By Jeannette Cooperman
Ninety minutes at a country club, nibbling on Danish while experts tell me about my Personal Style? I grabbed for this assignment. St. Louisans Gini Swancy and Donna Gamache, founders of Anatomy of Style (anatomyofstyle.com), ask a mere $55 to analyze a woman’s shape, color and personality, organize her closet and send her gliding to the right stores instead of trudging through the mall making mistake purchases. And part of their Speed Style proceeds go to Connections to Success, a program that helps ex-offenders get a fresh start.
I skip the Danish for the same reason cops don’t drink on the job, but my notebook’s open in time for Round I: SHAPE. I see a row of discreetly retracted measuring tapes and clutch. The woman to my right, Kris, has already risen bravely. “Y’know, my dear, based on this, I’d say you’re an ‘hourglass,’” Gamache tells her, handing her pages for her purse-sized Personal Style binder that show every silhouette that will enhance her already lovely figure.
I rise gamely. Seeing my face, Kris says nonchalantly, “It’s just a body. It’s just numbers.” I shoot her a look I haven’t used since sophomore year in high school. Bunching in my favorite dress to measure my waist, Gamache murmurs, “You should have this altered. Wearing things too big can make us look larger.” Lisa, on my left, says sweetly, “Triangle is the old pear.”
At the STYLE table, we take a personality test. To my abject horror, I am Romantic. The blondes on each side of me are Alluring. I want to be Alluring. “I’m an Alluring Dramatic,” Gamache says. “I like color, I like trends.” Puce ruffles for me, eh? I scan my profile. Hates scratchy lace. Spurns high heels. Likes to be comfortable. Finds coats boring.
Shit. It’s all true.
I go to the COLOR table. “We’re going to drape you,” Swancy announces. She’s developed a Philosophy of Four: Organized women base their wardrobe on four foundation colors. I think ruefully of the miscellany crammed in my closet. “Just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean you need it,” Swancy says dryly. She invented “capsules” to hang coordinating clothes together in the closet; they come off the rod as a unit and, turned vertical, layer the clothes in a hanger bag for travel. The catch? You have to weed out the stuff that can’t be encapsulated.
“We all make mistake purchases,” Swancy says. “Maybe you think your friend’s style is fabulous and try to copy it. But if you dress outside your comfort zone, it doesn’t feel natural, and you fidget. And if you upgrade and buy expensive, still not understanding what really works for you, it’s like guilt hanging in your closet.”
She and Gamache email clients about local stores, designers, sales or specific items perfect for them. Me, I now know which colors to choose, which cuts and fabrics will flatter me and match my Personal Style.
I glance wistfully at Kris’ binder.