The Look - Closet Control Freak

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© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Boston Globe- October 17, 2005

Local Consultants give clients a fashion boost by helping them build better wardrobes Living Arts pF3

Written By Emily Sharatin - Globe Staff

What to wear?

Emily Neill traces her career in fashion not to the Paris runways but to the sartorially challenged ivory tower: While she was a student of feminist theology at Harvard, her standout style was often admired by friends and colleagues who wanted her guidance on dressing.

"People started coming to me for advice." said Neill, who has been interested in clothes since childhood. "Secretly, they cared what they looked like."

Thirteen years later, Neill has turned her homegrown expertise into a consulting business called Closet Smarts. She works with clients of all backgrounds to edit the contents of their closets, assemble new outfits based on what they have, and shop for wardrobe staples. Her hope is to separate people from the fashion "truths" they cling to - a belief they can only wear certain colors, for instance, or a reluctance to wear skirts.

"I think people have a hard time being objective about themselves." said Neill, a Brookline resident who is expecting her second child. "I try to make them see themselves with different eyes."

It's an effort that Neill, 35, believes more people are willing to sub¬mit to, given the popularity of television programs such as "What Not to Wear," which airs on TLC and BBC America and hinges on the pick-me-up benefits of makeovers. "People are really addicted to that process," she said.

Neill is using her keen eye in writing a book about different body types and strategies for styling. The book, which is due out next spring, draws on 10 of her friends and former clients and the real-life issues they confront when getting dressed.

The real-life side of fashion is important to Neill. Although she ad¬mires the celebrity style of such stars as Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicole Kidman, she describes magazines like Vogue as "not particularly useful" because the clothes are beyond most people's means. Her intention when she shops with clients - women she takes to Lord & Taylor. Anthropologie, and Jasmine Sola, and men to Banana Republic, J. Crew, and Club Monaco - is to help them find their own style in everyday stores.

Neill is one of several local consultants who are trying to do their part to help this notoriously unfashionable city. Samantha von Sperling, who is based in New York and Boston, is an image consultant who helps clients with appearance and social behavior. Von Sperling said she loves Boston but also believes the city could use some refinement.

"Walk down Newbury Street and take a look at how badly dressed everyone is." said von Sperling, whose company is called Polished Social Image Consultants. "I did this to help Bostonians."

Meanwhile, Mary Lou Andre, whose business Organization by Design Inc. is based in Needham, spends a lot of time helping clients or¬ganize their closets and encouraging more confident shopping and dressing.

"It's really about confidence first, fashion second," Andre said.

In her three formal years in business, Neill estimates she has made over 300 closets, a process that can be both intensive and personal.

"You have to be prepared to know when to press and to know when to back off," she said.

Caroline Hopkins found Neill through a friend who saw her ad on the T. Hopkins was happy that she was able to salvage some elements of her wardrobe by learning new ways to combine them.

"I feel like they really were resurrected," she said.

Neill draws a line between her work in feminism and her business when she sees the effect it has on women. Her aim is not to make clients feel alienated but to give them control. While she is doubtful that wom¬en will ever fully shed the "weight of not feeling good enough, I do feel like there's some small way I can help," she said.

That also goes for Boston's status as an unfashionable city, although the influence of collegiate sweats and Adidas sandals may be too en¬trenched for Neill to eradicate.
"The one-closet-at-a-time approach ..." she said, wistfully trailing off. "I wish I could do 20 at a time."

This Story ran in The Boston Globe, Living Arts Section, Page F3, October 17th, 2005.

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