“ It’ s not about fashion, it’ s about style”. Sarah Klugman, creator of Transform Your Wardrobe; Transform Your Life is clearly a woman after The Whistler’ s own heart. Her mantra isn’ t about shopping, it’ s about reimagining what you’ ve got. We sent Gilly Smith to investigate
“ It’ s not about fashion, it’ s about style”. Sarah Klugman, creator of Transform Your Wardrobe; Transform Your Life is clearly a woman after The Whistler’ s own heart. Her mantra isn’ t about shopping, it’ s about reimagining what you’ ve got. We sent Gilly Smith to investigate
I
’ ve never been a fan of shopping and I’ m rubbish with clothes. I can’ t get my head around brands, and I feel ill when I think about the inherent exploitation and massive carbon footprint of the fast fashion industry. In short, I’ m a bit of a hair shirt when it comes to what I wear.
Yet watching On Vogue, the excellent Disney + series which picks at the seams of fashion’ s most influential cultural curator, it made me ponder how it all works.“ Love Pharell”, coos Anna Wintour in the episode on Black music’ s contribution to the magazine.“ He just gets fashion.” How do you just get fashion?“ Actually, it’ s not about fashion, it’ s about style”, says the best-dressed woman in Brighton and Hove, founder of Sarah Klugman: Transform Your Wardrobe; Transform Your Life who has come round to help me find the answer. Her style counsel for women helps them find their look, save on waste and feel empowered by their own clothes rail. It puts an end to impulse buys, buying badly-made clothes and second guessing yourself and your outfits. In short, it’ s a genius way to spring clean your wardrobe, save a fortune and realise that what’ s under your nose can make you a style queen.
Sarah is already rifling through my clothes rail, pulling out clothes I still like, but feel I’ ve worn to death. I’ ve created and shared with her a Pinterest board filled with pictures of Lauren Bacall and Katherine Hepburn, but she’ s already spotted my penchant for wide legged trousers. I’ ve been rumbled; I don’ t buy very much, but what I buy is pretty much all the same.“ So, this is your go-to style” she says, rather more kindly than my inner critic.“ If something fits well, wear it.” I feel better already.
Transform Your Wardrobe is about empowering women, especially those over 50, through their clothes. With a birthday just days before our session, I’ m more than eligible for her styling, and certainly ready for a makeover.“ Having a clear sense of your own unique style takes the stress out of getting dressed each morning”, she tells me as she rummages through my rail and pulls out a top I wouldn’ t think of wearing. Matching it with a jacket I wore once back in 2020( when no-one was around), and a pair of my now“ signature” wide legged trousers, she passes it to me to put on. It looks amazing.“ It’ s about teaching you how to celebrate your body, so you no longer dread opening your wardrobe, reaching for the same ill-fitting‘ uniform’ day in and day out,” she explains.
As we consider the merits of each item on my rail, I understand why some of them work and others don’ t. And the tips are coming
thick and fast; cinching culottes with a wide belt, layering T-shirts, popping colour from bracelets and necklaces usually left languishing on my jewellery organiser with shoes I’ d forgotten I had. It felt that the back of my wardrobe had opened up a whole new world.
Sarah’ s eye for putting outfits together creates what she calls an‘ edited wardrobe’, breathing new life into what I already own and one that reflects a personality I might not have spotted myself. Katherine Hepburn, I may not be, Lauren Bacall – I wish, but there’ s a real sense of ME appearing through her digital camera as she photographs every piece.
“ Annually, women in the UK wear about 75 % of the clothes they own”, she tells me. I look at my rail and wonder if I ever wear even half of mine. According to WRAP 2022’ s Key Finding Report, Clothing Longevity and Circular Business Models Receptivity in the UK, 2:5( 39 %) of women say their wardrobes are disorganised, making it difficult to know what’ s in there.“ And our bodies change as we get older,” adds Sarah.“ Many women over 40 struggle with‘ invisible woman syndrome’. They find themselves underrepresented and overlooked in the workplace and the media, feeling underdressed and uncomfortable in social situations. Women start to use their clothes to hide in oversized, ill-fitting garments.” I feel so seen.
Playing dress-up in your own home is something I haven’ t done since I was six, but I felt years younger by the time she left after two hours. The package, usually 6-8 hours in the client’ s own home, includes the edited wardrobe as well as a personalised photobook, complete with annotations and style comments on the main take outs of the day.“ It’ s about bringing out your personality, your playful side, your inner diva!” says Sarah.“ If you’ re not having fun, you’ re not wearing it right!”
At £ 500 for the whole day session with beautifully printed photobook, it’ s not cheap.
Nor should it be; it’ ll save you a fortune. The Ethical Marketing News’ 2018 report states that the British throw away £ 12.5 billion worth of clothing every year. And that’ s a massive cost to the environment too. As Vivienne Westwood so eloquently said,‘ buy less, choose well, make it last’.
Sarah Klugman is offering readers of The Whistler a Wardrobe Edit at a special rate of £ 400. Contact her at sarah @ shinypebbles. co. uk or 07881 279628