Do you ever find yourself standing in front of your closet wondering what to wear? Do you ever feel your clothes are outdated or just don’t fit well? Rita Aad, image consultant and personal stylist, graduate of the Sterling Style Academy in New York, is the expert to help you. Rita represents Global Image Group, the leading US image consultant, in the Middle East and has male and female clients in Dubai, Beirut, Jeddah and Riyadh.

“Clothes are very important. They can open all kinds of doors for you, whether you’re a man or a woman,” Rita explained. For example, she told me if you go to a job interview and are dressed like a slob, it will count against you. It makes all the difference if you turn up to an interview wearing a good suit, great hair and great shoes.

“The first service I offer is a Personal Style Consultation. This usually lasts for about two hours. During this, I analyze personal traits, a person’s coloring, hair and skin, their personal style and take their measurements. Based on this, I can advise them not only on clothes or accessories but also about makeup and hair. The key word here is advice; I do not apply makeup or style hair. I can also help people camouflage parts of their bodies that they are uncomfortable with and give them other tips. If a woman, wants to emphasize her waist I would advise her to wear a belt. The size of the belt will depend on her build — a smaller belt would suit a woman with a smaller build and a larger belt for a woman with a larger build.” “My job is not to help a person lose weight or grow taller. My aim is to help make a person look his or her best and feel good about themselves.

What I do is a science. It involves putting together a coherent, harmonious overall look which takes into account personal style.” “It is important that my clients feel good inside and out. A client who is going through a divorce may find it hard to be happy about anything, let alone clothes. For someone like this I offer wellness coaching.” Rita’s second service is wardrobe analysis. She will go through your clothing, fashion accessories and make-up. Then she identifies what needs to be thrown out, what is an incomplete outfit and what is perfect. After a client has had a style consultation and had their wardrobe analyzed, they usually chose to go on to the next stage which involves Rita shopping for them. They can choose to accompany her or not.

“My clients give me a budget. So far I have had budgets ranging from SR20,000 to over SR200,000.

Even if I am shopping on my own I will get it right; the fit, the color and style will be perfect.” Don’t despair even if your budget is small, Rita informed me that she would not have a problem even if a client’s budget were under 20,000 SR.

She can still produce a miraculous transformation.

When the shopping is done, Rita will put the clothes into ‘clusters’ of 8-12 items which can be mixed and matched easily.

Once you have finished the first three stages with Rita, there is one final service that she offers and this is to create a personalized book for you that contains the A to Z of fashion do’s and don’ts.

This book will contain pictures of every outfit you have mixed and matched with accessories as well as a color palette. The outfits are also classified by occasion, so if you have a special dinner or party you can pick what to wear in seconds.

Rita is currently helping the CEO of Global image Group develop a style book. These are her recommendations for spring/summer 2007: “Balenciaga, Dolce and Gabbana and Lanvin are focusing on the futurist look this season. This look can be achieved with metallic or silver colors.

Silver will be the most important color this season; make sure you have something silver. Several other trends this season will be the 80’s look, florals, and the glamorous look. Make sure you get some neutral colors and last and not least at least one mini-dress.” Now you have heard it from the expert so there is only one thing left to do and that’s go shopping.