street style, the stylebook series: cathy starnes
As we prep for fall with new content and a few fun changes to Stylebook, we thought a reintroduction of Stylebook’s members might be of interest to our readers. Over the next six weeks, you will meet the talented women who bring you Stylebook every day through the Street Style Stylebook Series.
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My favorite part about being a wardrobe consultant is seeing the effect that the outside transformation has on the inside of the woman. While, of course, I love shopping and pretty things and the creativity of putting together new looks, I don’t consider myself fashion obsessed. I don’t always wear the latest trends or have dreams of sitting front row at New York Fashion Week. My background is in psychology and studying body image in women as well as the effects that our environments have on us.
As women, looking into an organized closet every morning and feeling put together in the outfits we wear on a daily basis gives us confidence. That confidence allows us to be happy, productive and enjoyable-to-be-around members of our families, our work places and our society. Most of my clients are everyday women living in the trenches of life: women in their 30s and 40s who have spouses, children, busy careers and are active in their communities. My services allow them to focus their energy on all those things by saving them time and money and setting up their wardrobes for everyday ease and success.
With a new client, the process always starts with a Style Interview session, the goal of which is to determine what your personal style is, or what you would like it to be. We also discuss lifestyle, body type, your current challenges and goals. We create a road map for where you’d like to go with your wardrobe and style and decide the steps we’ll take to get there. We’ll spend part of that first session in your closet creating outfits, answering questions, discussing body type and/or making a shopping list of missing items.
From there, we’ll spend our future sessions either in your closet or out shopping. I spend about two-thirds of my time with clients in closets putting together new looks from the clothes already there or editing and purging, organizing and making notes for shopping. We’ll then head out shopping, when needed, to fill in the key missing pieces that will allow you to maximize more of what you already own. I shop anywhere and everywhere from department stores to stylish local boutiques, including our fab Stylebook members.
My style philosophy is limited to two things: (1) your clothes must fit you properly and (2) they must make you feel fabulous. The power of dressing well is transformational. It’s more than just clothing, it’s your way of telling the world who you are, that you are important, happy and confident. I want my clients to show the world, on the outside, who they are on the inside. I want them to feel lovely, beautiful, and fabulous so they can focus on the things that matter most to them. I want my clients to spend less time putting themselves down and more time building themselves up. I want to increase the amount of happiness in the world…and I’m going to start with your next outfit!
Here, Cathy is pictured wearing shoes from The Shoe Hive and denim and a blouse from Coco Blanca.
