SOOOO sorry that I haven't updated my blog in a while but things have been so hectic!!! But nevertheless here I am :) Today's blog is about me inspiring you all to "belt up". I think that people don't realise just how a simple item like a belt can make or break an outfit. By wearing statement, sassy, funky or smart belts, you allow for your outfit to be taken to the next level! Please also remember never to wear shabby belts that are old, faded or frayed as it really does not reflect well on you as a person. Belts are really reasonably priced so you never have an excuse to wear one which looks old.

The first examples are some of my belts that I have collected over the years to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Smart high waisted belts

Funky/Casual belts

Thin high waisted belts

Now I have the best tip for all you ladies to remember!!! If you're searching for belts, don't only look in the women's section, go to the men's belts and you will be SO surprised as to how many unisex ones are there that you can wear! I am living proof of this!!! I said to my brother the other day, "What am I going to do when you move out cause I won't have all your awesome belts to wear!!!". He just laughed at me but to be honest, nobody has ever said to me, "Almaza is that a men's belt you're wearing?". 

So below are some of my brother's belts that I wear to show you what I mean when i say that lots of men's belts are unisex and can be worn by women. 

My brother's smart belts which I wear

My brother's casual belts that I wear

As a rule of thumb - you should try and match the colour of your belt to the colour of your shoes. But for those of you who are more confident in their style, you don't have to always match the colour of your shoes to your belt as long as you match it to another item that is part of your outfit. So you could wear a brown belt with a brown bag or a brown belt with brown accessories. As long as it tones in with the colours that you are wearing you're good to go!!!

I urge you all to invest in "belting up" because trust me it will do wonders for switching up your wardrobe and creating different outfits and looks. 

For those of you interested you can follow me on twitter - @MazFashionSavvy. My website should be up and running in the next 2 weeks so as soon as it is I'll let you all know so you can go check it out and find out more about the service that FashionSavvy Consulting offers. 

The Jacket Brigade

It seems to be full blown winter in Johannesburg so what would be more fitting than a post on the "statement jacket". The Jacket Brigade has arrived to provide you with tips and advice on how to ooze fabulosity this winter by investing in classic jackets that make a statement.

Jackets are something all of us need to invest in for winter but over and above the black and grey coats that we all have in our wardrobes, we also need to have "statement jackets". These jackets portray our true style and personality and show people that we are confident in our own skin and ready to take on the world. They can be worn to work to create a chic work look and they are brilliant tools when we get "the call" to meet friends, family, a boyfriend or partner etc after work with no time to rush home and change. They create a timeless and unforgettable look that people will always remember. 

The key thing to remember about these jackets is that you cannot wear them all the time as they are obviously very noticeable and you don't want to "overkill" them by wearing them every single week. So make sure you have a choice of 2 or 3 of these jackets to play around with that you can wear once or twice a month. If you're seeing someone that particular month who hasn't seen you in that jacket then by all means, you can wear it up to 4 times a month, but you need to be strategic about it and switch it up by changing the outfit that you wear with the jacket to create a different look. 

So below I showcase some of my "statement jackets" and it is clear to see just how they create completely different looks eventhough I am wearing the same black poloneck, black pants and black boots with all the jackets. It allows one to create the impression that you have so many clothes eventhough all you have been changing is your jacket. Just make sure that when you invest in a a "statement jacket" it is true to your style and suits your body shape. The best way to do this is to take someone close to you, shopping with you in order to give you an honest opinion about whether the jacket suits you or not. So be inspired and go out and search for that special "statement jacket" which is going to take your style one notch up to another level. 

For a personal consultation you can email me on Mazipan.FashionSavvy@gmail.com or call me on

082 556 6766.

Reach for the stars!!!

When thinking about what my new post could be I realised that I wanted to share with all of you, just how my blog began and how that has led to me registering my very own business. I've always had an inherent love and knack for fashion and as I got older I realised that I would love to work in the Fashion industry but I never knew in what capacity or how I would get it right. This stemmed from the fact that friends and colleagues would always come to me for Fashion tips and advice. Whether it was to find out if I liked a new item of clothing they had bought, where they could go to shop for certain items, how to put an outfit together and what my opinions were on certain fashion trends etc.  And then one day I thought about it a bit more and I realised this: "What is stopping me from doing what I love?" The answer: "Me".

We have all heard at some point or the other that we are the ones who need to take the step to do what we love and it never really hit home until one evening when I was sitting on the couch and thinking about the one thing that I always thought about which is how to get into fashion. And all of a sudden it all made sense - I was the one that needed to step up and make it happen and thats exactly what I did. I decided to start with writing a blog. It was something fun and exciting to keep me busy in  my spare time and at the same time it was an opportunity to showcase my talent and passion for Fashion styling. I must be honest, I had no clue how to do this whole "blog thing" but I thought that I have nothing to loose so I "winged it" and here we are.

The blog has had such a great response from all of you out there and it makes me proud to know that you want to hear what I have to say next and that I am inspiring some of you out there with my Fashion tips and advice. So due to the favourable response I was getting I decided to take it a step further and register FashionSavvy as a business. Why not? I had nothing to loose, I had enough spare time to do what I needed to to get it up and running and I still had a great job that was paying me a salary which I could use towards my business. So I did it, I did all the research I needed to and FashionSavvy Consulting was born.

I never realised just how tough and time consuming it would be to get everything up and running but it is such a great learning curve and I've come this far so nothing will stop me from carrying on. The next step was to create a logo. Now, working in Marketing, I have come to understand just how important it is to have the right logo, which will speak to your target audience and this created quite a bit of pressure. So I started by having a look at logos I liked and then from there it was back and forth with my friend (who is so brilliant and needs to take the credit for it - Arels you're a legend) and then it was done. I realised that black and white were colours that are timeless and always look ultra chic and then my absolute love for pink needed to be added in somewhere to add my personal touch. So below are the 4 logos which will all be used in different layouts. The pink is specifically targeted at my female customers and the black is specifically targeted at my male customers.

The website is busy being built and should be up and running by the end of the month and then everything will be done for now so Ill keep you all updated as to how its all going as the process goes on. 

I hope that I have inspired you guys to rethink about what your true passion is and to figure how to pursuit it!!!! Happy days xxx

Jetsetter!!!!!

I have done quite a bit of local travelling this year, to Cape Town specifically, and in my travels I have noticed something. For some reason a lot of people think that just because they are travelling it means they can forget about their fashion sense and wear the most random and unattractive clothing because "its comfortable". Now don't get me wrong, I am all for comfort but I honestly believe that you never have to compromise your style just so that you can be comfortable. Something profound that my mom taught me was "you never know who you are going to bump into!" and therefore you need to always ensure you look your absolute best. Trust me, when you're walking around an airport looking good, you get a lot of attention, and who wouldn't love that??? Its great for your self confidence and acts as a tool to inspire you to always look good. 

Chic Jetsetter

I found this picture of Victoria Beckham, who is one of my style icons, and this is an outfit she wore to travel in. She looks incredibly chic and gorgeous in this outfit and you can't tell me that a beautiful coat and boots is uncomfortable. So for those of you who love dressing up like me, this is a great look for your jetsetting!

Smart-Causal Jetsetter

Jennifer Aniston showcases a fabulous smart-casual look for jetsetting. She looks great and yet she still looks comfortable which is key for most people. Its such an "easy to do" look and one which always works. This is for those of you who like using accesories to "dress up" a simple pair of jeans and boots.. 

Casual Jetsetter

Here's a picture of Kim Kardashian travelling in style. She is wearing comfortable clothes and yet she has not compromised her look in doing so. Instead, she has dressed up her look but adding a beautiful beaded necklace, killer sunglasses and a great bag. So this is a look for those of you who choose comfort first!

So the next time you travel think about what I've said and rethink your "jetsetter outfit", it'll totally be worth your while and will help to inspire confidence in yourself!!!

For a personal consultation you can contact me on Mazipan.FashionSavvy@gmail.com

First Look!!!

I was thinking about how I used to hate my mom for being a hitler when it came to how my wardrobe looked inside in terms of how it was packed, how clothes were folded and how things had to be colour coded. She would go absolutely mad if she came to check up on my wardrobe and something was not in place. I obviously thought my mom was a psycho and just had to live with it. Alas, my mom's years of drumming this into my head has translated into me doing the exact same thing but without having my mom screaming at me to do it. What can I say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree:)

So tonight I was pondering the thought of what purpose this all had and I realised that in actual fact it did have a purpose. What is the purpose you ask? Well it all comes down to making your life easier. My mom used to always repack and re-change my cupboard in an effort to "make it easier for you to find your things". I have only come to appreciate this now and came to the conclusion that my mom was a genius! If you think about it, we are all inherently lazy when it comes to packing our wardrobes which essentially means that they end up in "a state of chaos". If you add "a state of chaos" wardrobe to a hectic and busy lifestyle where we are always rushing to get somewhere, I can guarantee you that the result is either wearing the same outfit over and over again or you end up wearing something that is completely mismatched purely because those were the clothes which were easiest to access meaning they were right in front and the rest of your clothes were right at the back and you simply didn't have time to find them. It all boils down to your "first look" which determines what clothes you will wear so like first impressions, you need to ensure that you display your clothes in your wardrobe in the best way possible.

Colour coding, packing the same things together and folding your clothes neatly actually help you to make smart decisions abut what to wear. Lets start with colour coding your wardrobe. What is the purpose? Well, when you're in a rush in the morning and you know that you want to wear a certain white top with a certain pair of black pants, all you have to do is go straight to the white and the black sections and find them. This will obviously save you time searching for clothes and makes it quick and easy to get to what you need.  It also helps you to see exactly what is in your wardrobe so that you don't forget about old clothes which are still in good condition and it will also lead to you being less inclined to wearing the same outfits over and over again. See the picture below - Colour coding makes your wardrobe look great but more importantly it makes your life easier.

The next two things you need to ensure is that you pack the same things together and fold them neatly. Packing the same things together makes it so much easier to find clothes in your wardrobe, i.e. packing all your vest tops together, packing all your jerseys together and packing all your shorts together. Again if you think about you being in a big rush, you will agree that you normally have an idea of what you're going to wear, so all you have to do is go straight to for example the shorts section to find a pair of shorts and straight to the vest top section to find a top to go with your shorts. If you couple this with folding the items neatly it will allow you to see exactly what clothes you have so that as mentioned before, you don't forget about old clothes that you could still be wearing and so that it is easier for you to come up with different combinations for outfits. See below examples.

So if you couple colour coding, packing the same things together and folding your clothes neatly, you will find yourself in a win-win situation! So come on guys and girls, give it  shot, it'll change your life, I promise! 

And of course, if you are too lazy or dont have time to do this, drop me a mail at Mazipan.FashionSavvy@gmail.com and I would be glad to offer my services to you to get your wardrobe in a "fashion savvy" state. 

Who knew.....

So tonight I thought I'd chat about how you can use one item for many different uses. All it takes is being creative and I always seem to come up with new ideas when I make an effort to play with what I have and see what I can do with it and how I can wear it. Sometimes its an absolute flop but let me tell you, most of the time, it works out and you come out with a fabulous new creation simply by wearing something in a different way. I mean who knew a scarf could be worn for 3 different uses and who knew a necklace could be worn as a bracelet?

The first example is a scarf - we all have one and yet we all think we can only wear it in the traditional way which is around our necks. But that is not the case at all, in fact, scarfs are so much fun to play around with and can have so many different uses! If you have a look at the first photo, I have tied the scarf around my neck, which is the traditional way that everyone wears it but it looks good nevertheless. In the second photo however I have rouged the scarf together and put it around my waist and this is such a great look - so essentially you are using your scarf as a belt. In the third photo I have tied the scarf around the handle of my bag and this creates a chic and timeless look and adds such character to a plain black bag.

The second example is a necklace - this is something we all have and again we all seem to think we can only wear it as a necklace. But thats where you're wrong again, a necklace like the one in the first pic can easily be worn as a bracelet too, simply by twisting it around your wrist until it fits and if its still a bit big you can tuck the excess part under the rest under your wrist where you won't see it and voila, you have an awesome chunky bracelet which looks fabulous!

So as always, I sincerely hope that I have inspired you fashionistas out there to think "out of the box" when it comes to your clothes and accessories and by doing so, you'll surprise even yourself with the phenomenal results!!!

TO SET UP A PERSONAL CONSULTATION YOU CAN CONTACT ME ON Mazipan.FashionSavvy@gmail.com 

Before meets After!!!

When I was thinking about what post I was going to right next I suddenly remembered something which most of us have in common - A bridesmaid dress. Most of us ladies out there have been bridesmaids at some or other point in our lives and what tends to happen is that we pay a fortune for these dresses but never end up wearing them again because they're never really what we ourselves would choose to wear or they're simply not appropriate unless you're going to a fancy ball. So I thought to myself, "I have the most exquisite bridesmaid dress stuck in the back of my cupboard from about 5 years ago but the chances of me wearing it again as is are next to zero", so I suddenly got a wave of inspiration - why not change it so that I can start wearing it again. So thats exactly what I did.  If you look at the before photo you will agree that this is a very formal top and skirt which is beautiful but lets be honest - what occasion would I ever be able to wear it to again? So all I literally did was remove the halter strap from the top to make the top look a bit more sexy and young and I shortened the skirt and voila!!!! This would probably cost you about R300 bucks to get done at a tailor and lets admit, where would you find an outfit of this calibre anywhere for a mere R300???? The answer is you simply wouldn't. So again ladies, I implore you to use those brilliant and creative minds of yours and go dig in your cupboard and see what outfits you can rejuvenate simply by altering them slightly!

                                                                        BEFORE              

                                                                          AFTER

FOR A PERSONAL CONSULTATION EMAIL ME TO Mazipan.FashionSavvy@gmail.com !!!

Trendy doesn't always = stylish!

There are a lot of ladies out there who dress according to the trends which is great sometimes but not always! The problem is that certain styles and patterns that are the latest trends, dont suit all body types but instead can only really be pulled off by slim people. So i have picked out 3 key trends from the last year to show you exactly what I mean.

Trend 1 - The Aladdin pants - these pants were very trendy a few months ago and so many ladies rushed out to go by a pair for themselves. The problem with these pants is that they are very baggy so if you have a more voluptuous figure they simply make you look bigger than you are. So if you have a look at the pictures below, you will see that the models on the catwalk pull the look off, but the normal fuller figured lady looks terrible. Rather choose straight legged pants like the lady in the jeans and shirt which will make you look much slimmer and couple it with a trendy styled jacket or big bold accessories.

Trend 2 - The flower print - This was a hugely trendy fashion craze for summer but again, it does not always suit all body types. If you look at the picture of the thin model in the flower dress you will agree that she looks great as she is drawing attention to her great figure. But if you have a look at the normal fuller figured lady you will see that all the flower print does, is draw attention to the top half of her body which is relatively big. Im not saying that fuller figured ladies can't be trendy, but instead of wearing a floral print dress, rather go and by a beautiful flower print scarf or bag to add to your outfit and choose a dress that has a plain pattern which are worn by the fuller figured women below so as not to draw too much attention to your bad areas. These women are dressing according to their body type and look great! 

Trend 3 - Strappy shoes - These have been such a huge trend and they look great when worn appropriately. The problem is when strappy shoes are worn with dresses or skirts they make ones legs look bigger than they are and draw attention to your legs. So unless you have small legs, they don't look good at all unless you are wearing them with pants. The picture of the celebrities wearing the strappy shoes depicts just how they show off their beautiful legs. But if you have a look at the fuller figured women wearing the strappy shoes, they simply draw attention straight to her legs and make them look bigger. Rather choose a classic style sandal as shown in the picture below as this style will not attract attention to your legs and will make them appear slimmer!

So use these tips as inspiration to think twice before you go out and buy items which are trendy. Make sure that whatever you're buying suits your body type and force yourself to get the creative juices flowing to still be trendy without making yourself look bigger than you actually are!

FOR A PERSONAL CONSULTATION EMAIL ME ON Mazipan.FashionSavvy@gmail.com TO SET UP AN APPOINTMENT!!!