Give your image a lift this autumn
The Times - October 2003Lucia Van der PostIF YOU need cheering up - and aren't we all? - treat yourself to a session at Charles Worthington's salon in Percy Street, West London, with Carolyn Newman (the salon's "colour guru") and Sarah Whittaker (whom the salon describes as an "image profiler"). Charles Worthington has embarked on a series of "guest expert initiatives", bringing into his Percy Street salon an expert in one field or another - it could be nails, skin care, holistic massage - whom his clients can consult. The most recent is a double act from the two girls. And, my goodness, they do make you feel good. In I wafted, wondering what advice I might be given as to my hair colour and clothes. Usually these experiences are demoralising: my foray into the beauty world in New York earlier this year left me feeling dilapidated and wondering how I was still standing up. Between them, Newman and Whittaker cheered me up no end. Trinny and Susannah they are not. They start with all the good bits, warming one up if you like, giving you the good news first and then some advice later. Newman does from the neck up (ie, the hair) and Whittaker from the neck down (the clothes). First up, the hair. She liked the colour. Stone the crows. "It is good that you have strong streaks," Newman says. "An all-over colour would make it look much too ordinary. All the best hair colour should reflect your skin tone, and yours does that perfectly." (Hari, are you reading me?) She had a bit of advice though on which, oddly, my hair colourist (Rebecca at Hari's) and I had agreed. It could have a few darker streaks on the underneath layers. She also had an idea: "The colour is great but if you get bored with it you could go even more dramatic and have some stronger streaks." Now it so happens that Rebecca, in my view, is a genius with colour, but I had the feeling that if it had been wrong Newman would have known just how to put it right. Then on to Whittaker and the neck down. Whittaker does people's wardrobes and advises them on pulling a look together that suits them. She has tucked away in her mind some 32 or more archetypes into which most of us fit. It seems that I am a cross between a classic/elegant and theatrical/creative, with touches of the natural, the matriarch and the maiden (Help!). I need to be neat but with a touch of drama (think Judi Dench, she counselled). She didn't seem to think that being 5ft 2in and nothing like as thin as I would like was a problem. "Wear the sort of things that you are wearing today - slightly A-line skirts, jackets that go in and then out a bit, or which have a bit of drama - asymmetric, for example. Wear long skirts only if they are tapered," she says. (I think she was trying to say that otherwise I would look like a sack, but she was too polite to say it.) When it comes to trousers I should, it seems, wear them cropped. Funny that. I have always loved cropped trousers and have several divine pairs. High heels and stilettos, it seems, are not "my type" (that may be so, but nothing on earth is going to stop me going to winter parties in my brilliant new Stella McCartney black and metal stilettos). Wedge heels, like the Robert Clergerie ones I have been raving on about, are apparently just the job. But I am to avoid the country classic like the plague - Plain Jane would have nothing on me, it seems, if I were inadvertently to wander into Country Casuals. Happily, Whittaker liked my cream Chloé jacket which, given what it cost, is just as well. She also went for the black Marks & Spencer slightly A-line short skirt from Autograph which, given how little it cost, was most uplifting. As for what I might add to the wardrobe this winter, Whittaker came up with: some fantastic little ankle boots with a cuff at the ankle and a highish wedge heel. They are called Helena and are by Scorah Pattullo (193 Westbourne Grove, London W11) and cost £250. Joseph, it seems, has exactly the sort of trousers for my shape (and anybody else I imagine who is just 5ft 2in tall and more than a size 6 wide). They are in a light black wool, slightly cropped and have a fastening that goes across the middle with a single big white button. They will set me back £155, but sound perfect. For a jacket she recommends a moleskin biker ("Don't be put off by the word biker," she cautions. "It is a great jacket.") version in mushroom which has an asymmetrical zip fastening and costs £110 from Jigsaw. "And there are lots of brilliant tops for somewhere between £20 and £30 to go underneath it," she adds. It is not just that Newman and Whittaker soothed the ego (which they did, and I am no more immune to flattery than anybody else) but I also thought that their judgments were spot-on. Anybody wanting an autumnal lift and a bit of guidance as to the sort of hair colour and clothes that would suit them can buy 50 minutes of their time for just £45, which strikes me as a remarkable bargain. The trouble is that they do only one day a month at Charles Worthington, and the next one is not until October 28. ... If you can't wait, you can always get a private consultation from Sarah Whittaker. She charges £295 for a three-hour private profiling session. PICKETT'S (32-33 Burlington Arcade, London W1) offers a different kind of service for those wanting to get their glad rags in order. Natasha (020-7493 8939 for an appointment) will help you to design an individual piece of jewellery to go with anything you happen to bring along. Take along a jacket, a dress or just a piece of fabric and then from among the piles of stones that Pickett's has on offer - rose quartz, serpentine, fluorite and pale citrines, as well as rather more exotic and oriental-looking carved stones such as onyx, coral, smoky quartz and chrysoprase - you take your pick and make up the pendant, necklace, earrings or bracelets of your dreams. Clusters of mini briolettes on single drop earrings are all the rage, Natasha says.
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