Is your significant other hinting that she’d like some help with her wardrobe? An Elements of Image gift certificate is the perfect gift! It’s easy!  Simply choose the amount you’d like to spend or the service you’d like her to have. Then contact me at 303-868-8925 or dana@elementsofimage.com. We’ll discuss her needs and your budget, and I’ll put the perfect package together to fit them both! Perhaps you’ve been hoping to work with a personal style expert for a long time. Feel free to hint around. Why not copy and paste this web site address in an e-mail to your beloved along with the message, “Here’s what I want”? Sometimes subtlety isn’t the answer! Check out my services page for more ideas, but again, I’d love to have a chat to help you find the perfect gift to fit her needs.

There are certainly a lot of rules about what to wear when you’re interviewing for a job. The aspect that often gets overlooked is the fact that it’s crucial to create a memorable aspect of your appearance. Especially if a firm is interviewing tons of candidates, such as law firms and accounting firms, creating  something memorable about your image  can help you stand out in the crowd. Of course, your resume is crucial and so are your answers and conduct, but wearing something the interviewers can remember you by is an additional way to stand out in the sea of applicants. So how do you do this? It’s really quite easy. First, your appearance must be impeccable, and then an accessory or blouse can do the trick. Debbie was a client who was going for a final interview for a big step up in the healthcare industry. The suits she’d been wearing had been colorful and a little too feminine. She knew her stuff and was highly qualified, but the male interviewer was tough and she needed a suit that would give her strength and command authority. We chose a black pant suit, and because Debbie was blonde with blue eyes, (Read more...)

There’s an odd phenomenon that happens in Colorado. When the weather is really cold, we wear our fabulous winter coats religiously. Then when the temperatures rise even just a bit, (and I’ve seen this happen at 32°F,) we shed our coats and freeze. It’s crazy, right? Every spring, the fashion magazines tout trench coats as a strong trend for the season. But for whatever reason, I don’t see many women in Colorado wearing trench coats or any other type of coat for spring. I propose we take a stand and start wearing spring coats!

Here are a few tips on what to look for and how to wear spring trench coats:

• First, if you like classic khaki/beige trench coats, please know that all neutrals are not created equally. In other words, there are many shades of beige. Some are warm and some are cool. Take your time to find a shade that works with your skin tone.
• If you’re truly dedicated to a trench coat, or if you travel a lot, consider investing in a classic trench with a removable lining. It will keep you warm even when it’s quite cold. As it gets warmer, you can take the lining out, and viola, you’ve

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I can honestly say that many of my clients, regardless of their height, have short torsos. More commonly you’ll hear it referred to short waisted. I am included in this group of fabulous women. If you’re still unsure of what this means, basically the length from your shoulders to your natural waist is shorter than average. If you’re short torso’d, you usually know it. Clothes can often be difficult to fit. For example, when you try on a pull over sweater, you get bunching in the torso; it’s especially evident from the back. Another garment that can be hard to get to fit right is dresses. A lot of dresses will have a fitted waist. If your torso is short, again you’ll get bunching or bagging.  Or you may have the urge to pull up on the shoulders and exclaim, “There, now it’s perfect…if my shoulders were just 2 inches higher!”  (Yes, I do it sometimes.) Don’t despair! I have an option you might not have thought of. First, even if you are average height, consider checking out the petite department for tops and dresses. I went shopping Saturday and found a great Tahari cardigan…in the petite department! I’m 5’6”, and believe (Read more...)

Recently a friend and blog reader asked me to do a blog post about choosing handbags. I hadn’t really thought about it much before, but truly there are some important things to consider when you’re buying a handbag, so you don’t end up with a bag that you just can’t stand. I’ll start off by saying that I’m not a real “purse girl,” I’m much more of a “shoe gal,” meaning that of course I carry a handbag, but I don’t have a ton of bags waiting to be used. I have a tough time committing to a new purse. I don’t like the ones that look cheap and preferring leather, the ones I really love just seem out of my price range/comfort zone, although I’m beginning to work through this. Here are some points to consider when you’re handbag shopping. 1. What size do you need or prefer? What all do you carry? Are the items big or small? You’ve got to accommodate your largest item and of course all of your other daily essentials. I was looking at bags the other day and found something cute, but it was too thin to hold my huge sunglass case. The salesperson suggested carrying (Read more...)

One of my main tips from my chapter “How to Shop Like a Pro and Look Like a Million Bucks,” from the book I co-authored, Image Power, is to Buy Complete Outfits. Complete Outfits not only include all of the garments, but also the accessories. My dear friend and AICI colleague, Marjory DeRoeck, MFA, AICI CIP, has written an entire Image Power chapter entitled “Accessories: The Frosting of Fashion.” Here’s an excerpt from Marjory’s chapter. “Top Reasons to Use Accessories To put separates together as outfits. Use a multicolored scarf as a road map to pull together individual clothing items. A brown, orange and gold scarf would coordinate with brown pants, an orange sweater and a gold tee. To direct attention toward your best features. Is a tiny waist one of your best assets? Wear a wide leather belt with a gorgeous buckle and everyone will notice. To vary your wardrobe to suit your mood. Feeling upbeat? Put on your sparkly earrings. Feeling calm and casual? Add a mohair scarf in your eye color. To provide a conversation piece. Attach an interesting pin on your lapel and see how many people comment. It’s a great icebreaker at a party. To add color to (Read more...)

One of the big trends coming for Spring 2011 is an influence of 70’s style. True, one of my style mantras is if you wore it the first time around, you probably shouldn’t wear it the second time around; however, with this resurgence of 70’s styles, comes platform wedges. I wasn’t allowed to wear them the first time around, so I’m really excited to get my hands on a couple of pairs of these! Besides being able to wear something I was forbidden to wear while I was under my mother’s roof, I’m also looking forward to these shoes, because in the true style, they seem very wearable. What makes platform wedges different from traditional wedges is that the soles are wide, and there is a very gentle slope from heel to toe. I’ve even seen a few that are simply flat platforms with no angle at all. Since I’m battling with tendinitis in my ankle, and most of my clients can’t wear heels, I’m hoping that these shoes will provide the stability many of us need to be able to wear heels again. Platform wedges look fantastic with bell bottoms, also very big for spring. (I will talk more about these (Read more...)

If you want to add more color to your wardrobe, but just one pop of color isn’t enough for you, let’s talk about opposites attracting. I’m talking about opposite colors, or complementary colors, on the color wheel. Putting opposite colors together is one of the most basic, yet fun ways of producing a color scheme to your outfit. For the sake of ease today, we’ll concentrate on tops. So you don’t feel like Rainbow Bright all of a sudden, ground any of your outfits with a neutral skirt or pant. I know what you’re thinking as you’re looking at this color wheel, “Dana, Christmas is over; I’m not wearing red and green together!” True, the colors on the color wheel are a little saturated and a bit bright. Rather than wearing true red and green together, consider candy pink and lime green. Playing around with the intensity and value of the colors is where your creativity comes shining through! Still not convinced? Worried about being mistaken for Denver Bronco fan* in orange and blue? Simply change the shades to peach and light blue. Or why not slide over a notch on the color wheel, and wear tangerine (Read more...)

If one of your fashion resolutions or style goals for 2011 is to add more color into your wardrobe, I applaud you and admire you. Color is the element of design that is noticed first and remembered most. Plus in my opinion, color is just fun! Now then if you’ve made that resolution, but you’re not quite sure how to go about adding the color, I have an easy tip for you. A POP of color! Adding a pop of color, particularly a bright color, is a phenomenal way to add interest to an otherwise all neutral outfit. For example if your outfit consists of a black jacket, white blouse, a black/white hounds-tooth check skirt and black shoes, go ahead and swap the white blouse for purple, lime green, hot pink or your favorite bright. Not interested in changing your top? You can also add that pop of color in your accessories. Instead of black shoes, why not try red or cobalt blue? You will be absolutely amazed at the compliments you’ll get and the way you’ll feel in this more fashion forward look. (A note of caution here: Don’t wear the bright shoes on a presentation day. All eyes will be on your (Read more...)

Do you have a friend, mother, sister, daughter or other special female in your life who is tough to shop for? Or perhaps you've just run out of gift ideas for her over the years. An elements of image gift certificate is the perfect gift! It's easy!  Simply choose the amount you'd like to spend or the service you'd like her to have. Then contact me at 303-463-4839, 303-868-8925 or dana@elementsofimage.com. We'll discuss her needs and your budget, and I'll put the perfect package together to fit them both! A suggestion?  A Princess Day:  Treat your mom, best friend or any other special female in your life to a Princess Day.  I'll take you both shopping at her favorite stores. Yes, you get to come along, but this day is all about the princess! (She not only gets pampering and expert advice, she gets to spend time with you, too!) Since every wish is her command, we'll do exactly what she wants...maybe a new outfit or two, learning what styles look the best on her, or even finding the perfect shoes for every outfit. Check out more services to give.