How to Style Anything
Let’s be honest – we’ve all been there. A closet bursting with clothes, yet somehow “nothing to wear.” Sounds familiar, right? Despite having plenty of options, we find ourselves completely stuck when it’s time to get dressed (morning, afternoon, or evening – we’re not judging!). That frustration leads to closet hatred, and before we know it, we’re mindlessly escaping by scrolling social media, convinced we need that dress we just saw or that trendy top everyone’s wearing. Now imagine this: Every morning, you wake up feeling serene, self-assured, and PREPARED… in just 5 minutes. You adore your outfit choices. No more anxiety. NO more wardrobe meltdowns. Just pure fashion confidence to live your best life, looking more stylish than ever, while spending less time than ever on getting dressed. You’re utilizing your entire wardrobe, not just 20% of it. You’ve reclaimed 60+ hours annually. The secret? STAR… Having styled clients one-on-one for over two decades, I’ve discovered that intentional styling is the secret sauce. It transforms getting dressed into a joyful experience, gives you clarity about what to wear, helps you identify genuine shopping needs, and boosts your confidence (notice I didn’t mention budget – my clients with unlimited funds? They face the exact same challenges as you. Trust me. The struggle is universal, regardless of your spending power.) Styling and creating outfits is infinitely simpler than you imagine and far less daunting than it appears. Once this becomes second nature, your relationship with your wardrobe will transform forever. Your clothes are your daily armor. Since getting dressed is inevitable, why not make it pure joy? Ready to take control of your closet? Begin today. But forget the massive overhaul – that’s rookie thinking. Start with just one piece. Have you selected an item to style? Excellent. Four simple steps will unlock countless outfit possibilities. Don’t dismiss this method for its simplicity. It’s proven effective, and I have videos to demonstrate. I’ve made it memorable using the word star. S – Stands for “scan” or “sweep” – remove your chosen item from the closet and sweep/scan it against EVERYTHING else you own. This should take just 30 seconds… (because you’re not overthinking) T – The T represents “take” – pull out every piece from your wardrobe that coordinates with your chosen item. Let’s move beyond basic matching (that’s so yesterday!). Instead, focus on pieces that “go” together and create harmony. If you’ve selected that beautiful crocheted top, gather everything that could work as a layer – whether underneath or on top. Pull out those skirts, pants, and yes, even dresses that could be styled with it. Here’s a pro tip: some tops and sweaters can actually be layered over dresses for a completely fresh look! Don’t forget your accessories – they’re absolutely essential to completing your looks. Collect all potential necklaces and pile up those shoes that could work. Get everything out where you can see it. A – A stands for “assemble” – this is where the magic happens. Take all those pieces you’ve gathered and start creating complete outfits. Try them on and let your creativity flow. R – R might be the most challenging and time-intensive step, but it’s crucial: “remember” your styled outfits. Download the Adjust My Crown app (or use iPhotos) to capture every outfit you create. Just like a professional stylist would leave you with a personalized lookbook, you’re creating your own digital style lookbook. The Adjust My Crown app is particularly fantastic because you can organize your looks into specific Collections based on occasions (“errands”, “work dinner”, “library sessions”, etc.). When you love an outfit, save it as “posting to remember”. Need something for a work dinner later? Simply browse your “Work dinner” collection! The app’s bonus feature? You can add notes beneath each side-by-side photo pair – perfect for remembering specific details like which bra works best or the context you wore it in. Unsure about an outfit? Post it as a poll and let our supportive community weigh in. Share your style goals and background to receive thoughtful, uplifting feedback. Typically, spending 15-30 minutes styling one piece can yield anywhere from 2 to 20 new outfits. Feel free to continue with another piece if time allows. This piece-by-piece approach is transformative for your wardrobe, and your busy mornings. Every client I work with is amazed to discover how many new combinations they can create without buying anything new. While I’ve recorded several styling sessions showing these revelations, I’ll let you experience the magic yourself. The best part? This method completely eliminates morning stress and wardrobe anxiety. Your wardrobe should reflect your unique spirit, not someone else’s fashion rules or a social media algorithm feeding you outfits. It’s about crafting a collection that celebrates your incredible self. Together, let’s adjust those crowns and shine all day!
The Art of Packing Light (Without Sacrificing Style or Shopping)
My daughter and I are in the Prima Vista Lounge in the Leonardo DaVinci Airport in Rome right now and we have just our carryons with us. We each have our suitcase (the 21” International…. From B & R) and one “personal Item” (underseat bags from Briggs and Riley – not sponsored, I paid for all of it after research). I love beautiful things so we weren’t going to sacrifice carryon life for packing beautiful clothes to enjoy wearing. At the same time, I fully intended to buy a lot which means we needed to NOT be stuffing our carryons on the way to Italy. In fact, both of our clothes fit in only one carryon, leaving one carryon almost empty. Now that we are on the back end of the trip, on our way home, I’m fully satisfied with how we approached packing and wanted to break it down for you so you, too can arrive in a beautiful city with ALL YOUR THINGS and NOT have to wait at baggage claim – you just zoom right into your vacation and maximize every second you’re there. The capsule I put together here is more of a 50-70°F weather capsule because that’s when most people are traveling so it seemed most useful. Here is what I packed: one sweater (it’s February and the temps ranged from 30-50°F), one long sleeve top, one pair of “uncomfortable” zip/button fly pants, a skirt, two pairs of fleece lined tights, two pairs of (really ugly) black knee high socks (because lower socks smoosh down into boots. Smoosh isn’t the technical word but I can’t think of a more accurate one), and a dress. On the plane both ways, I wore my all time favorite pair of pants – crazy looking patterned and ruffled Horror Vacui elastic waistband pants, with pockets (they’re the same cut essentially as a pajama pant so they are as comfortable as it gets, while still being something you could see in Vogue or presented on a runway. The shoe part gets tricky in February in a city so we each only had one total pair of shoes: different versions of an Aquatalia brand boot (because they’re waterproof). My pair was suede and my daughter’s were patent leather. The boots can be worn with dresses and all the pants we had. How did I pick the outfits for my capsule? I looked in my “crazy comfy chic” collection on Adjust My Crown and picked my airport outfit. From there I looked in my “errands” Collection and looked for the outfits that utilized the sweater in my airport outfit. I just picked outfits that used those pieces and voila, one half of a carryon is packed. The shoe part being limited is my least favorite part of carryon life BUT IF YOU’RE looking for the “glass half full” perspective this prevents you from having blisters when you switch shoes. The payoff is worth it! We were able to support the local economy and stuff a whole carryon full of our customized marbled paper lovelies, Italian leather galore, and save the 22% VAT tax on things that yes, we could buy in the US but are so much cheaper here (500 euros TOTAL for the shearling glitter slip-on Golden Goose that I paid $895 + 9.25% tax for in the US). Strategizing ahead of time about a tightly coordinated capsule travel wardrobe is worth it, in every way. Honestly, no one cares what we are wearing anyway and you won’t remember in 10 years when you’re fondly browsing the pics from the trip that you repeated tops and bottoms and outfits… Oh and by the way, we still had room to shove extra water bottles from the Prima Vista Lounge into our underseat cabin bag… in spite of the things we bought and only using carryon… because delta isn’t air france and I may be a little parched. 😉