IT was one of those moments where you just want the ground to open up and swallow you whole.

Sat amongst a throng of young mums at a mother and toddler group event, they were listening to a personal stylist give a talk when Jane Cooke suddenly realised everyone was looking at her.

The speaker was pointing at her, telling her to stand up and come to the front, as here –it was declared – was the perfect example of someone who was getting it very wrong.

A fan of black and cerise (it was the early 1990s), Jane was told the colours she was wearing were doing her no favours at all.

“I had no confidence back then and felt totally humiliated,” says Jane, 48. “I didn’t have a clue how to dress, but even up there in front of everybody, I could see that she was right.”

Despite the ordeal, it proved to be a revelation for Jane.

Excited about the chance to make herself look and feel better, the thenmum of two young children saved up for a proper colour session, where she was told what shades most flattered her.

Embracing the advice, Jane started to get compliments and her self-esteem grew.

Keen to continue her journey of self-discovery, she booked a shape session so she could learn how to dress to best suit her body.

Unfortunately it was another excruciating experience.

“With absolutely no warning I was told to strip down to my underwear so that I could be assessed. I had no idea that that would happen and it’s safe to say I wasn’t wearing my best pants! I had three choices: I could either cry, go home or strip off and pretend it was OK. I did the latter, even though it really wasn’t OK.”

Despite the embarrassment involved, Jane was inspired by what she learnt.

“Suddenly I just got it. I felt slim even though I was exactly the same weight. I was wearing the right things and my confidence continued to grow.”

Despite running a successful flowers and interiors business, Jane decided a few years later that she wanted to use what she had learned herself to help other women.

Training as a stylist, she was determined to do it differently. There would be no embarrassing strips or humiliation for her clients.

Running Dress Rehearsal from her lovely home near Fareham for around four years, she loves working with women to help them achieve their own personal style.

Showing them what flatters their shape and colouring, Jane also helps them to streamline their own wardrobe to create a great collection of clothes. It doesn’t have to be vast, designer or expensive – just perfect for them.

Working with women of all ages, her clients to date have ranged from 13 to 87 and everything in between.

“There are two types of women that come and see me. There is the woman who just wants to make her wardrobe better and wear different clothes. And then there is the woman who lacks confidence and is at a point in her life where coming to see someone like me is a lesser evil than feeling how they’re feeling.”

Helping to give people confidence and feel amazing, Jane believes it really does change lives.

And by the look of the number of thank you cards in her studio, it seems her clients are inclined to agree.

 

CASR STUDY : Previously a ‘funky dresser in hiding,’ Karen Postle explains how Jane’s help in the style stakes proved vital after her life changed dramatically

“WHEN I had a breast reconstruction two years ago, my shape completely changed.

The procedure involved using my tummy fat to create a new breast and ‘plumbing it in’ by joining the blood vessels from my tummy to those in my chest wall and underarm. It’s a massive operation but it was successful, and has the beneficial sideeffect of leaving a woman with a flat stomach.

Mine hasn’t been like that since I was 30!

Diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2008, I went on to have a mastectomy and chemotherapy. Although I worked throughout my treatment, I found that, as predicted, I was left with a degree of cognitive impairment. It led me to take early retirement from my lecturing post and take on a mixture of less-demanding work, which I still do now.

So, in 2011 after the reconstruction, not only was I a different shape, but I had a very different work pattern and far too many clothes!

Opening the wardrobe each morning had become a depressing event. There was nothing that suited me or my lifestyle.

Having a lot of ‘work’ clothes was a forceful reminder of my loss of work. Although I was settling into retirement, it had not happened as I’d planned or wanted.

I felt stupid for having reached the age of 58 unable to work out what to wear!

My husband Tony is very patient but was getting fed up with limited wardrobe space for his clothes, not to mention the daily upsets.

So I started looking around for advice. I didn’t want to be ‘pigeonholed’ into a specific predetermined style and I couldn’t have coped with the Trinny and Susannah approach as I felt pretty vulnerable. But as soon as I spoke to Jane, I knew I’d found the right person.

After thinking about my lifestyle and the kind of things I liked to wear, the real task of sorting my clothes began.

Over two sessions Jane went through my winter and summer clothes. There was no trying on. From careful observation, particularly of my shoes and jewellery, Jane worked out that I was ‘elegant with a funky twist’ – a description which suited me down to the ground!

The charity shops benefited because I shed half of my winter clothes and three-quarters of my summer clothes.

What I was left with was much easier to mix and match and to dress up for work or down for casual wear.

Thanks to Jane’s extensive advice, now I never shop without my colour wallet (containing swatches of the colours that suit me) or without her voice in my ear reminding me, for example, that patterns don’t suit me or certain necklines won’t work.

I’ve bought far fewer clothes than before but have made selective buys of tights, belts, scarves and jewellery instead. I’ve also tried out styles, shapes and colours I hadn’t worn before but now have found suit me.

Shopping these days is about selective buys, rather than hoping for the best so I’m sure I’m saving money.

I now have a much better idea what to buy for my new shape and am no longer swamped in baggy jumpers.

Choosing what to wear takes seconds, not half an hour, and there are no upsets in front of an open wardrobe door, and above all, I’ve regained a lot of confidence.”