personal branding

Summer Style Over 40

April 7, 2021 by Bethany Siggins

My Dilemma

I noticed it a handful of years ago. I could not find a pair of shorts that fell past upper thigh. Everything was short, short, short. I thought it was a passing thing, and I told myself next summer would be easier. Nope. All the shorts were short, short, short. So, I began to default to dresses and skirts for summertime with a few pairs of chinos sprinkled in. Shorts were for around the house only.

Recently, a friend of mine and I were lamenting the problem of the “too short” shorts, and she said I should create a catalog of pieces for women over 40. So, I did!

Your Shopping Catalog

Click here to shop the catalog. Not only does my catalog contain shorts in a variety of lengths from 5 – 9,” I also include tops, pants, skirts, dresses, sandals and sneakers to give you a well-rounded selection.

Most of the pieces in this catalog are relaxed and casual. However, many of them can be dressed up with a cute jacket or the right shoe and accessories. Message me if I can help you decide which of these pieces are right for you. I can do a personalized shop for you, too.

Guidelines for Over 40 Summer Style

As you know, I’m not much for rules. However, a few general style guidelines are helpful. Determining what is “age appropriate” is difficult to pin down. As I’ve discussed over the years, it depends on the person. What works for one may not work for another for a variety of reasons. It mostly comes down to what works well on your body and how you feel when you wear it. If it feels too young, it is. Donate it.

Here are my guidelines for summer style over 40.

Simplify the Look

Often, the fussier the piece, the more youthful it appears. This includes ties, zippers, ribbons, appliqués, ruffles and flounces. However, there is always a way to wear things you love. When wearing a “youthful” piece, keep the rest of your outfit streamlined and classic.

Longer is Classy

This goes for shorts, dresses and skirts. For skirts and dresses, just under the knee length is a flattering place to stop. The nice thing about this length is you don’t have to worry how high it rises when you sit down. It will fall just above your knee when you sit, which is perfect. Choosing the right length for shorts depends on your height and proportions. Generally, try to keep shorts to a length of 5” or longer. Longer shorts can be hemmed to the right length for you. Better to buy too long and get them altered than to buy too short.

Wear Flattering Colors

The colors you wear over 40 are especially important as our body colors begin to soften with age. While it was once easy to experiment with all the colors of the rainbow, find colors that make you look vibrant and energized. If your default is black, try navy. Add color pops to your neutrals.

If you are unsure about your most flattering colors, I can do a custom color analysis for you. Your custom color fan is one-of-a-kind, and it’s a helpful shopping tool and a great companion at the makeup counter, too. Contact me to get your color fan!

Play in Accessories

Accessories do a great job telling your story. They are your personality pieces. Be thoughtful about your choices, and invest well here. If accessories have been an afterthought, put focus here this season. A great shoe/sandal, a nice handbag and well-chosen jewelry take your look to the next level.

I’m Here to Help

If you are not sure what to buy this season, message me. Together, we will edit your wardrobe and make sure the pieces you buy are the ones you truly need.

Have fun shopping the catalog, and let me know what you buy!

Note: Some, though not all, of the links in the catalog are with affiliated retailers, who pay me a small commission for your purchases. This is always appreciated!

A Look Back: 10 Years of Blogging

May 5, 2020 by Bethany Siggins

On March 26, 2010, I published my first blog post, aptly titled “Hello, World!” One could have never have imagined what the 10-year anniversary of my blog would be like on March 26, 2020.

C.S. Lewis wrote: “The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own,’ or ‘real’ life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life.”

Thank you, Mr. Lewis, for this wisdom. Now that I’ve (somewhat) found my footing in this new, temporary reality, let’s take a journey through the last 10 years of the blog.

My First Post

When I published my first post, I knew very little about blogging, and blogging was still fairly new. What I did know was I enjoyed writing. With countless other blogs out there, I wanted my blog to stand out.

An excerpt: “I got into image consulting to help people and to make a positive impact in their lives. So, here’s what my blog is about: I want to educate you, empower you, and help you become more aware of yourself, your style and your imprint on this world. I want to give you REAL information that will raise your awareness about image, style and fashion, as well as increase your confidence in your own personal style.” Read the full post here.

Shoes are a Hot Topic

Several months into writing my blog, I published “Your Shoes – They Matter.” An excerpt: “Everyone owns shoes that are purposeful. We have gym shoes, work shoes, evening shoes, etcetera. However, do you own a pair that communicates who you are?” Read the full post here.

My First Year of Blogging

I was very active in the first nine months of my blog publishing a total of 30 posts! Apparently, I had a lot to say. Then, the blog posts abruptly stopped for a year. There was a good reason for that. I had twins at the end of 2010, two months early! The next 12-14 months were a blur of bottles, diapers and burp cloths.

I began writing my blog again in early 2012. One of those first posts is aptly named “Seeing Double.” The title of course was in reference to my twins, but the post also contains five tips to shop smarter and not get overwhelmed. Read the full post here.

Don’t Wait to Lose Weight

Later in 2012, I published a post titled “Shop Right Where You Are.” This post discusses shopping for nice things now rather than waiting until you are at your ideal weight. It is very common to hear a potential client say she would like to lose weight before she works with me. However, in this post I make the case for not waiting. There is a client success story within. Read the full post here.

Stand Out For Being Yourself

One of my favorite blog posts from 2013 was a short, sweet one called “Be a Red Tulip.” In short, I encourage you to be yourself and to embrace the things that make you stand out. Read the full post here.

2014, the Year of Education

I was doing a lot of public speaking in 2014. As a result, my blog posts reflect topics I was speaking about including career style, a balanced wardrobe and body language.

A Few Guest Bloggers

It’s hard to believe I’ve only had a few guest bloggers. My first guest blogger was Deborah King of Final Touch who discussed civility, something we all need in giant doses right now! This blog was posted about two months into the start of my blog. However, it is a great refresher for what is happening in our world right now. An excerpt: “Civility deals with how we view and treat others. It requires us to look beyond our own interests and look to the interests and well-being of others.” Read the full post here.

My second guest blogger, my dear friend Deborah Hill, wrote a blog post called “Pregnancy Chic” about five months into the start of my blog. An excerpt: “Dressing chic during pregnancy is very easy, actually. The key is to NOT dress like you’re pregnant. In other words, dress your normal style in an accommodating size.” Read the full post here.

Seven years later in August 2017, I welcomed my third guest blogger, my younger brother, Marsh Buice. He wrote “It’s Not You, It’s Your Metabolism.” An excerpt: “To metabolize our lives differently, we must transform from a life of emotional resistance to a life of emotional resilience.” Those are words to digest right now! Read the full post here.

Fashion, Fashion & More Fashion

I’ve seen several amazing exhibits featuring incredible fashion designers over the years. However, I have only featured a few on my blog. They are in order: Oscar de la Renta, Jeremy Scott and Christian Dior.

The Blog Goes to the Dark Side

After we moved to Seattle in early 2015, I began to write more serious pieces including a popular one titled “Why I Allowed My Daughter to Cut Her Hair.” An excerpt: “Vivien is free to express herself through her personal image. While I still play the role of her mother, protecting, guiding and teaching her, she can make image choices for herself.” Read the full post here.

I reflected on the forced pause the move created in a post titled “When Life Demands a Pause.” This is a great one to re-read as the world is in a forced pause of sorts. An excerpt: “How wonderful to enjoy more time with my beautiful, kind children during these sweet, young years. My business can always get a re-boot. Our kids are only young once.” Read the full post here.

My Most Popular Post

The blog post that remains the most read of all, “The Day I was Asked to Move,” recounts a painful, embarrassing day. However, a few great lessons came from it. Read the full post here.

Southern in Seattle is Born

As I was finding my footing in Seattle, I launched a new blog in February 2017 called Southern in Seattle. The purpose of this blog was to share things I loved of the South with my Seattle audience and to also highlight southern things I found in Seattle (mostly food!). We have been back in Dallas for almost two years, but I’ve held onto the blog name, as well as the Instagram profile. I’ve kept it because it is part of my story. I want to remember our time in Seattle in a fond way. This blog emerging from that time is a wonderful result. My favorite blog post I have ever written across both of my blogs is on Southern in Seattle. It is my love letter to New Orleans. Read it here.

A Recent Favorite

One of my favorite blog posts in the more recent past is “Whose Style is it Anyway?” An excerpt: “We won’t always understand or agree with the fashion choices around us. It isn’t our job to. Our job is to find our own style and to work it fearlessly.” Read the full post here.

Do You Believe in Miracles?

You don’t want to miss my miracle story in “Tales from the Tarmac – A Girl & Her Orange Suitcase.” Customer service is not dead. Read the full post here.

fullsizeoutput 9471 1024x856 - A Look Back: 10 Years of Blogging

Let’s Go for 10 More!

This blog has given me great joy over these last 10 years. It has allowed me to share encouraging words with you, my readers. It has helped me process my thoughts during difficulties, and it has kept me in touch with the good in others. While I started the blog for you, it has been a great help to me! I can’t imagine my life without it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support. There is more to come!

Your Style Your Way

February 14, 2020 by Bethany Siggins

I’ve written many times about personal style, most recently in last year’s popular post, Whose Style is it Anyway, and the previous year in the post Fiercely You in 2018. It requires bravery to be yourself through your personal image. You know the saying: “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.”

Orson Welles described style in this way: “Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn.”

The last part of his quote is what gives you the courage to show yourself to the world through your personal style. We wonder what others will think. Remember, others might be wondering what you think. I don’t believe we think of others’ style choices that much. I don’t. If I, the image consultant, isn’t thinking much about others’ styles, what makes you think anyone else is giving it much thought? So, let’s not allow this idea to hold us back in our style choices.

Simon Doonan once genially wrote: “As you experiment with your appearance, you must remember that by feeling self-conscious you are merely indulging yourself. Nobody is judging you… People are much too busy worrying about their own lives to ask why you are dressed like Wolf Blitzer.”

Your Style Inspires Others

I get some of my best ideas from the street, drawing inspiration from how someone has styled themselves. You have a unique point of view. Your life isn’t like anyone else’s. Your experiences are different from mine. The things you’ve done and the people you’ve spent time with mold you into who you are today. You are the only you we’ve got.

As Carol Edgarian puts it, “Style – It’s all the places you’ve been to and the people and moments you’ve known: the parts you’ve adopted, to keep forever, and transformed. We wear our history in our hearts and on our backs.”

A person with style naturally draws eyes, so the person who prefers to blend in may opt out of making a style statement. That’s fine except your image makes a statement whether you like it or not. The “hoping to blend in” style says things I’d rather not type. It speaks and not in a good way. The person with style has an undeniable energy. They are uplifting and magnetic. We move a little closer to them to learn what they know.

Style moves beyond rules

In a world of opposing and confusing messages, your style very clearly says, “This is me.” You are the special sauce. You make your clothing cool. Style is knowing yourself, tuning into what you love and bringing those things into your look. Personal style can’t be graphed, charted or rigidly planned. Rather, your personal style begins when you walk away from rote style rules to embrace your unique way of doing things.

This year do your style your way. I am here to support you. There’s nothing I love more than connecting a client with themselves, leading them to a style they love. Message me, and let’s get started!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? … as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”~Marianne Williamson

Achieving 2020 Style Vision

January 13, 2020 by Bethany Siggins

Happy New Year! Don’t worry, this isn’t another drab “new year, new you” post. Rather, it is a two-part blog series to get you off on the right foot, style-wise, in 2020. First, let’s get a handle on your wardrobe so you can get dressed with ease and confidence every day.

Most of us rarely remove pieces from our wardrobes. We shop, we buy and we add it to the closet. However, after several years of adding and no removing, the closet becomes stuffed, and we grab the same 10 pieces every week. What a tragedy.

Say goodbye to an overstuffed wardrobe.

It is easier than you think to get your wardrobe ship-shape for 2020. Here are four quick and easy steps get you there!

Understand your choices. Take 20-30 minutes to look over your wardrobe, including accessories, shoes and handbags. As you do this, look for your acquisition patterns. How do your things find their way into your closet? Do you shop in a rush and grab what’s “close enough” or “good enough” right before an event? Perhaps you “collect” things like jeans, blazers, sweaters, etc.? Maybe you buy online and fail to return things when they don’t work out. What color or colors do you consistently buy? Do you have a lot of hand-me-downs from others? When you assess what is there and acknowledge how it got there, you open the door to having a concise wardrobe that serves you well. That is because next you will…
Recognize habits and adjust. The exercise above opens your eyes. Perhaps 20 pairs of jeans are enough. Maybe 8 pairs of navy dress pants are too many. It’s possible 18 black tops are overkill. Acquiring without looking at what you have does your wardrobe and wallet a disservice. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen what is already needed hanging in a client’s closet with no reason to shop. Once you see what you have, you can edit and abstain from habitual choices. Next…
Allow fresh ideas to enter. This is tougher. Habits are safe and easy. Trying new things is hard and a little scary. However, if you continue in your usual fashion habits, you close the door on a style that is fresh and current. Times change and a modern personal style adjusts with the times. Start small. If you own a lot of black and/or navy, identify a color or colors that pop well with it, and purchase pieces in those colors. If you never wear dresses but like them, purchase a few. Find something (anything!) new to try this year. Last…
Be good to yourself. You deserve a wardrobe that makes sense, is easy to work with and serves you across all facets of your life. Holding onto old pieces that “might come back in style one day” only makes it harder to get dressed. Clutter creates confusion. Getting rid of things does not hold you back; it propels you forward! Releasing the old opens the door to the new. Reading Marie Kondo’s book “the life changing magic of tidying up” early last year greatly helped me let go even when I already had a well-edited wardrobe. I blogged and podcasted about it. I learned I didn’t need “back-up” pieces I didn’t like. If my first choice is not available, I will find something else to wear. If I need another one, I will add it to my wish list without holding onto a piece I don’t like.

You can do this!

If the above feels daunting, I can help. Comment to this post, contact me via my website or send me an e-mail at bethany@bethanysiggins.com. Right now is the perfect time to uncover a wardrobe that supports you and gives you energy and confidence. Make this year your most stylish!

I’ll be back soon with the second installment: Your Style Your Way. I love hearing from you, so be sure to leave your comments below!

Here’s to a fabulous, fashionable 2020!

Photo of me by Studio 18 Seniors.

Social Media, For Better or For Worse?

July 26, 2017 by Bethany Siggins

Somewhere along the way, I got off track with social media. On the one hand, social media has great benefits including staying in touch across the miles, promoting your business and finding a new job. But there is a balance one should maintain, and I, during the last two years especially, was doing a terrible job of pulling back when I should.

My first social media account was on MySpace. I know I am dating myself! As everyone knows, MySpace was eclipsed by Facebook, which I joined in mid-2008, four years after it launched, hesitant to go where I thought only college students tread. Other social media formats followed, and it was not long before we were Tweeting, Pinning, Snap Chatting and Instagramming with people far and near.

I created a business page on Facebook, and I joined Twitter as a means of raising my business profile for my new career in image consulting. It worked. By late 2010, I was receiving business from Google searches. Pinterest swept me into its arms in 2011, and I built boards geared at educating clients and keeping myself on top of trends. I joined Instagram in 2013, mostly to maintain a presence to avoid looking like a dinosaur. One must keep up!

I spent a good amount of time building a following across these four platforms, in addition to my personal business website and my blog. The time I spent on social media was mostly reasonable, and it rarely eclipsed the day-to-day work required of a small business. By 2014, my business was on a roll. I was speaking at least once per quarter and working with a steady stream of personal clients. I give a lot of props to social media for this momentum.

Yet, after our move to Seattle in January 2015, I became depressed and I collapsed into social media as an escape. The mere idea of starting over in a new city drained me of all energy, and I spent more and more time immersed in a world of highlight reels.

My husband tried to talk to me about my social media use on a few occasions, and each time I became defensive. I was homesick, and I missed my friends. Seeing them on social media was my way of being with them. On a deeper level, I was angry at my husband for this big change, and retreating into social media was one way I could punish him. What I realize now is I was punishing myself by missing out on life with my family. I was often choosing social media over them. The happy moments occurring right under my nose were going unnoticed and unappreciated.

Social media, at first an innocent escape, became a robber in my life. It robbed me of time, motivation, confidence and joy. When I finally decided to pull my head out of my rear and examine my social media use, I realized my husband was right and I was wrong. He was not asking me to give up social media. He understands the benefit of it for my business. He was simply asking for more of me at the appropriate times.

The solution that worked for my husband and me is we drew up a schedule of when neither of us would be on social media at all. With a few slips here and there, we have stuck to it. The things I need to do for my brand marketing are easily condensed, and I am feeling much more engaged with my husband and my kids. Further, I am reading more, working out again, and doing other things that bring me happiness and fulfillment, like writing.

If you are struggling to pull back from your phone, here are a few tips:

Set a time schedule of when you will or won’t be on social media.
Keep a log of when you are on social media, and write down the reasons you are using it. Escaping occasionally into social media is fine. Escaping for several hours per day when there is important work to do is not okay.
Ask your partner how he/she feels about your social media use, and adjust where needed. It might enhance (or save) your relationship.
Remember your social media feed is not real life. If you feel you are missing out, you are. Look up from your phone and observe the world around you. Don’t miss it!

Street Style – Two Style Lessons

August 5, 2016 by Bethany Siggins

Here are a few more snaps from our evening at Casco Antiguo earlier this week. Style Lesson #1: If your top is long (longer than where your leg breaks when you lift it), you must wear a heel to create a longer leg. Otherwise, your body is cut in half (50% torso; 50% leg), which makes you look short regardless of your true height. Our lovely, leggy model Amanda here asked me about cuffing her jeans. If she had been wearing a top with a hem around her hip bone, I would have told her to go for it as she has plenty of leg to sacrifice. However, because her top is longer than the leg break, I advised her to keep her jeans un-cuffed. If you can visualize her in flats with a cuffed hem, she would have appeared overlong on her top half and, thus, out of proportion.

Style Lesson #2: The more leg you show, the more of your top half should be covered. I do wish I had a tan for this lesson – ha! Wearing shorts that hit at mid-thigh or shorter calls for a top that is either a half sleeve, 3/4-length or a long sleeve as I am wearing. Short shorts and a tank top is provocative and not very classy. Leave a little to the imagination, and keep it classy, ladies. It is what men prefer, actually.

Lastly, if you have silver and/or turquoise jewelry, now is the time to wear it. The cool tones of the silver has an overall cooling effect on your look, which is just right during our warmest season. Ditto for turquoise. The light, soft green/blue goes with all your spring/summer clothing without having to think about it. Don’t worry if you have none of this color in your outfit. Adding a new color to your look via accessories is totally okay and encouraged, actually. Happy Weekend!—Bethany