10 Powerful Secrets To A Winning Image -fantastic article from Canadian Expert Charmaine Mills

Having an image that is of a consistently high standard projects a message of quality and self confidence; it increases your responsiveness to your clients and colleagues, and removes the attention of yourself and onto the needs of the ones you are serving.

As people begin to see your name and become aware of the benefits and knowledge that you offer, before you know it thousands of people will not only know who you are but they will begin to seek out your services and expertise. They will identify with your brand which is you.

1.  Don’t overlook the power of a good first impression. People make amazing assumptions about your professional  credibility and potential performance based upon your appearance during a first meeting. It’s very difficult to overcome a poor first impression, regardless of your knowledge or expertise.

2.  Be notable! Identify the components that differentiate you. How do you stand out among the other options? Perfect an eloquent descriptive and memorable introduction of yourself and your position. To promote yourself effectively, you must know (and be able to articulate) who you are and why you do what you do.

3. Ultimately, it is always the person who dignifies the position, and not the position that dignifies the person. If we want others to take us seriously and view us as a professional, we must first view ourselves as one.

4. Body language is defined as a type of communication between one or more persons which does not utilize verbal words. Instead, body language is read by each person by carefully watching the facial  expressions, hand gestures, posture, and movements made by another person.  Body language can dominate the spoken words.

5. Raise your professional and personal standards until even you are impressed. The pursuit of excellence is not only politically correct it is also highly profitable. Do not settle for mediocrity.

6. You are always making visual statements. No matter where you are going or what you are doing, you are telling people something about yourself.  Thinking “big picture” means that to get where you want to be in three years, for example, you may have to pay extra close attention to those visual statements you are making today.

7. Invest in quality instead of quantity. Have clarity about the purpose you are buying for. Don’t spend money on something that doesn’t look great on you even if it’s almost free! Dress better than you have to and don’t be afraid to stand out from the crowd.

8. One of the main elements of an introduction is your smile, or at the very least, a pleasant facial expression. A smile sends a positive message and adds warmth and an aura of confidence. Others will be more receptive if you remember to check your expression.

9. Managing your attitude is an important business tool for every successful leader.  Your attitude is infectious and drives behavior, make it work for you.

10. There is power in perception. To those you meet, how you are perceived is who you are. What kind of image are you projecting? Remember, your career could depend on it.

Charmaine conducts transformational Image & Etiquette consultations worldwide through teleseminars, phone coaching and face-to-face consultations.  Her head office is based in Toronto, Canada.   http://www.advanceimageconsulting.ca

Fashion Societe and Stylista Shopping Tours present – Sep 23 2011 | Crain’s New York Business

As seen in Crain’s New York today:

Fashion Societe and Stylista Shopping Tours present – Sep 23 2011 | Crain’s New York Business.

Recipe for Seduction

by Samantha von Sperling of Polished Social Image

Seduction, it makes the world go around. Sex, food, money, power, fame, glamour, glitter, it’s all seductive. It’s what pulls at our egos and into our ears whispers our deepest desires.

Seduction is about attracting someone to you by offering the promise of what they want. Any advertising expert will tell you to sell the dream, not the product.

Recipe for seduction:

Start with a specimen that caught your eye at the market. Add flirting to make it interesting. Fold in spontaneity to make it come alive. Next, pour on playfulness, a bit of intrigue, a dash of dramatic flourish, a sprinkle of glamour, a heaping spoonful of kindness, stir in some generosity and let simmer. Now blend in food, wine and spirits to make it especially delicious. Whisk in interesting ensembles that beckon to be touched for texture. A dab of fragrance to awaken the senses, candle light for glow and music to suite your taste. A bit of dancing if you dare! Now turn up the heat! Presentation is crucial, serve warm with imagination. Garnish with a sense of adventure. Enjoy!

Style, Certified.

In the world of image consulting, being a certified member of the AICI puts this industry and our clients at an advantage. Not only does the certificate add to the accomplishments of many of Fashion Societe’s team of speakers, it also opens a world of resources to you, the reader/consumer who can benefit from a qualified image expert guiding you to express your highest potential in a) physical appearance, b) behavior (including social skills, stress management, etiquette, cilivity and protocol) and c) communication skill (including body language, relationship-building and conflict resolution).

Like any learning process, pursuing a certification keeps image consultants working towards their full potential and stay competitive within the industry. There are three levels of certification with the AICI—First Level Certification (FLC), Certified Image Professional (CIP), and Certified Image Master (CIM). With an FLC the consultant has met business standards in industry development and technical awareness; as a CIP the consultant has proven that they are well-versed in hands-on training methods and have passed the AICI FLC Test in addition to submitting the AICI CIP Application; a CIM is the most accredited of image consultants and has worked, with verification, over 2,000 annual full-time hours while establishing a sound continuing education track along with acquiring a lineage of professional achievements. With each of these certifications an image consultant is afforded public exposure and professional support while their clients are assured guidance by a competent and trained individual.

Learn more about the certification levels with AICI and how you may begin your road to becoming an image consultant.

Wake Up With Mineral Makeup

Most of us have heard the rave reviews about mineral makeup over the years—the sheer coverage, the silkening effect, and the weightless appeal.  But does it really live up to all the hype?  The makeup mavens over at makeup-artist-world.com have convinced us so!  Their comprehensive and insightful article on mineral makeup hasturned us into true believers… and we’re ready for you to join us.  Whether you have oily, dry, mature, or sensitive skin, these makeup artists have a slice of advice for you.  The bottom line when it comes to this type of foundation or any kind of makeup?  ”Quality and ingredients” they remind us.  So take a minute, read the article, and save yourself and your summer makeup from running around town (and all over your face!) looking for the best brand.

What is the industry consensus so far of Google’s www.boutiques.com?

In a deliberate collision between nerds and fashion mavens, Google has created a new
e-commerce site that significantly improves how fashion is presented and sold online. The site, Boutiques.com, which went live almost a week ago, may also change how people shop for clothes. 

Boutiques.com has so many capabilities and components that even Google engineers have a hard time qualifying it. It is a collection of hundreds of virtual boutiques merchandised — or, in the new parlance, “curated” — by designers, retailers, bloggers, celebrities and regular folks. You can shop in the style of, say, the actresses Carey Mulligan or Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen — among the celebrities who signed up — or you can build your own boutique and amass followers who can comment on your taste. 

It is a place, then, to show off your fashion acumen, much as millions of Polyvore users already do in their picture collages. 

It is also a source of inspiration. In every boutique on the site, there are dozens of additional choices inspired by a designer’s or celebrity’s style — generated by algorithms — with product photos that are much larger and sharper than on other shopping sites. 

And if you don’t know how to wear the leopard pumps you just bought, there’s a panel of street-style photos on the right side of the site that visualizes the shoes in more expressive modes. Indeed, whatever style preference you indicate — classic, romantic, casual — the inspiration panel automatically adjusts for them, like a support group that can read your mind with surprising precision. 

That may be Boutiques.com’s ultimate game-changer: how precisely it analyzes your preferences to give you what you requested. As many online shoppers know, search engines tend to give you stuff you don’t really want. A request for fern-colored shoes might yield fern shoes, plus fern-print blouses. 

But, as two experienced online shoppers found when they tested the site earlier this week at Google’s New York office, if you ask for cobalt blue shoes, you get them. And if you refine your preferences with a click or two, you get even more specific styles. 
The process at Boutiques.com is accomplished through visual search technology, and what style experts like Ms. Goodman and Ms. Holtz conveyed to Google code writers about the nuances of fashion — from color and pattern to silhouette and what looks good together and what does not. 

Despite the number of products a search on Boutiques.com kicks out, the download time is very fast, and choices appear on extra-long pages so you don’t have to keep clicking. Virtually every kind of information is analyzed — price, brand, color and so on. The site also includes a system called “Complete the Look,” for which Ms. Goodman wrote “a ton of rules,” Mr. Shah said, “and our computer vision and machine learning guys implemented them.” 

Additionally, there is a good sense of discovery on the site; items come to your attention — almost as they do in stores — that you didn’t necessarily plan to buy. Seasonal trends, like fall’s military looks, can be boosted on the site. Again, to Ms. Mulpuru, “that’s where Munjal gets it — fashion is about discovery.”

Guido Palau: Hairstylist Supreme – Beauty Industry News from WWD

Guido Palau: Hairstylist Supreme – Beauty Industry and Products News – WWD.com.

Another Viewpoint: Are cargo pants in or over for the fall? If they are passe, is there something that has replaced them?

Many of us are thrilled to know that the military trend is marching right into fall, and that includes cargo pants. Whether you bought a pair of skinny cargo pants or a silky relaxed pair this past summer, or are interested in investing in a few new pairs for fall and winter, there are several fresh ways to wear them this season.

Try pairing skinny cargo pants with a draped tank or t-shirt and a strong blazer. Finish the look with ankle booties or a platform pump. If you prefer a looser fitting cargo, look for one in a slinky knit or silky fabric which gives them a dressier appearance. Pair it with a slim fitting top and a this season’s must-have desert boot or lace-up bootie for a modern military look for fall.

Fact: Those “to-die-for” High Heels May Alter Anatomy

(HealthDay News) — High heels may turn heads, but new research shows the long-term cost of wearing them is even steeper than the sky-high price tag of some coveted brands.

• High heels do put stress on the back and knees. Squeezing into high heels with narrow toe boxes can cause a condition called Morton’s neuroma, a painful thickening of tissue between the third and fourth toes.

Another horror- “Haglund’s deformity”, sometimes called the “pump bump,” occurs when back straps of heels dig into the tissue around the Achilles tendon. Too-tight shoes can bring on bunions, an enlargement of bone or tissue at the base of the big toe that pushes the big toe toward the second toe.

• Pointy shoes can worsen hammertoe by forcing the toes to bend at the middle joints, eventually causing them to stay bent and rigid even when barefoot.
• And then there are those uneven-sidewalk wipeouts that lead to ankle sprains and breaks.

The fix for many of these conditions, podiatrists said, may come as bad news for those emulating “Sex and the City” fashionista Carrie Bradshaw: Box up your stilettos and wear more sensible footwear. 

That’s what podiatrists say. To that I say, BOO HOOOOO.  Put a pair of flats in your bag and definitely use them for extended walks.  But nothing changes your look, your attitude, a bystander’s glance… like a pair of sexy high heels.

Black hedges, a little boy, and why Chanel is worth it

Upon entering the Grand Palais on Tuesday morning, the look and feel of Karl Lagerfeld’s set for Chanel was of a French formal garden. Model after model entered and strolled around the black hedges as through on promenade at the Tuileries.

At the other end of this time spectrum, a tiny blond boy walked in the show, grasping the hand of a male model, each of them wearing a white Chanel jacket. The child gazed in amazement at the sprawling space full of people. One can only imagine what that memory will be like for him years from now.

In his collection, Mr. Lagerfeld took the season’s preoccupation with lace to the couture level. Skirts and dresses were made of laces of many textures — most intriguingly, some with a cubist pattern that reminded me of shattered glass.

A series of suits of traditional Chanel tweed suits were formed by stitching together horizontal ribbons of the fabric, creating another lovely shattered look. These textiles and manufacturing methods are the reason Chanel clothes cost the moon.