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Leather trousers! A great A/W staple

Leather or faux leather trousers, joggers or leggings are great staples to have in your wardrobe for Autumn/Winter.

I like them in place of wet look leggings or Spanx, especially if they have a little bit of ‘give’ near the ankle, be it a slight flare like some of these examples, or a zip.

It gives a straighter shape to the trousers, which is more flattering on many figure types as it balances the width of the hips, while still being close fitting & elongating down the length of the leg.

Leather or faux leather also feels a little bit more elevated than some other fabrics, especially when paired with other high shine fabrics & textures, such as patent loafers.

The result is an outfit that is comfortable & practical, but more stylish than say for example cotton leggings paired with plain trainers.

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Getting the proportions of your outfit right!

This is something I talk about with my clients all the time.

Aside from the whole oversized trend which is for a particular look or a particular style personality; day to day if you want to look pulled together, it's important to balance any oversized pieces with some more fitted pieces.

I love these high waisted trousers from Zara, because the high waist is a flat panel and creates a beautiful smooth effect to pair with more oversized blouses or knits.

Sometimes high waisted trousers, especially if they are paper bag or a mom style, can add a lot of bulk in the rise area, and aren't the most flattering to wear for many figure types.

These particular trousers from Zara (which are available in up to 10 different colours) are particularly good because although they're very high waisted, the waistband is very smooth & unfussy, and suits alot of figure types.

There's enough drape in the fabric to allow it to work with more curved figure types, and there's just enough structure across the rise area to hold told everything in and give a lovely shape
They look particularly well layered like the outfit in the example here with a knit and/or shirt tucked in (at least a French tuck or half tuck) to show some of the waist.

For the most elongating effect with these cropped trousers, aim to create the longest unbroken line - so in the picture here, the black trousers are paired with black boots, creating an unbroken line.

If you were wearing the stone/beige version shown here then I would pair them with for example a nude court shoe, with a low vamp to show as much skin as possible, and create the same elongating effect.

With the green pair in this example, I would suggest pairing with for example black court shoes or black barely there sandals for evening, and although this is not creating the same unbroken line as the black or nude versions, you can do then do ‘outfit linking’ and pair them with a black top or black blazer, or have some other black higher up the outfit, even in a belt to link to the shoes.

These are great trousers, I have them in a couple of colours, you can use them for workwear with court shoes or boots, and they look equally good (because of the length) paired with a trainer or loafer for smart casual or casual wear; and again for evening time they can be paired with a block heel or barely there sandal.

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Face Shape - have you ever given this any thought?

Do you think it might explain why certain shapes & style of glasses & sunglasses do & do not work for you?

Why certain hairstyles work better?

And where & how to apply makeup contouring & highlighting products?

As part of a Make Up Consultation, and within the Make Up Module of my Online Program, I discuss face shape with my clients, and what it means for where & how to contour & highlight.

And within a Style & Image Consultation, we discuss face shape in relation to things like the necklines that work best, the size & shape of earrings, hairstyles, and glasses/sunglasses shapes & styles that work best.

Looking at the pictures here, do you think you know what your face shape is?

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Why doesn't my eye makeup turn out like it does in the makeup tutorials??

I'll tell you why: most likely, it's your eye shape.

When I do a Make Up Consultation with a client, or within the Makeup module of my Online Program, one of the things we discuss is eye shape.

If you've ever tried to follow the instructions of an eyeshadow palette and ended up with a result that was well, less than expected, it's most likely because these instructions (and any of the instructions you see in Online tutorials) are mostly based around a standard eye shape.

This is one where there are equal amounts of mobile and immobile eyelid visible when the eyes open.

But many people don't have this shape eyes and need to apply light and dark shadows in different areas.

Light brings forward & dark pushes back - these guidelines are very relevant when applying eyeshadow products depending on your eye shape, and what areas you want to try and bring forward and which areas you want to try to reduce or push back.

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