Move over, Tupperware party. The new ladies”™ get-together has arrived.
The “image party,” or gathering geared solely toward bettering oneself inside and out, has seemingly spiked in popularity.
After all, who doesn”™t need an occasional wardrobe tweak?
Image consultant Martha Horton of LaGrangeville hosts parties at clients”™ homes as well as at her own.
“Women as a whole like to feel good about themselves,” she said.
Pam Friedlander of Danbury, Conn.-based Positive Reflections founded a b
usiness based on that notion.
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 gained weight 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.”
Â
Bonni Stanley of Chappaqua echoes Friedlander”™s business model through image-focused speaking engagements with her company Get it Together.
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.
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 one in which Stanley recently participated.
“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.”
“Women have to be encouraged,” she said. “They are receptive and they want to self-improve. There are tools and strategies all around so they can get out there and project a confident, competent self.”
She noted the importance of a well-rounded lifestyle.
In addition to Second Shift, Weissmann heads WISE HR Strategies L.L.C.
Stanley, too, has years of experience as a clinical social worker.
“It”™s not about the clothes as much as it is about helping people,” she said.
