Ladies' Guild Meeting - November 2011
The second of November was a beautiful day with blue skies, sunshine and little cloud. However, as many of us stepped out of our doors, we found that it was raining hard. Despite this wet start, the room was quite full as we started with a hymn and the introduction of the speaker.
Josephine Thomson is an independent personal shopper and colour consultant who filled the front of the room with colour. She had brought a huge poster about the types of service she offers, colour swatches and a rack of scarves of all shades of the spectrum.
She started her talk by saying that a few years ago she was looking for a career change. Her love of clothes and shopping led her to this new venture in her life. She stressed that, as she is independent, she can offer clothing from all ranges of suppliers. She said that she may well save her client money as she will have fresh ideas and ways of combining items of clothing. She also said that one does not need a great number of clothes to dress well as accessories will change the look of an outfit. Many ladies have wardrobes full of clothing, yet say they have nothing to wear. Josephine believes that the skill is to know what suits you and to dress accordingly. Many of her clients have low incomes.
The way to decide what is best for a skin type is to test the colour against the face; this is known as ‘colour analysis.’ She starts with a personality questionnaire and looks at the eyes for the shades to be found there, as eyes are individual to the person. The client wears no cosmetics for the test. Everyone can wear every colour but must select the right shade to go next to the face as this is what influences the skin, giving a warm shade not a cold one, which makes the skin look sallow. Here the scarves came into use, draped around the necks of three volunteers who, one after the other, went through the process of trying shades of a colour while the helpful ladies of the audience called ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to decide what was suitable. The ‘yes’ and ‘no’ call was not always decisive. Once tested, the ladies were given a colour swatch to use when selecting their purchases. The colours reflect the four seasons, two warm, two cool. Interestingly, Jo dislikes black and never wears it, to the extent that she wears grey to attend a funeral. She said that if black is required you should wear another colour near the face.
Part of the service Jo offers is a wardrobe consultation to “pinpoint your lifestyle” and to decide whether or not the clothes you own and buy are suitable for that life. This will mean sorting out everything and discarding some items. Jo said that there is no need to keep more that 2 outfits for gardening or suchlike and never keep things in case you get thinner as it will not happen. Who among us is brave enough to throw favourite clothes away? Jo appeared that evening in a beautifully simple apricot coloured dress, immaculate hair and make up, screaming glamour. It really works for her.
She gives advice on underwear, as this affects the look of the clothes. She will suggest new ways of mixing and matching garments and will get you to try on the whole costume with accessories and jewellery. She will give you as much time as is required for a set price; she seems to be the sort of lady who is determined to do a good job.
One fun side of the undertaking for clients is that she holds what she refers to as ‘switching parties’ in Leighton Buzzard where she is based. Everyone takes a garment or garments they no longer wish to wear and a swap is made. Imagine a rail of clothes to select, lots of chat and advice from Josephine who is an unusual freelance personal shopper. The evening was very informative and could be just right for a mother of the bride or a really special occasion.