No, it’s not easy—but boy is it worth it. Before you whip out the reason why you can’t (we’ve heard them all,) how about recalling why you should? Remember the lightness in your mood, how you shine, how much better the day goes, and how much nicer everyone seems after you’ve smiled at your reflection on you way out the door? No one’s claiming that looking great every day is as quick and easy as apply Crest Whitestips. It’s a skill you need to develop. It requires planning and thought and just a drop of self-absorption. And like any skill you aim to excel at, be it golf, speaking Italian, yoga, parenting, or skeet shooting, the investment if time, focus and practice is a non-negtiable requirement. Get over the idea that this endeavor is a luxury. How can that be, when putting yourself out there at your best has a pervasive effect on your life? So what price being glorious? Whatever it is, it’s worth it.
Start by setting aside a day to try on everything in your closet, your dressers, storage, etc. Put on your favorite music, pour a drink, but revert yourself back to the task. Give away everything that makes you curl your lips or that has to be adjusted more than twice. Don’t try to convince yourself that you can "work it" if need be. Style is visceral. It’s passion or pass on.
Too much going in the morning for you to calmly decide what to wear? Then lay out your clothes the night before.
Book time with yourself twice a week for vital personal maintenance—a manicure, facial or eyebrow shaping. Enter it on your calendar as if it were an appointment with someone else. This is no day of beauty, however: We’re talking 15 minutes to half an hour!
In addition develop a beauty regimen you can do every day. Again, we’re talking 15 minutes.
If you favor classically tailored clothes, be more adventuresome with fabrics and textures. Or if you carve color and sparkle, remember to include in your outfit one element upon which we can rest our eyes.
Be sure to book your next hair appointment before you leave the salon.
If you’re shopping and find a flattering piece of clothing, don’t talk out of buying it by say, "Oh, but where am I going to wear it?" You can predict the future? Ain’t you something. If not, bring that item home.
Buy one important piece of clothing that’s a step bolder than your normal grab: a pair of laser-cut sued pants, say or a brocade coat. Instead of saving it for a special occasion, wear it because it’s Thursday. Dress it up one time, down the next. Enjoy it all day long.
Learn to sew well enough to close an open seam, strengthen loose coat buttons, or restitch a drooping hem.
Speaking of buttons, immediately sew on the ones that fall off. Otherwise you’ll forget you’re missing one—until you put on that clothing 5 minutes before you’re supposed to leave the house.
If you’ve put together an outfit you really like that generates lots of compliments, write it down what you wore in a list of your best combinations.
Discover the joy of a great tailor. Find one and then shower him or her with charm (and small gifts). Nothing makes a woman appear better dressed than clothing that, regardless of price, fit her properly.
Earrings never fail.
Teach your family to iron, so that you don’t have to waste valuable getting-ready time doing it for them.
Invest heavily in separates and dresses made of merino wool and matter jersey.
Most knits tagged "dry-clean only" can be hand washed. Use half the recommended amount of fine-washables liquid detergent and add a drop of ammonia.
Bryant Gumbel once asked Katherine Hepburn, "What’s the best part about getting older?" Hepburn leaned back and bellowed, "Absolutely nothing!" So if you’re over 40 and your hair has lost some luster, stop acting so "This is me!" and get color brightened. Between appointments you should use a color stick like ‘Tween Time ($5 at beauty-supply stores).
Treat your shoes and bags with the indulgence accorded show dogs, if only because they’re likely to have cost more than the clothes they’re accessorizing. Store your shoes and bags in the cloth sacks they come in. Fix hell nicks, loose straps or worn fastenings immediately. Buff suede. And by the way, men aren’t the only ones who can have their shoes shined.
Not all jeans work for work. If your reflection makes you hesitate for even a nanosecond, take ‘em off.
Exercise. You must. Choose your torture: yoga, weight training, Tae-Bo, spinning, Pilates. But do choose. And do it 3x a week. You may hate it. Until the compliments start, the clothes fit better, and you feel somehow brighter, healthier and more sure of yourself.
If all this sounds daunting, here’s a motivator: Always leave your house as if you are sure to run into someone you haven’t seen since high school. That should do it.
~In Style ~
Beauty & Style 
