As a sewing instructor, I meet women every day who want to develop their personal style. After years of wanting to dress like others as a teen, I finally found myself muddling along, trying to discover my own true style.

I admired my mother a great deal, but soon discovered that dressing like a women 20 years older just did not work for me. I lived in New York, but got sick of wearing all black all the time. I even had my colors “done” several times, and I was told a different story each time.

By the time I really got serious about Project ME, I was willing to do just about anything. I still couldn’t quite figure out what I was doing wrong, but I was also resistant to anyone else dictating my style. Salespeople consistently chose garments they loved (or wanted to sell), but did not necessarily suit me, my lifestyle, and my figure.

Frustratingly, becoming an entrepreneur while still in college didn’t help. Now I had my private time, college courses (in fashion), and a business of my own. Most of my days were spent in casual clothing—sweats and jeans. I had a small portion of my wardrobe dedicated to my trade—vintage clothing and garments I designed. I had nothing suitable for looking and feeling good everyday.

I spent some time online speaking to other women about the style issue, and I mostly found that many shared the same problems and fears of wardrobe inadequacy. Women from age 14 to 80 bemoaned the fact that they just had no idea where to begin.

It was then I realized that I would have to attack this problem on my own. After all, it was MY style I was trying to discover.

I started by picking up fashion, clothing and style books at every opportunity. New, used, contemporary, vintage, pricey and cheap, if I didn’t have it, I found a way to get it. Before long, I began to notice that there were two main types of style books.

All but a handful of books on fashion and style focused on the style philosophies of the author. Although they often walked the reader through “self discovery,” more often than not the books boiled down into rules. Here is what to wear, and what not to wear. Have this many skirts and this many pants. Create a checklist before you leave the house every day or lay your clothing out the night before. What each book lacked was a combination of frank discussion of body image, foundational knowledge, and straightforward exercises to pinpoint a style that was as personal as my life.

Because style is something so personal and seen by so many, it understandably causes anxiety in women across the country. To get away from these feelings, women will do nearly anything they can. Some women throw money at the problem, thinking that the more expensive the clothes, the more stylish the dame. Others buy all of their clothes from a single set of designers, so they look like a brand advertisement for J. Crew or Talbots. Some women, notably stars, hire stylists; those that don’t have the cash for that copy others, never quite feeling at home in their costumes.

These days, I have learned that style is an ongoing process, and that I will be forever fine-tuning and adding to my personal look. However, I have begun the journey headed in the right direction. For years, I have answered questions on style and figure flattery as part of my sewing business, but now I have been able to turn my attention to the task of offering style to anyone who wants it, whether they sew or not. Not my style, but their own.

Style Update brings all of my research and online course information together into an easy-to-understand format for women of any age and personal preferences.The focus of Style Upgrade is to provide the basic information and inspiration needed to successfully find and display the real you. This is information that other sources of fashion disregard or merely touch on. By bringing this knowledge to the forefront and integrating it with simple steps and techniques, this program will prove invaluable to anyone who has ever had a bad style day.

This course has changed my life through it's development. I hope it will help you change yours.