A little polish goes a long way, says Susan Zelouf …
Scheduling a long-deferred date with a girlfriend becomes a game of duelling iCals as we juggle work and essential maintenance. Me: “Nails at nine. Then another session with the laser hair removal crowd; geez, what’s with the chin hairs, granny? Thursday’s gone, like my brows: PhiBrows eyebrow embroidery, genius!” The Blonde nixes the rest of the week: “Colourist, Pilates, Nuala Woulfe (SkinCeuticals facial). Tidy up the auld Bermuda Triangle. Maybe get the brows threaded, too, before I head into BTs. My personal shopper’s pulled a couple of things she thinks are very me.” I’d roll my eyes at the cut of us, except The Blonde, a successful restaurateur from humble roots, always looks effortlessly pulled together, from the tips of her pedicured toes to her sun-kissed balayage. She spends on key pieces, but rocks them year after year, cost-per-wear better value than the cut-price mistakes I’ve racked up; some, unworn, still sport tags. Prey to wishful dressing, I often buy things suited to her lithe 5’8” frame instead of my chunkalicious 5’3”.
Comparing my Dolly It costs a lot to look this cheap Parton ethos to her Buy better, buy less mindset, I consider tagging along to the Designer Room at Brown Thomas for pointers on how to look more polished. I’m guessing we’d be treated to coffee, maybe even chilled bubbly, considering how hot off the runway I hear it gets! Something polished has been perfected, made glossy and smooth, buffed, burnished and lustrous. Ask any lapidary what it takes to cut and polish a gemstone and they’ll list a labour-intensive sequence of processes crucial to achieving a mirror-like finish, prompting light to reflect off the gleaming surface and refract through the transparent stone, dazzling the eye. There’s the rub: polish takes effort.
“A DIAMOND IS A CHUNK OF COAL THAT DID WELL UNDER PRESSURE.” Henry Kissinger
So how much effort (and coin) is needed to polish the rough diamond that is you? By you, I mean most of us, whether we’re younger or bolder, minted or skinted, dressing for school drop-offs or a day at the (home) office, out on the prowl or out for drinks with the girls. Whether we dress up or dress down, the way we put ourselves together affects our self-esteem. In “Confidence Dressing: How Clothing Affects the Mind”, a still-relevant 2012 piece for Vogue, Katherine Bernard discusses a scientific study investigating the link between brain chemistry and clothes. The study’s findings, dubbed “enclothed cognition” conclude “your outfit may alter how you approach and interact with the world.” Bernard asserts that wearing pieces from brands we associate with a variety of positive, powerful attributes can endow the wearer with those same qualities, so it’s no accident if you feel powerful in Prada, cerebral in Dries, boss in BOSS and romantic in Rodarte.
What’s the secret to looking polished? A plethora of advisors, both online and in-store, is ready to help us assemble a hardworking (!) capsule wardrobe and see ourselves from behind, but don’t depend on anyone else to tell you who you are. Gems form deep within the earth, under great pressure and heat, surfacing in explosions of molten rock. A stone’s imperfections (called occlusions) tell its story, every flaw a birthmark. Honour your own story, even as you seek to smooth rough edges and you’ll find you are lit from within. A little polish goes a long way.
1. I’M PUTTINGa bow on it with a handmade silk scrunchie by www.sineadkeary.com.€39, to order.
2. I’M RETAKING vows in an Hermès Kelly ring from the Kellymorphose collection. I do!
3. I’M LOOKING THE BUSINESS in monogrammed Victoria Beckham’s AW22 Ready-to-Wear; shop a selection at Harvey Nicks, Dundrum.
4. I’M PACKING the essentials in a no-nonsense make-up bag by Ethel Pearl Designs, available via, www.etsy.com
5. I’M GOING back to black in a wide velvet bow barrette made by hand in New York by www.jenniferbehr.com. €298 including shipping/duties.
6. I’M CHANNELING #ElleFanning in Dior at Cannes. Sweet as!
7. I’M SHOULDERING my share of burdens in a brushed leather Prada Femme bag. Choose scarlet, black or both. www.prada.com
8. I’M KEEPING it simple, stupid in Saint Laurent. Shades, check. Choker, check. Jacket, check. Bra? Oops.
9. I’M TAKING a page out of Kerry Taylor’s Vintage Fashion and Couture because, according to Coco Chanel, “Fashion changes, but style endures.”
10. I’M CHOOSING a signature eau de parfum in Givenchy’s L’Interdit Intense: “An overdose of tuberose collides with voluptuous vanilla and a salty dash of roasted sesame, vetiver and patchouli.” Shaken and stirred.
11. I’M TAKING the knee in Stuart Weitzman’s Reserve boot. ¤850, at Brown Thomas.
12. I’M POLISHING off the competition in a masterpiece by Irish jeweller www.nigeloreilly.com.
13. I’M MAKING nudes in Chanel’s Le Vernis in skintone shades from Dénudé to Infinité. At counters nationwide.
14. I’M ZIPPING around town in Paula Rowan’s Jacqueline gloves, at Paula Rowan, Westbury Mall, Dublin 2.
