arashmazinani

Personal Stylist Leeds - Personal Shopper Leeds - Image Consultant - Arash Mazinani

Readers Questions

Would You Let Your Partner Style You?

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It’s been a while since I’ve posed a reader question so after a little bit of inspiration I found the perfect question to ask. A few weeks ago I came across a few blogs that were running a blog challenge. The challenge was to go an entire week only wearing what your partner had picked out for you. The blogger I was looking at went the whole week wearing the clothes her boyfriend had picked out for her, both at work and on her days off. It was really interesting seeing the items he had picked and the reasons he gave for picking them. Equally, it was great to read the blogger’s thoughts on each ‘look’ her boyfriend had put together for her. She detailed what she liked and what she felt didn’t really work well. I tried to find the blog in question to link to it but really couldn’t find it, so if you’re reading and it was your blog say ‘hi’.

I found the blog in question by clicking on the links in my comments section. I then probably went through a blogroll or had a look at interesting comments on that blog before stumbling upon the article in question. So it pays to comment. I’m sure there were a number of bloggers that took up this challenge so if you have participated, again say ‘hi’.

When I met up with my stylist friends a couple of weeks ago I shared my experiences of when I worked in the personal shopping suite at Harvey Nichols in Leeds. I talked about ladies I met that exclusively wore what their husband picked out for them. This got me thinking about the blog challenge I’d also come across.

Would your partner dress you like this?

What I’d love to find out is: Would you let your partner style you?

Maybe you’ve been part of a similar challenge? If you have I’d love to hear your experiences. Maybe your partner is a pretty stylish guy so you’d give him the opportunity to give it a go? Perhaps you’d find it too controlling and love having the freedom to wear what you please?

When really you prefer this?

If you’ve never thought about it before, why not give it a go then report back or create your own blog post on it.

Personally, I’ve never let my girlfriend completely dress me from head to toe, I might give it a try. I do trust her as she has a good eye. But on the odd occasion we do have a bit of a disagreement about whether something looks good or not. But who knows, if everyone else agrees to do it I might join in and post up the results.

I definitely want to hear your thoughts on this reader question so feel free to comment below.

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What Are The Top 5 Things You Put In Your Bag?

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Another quick one today, my scheduled has changed so I need to either prepare my Tuesday blog post in advance (start thinking about it on Sunday) or wake up a little bit earlier to give myself more time. I always fail to plan for the amount of time I spend messing around checking out Facebook and Twitter before I actually make my way to my own blog. So it leaves me with 30 minutes to write a post and find pictures for it. Anyway I said I’d keep it short again this week so I’m putting a question to you all.

What are the top 5 things you put in your bag?

I just opened mine and could only really count 4. Check out the picture below, but you’ll find an old packet of Halls Soothers which I always just keep kicking around. My old iPod and Sony headphones, my Bottega wallet and my diary. My mobile phone and keys I tend to keep on me in my pockets.

Anyway.. I’ve shared the top things I put in my bag…. now it’s your turn!

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Which Item Do You Kick Yourself For Not Buying?

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I was sitting this morning trying to decide what to blog about. Recently I feel I’ve had little time to actually think of blog topics to write about. Before I know it the time comes around for another post. So I tend to pick up a magazine or newspaper or get out the house for inspiration. This morning’s inspiration came courtesy of British fashion designer Christopher Kane. In an interview he was asked about his greatest regret, to which he replied “not buying things I should have when I was a student. I still wish I’d bought that McQueen or Versace, for the archive – everyone else did, and I didn’t!“. This got the brain juices flowing, if the brain has juices that is, and got me thinking about whether or not there was any items that I regret not buying. I know instantly which item it was and to this day I still search for it on the net.

The Alexander McQueen knuckleduster ring


I remember this badboy showing up when I worked at Harvey Nichols it looked super cool felt quite heavy but trod the line between being feminine and sparkly and tough and masculine really well. I considered buying one but was mainly put off by the fact I wanted to wear it out to bars and clubs. Knowing what the doormen are like at most places I thought I’d get turned away because it could be used as a weapon and particularly me being a guy wearing it. So I was unsure but then I hear that net – a – porter had an all black version when I saw that I was like wow, I want it! But still for some reason I didn’t buy it. Now I can’t find it anywhere, I can’t even find pictures of the black version. In fact it made me think did it really exist or did my brain just make it up? Do you ever get that when you can’t find something ?

So now I’m kicking myself for not buying it when I had the opportunity to. We all like to treat ourselves from time to time. But because I’m usually so strict when it comes to parting with cash, unless I really need it I can often pass up on pieces that months later I wish I had bought.

There is a fine line of knowing when your shopping for the sake of shopping and buying things you don’t need and then only buying things you absolutely need. I tend to fall in the later category and while I’d much rather be that way round I still need to learn to treat myself and buy pieces simply because I love them from time to time. I guess it’s a tight rope that runs through the middle that we all must try and walk.

Which Item Do You Kick Yourself For Not Buying?

I’d love to hear your thoughts….

P.S check out the new google + 1 button below…\/

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What Makes A Fashion Store Stand Out?

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I was checking the newspaper today when I noticed that fashion retailer Jane Norman fell into administration. I was thinking about the state of the high street and how particularly with online shopping becoming such a dominant force, what retailers can do differently to keep afloat. Now I obviously don’t have answers, if I did I wouldn’t be writing this blog post right now, instead I’d be making millions selling those ideas. So I thought it was time for another reader question. So I guess I want to know…

What Makes A Store Stand Out?

I talked in a previous post about customer service, which is still something that needs to be addressed with 90% of retailers on the high street.

But I was also thinking about other ways that can set stores apart in terms of changing how customers interact with the store and the clothes. A perfect example is by embracing technology. I recently saw a cool concept online in a Topshop store in Russia, they have used the Microsoft Kinect to allow the customer to try on clothes with out having to get changed. Now it looked a bit rough but was a pretty neat concept. Check it out below

I’m sure there are other ways that retailers can utilise technology better. Most people have smart phone where bluetooth/WiFi is quite common. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a feature where if you went into a store there was the possibility of getting some discount txt’d to you? I’m pretty sure you it would kill any hesitations you may have had to buy that new pair of shoes. I don’t know the legality of such a service but the possibility of being one of the luck few to be chosen that day to receive a discount would definitely encourage more people in the store. It would also add another element of fun to the whole ‘experience’ of shopping. Carrying on with the technology (in case you hadn’t guessed I’m s technogeek) for a moment, I’ve seen a service on a TV show before that allows you to take photos of your outfits in the dressing room and then tweet it. Yeah I know you can do that already with your phone. But the whole dressing room was like a runway with proper lighting and probably a better camera taking the photos as well.

I also think a lot can be learnt in terms of how clothes are presented to us. A great example is Net-A-Porter, before I knew anything about the site, other than it sold designer clothes, I knew that part of the experience of buying from there was their beautiful packaging. To this day I don’t know what their packaging looked like, what I do know is that it’s all everyone talked about. I think this idea needs to be taken and upscaled to stores on the high street. I don’t mean they all need to have fancy packaging, but I do think they should be far more creative and adventurous in how they present their products to us.

So those are my thoughts

As always I’d love to hear yours on

What Makes A Fashion Store Stand Out?

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Are Europeans More Stylish Than Americans?

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I was minding my own business browsing the internet on Sunday when I checked out Beautifully Invisible’s ‘links love with a twist‘. On there was an old post from Bangs And A Bun titled ‘Europeans Dress Better Than Americans: Fact‘. To be fair to her she has spent a lot of time in Canada and the US and has also lived in the UK for quite some time. The article has some valid points in it, in my opinion, however I thought I’d touch on the subject on my own blog mainly because I know that I tend to have quite an equal mix of readers from both the US and Europe and it would definitely be interesting to get your opinion on the subject.

 

I know my favourite designers tend to be European designers… Alber Elbaz, Lucas Ossendrijver, The late Alexander McQueen in terms of mens clothes. I also think that the most flattering look on a guy is the tailored look which flatters the body. I know from my brief visit to the US a lot of guys did tend to wear clothes that weren’t as tailored as you’d tend to see in Europe and I have seen it referenced even in terms as a ‘look’ in comments on thesatorialist “his style is very European”. However I don’t know if it’s fair for me personally to judge an entire country on the limited insight I have on it.

When it comes to women and fashion would you say that European women are more stylish than American women?

I’d love to know your thoughts as I think it’s quite an interesting question. What intrigued me most was that on the original article a lot of comments left were from American’s agreeing with the author. So I’d love to hear from all my readers from the US and also from Europe.

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The Art of Vintage; Brand New or Second Hand?

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I’ve noticed a lot of posts about vintage clothing recently and blogs that detail the art of ‘thrifting’. It’s one subject that I’ve never wrote about before mainly because I don’t have much experience of vintage clothing myself. It’s not that I dislike vintage pieces it’s more down to lack of time and laziness if I’m honest. I usually have a clear idea in my mind of what I want when I go out shopping and having to search endlessly in vintage clothe stores just seems like a chore. However I know I’m potentially missing out on some amazing finds and bargains by overlooking the vintage stores.

Other than time my ‘beef’ if you will is that the current trend in vintage fashion means in the city I live in there have been a number of pop up vintages stores. When I actually go in and browse some of the pieces they actually are a similar cost to brand new items I can get on the high street. Having said that, I have seen some blog posts where the author has stumbled upon some amazing pieces for next to nothing. Whenever I read that in a blog post I always think to myself “maybe I need to reconsider vintage clothing” but then I never get round to committing to it.

Then there is the issue of quality, some vintage pieces maybe great quality but a lot of what I see is battered and just looks like it needs a good wash!

Sometimes I just can’t be…

So I guess this post is not really me giving you any tips on how to find decent vintage pieces but rather me asking on tips from the thrifters out there.

I’d also love to hear people’s views on vintage fashion. If you can’t wait to go on a hunt for a vintage bargain let me know. Alternatively, if you can’t stand vintage and would rather buy brand new again I want to hear about it.

I now have a facebook fan page and would love it if you would join me there.

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