Does this sound familiar?

 You’re in a clothing store dressing room.

“It was made for you!” assures the over-enthusiastic sales assistant.

Bright down-lights beam directly from above, full-length mirrors reflect your semi-naked self (often avoided by many of us) and finally, you get the item of clothing on.

Add to the equation a hungry spouse impatiently waiting, and you find yourself in a complete fuddle, unable to focus your mind and no idea whether you should buy or not.

Your clear decision-making skills seem to have been left in the car!

Result: You either leave the store (and for weeks wish you’d bought it) or make an often expensive mistake.

As a Weight-loss and Style coach, I am often asked how to deal with this situation.
So I thought I’d share my ‘Dressing Room Rule of 3’

Rule 1: Does It Fit?

Basic I know, but just think how many times you’ve bought something that didn’t really fit properly!  We are not all ‘cookie cutter’ shape, so there will be times when little alterations can be made but these fundamental things should be right:

• Are the sleeves too long or short?
• Do all the buttons do up?
• Can I sit down in it? (My husband does this test with every shirt; sitting down, could he eat a full meal without the buttons bursting!)
• Are the shoulders sitting in the right place?
• Could I wear this tomorrow – not just when I’ve lost 5 pounds?

Rule 2: Does it Flatter?

Sometimes it’s hard to make this call.

Deep down, though, we know when something truly flatters us.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Does it highlight my best bits?
• Does is skim over parts I’d like to cover?
• Will I look forward to wearing this?
• Does the colour make me look vibrant or drain me? (We still chuckle about the time Dad bought a Hawaiian shirt whilst wearing sunglasses, and got it home to discover its neon pink and yellow flowers, not his most flattering colours!)

Rule 3: What 3 things will it go with?

Think about clothes you already own and how the new piece will slot in.

• Shoes – can I wear them with pants, jeans and skirts (or shorts for men)?
• Dresses – what cover-ups can I add if it’s cold?
• Shirts – will this go with my trousers, jeans, skirts?
• Trousers – what tops/jackets?

And now I’m going to share a closely kept secret: 

I keep this card in my handbags so that I almost always make good decisions in dressing rooms.

Iona Eadie-Askew
Evolve Life Coaching | Weight Loss and Wardrobe
Iona, trained in London, now lives in Auckland and has many more tips to share.
www.evolvelifecoaching.co.nz