The great YOU mommy makeovers!
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- Mommy bloggers Makeover – Kim Gray
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- Mommy bloggers Makeover Samantha Walker
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- Mommy bloggers Makeover Catherine Bowen
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- Mommy bloggers Makeover Melissa Allen
In April this year myself and three other style bloggers (Kim Gray, Samantha Walker and Melissa Allen) took up the challenge of making over four mommy bloggers: Tertia Albertyn (“So Close”), Celeste MacLeod Barlow (The Reluctant Mom), Tania Roux (Many Things I Am) and Margot Bertelsmann (Jou ma se blerrie blog).
Myself (of Fresnaye) and Tertia (of Durbanville) were brought together! Tertia’s blog used to chronicle her infertility journey, but three kids later it is a running commentary about her life as a mother, author, blogger and baby maker. She’s been blogging since April 2004 – 3 months after the death of her first born and a month before her 9th (successful) IVF. Tertia has said she really enjoyed our sessions and learnt allot and that I opened her mind to many new possibilities – all very high praise.
Tertia thought “only rich celebs and top executives could make use of a personal stylist” and that her “every day life and average (slightly older) body” couldn’t be flaunted or flattered. Before the shoot she thought that it was either ” …flattering and terribly uncomfortable, or comfortable and terribly unflattering. And to be honest, up until now I was leaning heavily towards comfortable. Catherine showed me that it can look good and feel good at the same time. I learnt about body shapes, about angles, about which fabrics work best on which bits… who knew there was so much science in shopping!”
It was fabulous meeting a dynamic and fun individual like Tertia who was willing and open to try new things and trusted my ability and opinion. Her down-to-earth nature and honesty made it a breeze to work with her! Working with private clients is always about balancing personality and aspects of their body against their lifestyle, as Tertia learnt this does not mean that comfort and practicality have to negate style and I deliberately chose easy-to-wear-kid-friendly items that don’t require hours of time to throw together.
I believe it starts with the fabric; understanding which fabrics work best on your particular bodyline is essential to creating a good foundation for the perfect look. Always pay attention to the fabric label and focus on mainly natural fibres that will make for a more enjoyable wearer experience. Colour is equally important which is why I’ve used bright colour in the outfits – they play beautifully off Tertia’s exquisite, pale blue eyes and balance the effect that the more fashionable, muted colour has on her face…
When you’re considering what accessories to pair with an outfit keep in mind scale (you don’t want the items to wear you or to get lost on you), in Tertia’s case her height allows me to introduce some quite dramatic pieces that just wouldn’t work on a woman who is petite. All the looks play to her unique personal assets and this is every woman’s mission – again in Tertia’s particular case I used great skinny jeans in a fun colour that really show off her fabulous slim legs and are a modern twist for active mums.
There’s a myth that mothers don’t have enough time to look good – Tertia is a fan of Woolworths and does her family grocery shops there so it was important to show her how she could shop in their clothing section to create these looks and most of the items came from here. Other items came from Label (an online boutique) which means style is just a mouse click away for an online guru like Tertia and I found costume jewellery from Accessorize. In the end the only investment, designer pieces you may consider “splurging” on are good quality leather handbags (like this one from Maisha) and shoes to lend sophistication to any look.
And that is how you do Mommy Style!
