10 ways to increase your productivity during the day.

Hello all,
Today we are stepping away from fashion to talk about improving our productivity/ daily outcome. After all a lot of us bring home the bacon and also cook it!

So how can you improve your productivity?

1. Get up an hour earlier than you need to
2. Use Sunday evening for planning the week
3. Work out what is important and what is not
4. Use a to-do list, keep it simple and keep your daily to-do below 5 points
5. Plan your day according to the most important, biggest tasks; not the smallest and easiest
6. Stop procrastinating and just do it
7. Take a proper 10-15 minute break after every two hours of work
8. Turn off the TV
9. Stay away from social sites; allow yourself to visit them in the evening for thirty minutes only
10. And finally, get a cleaner and stop spending your precious hours on weekly cleaning

8 Fashion Tips for the Small Busted Ladies

Hello Ladies,

This post is for the cup A brigade. There are many advantages to having a small bust with the main one being that you can go bra-less. You also dont get the back pain and bra strap lash that comes with a heavy bust.

In addition to the above I have here a list of 8 tips to make your bust look even more amazing in your clothes

1. Wear high neckline blouses - they make your bust look bigger.

2. Go backless - you can be daring with your backline simply because you dont need a bra! so why not be daring... put the sexy in the back.

3. Show off your waist - cinch your waist with a belt or wear outfits that have a pulled in waist - a smaller waist will make your bust look bigger than it is and cinching in your waist gives you an hour glass shape - we all want that right?

4. Wear ruffles and embellishments - these things add a lot of va-va-voom to your outfit while also adding volume to your upper body to balance out your hips.

5. Wear Blouses with breast pockets - again details around the bust give volume.

6. Wear lighter colours - dark colours are slimming while light colours are widening - so if you wear light colours they will make your bust look bigger.


7. Wear the right bra - wonderbra, Victoria's Secret, Lasenza and so on have done the amazing and produced a wide variety of bust enhancing bras! Avoid the sports bra and splurge on the padded ones, the bust enhancing ones.

8. Most importantly embrace your bust - the best things come in small packages they say and remember all the advantages we mentioned earlier. Love the environment and go braless! :-)

xxx
Esteri

All image courtesy of Google Images.

10 Fashion Tips for Short Girls

Hello Esterists,

Today's post is for my friends who are vertically challenged :-) If you are wondering if this post applies to you, if you are below 5ft 4inches then it does and these tips are going to help you dress better for your height.

These tips also apply to anyone who simply wants to look taller and or slimmer so even though I'm not short I'm happy to look taller and slimmer!

1. Embrace Heels - obviously heels would make you look taller than you are

2. Wear high waisted trousers - High waisted styles will make your look longer. They create an illusion of height and long legs - who doesnt like that?

3. Wear vertical lines - they have a lengthening effect

4. Stay away from Midi cut skirts - these skirts stop at the wrong place for you and cut up your silhouette leaving you looking short. Ensure your skirts stop just above your knee. Your height also allows you to combine your mini skirts with heels!

SAY NO

 SAY YES

5. Avoid cropped/capri pants  - they work just like the midi skirt - negatively

 6.Choose thin belts - wearing a belt to cinch in a dress or top can effectively cut your body in half and destroy any eforts towards creating an elongated silhouette. So if you must wear a belt, stick to slimmer belts as they are better proportioned and not working so hard to cut you in half.

7. Wear Dark Colours - wearing dark colours create a streamlined effect. Black is particularly effective at giving a slimming sleek look.  Dark colours are a short girl's friend - celebrities know this

8. Avoid oversized handbags - the right accessories can add the necessary verve to any outfit and the size of your bag is a key consideration in choosing your outfit. An oversized bag will dwarf a short girl and leave you looking like you are dragging luggage - so go for the smaller variety

9. Avoid round toe shoes - go for pointed shoes

10.  Avoid ankle strap shoes  - like the belts they cut off your feet and make your legs look shorter. They also make your ankle look thicker.

11. Wear V necklines - V neckline blouses and dresses give an illusion of length -you look taller in these necklines as compared to oval or round neck lines.

Have fun lovelies...

Detachable Collars - How to wear them

I remember the first time I saw a detachable collar - I thought "huh? what is this? but with time I have sort of grown into loving them and the versatility that comes with them.
 A detachable collar is a fun way of adding a twist to an outfit; they can make a simple outfit pop.

You may be wondering how you are supposed to wear these little beauties but honestly you can wear them with a variety of tops and dresses and I'm going to show you how. I have gotten a few pictures to show you the very many ways you can style detachable collars

1. Over a collared shirt - to cover the shirt's collar

 source - allwomenstalk.com

 2.  Over a strapless dress/bodice

source - stylebible.ph

3.  Under your collar to make a double collar

source - http://me-we.tumblr.com/

4. Over your camisole to give it a glam look

source - stylebible.ph

 source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com

5. As a standalone statement necklace, over a blouse, dress and so on.

source:  http://www.quirkychic.me

6. With your cardigan

source: http://www.quirkychic.me

So now you know how to pull off a detachable collar, pop into the stores and get one. They are available at asos.com Primark, Coast, Topshop and so on

DIY Projects - Filling the Walls

Hello my Esterists,

Today I'm sharing with you a few pictures of some DIY art and frames I have made to fill up various walls in my house.

They are simple to make and turned out quite nice.

Magazine Skyscraper - I cut strips of magazine pages, rolled them up and stuck them randomly on a frame (I took out the glass)

Pencil Love - I cut up pencils into lengths to fit love shape I had drawn out earlier and stuck them on this cork board

Tissue Core Art - Here I collected about 25 tissue cores (didnt even take ages, we run through them like freaks) and cut them in halves. then stapled them together to form a circle - voila!  

Melting Crayon - okay this one is a bit harder and not one I want to repeat. I stuck a row of crayons to a sheet of paper and proceeded to burn the crayons without burning the paper. The crayons melted down the paper in lines as shown in the frame. I burnt a finger or two! 

What do you think of my DIY Art Work?

40 Fashion Items Every Woman should own

Hello Awesome people,

As many of you know, I offer personal styling and wardrobe styling services for women and in my years of offering these services, I have gradually come to know the basic fashion item every woman should own. When you have these items, you will always have something to wear and you will look amazing with ease.

I am one for lists (crazy about them actually) and so I have made a list of 40 fashion items every woman should own.  You need 35 of this to make a perfect wardrobe.


1. A complete suit
2. A black blazer
3. A pair of black heels
4. A crisp white shirt - long sleeve or short
5. Blue Jeans
6. Little Black Dress
7. A wrap dress
8. Plain stretch Tee - doesnt even have to be white
9. A pair of black trousers
10. Underwear/Lingerie that fit - atleast one matching set
11. Pencil skirt - knee length
12. A good leather handbag
13. Control Underwear
14. Ballet flats
15. A pair of trainers/converse
16. A wristwatch - for telling the time and beautifying your wrist
17. Stilettos - sexy moments call for this
18. An evening gown
19. A statement necklace
20. Sandals
21. Push up Bra
22. Cardigan sweater
23. Perfume
24. Belts
25. Bangles/bracelets
26. A pair of sunglasses
27. Silk scarves
28. A clutch bag
29. An A-Line Dress
30. A one piece swimsuit
31. Robe
32. An umbrella
33. Nail polish
34. A brooch
35. Red lipstick - there is always a shade of red for your skin tone

The essential extras
...................
36. Cosmetics (powder, lipgloss and hand cream at the least)
37. A cosmetic bag
38. Drop Earrings
39. A strand of pearls
40. A valid travel passport


I have not included important items like the trench coat and the black hoisery because they are specific to cold climates. If there are other items you think should be on this list do leave a comment in the comment box about it.

Esteri

I've been working hard...

Hello awesome people,

I've made a few outfits in the last few weeks that I would love to share with you... I've been busy busy busy... which is partly why I havent been here to write a post in a while (please forgive me) do let me know what you think of these outfits.

I've had some amazing feedback about them already...

Simple and Elegant - We remain Amazing

A friend of mine got married last Saturday - it was a fabulous wedding.... awesome food... a rich diverse amazingly turned out crowd and a fun couple who did a special dance thats probably on youtube now... even the bridesmaids did a dance... yeah they were "Running the World" .. thanks Beyonce!

To this wedding I wore another one of my designs by Esteri.. hope you love it as much as I do.... I enjoyed every minute of making this and its probably going to end up in our store here

My Dabble into Crochet

For a few months I didnt have a working sewing machine and it was killing me.

All my sewing machines decided to go  on holiday to the repairers forever and I just had loads and loads of sketches and projects and no machine to do them with. It felt like my creativity was dying within me! so what did this Esterist do?

I decided to dabble into crochet - firstly I ordered 12 crochet hooks across sizes

Then I visited John Lewis and spent hours pawing and caressing knitting/crochet yarns before deciding to buy the most amazing yarn - I bought four packs of this

Then I progressed to learn how to crochet! online - I read notes and watched videos - I do previously know how to make a crochet chain so I was building on that.

And then my projects started.

I made this beautiful bed shoes

Then I started on this baby dress (yeah someone is getting broody!!!)

and the finished work looks like this

Then I made a headband for Miss Bionic, my friend's amazing daughter

A scarf for myself, everytime I wear it I feel so fly- and also a cap for my friend's uber cute son!

I'm running out of that amazing yarn - which is all well and good ....So many things have been made from it already!  next stop will be a single colour not so bright yarn...

Okay so that is my dabble into crochet so far - I dont think I'm stopping though!

Ta