Move over, Tupperware party: the new girls”™ get-together has arrived.
The “image party,” geared solely toward bettering oneself both inside and out, has seemingly spiked in popularity.
After all, who doesn”™t need an occasional wardrobe tweak?
For Pam Friedlander, beginning Danbury business Positive Reflections was only natural.
She had spent years as a cosmetic consultant and event planner, coordinating traditional and specialty fashion shows.
She also found herself in an all-too-common scenario ”“ she had undergone some weight fluctuations over time.
“I created the business because I wanted women to feel incredible about themselves,” she said. “I had lost weight and wanted to see myself differently. As a wardrobe consultant, I go into people”™s homes and help them create outfits and save money. We get rid of things that don”™t work and their look is completely updated.”
Friedlander also translates that work into what she calls “fashion therapy.”
“I do workshops and seminars in many different venues,” she said. “I just spoke at a working women”™s forum in Newtown and speak at consignment shops, synagogues and girls-night-out kinds of things.”
Westchester County”™s Bonni Stanley, owner of Chappaqua-based Get it Together, has also found business through image-focused speaking engagements.
Â
She will soon lead a wardrobe and lifestyle-revamp workshop for the Westchester Women”™s Council of Realtors.
And at a recent Second Shift L.L.C. coffee talk get-together in Chappaqua, Stanley led a group of women on ways to transform one”™s wardrobe and image in the current climate.
Â
Second Shift, however, is not limited to aesthetics alone.
Founder Mara Weissmann revamped the concept of her business entirely, moving costly events at restaurants to in-the-home, for instance.
And, rather than throwing huge soirees, the company hosts four major events throughout the year and smaller, themed coffee talks sporadically, like the recent one Stanley participated in.
“Through our coffee talks, we choose topics that are attractive to a smaller target audience,” Weissmann said. “We”™ve had them (talks) on business owners, raising privileged kids in an affluent community, money management, losing parents and image, like the other night.”
Though fashion may seem frivolous when “tighten” is the word of the day, Stanley said the tough economy makes a personal image consultancy more necessary than ever.
“There is so much more pressure and competition out there,” she said of the job market. “There is a need to create more of a professional image.”
Friedlander has noticed the same thing.
“I have seen increased interest from baby boomers who are in the work force and want to change their look,” she said. “Or, it could be an executive transition. Some people may be moving into a different level of their work experience and have that extra income.”
