How To Find Your Style: Helpful Hints From Helene Esdaile (Part 1)

Helene Esdaile and I often have a chat over coffee and grizzle about how difficult it is to shop for clothes. You may recall my post on What can I wear and where do I shop to find it? None of us have lost our desire to dress well and with style but we’re frustrated in our search to find it.

What Helene has noticed, in talking with her customers, is how tired we are with the media for constantly projecting anorexic young girls in clothes we can’t relate to, and designers that fail to meet our needs for appropriate shapes and sizes. Not to mention the poor service many stores provide.

Helene has worked in the fashion industry since she was a young woman in Melbourne. It was her love of clothes and her ability to design and make them that led to her first job working for Prue Acton.

Then came the label Pucci which many of us remember as one of the first exciting labels in Australia during the 60’s. After a move to Sydney marriage and motherhood, Helene became the Head Designer for another iconic Australian label, Wraggs which epitomised casual dressing.

She eventually established her own business meeting a huge demand for occasion dressing, from race wear to weddings. With all this experience Helene knows how styles, shapes and fit really should work for women.

I decided to tap into Helene’s experience and ask her for some practical hints that all of us can use as we go about finding our style.

Why do you think it’s difficult for women to find clothes that suit as they get older?

• Women over 40 who have enjoyed fashion since their teens still want to wear the latest trends but the styles just need to be fine-tuned to suit any changes in their body shape.
• Many shops don’t stock appropriate ranges and many labels are not getting shapes and sizes right either so finding the stores that really look after you is important.
• Women’s bodies change shape at menopause, just as they did at puberty and pregnancy. It’s important to find the right cut and shape to suit your body so you can play down the ‘bad bits’ and highlight your best features. Yes, we do have them! But we get so concerned about all the things we don’t like, we forget the best parts.

What is the difference between fashion and style?

• Fashion is the latest trends whereas style is how you interpret those trends to suit your lifestyle, body shape and budget
• Most of my customers dress for lifestyle, not age. If the fit and cut are right for their body it will look ‘age appropriate’
• It should reflect your individuality
• And remember that money does not buy style!

What are common problems you hear from your customers?

I could write a book about this!

• Sizing - no consistency in sizes and a poor size selection
• Unflattering cuts
• Designs that suit the under 25’s and definitely not suitable for anyone over 40, let alone over 50
• Skirts that are too short or if longer, look ‘daggy’  because they finish at the most unflattering part of the calf
• Buttons that pop open over the bust in blouses and knits

What are women really looking for do you think?

• Fashion that is age(less)
• Styles that are ‘body friendly’
• Flattering shapes and cuts
• Good quality fabrics
• Good value -I think that after a certain age, most women won’t pay ridiculous prices just because something is ‘hyped-up’ in the media

In the next post Helene identifies basic mistakes we can all make when buying clothes and offers great suggestions on how to identify our good points and make the most of them.

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