A true custom made suit is tailored to your body and has enhanced features to strengthen some of your body’s features. For example, Cary Grant’s suit jackets always had extra pads in the shoulder area to give him better posture.

Following are some characteristics of a classic, trim and extra trim fit:

Classic Cut  Hart Shaffner Marx) See my father pictured. He was always a classic cut.

• Cut wider through the shoulders

• Extra room through the chest and back for ease of movement

• Slightly lower button stance

• Fuller trousers (may have pleats)

• Trousers (have a break)

Trim Cut (Calvin Klein)

• Cut narrower across the shoulders

• Higher armhole

• Trimmer through the chest and waist, with room for movement

• Slim trousers

• No break in the trousers

Extra Trim (Ted Baker)

• Cut slim through the shoulders

• High armhole and narrow sleeves

• Slightly higher button stance

• Extra-slim trouser

To tailor a suit to a trim style:

– Slim the arms of the jacket

– Slim the legs on the pants

– Ensure pants have no break

Often, I work with high potential women who have a challenging time with senior leaders who are hesitant to move them to the next level because they lack leadership presence.

Recently, in a first time meeting with a senior manager being looked at for a director role, the subject of makeup came up. She indicated she didn’t wear any, especially lipstick.

Lipstick comes in many colors from nude to bright red. Another form of lipstick is tinted with color chap stick like Burt’s Bees which also has a wide range of tints. The price of lipstick ranges from $9.99 to $50.00 (Tom Ford). However, the monetary cost of lipstick is nothing compared to the actual value it can add when appropriately applied.

The following is a top 7 critical list on how to maintain a functional master closet:

1. Remember that less is more. (How many pairs of black pants should be hanging in your closet? Just 7.)

2. Arrange items by color, then by similar pieces.

3. Allow no empty hangers in the closet.

4. Only keep items that you love and wear on a regular basis.

5. Have all items visible. (I just did away with a closet behind another closet.)

6. If you are an outfit person, then group your items together.

7. Review your closet and purge items twice a year around these months- September to February; February to September.

Be diligent and you can create a serviceable master closet.

In my career prior to starting Personal Images, I can honestly say I have worked with more bad bosses than good ones. These are managers who yell, make unreasonable demands and expectations and/or run around like policemen watching your every move.

My experience has been and continues to be, to find a way to navigate around them. This means maintaining a low profile and minding your p’s and q’s. If a boss is completely unreasonable, move to another part of the organization, if possible.

If it is important to your career to stay with this boss, then you must learn to develop a thick skin and learn from this person, meaning all the good things about him/her while trying not to focus on the negative. It is about management and not about winning with this type of manager.

Recently in workshop for a Fortune 100 client, the questions came up on how people stay engaged when working from a home office, especially for months on end.

1.Dress as if you are going to the office in business casual attire. Not in pajamas or clothes you would clean the garage in. Dressing up will make you feel professional especially in an isolated setting. Ugly is working in your pajamas. It starts out feeling good but ends up making you feel unaccountable.

2.Do not eat lunch in your home office. Dining out keeps your socialization skills active.

3.Talk to folks in the office. Use FaceTime or Skype so you are on decision makers minds for any projects that may be good for your career mobility.

4.Take on special projects that will keep you visible with leadership.

Recently, my sister celebrated 15 plus years in remission. We had more 100 people for the open house. However, we neglected to make a toast to her before we cut the cake. It is always better to make a toast in the beginning and in our case, when most of the group had arrived. We could have also made another toast later, celebrating her health and thanking the guests for sharing this very special time with us.

When toasting while in other countries, it is very special if you can make a toast in that country’s language:

China: Wàn shòu wú jiang (longevity and health)

Spain: Saluda (health)

Russia: Za vas (here’s to you)

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Barbara Cox, the wardrobe assistant to Andy Williams. Barbara handled all of Andy’s wardrobe needs when he performed in Branson, Missouri at The Andy Williams Theater and for his Christmas and other special television performances.

Her stories were amazing. Here are some of her fixes for unexpected wardrobe problems:

Before Febreze…there was vodka. Vodka removes odors from clothing. When clothing smelled, especially when smells originated from sweat (being under hot lights) or Andy wearing layers of clothing and there was no time for the cleaners, they used vodka. So, if you don’t have Febreze, spraying vodka will work in a pinch

To eliminate the yellow ring around the collar, take cheese cloth with Fels Naptha Soap on it, wet it and rub it on the yellow ring on the collar. Then dry the collar with a hair dryer until completely dry.

Rescue tape will fix anything. Use it for a gap on a blouse, to temporarily hem a pair of pants or to fix a last minute tear on a garment.

These were only a few of her secrets. Another came from Phyllis Diller. Phyllis asked her to bring two bottles of wine to her room after the show. She placed her wigs on them because it helped them dry out from the sweat that accumulated when they were worn. (Putting them on the wig’s heads after use keeps them damp, which is not good for the wig.)

See the picture of Barbara and I. She is holding a gown given to her by an actress who hated wearing the dress because it was too heavy.

There is always room for improving processes that go into making a great project. Not long ago, I worked on a project that a few years later would be upgraded. When being reworked, the new team began to tell me all the processes that did not work in in the first iteration. I never said anything even though I worked on the first effort which came out well. I thought, things change and nothing really needed to be said about the prior project. Change happens, handle it with grace.

Boots are here to stay, short, long and mid, throughout the year for women. We see them with high, mid and low heels. They are being worn not only in the winter but in the spring and summer. It is important for them to keep their shape and be fresh to preserve the leather or suede.

The cost of good boots, even on sale, range from $75.00 up to $1600.00 for Valentino boots. First of all, before you even wear them, leather needs to be polished and a preservative spray needs to be applied on suede and cloth boots. When not wearing them, have a cedar shoe tree inserted in each one along with boot shapers for the knee length ones. If you follow these tips, your boots will be walking for a long time.

The new trend is wearing bold on bold in patterns and colors. It is the fashion industry trying to mix it up. I myself love the new trends. However in my profession, the center of attention is on the client and the audience so I stay more conservative in my dress.

But in my personal world, I like living large! All my sport clothing is in bright yellows, greens and pinks. I have yet to embrace the patterned leggings, though, maybe next year. I have encouraged my C-suite clients and friends, men and women, to add bits of boldness to their accessories. For the women, larger necklaces and very smart print underpinnings look good with their black and gray suits.

Men can wear the tie and shirt selections with a bold print in the tie and pick a shirt color to match the suit. They can do the bold stripe socks as long the sock is in the same color family. Recently, a client wore a grey striped sock with his gray suit. It was fun but not distracting. Having fun with clothing selections will definitely make you feel more uplifted.