We would like to kick off our Look of Success article with a big thank you to our Omaha Area Best Dressed winners of 2011! The winners are Mike Story with Physicians Mutual, Holly Willis with Apartment Guide, Michelle Schrage with Principal Financial Group, Hal Daub with Husch Blackwell LLP, Caitlin Eisenmenger with Paychex, Inc. and Kyle Steenson with Hilton Omaha. Continue reading to find out a bit more about their sense of style and to find out more how you can achieve ‘the look of success’ for yourself!
Mike Story
Who are your fashion idols locally?
Ben Baldwin, Sr.– VP at Physicians Mutual.
How would you describe your style?
Conservative / business professional.
What is your wardrobe staple and what is your most unique wardrobe piece?
Bright colored shirts and ties.
What era of fashion has been your favorite?
I don’t know, whenever professional dark pin-striped suits came into being.
Holly Willis
Who are your fashion idols locally?
I really don’t have any fashion idols locally. I like to create my own style and put a twist to it. I think fashion is all about finding your own style and evolving it and of course having confidence is key! Flaunt it no matter what you wear!
How would you describe your style?
Modern yet eccentric. Again, I don’t like to dress in what everyone else is wearing, but I do like simple and chic and to put my own creativeness to it like a statement necklace, large belt or some fun earrings. I also love to wear dresses and tops that are asymmetrical. I think this look is so fun. I love dresses that only have one sleeve like the one I wore to the Best Dressed Event.
What is your wardrobe staple and what is your most unique wardrobe piece?
As far as business style goes, you can’t beat a great pencil skirt! You can do so much with it and pair it with a tucked in, button-down or a longer sweater with a big belt. And of course a great pair of pumps to go with it is a must to make your legs look fabulous! When it comes to a casual look, I LOVE hats! I have a ton of them and wear them often. You can dress them up or down and I truly think they can make an outfit sometimes.
What era of fashion has been your favorite?
I adore the modern era of fashion. In other eras, I remember seeing business women in suits and panty hose! Those are staples in past eras that I am glad I missed! It’s important to me not to have to be matchy matchy and to be able to throw something together that fits me and my style. But my favorite thing about this era is women are able to exude confidence, no matter what we wear, without any rules!
Michelle Schrage
Who are your fashion idols locally?
There are a lot of fashionable women in Omaha, my mom being one of them. She’s very fashion-forward! I’m also inspired by my friends and other business professionals. I’m pretty impressionable and like to take fashion ideas from others and then put my own twist to them.
How would you describe your style?
I’m somewhat conservative, but always have to have one thing interesting about my outfits. I’ll usually do a skirt and blouse, then pick one thing to be “loud”: a belt, shoes, earrings, scarf, purse, etc. I like to be considered classy, but adventurous-classy, not boring-classy.
What is your wardrobe staple and what is your most unique wardrobe piece?
My staple piece recently is black leggings. I love wearing long shirts or dresses with black leggings. They look great with flats, heels, and tall boots.
What era of fashion has been your favorite?
I don’t know if I have an era of fashion that’s my favorite. But, as far as cultural fashion, I do like how European women dress. In America, so much of our outfits revolve around jeans (and jeans can be really stylish!), but every time I visited Europe, I was inspired to think “outside the denim box.”
Hal Daub
Who are your fashion idols locally?
John Knicely, WOWT anchor.
How would you describe your style?
Business ready.
What is your wardrobe staple and what is your most unique wardrobe piece?
Suits always with a white shirt. My most unique would be my large tie selection.
What era of fashion has been your favorite?
The current era.
Caitlin Eisenmenger
Who are your fashion idols locally?
Hmmm? That’s a tough one.
How would you describe your style?
Classic and professional.
What is your wardrobe staple and what is your most unique wardrobe piece?
In the fall and winter I have to have my tall black boots and in the spring and summer it’s my high heels. My most unique wardrobe piece is only unique in Nebraska because it’s my Oklahoma State sweat pants and sweatshirt I wear on cold weekends.
What era of fashion has been your favorite?
The ‘80s big hair and eye makeup but I would choose the 2000s because anything goes. I can literally walk in my closet and throw a few things together and make it look good and somewhat trendy.
Kyle Steenson
Who are your fashion idols locally?
I would say that I was impressed with my fellow nominees.
How would you describe your style?
Professional with subtle original pieces.
What is your wardrobe staple and what is your most unique wardrobe piece?
Suits would be my staple. I like to accent with unique cufflinks.
What era of fashion has been your favorite?
1940.
Each of our Best Dressed winners excels in not only looking fabulous, but also in creating a look that is solely their own. While they have their fashion idols and take ideas from others, what makes them truly great dressers is that they have their own unique sense of style that works for them. Want to know how to get ‘the look of success’ for yourself? Read on!
Be Unique
How many times have you gone shopping by yourself and left the store with nothing because you just couldn’t buy anything without getting a second opinion? While it’s always nice to have someone along with you to make sure you’re getting the proper fitting clothes and to help you make a decision between one pair of shoes or another, but we sometimes use others to help us decide what we like when we should be relying on our own personal taste. Does it matter if your best friend wouldn’t purchase the bright green shoes for herself? Of course not, because she won’t be the one who is wearing them!
Defining your own sense of style is key. What are your favorite colors? When you look through a fashion magazine, what styles jump out at you and how can you make them work for you? What catches your eye when you walk into a store? These are all keys to putting together a look that is uniquely new. While being trendy can be fun and is important to some degree, remember that putting your own spin on the trends is what will really make you stand out!
Make Sure Your Look Fits Your Life
Depending on your career, your hobbies and your general lifestyle, your look will have to be different from others who have a different type of lifestyle. For example, your work attire as a boutique owner will almost certainly be different from your friend who is a banker. Your work attire must be appropriate for your office setting (and of course fit into any dress codes that might exist) and, when it’s time to get off work, should also make sense with how you spend your personal time. It doesn’t make sense to sacrifice comfort for fashion, something any mother who has chased around a toddler in stilettos will certainly agree with! However, comfort and ‘work appropriate’ do not have to translate into ‘sloppy’ or unfashionable. There is always a way to achieve style and comfort at one time!
What’s Inside Also Matters
When you think of the best dressed people in your life, what is one thing they always seem to have in common? No, it’s not a big budget. No, it’s not jetting off to buy clothes in exotic places. And no, it’s not even how attractive or fit they are. What they probably all have in common is confidence! It takes confidence to pull off a unique, polished look and you can certainly tell who is comfortable in their clothes and who isn’t! Confidence is the best accessory you can have and always makes ANY outfit look better.
There are many ways to increase your own confidence levels. The first key is identifying the areas where you are not confident. Are you self-conscious about your weight or poor fitness level? Then perhaps you should consider working with a personal trainer. Are you unsure of your skills at work or nervous about speaking in front of people? Maybe a coach or leadership trainer is the professional you need to speak with. Bolstering your confidence will increase your inner beauty, which will definitely be noticed by others!
Buy Local
If you are interested in supporting your local economy and dressed in a truly unique manner, there is only one solution: you need to support your locally owned stores!! Living in Nebraska, there is often the misconception that we need to visit other, larger cities to buy fashion forward clothing, but this simply isn’t true. Omaha and the surrounding areas have some wonderful locally owned boutiques and shops that offer stylish, trendy and quality clothing. What’s even better is that many of them are staffed by the owners of the stores or managers who are invested in the store’s success, making their level of customer service far above what you would experience at a chain or national store. Developing personal relationships with these shop owners is a rewarding experience that will not only make your shopping more fun, but will also make your choices more uniquely you as the owner discovers your own personal style and begins to think of you when on buying trips or while putting out new merchandise. Imagine being called by a store owner when a dress comes in that would be perfect for you. This isn’t something you’ll get from a chain store, but is very possible from a locally owned boutique.
If you’re wondering where the best boutiques in town are, wonder no more! We highly recommend the following:
Oolala! L.A. Boutique | NW Corner of 72nd and Hwy 370
J’Mour Boutique | 9637 Giles Road (located inside JB’s Salon)
Nouvelle Eve | 11th and Howard (in the Old Market)
Beyourself | 307 N. 78th Street
The Giving Tree | 16902 Wright Plaza, Suite #195
Develop a Relationship with a Salon
Your hairstyle as well as the health of your hair goes a long way toward your overall look! One of the best ways to make sure your hair is always looking its best is to develop a relationship with a stylist. When you visit the same stylist every time you need a trim, a color or a new style, that stylist will get to know you as well as your hair. They will know what works with your personality and your lifestyle, be able to suggest new ideas and will become familiar with your hair so they will know which products and styles will work best. Don’t be tempted to jump around to different salons based on specials or whatever is convenient at the time. Your hair is too important to entrust to just anyone! Develop a relationship and be loyal—you’ll be glad you did!
Accessorize
What can take a boring black dress to spectacular? What can make a pin-striped suit into an outfit everyone is talking about? The answer, of course, is accessories. If you’re a man, accessories can mean an amazing tie, a great watch, bold shoes or eye-catching cufflinks. For a woman, the sky’s the limit! Scarves, hats, jewelry, shoes, belts and, of course, the handbag!
“Handbags add character to a basic outfit as well as providing the functional space to organize everything needed for an important meeting or lunch with a friend,” explains Ruth Hamlin with Miche Bag. “With the quick switch of the outside cover, a woman can match her handbag to her outfit to create coordinated look. The Miche Bag comes in four sizes, so every woman can have a handbag that fits her ‘purse-onality’!”
“Looking successful to me is a combination of many things,” Ruth continues. It is presenting a total package from head to toe. A woman in an expensive suit carrying a worn and overstuffed handbag that clashes with her outfit sends the wrong message. My mother used to tell me that people see how you look before they ever hear what you have to say, so you should make sure what they see is what you want them to remember.”
The look of success can incorporate many things both inside and out. Remember to always make sure your style is your own and keep in mind that shopping at local stores is a great way not only to create a style that is uniquely your own and also to support your local economy!
Once again, congratulations to our Best Dressed winners and make a note that we are already taking nominations for our Best Dressed 2012 contest!! You’re welcome to go on our website and nominate TODAY! We can’t wait to see who makes the list for next year!