Closet refreshing, so you have the appropriate clothing for the activities you choose to have in your life, is an ongoing process and one that needs to be put on the schedule several times a year. You can find some great tips at http://www.workingwardrobesystem.com to help you with ideas for changing your closet as well as organizing it and all of the things that you might need to have like hangers, shelves, organizing baskets and items to change your closet into one you could only dream about in the past but now is within reach.

Be informed before the trends hit the marketplace so you can experience  fashion breakthroughs and get a shortcuts to style information.

Here are my answers to some recently asked questions that will help any top level professional dress more powerfully for his particular body type while following the perplexing button rule:

Suit-Up with Power and Strong, Silent Messages
Many men in high-powered positions or aspiring mid-level executives who want to get promoted to the C-suite need to understand the power messages of the suit. Whether you are interviewing for a senior level position or attending an evening philanthropic event, chances are you need to be wearing a suit that commands authority. The suit is considered the professional corporate uniform, but today every man needs a suit from time to time – to attend an evening event, a wedding, a funeral, or to make an appearance in court. But regardless of where or why you put on a suit, the key silent messages that the suit conveys are power, sophistication, and elegance.

A Suit Style for Every Man’s Physique
Every body type has its challenges and that is true for men, just as it is for women. There are tall men, short men, slender men, and heavy men. But if you dress correctly for your current body architecture you can use the illusion of correctly chosen clothing to look handsome and commanding. If you work with an image consultant, we will show you how to utilize the lines of suit design details to make you appear taller, thinner, or even heavier – if you happen to be a tall, slender fellow who needs to add some visual pounds.

Below I have listed all styles of men’s suits – and I’ve also included the double-breasted style, because it is a high fashion suit that goes in and out of fashion from time to time. So here are the highlights of the recommended styles of suits that work well with different kinds of body types:

The Heavy Man

Goal: With this body type, you want to create an illusion of appearing taller and thinner.

This man will want to wear vertical lines that draw the eye up and down his silhouette, but also attract the eye away from the waist area. The best suits for this body type are single-breasted, 2-button styles with a medium V stance. They provide slimming lines by creating a longer V in the upper chest section.

Avoid: 3-button coats or jackets with short, rolled collars. They make you look shorter and heavier.

The Slender Man

Goal: The slender man needs to increase breadth across his shoulder and chest area to add some weight on his narrow frame.

This physique will look best in single-breasted 2-button jackets. If you are on the shorter side, a 3-button jacket can give you some vertical lines to make you appear taller. You can also wear a double-breasted suit with lapels that roll below the waist to elongate your torso and give you some added fabric across the midsection.

Avoid: Pinstripe suits that can make you appear too thin.

The Tall Man

Goal: If you are over 6 feet tall you already have a tall, vertical frame, which means you can add some horizontal lines.

The man with this body type is very fortunate, because he can wear all styles of suits, but he will definitely need to wear a longer cut of jacket. You will look great in a 3-button single-breasted style jacket. A double-breasted coat works on the tall man, too, because he can look good with the horizontal lines of the buttons and front opening.

The Athletic Man

Goal: With your exaggerated V-shaped frame, you have the desired ideal shape. Your shoulders are broad but your waist is slim, creating an inverted triangle.

With this athletic build you will look best in single-breasted 2-button styles that will deemphasize a bit of your shoulder width. You may also need to look for “athletic cut” suits that provide a larger drop, which is the difference between your chest measurement and your waist size.

What’s the button-rule?

There is a rule to buttoning a man’s coat in order to project sophistication and elegance. But it is amazing to me to see sportscasters, TV reporters, and celebrities who don’t follow this rule because not doing so can sabotage their image immediately.

Here is a quick history of how the button rule came into existence:

Back years ago King Edward VII became so heavy that he was unable to button the bottom button of his vest. His followers did not want to embarrass him by buttoning their last button, so they began to take his lead and imitate his style – and that started a new fashion trend to leave the last button open. Today suits are designed to leave the bottom button open, and so are vests and sport coats. Here is a quick reference guide to when to button which button of your jacket:

* On a single-breasted 2-button jacket – button the top button only.
* On a single-breasted 3-button jacket – button the top two buttons only, unless the suit lapels tend to roll to the middle button. In that case you would not button the top button because of how the lapel would lay against your torso.
* A trendy, single-breasted 4-button jacket is often designed so that you wear all buttons closed or only the bottom button open. I always encourage my clients to button the last button unless they see a pull in the fabric around the 4th button. In that case you would leave it unbuttoned.

Here’s the button bottom line: Most jackets are designed to leave the bottom button undone. So if you button it then the fabric pulls and shows if you have a few extra pounds, which can undermine your great presence. We realize that when men gain weight, you tend to put the pounds in your lower midsection. So coats are made so that you have some ease for the coat to lay straight with no pulling or tugging – as long as you don’t use that bottom or last button.

I hope that regardless of your physique or title, you will find the right suit that fits you correctly and can emphasize your positive features. When you know the rules of buttoning the coat, it appears that you are a sharp, well-dressed man who understands how to get the most from his wardrobe.

Every man needs at least one modern suit in his wardrobe to wear when the situation calls for a formal, sophisticated look. So next time you shop for suit, remember the importance that lines make in helping you create an illusion to appear more powerful, commanding, and elegant.

Sarah Hathorn is a professional image consultant, certified personal brand strategist, speaker, and author.
Her company, Illustra Image Consulting, works with high-achieving future leaders and large businesses by enhancing their corporate and personal brand image to take their businesses and careers to the next level.
Blog, Ezine & Website: http://www.illustraimageconsulting.com
Phone: 678-528-1239 Email: sarah@illustraimageconsulting.com Copyright 2009, Sarah Hathorn, AICI CIP, CPBS
This article may be reproduced only in its entirety, including the above bio.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Hathorn

1. Enhance your assets: Find out what styles you should avoid and which styles accentuate.
2. Purchase carefully: Knowing items that will complement and co-ordinate with what you already have will stop impulse buying.
3. Shop with a Plan: Before you buy, consider if the item will go with three other items you own now, how long it will remain in style.
4. Systematic shopping: Instead of buying all of your clothes at once it’s better to have a shopping schedule. Add one or two items a month.
5. Remove and replace: Once you have built a workable wardrobe it is a good idea to continually remove and replace items you no longer wear.
Shopping will be a breeze when you book your Online Colour and Style consultation today! Email us or Ph 1300 655 755 to start the adventure today.
For additional shopping tips read our ‘ Classics at Bargain Prices’ or our ‘I hate Shopping’ article.
Copyright 2008 Jump the Q. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be copied or reproduced without the prior written permission of Jump the Q.

Dressing to Look Slimmer
Written on the 26th of October 2009 by Rachel Quilty, Professional Image and Personal Brand Strategist @ Jump the Q
People everywhere are concerned about their weight and their appearances. However, dieting can be disastrous for your health if you do it wrong, and struggling with your weight for the sake of looks isn’t usually the best idea. While everyone should be healthy, there are quite a few things you can do with the way you dress to look slimmer without fighting the pounds. Even people at theoretically healthy weights don’t always look their best, because many of them don’t know how to dress. Here’s a look at a few strategies to help you look slimmer.
First, be realistic. There’s no dress trick that’s going to make a naturally round person look like a lanky teenage model. Having a good understanding of your body type and your best and worst features can go a long way toward helping you dress well. Don’t hold yourself to a physically impossible standard.
Next, start taking a look at what you like, as well as the features you’d like to emphasize and the ones you’d rather didn’t get noticed. Have your friends weigh in, too – many people have a distorted image of themselves, and the parts they don’t like look fine to other people.
Think about where you carry your weight. Does it end up mostly on your hips and thighs, on your belly, or in other areas? The strategies that help an apple shaped person, without much of a waistline, aren’t going to be as useful for a person with most of their weight on their legs.
Now, look at fit. Most people wear extremely poorly fitted clothing – too tight in one spot and too loose in another. It’s binding, uncomfortable, and unflattering, especially if you’re not rail thin. If you’ve been buying clothes that are extremely tight, to try to hold on to a clothing size you once wore, or because you believe tightness makes you look thinner, or if you tend to wear sacks to de-emphasize your body, stop. Both strategies will make you look a lot bigger. Tight clothes give the overall impression of a sausage about to burst its skin, while loose ones make you take up more space.
Go for a close, but not extremely tight fit. You might need to do a little alteration or enlist the help of a tailor to get this done. Have hems taken up if they’re too long. Have pants let out if they bite in at the waist. Choose tops that comfortably fit over your widest part without straining and without turning the rest of the garment into a tent. Have loose areas taken in for a better fit if you need to. Tailored clothes are often more flattering than stretch knits, but some bias cuts do look pretty good. Experiment and look at yourself critically in the mirror to decide if something really fits well.
You’ve probably heard rules about wearing black, avoiding horizontal stripes, or breaking up your shape. While horizontal lines do tend to be widening, and dark colors do tend to be slimming, these rules aren’t ironclad. If you hate black and navy blue, don’t wear them. You’ll seem slimmer if you’re happy, after all. If you find a horizontal stripe pattern that doesn’t look bad, don’t pass it by.
Dressing to look slimmer isn’t actually all that hard, if you’re willing to take a hard look at yourself and what you want. A good fit can do more for you than anything else. Make sure you’re willing to dress like you love yourself, and you’ll look and feel a whole lot better.
Learn how to look slimmer in minutes. Dress slimmer today!

? Rachel Quilty, Professional Image and Personal Brand Strategist as well as an internationally certified Professional Image Consultant, speaker and author of professional development must- have book ?Brand Yourself? . Rachel believes, ?Building your profile is as simple as developing a strong personal brand and a striking personal image.? Rachel encourages Jump the Q clients to think strategically when developing a professional image to get that job offer, gain that promotion or win that client. Take control of the decisions others are making of you. Start with these simple strategies, in our free ebook ?Make Your Mark? available at www.jumptheq.com.au.

? Rachel Quilty, Professional Image and Personal Brand Strategist as well as an internationally certified Professional Image Consultant, speaker and author of professional development must- have book ?Brand Yourself? . Rachel believes, ?Building your profile is as simple as developing a strong personal brand and a striking personal image.? Rachel encourages Jump the Q clients to think strategically when developing a professional image to get that job offer, gain that promotion or win that client. Take control of the decisions others are making of you. Start with these simple strategies, in our free ebook ?Make Your Mark? available at www.jumptheq.com.au.