Girlfriends, has the warm weather got you flummoxed about what to wear? Feeling less-than-confident about upcoming fall fashions? Chances are your friends feel the same way, so how about getting together and learning how to make the most of your fashion sense? We recently hosted a stylish Girls Night filled with food, cocktails and fashion advice from personal stylist, Noelle Cellini, and the response was fabulous! Read on for details on how to host your own Fashion Finesse Party.

If you’ve ever watched the BBC or TLC network shows titled “What Not to Wear,” you’re familiar with the concept behind this party. By understanding your body type and learning which fashions suit you best, you gain confidence in shopping for clothes and daily dressing. At our party, our stylist spoke to the group first, reviewing fashion guidelines concerning “what to wear” and of course, “what not to wear.” Each guest then received a body analysis (with details of what items work best for her body type and what to avoid) as well as a copy of her suggested core wardrobe. This format worked very well, but variations on the theme can work nicely too. 

Setting and Setup

First things first: identify a stylist for your party and book the date with her. How to find one? Word of mouth is probably the best way: Ask the well-dressed women you know, or call high-end department stores and boutiques in your area to see who they work with. Or, try the Association of Image Consultants International. 

When you retain the services of a stylist or image consultant for your event, you will have to decide whether to foot the bill yourself or ask your girlfriends to chip in. If each girlfriend contributes $10-$15, depending on the number of guests, you should be able to cover the cost. In our experience, women were happy to spend this nominal fee to avoid future shopping mistakes. For professional advice, it’s truly a bargain.

If hiring a stylist is absolutely not an option for you, you don’t have to miss out on all the fun. Instead, you can try do-it-yourself body analysis. You’ll find body type articles here. Also, check out myshape.com, a fantastic shopping website that offers personalized fashion recommendations based on your measurements. You can have a great time helping your girlfriends enter their measurements and seeing which styles pop up. You will, of course, need a laptop or two if you go with this approach.

Other setup considerations include having an area large enough for your guests to gather comfortably, seats for everyone, and possibly pen and paper for note-taking. 

Invitations

If you’re not going the Evite route (and Evite does have several cute girls night invites, some with fashion themes), then keep printed invitations strictly chic and elegant. Simple, crisp, black and white designs are always in fashion. Check Wedding Paper Divas for some fabulous designs that can be ordered with any wording you like. If you like that approach, try some mock-formal wording on your invite. For example:

Tina Bishop requests the honor of your presence

At a celebration of fashion finesse

Personal stylist (insert name) will speak and provide professional body type analysis.

Each guest will receive (body type analysis and core warbdrobe) for only ten dollars.

Please bring your fashion dilemmas or problem pieces.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Cocktails: 6:00 pm

Speaker: 6:45 pm 

1234 Girlfriend Lane, Houston

R.S.V.P by July 22.

Keep in mind that, in order for each guest to receive personal fashion advice, you will have to keep the number of guests reasonable. No more than a dozen, say. 

Food and drink

Serve chic, sleek food items that aren’t messy, and healthy food that won’t make your girlfriends feel fat. Think crudites, pate, canapes dotted with caviar, shrimp cocktail, finger sandwiches. A selection of wines, flirty champagne cocktails, or mint juleps would be festive and chic. Of course, chocolate is de rigeur at nearly all our parties, so let that be your one splurge. Just make it sleek and non-messy chocolate. (Hint: Brownies cut into tiny squares have practically no guilt factor!) 

Connecting Activities

Before the stylist arrives, or after she leaves, fill a few moments with these activities designed to help you have fun while getting to know each other better.

• Ask each guest to have in mind a vexing fashion dilemma. It could be “What can I wear with this high-waisted skirt?” or “How do I tie a scarf?” Let the girls offer opinions, then be sure to pose the question to your hired expert.
• Mark off a runway with tape and have your girlfriends model various ensembles you’ve picked out beforehand, then have the group discuss whether each one is a fashion success or fashion fiasco. Guaranteed giggles! 
• Have each girlfriend think up a funny or endearing names for the body types represented at your party. (Take note, stylists, no one likes to be called “pear shaped”!)  Write on a white board or hand in slips of paper and read aloud. 

Party Favors

If you’d like to provide a parting gift for your friends, this stiletto shoe bottle opener is festive and affordable. 

And there you have it! We hope you’ll give our Fashion Finesse party a try. You’ll end the evening feeling more confident about your personal style (and probably ready to shop–next girlfriend get-together, anyone?) If you and your girlfriends enjoy fashion, check out our Accessory Swap for your next party. Let us know if you’ve had any fashionable soirees with your gal pals. Just use the comment form below!