Distract and Distort

I got the best compliment today.

I am the heaviest I have ever weighed and am suffering mysterious medical ailments that rob me of sleep despite a rigorous marathon training program and meticulous calorie accounting on calorie-counter.com – no more than 1800 a day, except for a 2300-2600 allowance on long run days. But I still gained weight when mathematically I was supposed to be losing a pound a week.

Consequently, training program is cancelled and focusing full throttle on managing stress that may be keeping me up at night (stress like quitting my job at Nike, launching a new business, navigating a strange new job, moving in with my boyfriend – divorced with 3 kids, my father working on his second heart stint, and a mom with lymphoma – hence training for Nike Women’s Marathon, proceeds going to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society).

Surprisingly, I am gaining weight. So my compliment this morning was after whining so much about my weight gain, my friend said that he had absolutely no idea and thought I looked slim as ever! Thank you!

My secret? Dressing to my assets! My silhouette is hourglass so I distribute my weight pretty evenly, with some icing on my boobs and butt. They get extra love, especially that time of the month.

So, my outfit today – tight black tee with sparkles and colorful cursive across the heaving girls. Higher waist-ed, very wide leg black cotton trousers. White belt cinching my seemingly slim middle (in comparison to my ta tas). Then peep toe tall heels. Eyes go to my boobs then to my “small” middle.

Distract and distort. Optical illusion.

Boobs look really big; waist looks really small in comparison. Simple geometry! Thanks for noticing!

Don't get caught up in buying "timeless" pieces...

Tee shirts, shoes, tights, suit jackets, and hoodies are not timeless pieces. You cannot buy a tee or a blouse and really expect that pit stains won’t wear it out in a year and a half, and that it will still be in style in 10 years. It’s just not realistic.

The whole “timeless pieces” is a big misnomer in my mind. Not that you should flip your wardrobe every season, but you should never really expect that clothes transcend evolution.

When I was still really excited about looking like a high-powered executive lady and wore suits to work, I plopped down my credit card on my first (and hopefully not last) pair of Gucci shoes. Three years into Consumer Credit Counseling later, I have only worn those shoes about 5 times. Yes! The were the epitome of “timeless classic.” So much so that I felt like a grandma every time I wore them. My wardrobe evolved and my work situation went way more casual, and now I have nothing to wear with my classic chunky heel brass buckled Gucci pumps. They just sit in their pretty chocolate brown bag tucked behind my sassy strappy sandals; not to be seen again until I am 60 years old.

Never think that a suit jacket is timeless - especially if you take a break from Wall Street to do something like pop out some kids or build huts for churches in Africa. Don’t expect that the suit jacket you spent $350 on at Liz Claiborne in 2001 is going to work today. A) It’s out of style. B) Who wears suit jackets any more? C) You’re going to lose your credibility as a successful worker that the firm is confident in putting in front of the client. READ: you’re dated. Spend the $175 on a cute, fitted jean jacket. That is a better investment.

Trust me, I know more about good financial decisions now!

"Timeless" is what you invest in when you are 50 or if you are willing to fork over the big bucks. Check out these TRULY timeless pieces. If you have the dough, they are worth the investment. You can give them to your grandchildren and they will never go out of style. Nor will you look like a grandma in them at any age.

	$13,750 - A Hermes Birkin bag - it's a few grand and you can pass it down to your grand kids, but who wants to carry only 1 bag around for 15 years? You can't afford anything else if you get one of these!
	$845 - A Pucci print shift dress.
	$845 - Of course, a pair of Jimmy Choo's. $845 is actually VERY reasonable.
	$1,295 - Wrap it all up with a Burberry trench and you have a timeless outfit you can wear every day until you die for a mere $16,735.

What brought me to making style for a living?

As the owner of Ottimo Style, I have a pretty unique background in creativity. As a grade schooler in Portland suburbs, we weren’t poor by any means, but my parents didn’t like to spend money on labels. I suffered the 7th grade humiliation of a classmate announcing, “At least I have REAL Keds!” So I glued fake blue labels to the back of my $4 Volume Shoe Source Ked-look-alikes and vowed never to let anyone make fun of my clothing ever again.

So I got creative! I had my mom sew zipper panels down the front of my Kmart knickers to look like the cool ones that Fred Meyer’s sold. I belted my big sister’s E.T. sweatshirt and made it a dress and wore it with tights. I made do with what I had and twisted things uniquely into my own style.

I always had the best prom dresses that everyone borrowed. I would draw inspirations from fashion mags and MTV and crudely connect lines on a piece of paper in the “shape” of a dress. Miraculously my mom figured out how to turn those “drawings” into haute couture.

I never got the fancy bedroom set or accessories, either. So I painted, glued, taped and sewed everything myself (or with the help of my talented mom).

My wardrobe had style. My bedroom was my own style. It was uniquely mine – inspirations from clippings, people I encountered, and TV shows. It was a collection of only my experiences, my resources, and my own talents and dreams. My style. It’s the price you pay for having Scottish parents … but look where it got me!

Growing older, my friends were either borrowing my clothes or asking me to help them shop. One friend had an older sister in retail who taught us how to organize our wardrobes. That was the catalyst. To this day my closet is organized seasonally by apparel type, style, texture, and light to dark for maximum ability to mix and match.

In college I paid my senior year by selling hippy dresses and backless, patchwork shirts only spending money on thread by using recycled shirts and corduroy jeans as patches. My goal was to design the most flattering patterns for my friends’ figures. That was my only job that year and it paid my way across the US for Phish tour!

Professionally, I naturally gravitated to retail store management and put on fashion shows for Ann Taylor. Then I stretched into the Internet world. Producing web sites allowed me to explore my artistic talents in digital graphics. I basically art directed. As I did with my mother, I crudely scratched out a vision of the most stylistic yet functional user experience for the designer, and he or she made it come to life. At Nike I got to style photoshoots. I styled virtual storefronts for NikeStore.com. Always styling.

Styling, directing and organizing are in my blood. I put my best into what I say to the world – what I write, what I wear, how I work. It’s all about style. And that is Ottimo Style.

What is Ottimo?

Ottimo is Italian for “best.” Style is about putting your best self in everything you do – dressing, creating a home, and running your company. Style distinguishes you.

Ottimo Style is your style backseat driver. I help you unleash your own sense of style and apply it across every facet of your life. Helping you dress is the easy party. Do you apply your own unique style to how you cook? Do you make it your best?

Style isn’t about dressing like someone else. It’s about consistently wearing things in which you feel like royalty. But comfortably royal. With all of the fashion shows and What Not to Wear’s out there, you should know by now that style is not following the latest trends. No matter how much I love them, I CANNOT wear skinny jeans with my body type! Style is about knowing what works best on your body and then personalizing it while making sure it feels good when you wear it.

Services include

Overhauling your closet – walking through the good, the bad and the downright disastrous. I don’t just throw everything out. I help you organize what is flattering and comfortable then we can get a list of what you need to invest in.

Pre-shopping – turns out most of you hate shopping! Well I love it so after analyzing your closet, figure, tastes, needs, and budget, I pound the pavement to find the right shops and right pieces to make your shopping experience pleasant.

Shopping – let’s make this as fun as possible! Let’s get a glass of wine beforehand to calm the jitters and talk about clothing fears. We all have them. Mine is mixing metals and pairing black and brown!

Cheat Sheets – ok, I cleared out your all of your old duds (more like pried them out of your hands!) and you went shopping and have a whole new wardrobe, but now what? It can be so overwhelming trying to put together an outfit! No sweat. This is where a camera and a printer come in handy.

Maintenance – I keep great records of sizes and what you bought, so you can pick up the phone and tell me that you are ready to expand your closet. Or, you are feeling so good about how hot you are in your new duds that you want to take the next step and try some things a little farther outside of your comfort zone!

Special Occasion Shopping

These services just get you started. I want to help you think about style in your workstation, in your cooking station, and especially in your love station!