Style Angel

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Style Angel Press in Cosmopolitan

A visit from the Style Angel... by Cosmopolitan's Web Editor

A few weeks ago, I blogged about my fashion frustration. As a Cosmo newbie, I was overwhelmed by my incredibly on-trend colleagues and their amazing revolving wardrobes.

Don't get me wrong ... I'm no 'before' shot. I wear nice clothes, but I'm not very adventurous with my wardrobe. I believe that the little black dress is God's gift to girls, and on weekends, I'm rarely out of my favourite jeans-and-cute-shirt combo.

So when Angela Barbagallo of Style Angel Corporation asked me if I'd like to take up her styling services, I was on board faster than you can say "Rachel Zoe".

Barbagallo isn't your typical stylist. She doesn't have celebrity clients and she doesn't work for a newspaper or magazine. She's a stylist for real people, and her job is to help women find the colours, styles and trends that will suit them best.

When Angela arrives at my house early on a Saturday morning, she is immaculately dressed. I have literally just rolled out of bed, and am very glamorously sporting dirty jeans and a pyjama top. Possibly not the best start to my style makeover. I look like the human version of a "renovator's dream house".

First up, Angela and I talk colour. I confess that most of my wardrobe is black, which surprisingly, Angela doesn't object to.

"With your fair complexion and dark eyes, cool tones suit you best," she tells me. "Black works well for you and doesn't wash you out."

Style Angel Press Article

TRENDS Article Published in Sun Herald Life Magazine by Helen Hawkes , Sunday 3rd of August 2008

Whether you want a wardrobe makeover, a strategy to lose a bit of weight or a head-to-foot overhaul, there’s an expert ready to help. Helen Hawkes takes a look at a blooming industry.

Think you’re too fat, plain, unfit, out of style or not reaching your potential? Thanks to TV shows such as Trinny And Susannah Undress The Nation and How To Look Good Naked, most of us know there’s an “expert” who can help us makeover not only our homes and gardens – so yesterday – but also ourselves. Make-up artists, hairdressers, cosmetic surgeons, personal trainers, stylists, counsellors… Personal and community services are driving the jobs boom, with 220,000 jobs created in these sectors in the past decade, according to a 2006 Census report. But why choose just one? You could use a head-to-toe makeover company such as Transforme Total Image Consultants, who will organise everything  from a weight-loss strategy and wardrobe makeover to teeth whitening, personal training, styling and success counselling.

The Association of Image Consultants International  (AICI) – which formed in the US in 1990 – started its Australian chapter with eight members in 2002 and now has more than 60 including Image Group International and The Australian Image Company in Melbourne; Image Tactic and First Impressions in Sydney; Ultimate Image Impact in Brisbane; Look Good 2 Feel Good in Perth; and Styledge in Canberra. From mini-makeovers to the full overhaul, business  is booming as more people contract someone else to manage their look, lifestyle or personality, says Bernard Salt, social commentator with KPMG.  “We are the plasma-TV generation who are more celebrity, health and looks conscious, as well as more self-empowered, than a generation ago,” he says.

Sydney mother Lucy Jackson, 31, admits that not many people, especially those with children, ever  feel totally comfortable with the sort of transformation service she herself bought. She found life coaching invaluable when she launched her shoe business, Beautiful Soles, but when her son, Bruno, now  19 months old, had surgery for velo-cardio-facial syndrome, a life-threatening heart problem, she felt herself slipping into depression. Through counselling, Jackson came to terms with the illness and started to regard herself as fortunate for having two children. So she treated herself. “It had been a tough couple of years and I hadn’t spent any money on myself, even for haircuts,” s he says. From counselling, “I had changed as a person and the outside of me did not reflect the inside any more – I had neglected myself.” She says her husband, Alan, fully supported the $3000 she spent with Transforme. “Having this transformation gave me back some of the self-confidence I had lost.” A personal shopper (Angela Barbagallo from Style Angel) taught the blue-eyed blonde that she was a “light summer person” and coaxed her

Lucy Jackson from Beautiful Soles