Weatherbys and Well Connected Women

Personal styling for confidence and success

Weatherbys recently partnered with Well Connected Women, a private network that brings together female advisers who work with high-net-worth clients, to host a personal branding event with stylist Anita Feron Clark.

Feron Clark has 30 years’ experience in the fashion industry. She started her career on the M&S graduate scheme, where she learned everything from garment fitting to the conditions in factories that make our clothes and accessories around the globe.

Since then she has been a fashion editor and a teacher of the science of colour and fashion buying and merchandising at the London College of Fashion. She has also run her own fashion consultancy business since 2008 and has helped thousands of women worldwide derive confidence from their wardrobes.

Why do women lack confidence in their wardrobes?

Many women over 35 have been through major hormonal changes, in particular after pregnancy or menopause. As their bodies change in turn, argues Feron Clark, some women default to safe blacks and neutrals in order not to stand out – or get stuck in the past, wearing colours and styles that no longer feel right.

“When something feels off,” Feron Clark told the event, “it shows in your body language. Instead of standing up tall, you hunch a little bit or make less eye contact than you should. You may miss out on opportunities to network because you’re not feeling quite right about yourself. All of these things affect how you show up.”

Anita’s advice: focus on what works for you

It’s easy to scroll through Instagram and see outfits we like on others or colours we like in the shop. When it comes to trying them on ourselves, however, it can be disheartening if they don’t look the same.

This is why it’s important to understand our best colours and silhouettes. “Don’t worry about what’s going on around you,” advised Feron Clark. “Have your little style-and-colour toolkit when you go shopping and you’ll have clarity and confidence – and you’ll also have more pennies in the bank, because you’re not going to be making any silly mistakes.”

“Instagram can give you some good inspiration,” she added. “Whoever you follow, if you like their style you can say to yourself: ‘How would I adapt it for me? I’m slightly darker than that person, so I’ll just make sure I wear my darker colour or neutrals here. I’ve got fuller hips than she might have, so I’ve just got to make sure that, while she’s got skinny jeans on, I’ll wear a straight or wide leg.’ It can help you adapt and lean into different personalities.”

Colour’s effect on the brain

As well as making the wearer feel confident, the right colours impact everyone around them. “Wearing colour is so powerful,” Feron Clark explained, “because it releases one of the five feel-good hormones. The input from any colour – not beige, not black, not white – hits your eyes and sends a message to your physical visual cortex, which releases dopamine. Whether you wear colour or see colour, it makes you feel good subconsciously, without you even realising it.”

Our associations with colour also impact the visual message – and it can be different across cultures. Feron Clark told a story about creating a line of lilac smocks for children in Spain. “This light lilac colour in Spain is seen as a death colour,” she said. “Safe to say the line bombed.”

She also had advice for those of us in the UK, where black is the predominant funeral colour. “Don’t wear black for a really difficult meeting,” she said. “Wear blue – it’s a colour of trustworthiness and reassurance.”