Teach a (Wo)man To Fish: How To Use TSALT’s Seasoned Staff To Build a Wardrobe that Works
Multitasking is high on our list at TSALT. Bringing Alexandria a unique experience where you can shop the sales floor as a boutique or utilize our design services keeps our staff on its toes in not only explaining the concept to shoppers but assessing their interests and needs without overwhelming them. Boutiques in general offer an added level of service by building relationships. In fact, the entire concept of Alexandria Stylebook and the founding members was to unite the efforts of each of the businesses to bring value to the community through an additional level of understanding of product and purpose. Many of you are familiar with the quote, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Our goals are not to just sell random items of clothing but to help women understand their body types while guiding them be more strategic in building a wardrobe that covers their lifestyle…essentially teaching you how to shop better by utilizing the staff.
I want to ask you to participate in an exercise for a moment. Think about the last few times you walked inside a boutique. How were you approaching the shopping experience?
- Were you in need of something to wear for a certain occasion?
- Did you need to complete an outfit — find a top to go with pants or a bottom to go with a specific top?
- Did you want to find something (anything really) that fit a certain dollar amount you allowed yourself to spend that day?
- Were you scouting for future needs?
Next, how did you utilize the staff for your purposes?
- Did you find someone immediately and explain your needs?
- Did you want to browse alone and see if there was anything that sparked your interest?
- What were your expectations? Where they specific or did you allow for solutions that you had not considered?
Utilizing the skills of a boutique staff can sometimes see risky since you “know” what you are looking for and don’t want to be “sold” something you don’t need. But sometimes inviting someone else to assist you in understanding the choices can open your mind up to how those pieces can be used within your own wardrobe. Muscle memory is a problem for many shoppers in that they continue to buy the same pieces and still come up short when getting dressed because they haven’t been able to change their perspective. Allowing the staff at a smaller establishment to show you how to make your wardrobe perform will start to build a confidence not only within the boutique but within yourself as well and thus “feed you for a lifetime.”
Below are a few examples of items that we either have on the floor at TSALT now or will in the coming weeks. Each of these pieces has been selected for specific reasons to cover what we have determined to be a valuable asset to your wardrobe.
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On first glance you’ll be in love…but sticker shock may set in once you see the price. This is the type of piece that is timeless and can be worn as a jacket or a shirt. How to make sense of the price? Buy less, wear more. We need to stop thinking that everyone thinks we wear the same thing to events. This one piece could be worn multiple times and only you will know that it’s a repeat. Changing your makeup, your shoes, your bag will immediately alter the look of any piece. Here are some ideas of how to wear this investment item…
- With your white denim now
- With your new cropped boot flares come September
- For Thanksgiving with a pencil skirt or skinny jeans and boots
- Over a sleeveless sheath dress in lieu of the cardigan
Shop these fall staples here.
If you own too many prints, it’s possible you are not covering some essential staples in your wardrobe. Here are two from FRAME Denim that we feel are worthy of a look. Both are ribbed and women with healthy assets tend to shy away from ribbing but the scale of the subtle ribbing here will not add drama across the chest as larger scaled ribbing. These are pieces that will work alone and under jackets. They easily provide a base for scarves while still looking elegant with a pair of denim. Every woman should have options such as these to convert casual looks into business or more professional looks by adding a skirt or pair of slacks.
What could be better than a reversible coat for value engineering your fall/winter wardrobe? Coats are worn more than any other item and go over your other investments thus, seen more than any other pieces in the fall and winter. This one won’t break the bank either coming in around $300. Flip it inside out and you have an entirely different texture — pockets on both the faux suede and faux sherpa side. We actually sold on of these during the Sidewalk Sale in the record heat…that’s how great this item is!
Another sticker shock will no doubt be our pieces from Marie Saint Pierre. Consider how much you spend on “one and done” items in your wardrobe. Look at the pieces that you purchased and did not receive full value from. This is my case for explaining why someone should consider spending more money on an item such as this rather than multiple smaller purchases.
For instance, you could purchase three or four pieces that cost about $200 each. If you were to wear these pieces two or three times you would be getting half to a third of the value out of each of them. If you were to take that same amount of money and purchase one piece and understand how it can be utilized with what you already own and build on it to create more uses from this, the investment not only adds to your previous investments but because it’s being utilized more, it cost less than some of the $200 items.
Cost per wear in action…reduces the cost of the item, but you must learn how to use your investments.
We adore this jumpsuit because it looks fresh and works on a variety of body types.
One other silhouette I wanted to discuss is the jumpsuit. This piece is fast becoming a staff favorite at the boutique. Once we have a client try it on, they really begin to understand the new silhouette and how flattering and comfortable it is to wear. Do you have a fall wedding to attend and looking for something that you can use again? We recommend coming in and trying this piece on. It works best on an “apple,” “column,” “hourglass,” or “inverted triangle.” It could be tricky for a “pear.” Adding a belt can change the look as well.
There are plenty of pieces that hit that sweet price point of under $100 as well but we wanted to show you how some investment items can really benefit what you currently own. Whatever your budget is this fall, our associates are going to be ready to assist you and provide some insights on how to maximize your shape and style.
We would like to invite you to a soft Fall Preview event this Tuesday, August 23rd, 5-8pm. We’ll be offering 20 percent off for the evening. Jane Hughes and Alicia McCaslin will be on hand to assist you and discuss any wardrobe issues you are currently having or if you want to bring in something that has been causing more problems than solutions. Feel free to stop in or rsvp and we’ll send you a reminder on Monday. We’ll be serving wine and sparkling water. Hope to see you there.
