| ||||||||||||
I had heard about Gibbens and her company, Pennington Style Consultants, through a colleague of mine. I knew she offered a variety of services, including tempting shopping tours to New York City, but I decided to opt for the one-time closet consultation, a one-and-a-half-hour to three-hour process, for which the tab runs $250. Before she arrived at my house, I admittedly had some trepidation. What if her taste and my mine were miles apart? Would I just make a pile of cast-offs and when she left, put everything right back in my closet? Would this be a colossal waste of time and money? Gibbens, whose attractive face was hidden behind a pair of chic tortoiseshell European-artist glasses, wore a knee-skimming trench coat, knife-pleat charcoal skirt and three-quarter-length pastel sweater. After I learned she had her masters in literature, worked in journalism and liked to think of her favorite fictional characters when she dressed, I thought she was intriguing. Her Southern accent (she's from a small town in Louisiana) and charm were appealing. But when she asked me to show her some of my favorite outfits (like my dark brown leather jacket, tweed flat-pleat skirt and black turtleneck sweater) and told me I wouldn't ever be happy wearing those vintage cashmere sweaters with the big retro buttons, I began to trust her. Consequently, when she started sizing up the contents of my closet, I didn't object to writing off my black linen pants (too shiny from too many cleanings), a pique black and white skirt (even though vintage is everywhere, Gibbens thought the shape wasn't right), pink beaded sweater (tired-looking) and a couple of cotton and linen jackets ("they don't really fit you well"). She suggested I have a good tailor take in a pair of pale blue linen slacks, which I could then wear with a black camisole and the matching linen jacket. "Just make sure the camisole doesn't fall below the jacket." She added, "You could definitely wear that blue oxford shirt with those white linen pants and a cordovan belt. Preppy is back this summer." I pat myself on the back when Gibbens praises my black leather pants. And I'm delighted when we discover the jacket of the coral suit I just bought also coordinates with a beige Calvin Klein skirt I bought eons ago. Much to my surprise, the idea is not necessarily to throw out your old stuff and buy a lot of new things. Gibbens recommends that you buy a couple of new items (in my case, a new pair of black linen pants for sure), but figure out how you can maximize combinations with the clothes you already have. Although her approach is more magnolia than cactus, she does have some maxims: Narrow tops go with wider bottoms and vice versa. T-shirts should have some lycra in them and not be too tight. A lightweight knee-length trench coat is a must-have for spring, and if you want something you can wear all year, choose a darker color. Changing buttons is a quick, cheap way to update anything. She's also a big believer in accessories – belts, jewelry, stockings (disposable fashion, she says) and scarves – as a way to individualize a wardrobe inexpensively. She reels off her sources: Anthropologie has a good selection of T-shirts; G Street Fabrics is the place for buttons; try Designer Shoe Warehouse for inexpensive shoes. And Parkway Cleaners can resurrect pilled sweaters and the like, although they do tend to be expensive. By the end of the evening, I have piles of clothes to give away, resurrect and re-animate, and my closet and I feel as if we've just had a satisfying session with our personal trainer. Elizabeth Gibbens can be reached at 202/966-6130. Her Website address is www.bayoumuse.net, and her e-mail address is elizabethpg@yahoo.com.
|
||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Sales & Discoveries
| ||||||||||||
• 
Wardrobe consultant Elizabeth Gibbens.
|
|