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!!!

Ask Almaza Session - Using the old to create the new!!!!

Hello all - So today I thought it would be great to create an interactive session with all of you who have specific questions regarding your clothing or style. Be proactive, go check out your wardrobe and pick out an item that you haven't worn in ages (but please, the reason for you not wearing it must not be because its too small) and then pull it out and Ill help you try and revive it by telling you what you can do to it to make it "wearable" again instead of you going out and buying more things. In order to do this you need to take the plunge and comment on this post with info about what the item is and why you dont wear it and I will then respond to you with the answer for how to glam it up again. Alternatively you can drop me a mail to Mazipan.FashionSavvy@gmail.com. Just do it, and Ill show you the magic of what I call "using your exisiting resources to create a whole new look".

Size does count!

One thing that I have noticed so often is that a lot of people wear things that do not suit their body type and I always wish I could just go up to them and show them what does suit their body type and that by wearing the right size clothing, they will look half their size!!! So that was the inspiration for today's post. I decided to show you what exactly I mean by taking before and after photos of myself. So if you have a look at the Before Front photo you will notice that my pants are way too tight around my waist as I have made my belt too tight (or could be wearing a belt that is simply too small) as well as wearing a figure hugging top which is making my love handles bulge and my stomach look big. Trust me ladies, this is not a good look, and by simply changing your top, you can look half your size. So in the After Front photo, I have put on a looser top due to the fact that I am wearing tight jeans, and it is quite obvious how much better it makes my body look. If you have a look at the Before Back photo you will see I have made my bra too tight and this coupled with a tight fitting top and tight pants, just makes me look big with bulges everywhere and a big bum. But when you have a look at the After Back photo you will notice that all of a sudden, my bum looks good as the top is loose and therefore makes my bum look smaller. Simple little tricks like this really help to make you look great, even if you're not a rake thin model!!! So please, please, please ladies, make sure you are wearing the right size clothing because when you wear things that are too tight you just make your bodly look bigger eventhough you might not even be overweight!

                                                                      Before - Front side

After - Front side

                                                                 Before - Back side

                                                                   After - Back side

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