Redress Style Consulting is Open for Business!

Hey, remember how I was considering going into the styling business? Well, it’s actually happening. It is my honor to present my new business, Redress.

Redress Style Consulting operates in the Atlanta area (but will soon be open to clients outside ATL) offering guidance and advice on all things style. It is my goal to help my clients build fabulous and functional wardrobes that fits their lifestyle, body type, budget, and personal aesthetics. Whether you’re looking for a little pep in your wardrobe, buying clothes for work or a special event, or a total style overhaul, I can help. I believe developing personal style has a huge impact on one’s life, self-esteem, and opportunities. My services right now include the following:

Style Assessment and Consultation: An in-depth discussion to assess your current style and where you would like to go with it. A good choice for someone looking for a style update or total change, but not sure what they want specifically. We’ll also discuss how to flatter your body with silhouettes and color.

Shop Your Closet: I take a look at your current wardrobe and create new outfits from pieces you already own.

Wardrobe Cleanup: I come to your home and we go through your wardrobe piece by piece to assess what works, what needs alteration and what needs to go. Clients will try on all clothes to check for fit and flattery. We’ll also develop a shopping list to help fill gaps in your closet. I’ll take all unwanted clothes to local charities.

Personal Shopping with Client: We go out shopping for about 3 hours together to build up your wardrobe.

Personal Shopping for Client: I do the shopping for you and bring all selected items to your home. From there you try things on and make the decision what to keep. I’ll handle all returns.

Group Style Workshops: Available for your party, conference, business, or seminar. I can teach small or large groups on a wide variety of style topics.

I plan to add more services and a packages as my business grows. For more updates and info on Redress, please like the Facebook page and share it with everyone you know. I’m very excited to start on this new career path. Thank you to all the people who have supported this move.

Take My Style Class at ATLOSCon!

Did I mention I’m giving a talk on the importance and value of cultivating personal style at ATLOSCon 2012? It will be the first in several classes and workshops I plan to give over the next year. My class is on Saturday, May 16 at 10:15 am at the Cherokee Recreation Center in Woodstock. Here’s the class description:

Developing your appearance can have an incredible impact on your life. With good personal style comes higher self-esteem, better rapport with coworkers/friends/family, and a zap of positive energy that comes from knowing your outside reflects your inside. However, many of us don’t look our best,  either from holding bad premises about our bodies and the validity of appearance, or a lack of technical knowledge about how to dress well. In this interactive talk, we’ll examine the philosophical reasons for looking good and the mental, emotional, and practical benefits that follow. We’ll also dissect some of the psychological hurdles that keep us from dressing our best. We’ll end with some technical advice for how to build a stylish wardrobe to fit your body, lifestyle, and personality. There will be a Q&A afterwards. This class is open to both men and women.

Registration for ATLOSCon is $15 for kids under 16, $50 for adults 16-25, and $75 for adults 26+. It’s a super fun conference with lots of fun and interesting people. We also have some fun surprises planned for this year. Hope to see you there!

A Possible New Career Path?

Since moving to Atlanta a year and a half ago, I’ve worked as a waitress, secretary, teacher at a homeschool co-op, art model, graphic design assistant, and now nanny. I wanted to get experience in various fields to figure out where I want to go with my career and I think I’ve made good on that goal. In each of these jobs I’ve learned about what kind of work environment I need (creative outlet, variety, some level of autonomy, helping others), but I’m still looking for the right area of work for me.

And now I have a new area to explore: fashion! Well, not exactly. I don’t mean glitzy photo shoots and runways and oddball outfits that nobody would wear in real life. I mean style and beauty as it relates to everyday people. Let me explain.

It started with watching copious amounts of What Not to Wear. At first I thought it was just one of those standard makeover shows where they put everyone in pretty much the same clothes, regardless of their lifestyle, personal preferences, whatever. But I was wrong. The more I watched, the more I saw how much thought went into assembling a new wardrobe. You have to take into account a person’s body shape, coloring, lifestyle, work dress code, and personal flair. That’s a tall order for 2 days of shopping. But through good technical styling and listening to their guests, Stacy and Clinton manage to do it.

What I found even more interesting was the psychological issues many guests had and how that related to the clothes they chose to wear. Oversized and boring clothing could be a crutch for someone who hates their body and wants to hide. Outdated wardrobes were usually a symptom of someone who focused on everyone else’s needs and never took time for themselves or someone who can’t let go of their past. Outrageous and skimpy clothes were often worn by people who had low self esteem and equated showing skin with sexy. It was amazing to watch Stacy and Clinton call people out on these bad premises, throw out their clothes (which were often a security blanket), and show them how to dress in a way that was more appropriate for their life, body, and personality. I loved watching guests at the end of the show walking out feeling lighter, sassier, and more true to themselves. Sure, some of that is probably glossed over for TV, but I do think a lot of the change is real.

I started focusing in on my own style and pushing my creative boundaries a bit. I purged my closet of any unflattering, old, or damaged clothing. I thought about what clothes I needed for my life and how I wanted to look. I started building my wardrobe up piece by piece. And it felt great. It felt good to let go of old clothing that wasn’t helping me and finding great pieces that worked for me. Each day when I get ready I feel pretty and put together. Feeling that good about my image brightens my day and makes me feel more confident as I go about my activities.

I started talking more about my interest in styling and how great clothes affect people in a positive way. My friend Kelly asked me to help her find some clothes for teaching. It was an interesting challenge. She’s teaches at GSU, so she needs to be professional, but she’s also a grad student, so she needs clothes that are fancy enough for teaching, but don’t feel too stuffy once class is over. Kelly also has a very bohemian style, so we had to find clothes that were polished, but didn’t make her feel like a corporate drone. After several hours in the mall, going to stores Kelly didn’t expect to find pieces in (yes you can shop at H&M if you’re not a teenager), and making her try on all sorts of things (even the oppressive black blazer from Gap), we got a great basic work wardrobe that was professional, yet laid back. Perfect for Kelly.

Not too long after I did a closet consultation with my friend Tori. It went great! A completely different challenge, I went with Tori piece by piece through her wardrobe to figure out what fit, what needed to be tailored, and what needed to be thrown out. From what was left, I played with color and pattern combinations to make fresh outfits. Turns out Tori had a full and varied wardrobe that worked well for her, she just needed to take a few things in and play with mixing pieces. The only pieces she was really missing were cool cardigans or jackets to make a jeans and shirt combo more interesting. Tori got a ton of new outfits without spending a cent and now has a better understanding of her wardrobe for the next time she goes shopping. A definite win!

I really enjoy this work. It’s fun and interesting and challenging. I get to work with people and put my creative talents to use. And there’s clearly a demand and a wide open market for me to take advantage of. This could be a career. I will be doing some more personal shopping and wardrobe consultations with friends to get some experience. I’ll also be blogging more style and body image related posts here. Is this the right line of work for me? We’ll see. If you live in the Atlanta area and are interested in giving me a test run, shoot me an email at mirandabarzey (at) gmail (dot) com.

Sign Up for my Art Model Newsletter

Are you an artist in the Atlanta area? Sign up for my art model newsletter for updates on my schedule, recent projects, and related art/modeling links. Simply click the link below to sign up!

Miranda Barzey Art Model Newsletter

Sculpture by Basil Watson. (basilwatson.com)

 

 

ATLOSCon Class Descriptions and Speaker Bios Now Available

Woohoo! Check out the class descriptions and speaker bios available at the Atlanta Objectivist Society website. I’ll be doing the Growing Up Objectivist class with dad and the Photography class as well. Look forward to seeing you at the con!

Atlanta Atlas Shrugged Reading Group

I will be moderating the Atlas Shrugged Reading Group for the Atlanta Objectivist Society. Yay! Here’s the info:

ATLOS now has an Atlas Shrugged Reading Group! The group will meet
every 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month from 11 am-1pm at Ted’s by
Cumberland Mall. The first meeting will be on February 13. The group
will follow the 20 part outline set by Explore Atlas Shrugged by Diana
Hsieh. The outline contains specific reading sections (about 65 pages
each), discussion questions, and podcasts about an hour long. You can
view it here:

http://www.exploreaynrand.com/1957/

We ask that all members have read Atlas Shrugged at least once before;
we don’t want to spoil anyone’s first time! There will be a cap on the
number of people in the group and you might be put on a waiting list.

If interested, please send your name, email, and how often you think
you can go to meetings to the group leader Miranda Barzey at
mirandabarzey@gmail.com.

Please email me right this second if you want to be a part of this!

Atlanta Atlas Shrugged Reading Group Survey

I plan to moderate an Atlas Shrugged reading group soon(ish) for the Atlanta Objectivist Society. To gauge interest and to figure out planning details, please take this survey to let me know if you’re interested. Thanks!

Visit to the Titian Exhibit at the High Museum

I had a lovely Sunday yesterday with Reid and Kelly yesterday. We met up with Aaron at Ted’s for a delicious lunch and then set off to the High Museum to see the Titian exhibit. We had a good time on the train ride over talking about Lord of the Rings (which Reid and Kelly are obsessed over and I’m just now listening to) and crazy people we’ve met on MARTA.

The Titian exhibit was beautiful. Not all the paintings were by Titian; some were by his Italian contemporaries. I was a bit disappointed that the exhibit was so small; only two rooms compared to the vast area taken up by the Dali exhibit, a waste of space in my opinion. Nevertheless, I did enjoy looking at all the paintings, discussing the stories behind them, and sharing opinions on the works. It was much more enjoyable to have friends there to talk about the paintings and hear their points of view. I also decided that I really want to be painted as a Greek goddess or a damned woman in the Bible. I would especially love to be Venus! I enjoy posing for classes and artist meetups, but the works produced are always half-done studies rather than a finished concept painting. Here are some of my favorite paintings from the show:

Diana and Actaeon

 

Venus Anadyomene (Venus Rising from the Sea)

Afterwards we walked through the permanent collection and visited some old favorites. Reid also pointed out pieces he was drawn to and we noticed a definite pattern of depictions of confident, often scholarly men, deep in concentration. It was interesting to contrast the paintings I was drawn to, which were often beautiful, confident, usually feminine women with my body type. I think both of us were drawn to art that embodied the traits we admire within our sexes and want to see in ourselves. I’m really glad he came with us and had a decent time.

Towards the end of the trip I browsed a photography exhibit by Peter Sekaer. The photos were taken mostly during the Depression and were informal and subtle images of people and places. While none of the images blew me away, I could definitely appreciate the kind of personality it takes to enter people’s homes and neighborhoods and shoot such relaxed photos. The subjects always seemed straightforward without any kind of walls between themselves and the camera. Here are some of my favorite photos:

(heh)

On the drive home Reid and I talked about art and listened to Lord of the Rings. All in all, it was a good day. Now I want to visit other museums!

My Future Plans

After several months of living in panic- I hate my job! Now I don’t have one! Where am I going to live?! Am I wearing out my welcome?! Am I going to have to go back to Kentucky?! What the hell am I going to do?!- things have finally settled down. I have my own apartment, a steady(ish) stream of income, and the confidence that everything is going to be ok. Now that I’ve gotten the basics of food and shelter out of the way and I’m not an emotional wreck, I can move onto other concerns.

My original purpose for quitting college and moving to Atlanta was to discover what I wanted to do with my life. That process was set aside while I got back on my feet, and now I’m ready to go after it again. Here are my interests and possible options at the moment:

• American Sign Language: I love ASL. I love the energy and emotion of the language. I love interacting with deaf people and I ache to sign more. (Especially since moving because I don’t know anyone here who signs.) Of all the subjects I’ve studied in school, ASL was my favorite. I never missed class and I would frequent as many extra-curricular signing events as possible. I was a deaf camp counselor and I became great friends my ASL professor and my classmates. (Team Awesome!) I constantly sign without realizing it and I’m eager to get back to signing regularly. And although I enjoy trying to interpret songs, I don’t think I want to be an interpreter. I’m more interested in the language than playing communication middle-man.
• Photography/Video: Photography has been a long-time passion for me. I started sophomore year in high school and by senior year was known as “the girl with the camera”. I was Miss Journalism, spending half the day (and many evenings) in the newsroom working on the newspaper and yearbook. I was absolutely sure that I was going to be a photojournalist and work for a newspaper. I went to Western Kentucky University, which boasts one of the best PJ programs in the nation. It was in the program that I realized I wanted nothing to do with journalism (I hate hunting and invading people’s personal lives). I did however love my studio and multimedia classes. I often dream up portrait and video ideas. I realized I wanted to work the business side of photography, using the craft to promote businesses. I’m still pretty new to video, but I’m just bursting with ideas.
• Working with Kids/Teaching: This one is a bit more vague. I like kids, but it seems I can only work with other people’s children in certain capacities or my brain melts. Nannying? No way. Teaching at a homeschool co-op? Totally! Chaperoning high schoolers? Oh god. Shooting photos with high schoolers and helping their technique? Completely satisfying. Herding a large group of deaf kids through their camp schedule? Oh dear. Interacting with deaf kids one on one about their interests? Love it! I think I like talking and interacting with kids, even teaching and guiding them, but I absolutely loathe disciplining kids. That’s the mommy’s job! (Especially because I feel closer in maturity to the kids sometime more so than the adults.) I’d much prefer to hang out with a kid and talk about awesome stuff.
• Pretty Things: I like pretty clothes. And pretty decorations. And pretty knitting patterns. And pretty crafts. And pretty photos. And pretty page design. I notice a large bulk of my free time is spent looking at pretty things on the internet, in thrift shops, in knitting books, and just imagining things in my head. I have no idea how that translates into a career path, but damn do I think about pretty stuff a lot.
• Blogging: I really enjoy blogging. There are slumps and dry spells, but I do enjoy thinking up posts and the pride I get from publishing them. It’s been a great way to track progress in my life over the years and to meet new people. In fact, blogging is what led me to Atlanta. (That is reading Jenn’s blog, meeting her and the Atlanta people, then deciding this was the place to be.) I really want to devote more time to it so I can produce more creative and consistent material. I’m constantly inspired by the fashion/decorating blogs I read and I want to be as successful as they are.
• Art Modeling: I’m coming to really enjoy it. I love meeting the artists, seeing the artworks progress, and knowing I had a part in it. Modeling is also revolutionizing the way I view my body. And the pay is great.

So, I’ve got a lot on my plate. Having too many options was one of the reasons I left school. Now it’s time to dig through them and see which ones work best for me. At the moment, this is the plan for each:

• American Sign Language: Take classes at Georgia Perimeter College and possibly get the interpreting certificate there. It’s not a degree and it doesn’t qualify me as an interpreter, but I don’t think I want to be one. It’s a great way to keep up with ASL, meet other signers, make contacts in the deaf community, and test the waters in ASL-related fields. If at the end of the certificate I do want to interpret, I can always transfer the credits and finish up a bachelors, which is what I’d have to do anyways to be a nationally certified terp.
• Photography/Video: I hope to push myself creatively by working on a personal project relating to Atlas Shrugged and doing promotions for the Atlanta Objectivist Society. I might try doing some regular videos fro the blog too, if I have time. I also want to get out of the motivational rut I’ve been in since college and start taking pictures regularly again. Not sure how to do it yet, but there’s a post in the making about it.
• Working with Kids/Teaching: I’ve been teaching ASL and photography at a local homeschool co-op. I don’t know if I’ll be teaching again next year, but I hope to offer more classes in the future after working on the curriculum a bit. I’m also interested in doing some baby-sign classes with local mommies. That’s more of a long term goal. I plan to do deaf camp again, but hopefully more as a photographer and less of a counselor.
• Pretty Things: I’m going to focus on prettying up the apartment, working on my various knitting projects, and my photography. I also want to work on honing my style, so lots of visits to the thrift store!
• Blogging: I hope to be working from home soon, which will allow me the flexibility to blog when the mood strikes, as opposed to having to wait till work is over. I plan to try to expand my readership, create more in depth posts, and post more of my photography. I hope one day to get sponsors and monetize the blog a bit. I have no idea how that would work, since most of the blogs I see making money are fashion blogs with accompanying online shops. I have nothing to sell and I have no desire to post pictures of my daily outfits. But I figure that working hard to create a better blog will lead to the solution of creating wealth from it.
• Art Modeling: Working from home will also give me the flexibility to book more modeling gigs. I’ve been pretty successful so far and next year looks promising. Till then I plan to network among local artists and possibly set up a website for myself once there are more finished paintings of me.

That’s the plan. There’s a lot in the works and I’m very excited. I’ll update as things progress. Please leave any suggestions for the blog or pursuing my interests in the comments. I’d love to hear from my readers and get a dialogue going.

Great Things from the Past Week

While I was away from my blog I was having a spectacular time. Here are some highlights from my break:

• Travis and Colleen’s wedding! There was dancing, amazing food, new people to meet, and all my friends were all prettied up! It was a beautiful event with a view of the skyline. After the reception we all went to a nearby bar and celebrated Jenn’s 40th birthday at midnight!
• My boyfriend visited from Texas. It was great to get some quality time with him. We watched a ton of movies, cooked, hung out with friends, and generally lounged about.
• I got to show off my apartment to my friends and we toasted with champagne. I can’t wait to whip the place into shape for more socializing. Game night!
• I cooked a paleo(ish) Thanksgiving dinner all by myself! I made duck, roasted grape tomatoes, and potatoes cooked in duck fat with Ben and Jerry’s for dessert. It was a nice little meal, given that it was just for two and I am working with limited kitchen ware. We ate everything in one go and I made stock with the leftover bones.
• Kelly had a small read aloud at her house. It was so much fun! There was a fire and drinks and I felt like we were in a modern day salon! I didn’t read, but Morgan and I did perform “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” in sign language. I hope to do it again soon.
• I got started on Christmas decorations. I love Christmas. It’s so sparkly and benevolent. I’m making my own decorations out of paper, yarn, and a few knick-knacks from the craft store. I’ll be sure to post more about that later.

I’m really excited about everything going on in my life at the moment. I’ve finally gotten past most of the yuckiness of trying secure a job and roof over my head. I’m back on my feet and working towards new goals for the future. (That’s another post to come.) All in all I am super happy and plan to continue kicking ass.