Being smart with style

On a shopping spree with a client  

“Style is something each of us has already and all we need to do is find it,” says certified personal stylist Umanda Jayasuriya whose venture ‘Uma’s Almaari’ seeks to help women present themselves better with individual-style, while enhancing self-image.

By Randima Attygalle

Fashion Editor Diana Vreeland says, “All who have style have one thing in common: originality.” Qualifying her words, UK-certified personal stylist, Umanda Jayasuriya, better known as Uma in her circles, says, “While fashion says ‘me too’, then style says ‘only me”. After a sojourn of 12 years, when she worked as a HR professional for a leading conglomerate in the country, Uma has made a comeback as a personal stylist.

“Personal stylists are a niche market in Sri Lanka and I’m proud to say that I’m the pioneer in this field,” remarks Uma whose venture interestingly branded as ‘Uma’s Almaari’ is filling a gap in the fashion industry here at home. “Even though I started my career in the Human Resources field unfortunately there was hardly any opportunities offered for mums with young kids to work from home. So, I had no choice but to give up my career in the corporate world. Being a stay-home mum and suddenly realising that your child doesn’t need you so much as before made me wonder what I can do to contribute to society,” recollects Uma who found the answer through her venture Uma’s Almaari.

Always a lover of style and elegance, Uma together with her lawyer-husband brainstormed as to how she could translate her knack for style to make not only a vocation out of it but also to empower other Sri Lankan women. “My husband and I did a bit of research and found out that being a personal stylist in the Western world is a very popular profession. I wanted to be a qualified personal stylist and did a course from the world’s most innovative and influential image training institute in the UK. Following this course was the best decision I made as I learnt and understood the art of dressing various body shapes.”

Enhancing the positives

Personal stylists are often hired in the West to help people select a wardrobe which best enhances their body shape, select complementary accessories, how to shop smart without wasting money and for personal grooming. Above all, a persona stylist, as Uma explains helps a person focus on the ‘positives of the body shape’ and not fixate on one perceived ‘problem area.’

The best part of her professional learning as a stylist is learning to understand how to help other women to dress and feel confident about themselves. “Each woman has a unique body shape and not only clothes, even accessories, hairstyle and makeup should complement that shape,” says Uma whose training has equipped her to handle diverse clients including those with a negative mindset, women who are insecure about themselves and those who want to get out of a style rut. “It can be sometimes a challenge to persuade clients who are set in the way they dress but at the same time, wanting a change in the way they look. Therefore, before a client starts the journey of change, it is imperative that she is confident to go through the process. All in all, the clients who I have worked with so far, have been fantastic women who were ready to take up that challenge.”

Working with a diverse clientele drawn from diverse ethnic and professional backgrounds, Uma enjoys every minute she spends with them. “My youngest client is 23 years and the oldest is 63,” she says with a smile.

When less is more

A believer of ‘less is more’, for Uma, elegance and class are the cornerstones of being stylish. “What you wear depicts who you are as a person. Wearing skimpy clothes or too tight clothing can give the wrong message to anybody. I always tell my clients that showing too much skin is not the idea of being fashionable. We can all get carried away sometimes when buying clothes for ourselves. Buying more is not the way to go forward. The quality of what you wear far outweighs the quantity. Rather than having a wardrobe full of clothes, it’s better to have a wardrobe with quality garments that will make you feel like a million dollars.”

Debunking myths

Debunking the myth that style is all about buying expensive clothes or sporting brands, Uma says that one could be stylish on any budget. “It’s about buying clothes that reflect who you are, flatter who you are and make you feel like you are on top of the world! Your style is exclusive to you which makes it fun, exciting. It is achievable even on a tight budget, and we certainly should not use our finances as an excuse to dress badly. A simple pair of black capri trousers, gold or black ballet pumps or loafers, teamed with a crisp white shirt or a plain black t-shirt is affordable for even the most frugal fashionistas.”

Shop smart

Urging people to be intelligent when buying clothes, Uma offers some handy tips.

Wearing clothes that are simply “not you” just because they are in fashion or are the latest ‘must-have’ would be a fashion-fault, she says.

Being a slave to fashion, being influenced by designer labels, glossy magazines, or expensive shops is not the way to shop smart, she says.

“A designer label doesn’t guarantee style! You need to buy any item for the right reasons. For instance, if it suits/enhances your body shape, if it’s a good quality fabric, features beautiful tailoring and fits you well, then you need to go for it but not simply because a garment carries a designer label.”

Uma also discourages fabrics that show every little lump or bump and leave you feeling self-conscious. Clothes which ‘scream for attention’ such as too short, too long, too frilly, too detailed, over-engineered, too low rise, too high-rise should also be avoided at all times says the stylist. She also debunks the myth that one needs to be buying from ‘sustainable fashion sources’ in order to be sustainable. “Taking care of the clothes that you already have is a big way to be more sustainable. Hand washing pieces which need to be handwashed and having clothes repaired, pressed, storing them properly when needed is also helpful in waste management which will lead to the sustainable fashion movement.”

Emerging talent

Applauding emerging young local designers “who could give a run to some of the top global brands,” Uma encourages more Sri Lankans to become partners in the fashion industry. “We have so many talented and upcoming fashion designers who can venture into new possibilities such as quality office attire, formal shoes, trendy accessories, and design them and offer quality products.” The stylist also laments the lack of affordable and well-tailored office attire, adding that there is a huge untapped market for potential entrepreneurs here. “Finding something as simple as a well-cut affordable white shirt can be difficult. Also, there is not much of a choice when it comes to formal shoes and the local shoe industry can improve a great deal.”

Finding passion

Encouraging other women to take up unconventional vocations and use it as a tool to empower others, the stylist says: “When you have your own business, you have to work harder to build it but it’s at your own pace. For an example you can complete your work at your own pace and there is no pressure to be physically at work which will enable you to have time for your family as well as household chores. Besides if you try to understand the things that you are passionate about and look deeply into what you would enjoy doing, I feel anybody would be able to figure out what they would like to do and pursue their dreams.”

Uma who is expanding her reach to corporate trainings is also looking forward to be working more with young professionals in their formative years. (Uma can be reached on Instagram and Facebook under the name Umas Almaari). “I would like to empower them to present themselves in such a way that they feel confident about themselves which in turn will enhance the image of their respective companies as well.”