Skirting the issue of fashion

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SCI-TECH SCENE | Personal Vogue founders use computer to help women get the most out of their closets.

Two fashion gurus are helping women look their best by leveraging technology and by proposing the stunning idea that a woman can have a fabulous wardrobe without spending a fortune.

Linda Jordan and Kathy Brosmith started Personal Vogue (www.PersonalVogue.com) in January after spending 28 and 18 years, respectively, in corporate America. The women, both 50, left previous employer Motorola knowing they wanted to help other women pick out a fabulous outfit each morning, despite the hectic schedules women keep.

A unique aspect of Personal Vogue's service is a bar-code technology that is in development. Personal Vogue can press a bar-code label with a number to each piece of clothing for a client after she has had her wardrobe assessed, so she can pick out her next day's outfit on her Palm or Blackberry.

The client scans the bar code on an article of clothing, and a software program written specifically for this purpose will list all other pieces that can mix and match with that one item, from shoes to blouses to handbags.

The Personal Vogue founders are testing another software program that would enable women to "see" how they would look in various outfits by downloading photos of their clothes, and mixing and matching them much like an online dressing room. The client's photos dressed in the various articles of clothing could be accessed via a computer or a hand-held device to see how each piece would look with another.

Priced at $375 for a three-hour inaugural session, the Personal Vogue process starts with Brosmith leading an hour-long interview with a potential client, assessing the client's goals, favorite colors and brands, and how she shops.

"We have to be very clear that we have a profile in mind to understand a client's style influencers and motivators," said Jordan, who taps into her skills as a human-resource expert to see how clients see themselves.

"Most of the time, women haven't thought about these things. How do I shop? How is my closet organized? What is the first thing I pick out and why? Do I dress for myself, for my co-workers, for my husband -- who influences my style?" Jordan said.

Brosmith writes a profile of each client, and then Jordan and Brosmith start work in the client's closet.

"Most women wear 30 percent of what's in their closet," Brosmith said. "We want to help women use more of what they have."

Jordan added, "Our goal is to give our clients eight to 10 new looks out of their closets."

If someone's wardrobe requires an immediate fix, the women will do personal shopping for an extra $125 an hour, either by themselves or going with the client on a shopping trip.

They also offer ensemble sessions in which they lead a get-together of no more than six women at someone's home in a discussion about body types and the women's "signature" looks. The women are asked to bring an outfit to be assessed. The ensemble session costs $375.

Kay Hoogland, a consultant on diversity, labor and employment-related labor law, said Personal Vogue's founders helped her find a new way to dress after she left the corporate world.

"I had too many clothes," Hoogland said. "There were high-quality pieces and good fabrics, but I didn't know what to do with them."

"They helped me do what I'd been unable to do myself -- to sort and organize my clothes in a discerning way," Hoogland said. "It was an indulgence to have a service like this, so I love that my investment turned out to be so much smarter than buying another outfit."

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