A fashionable manager of the technologies arm of a security company, Jean Tham’s informal, cool appearance belies the truth that she is the 56-year-vintage mother of grown youngsters in their twenties.
“I’ve come to a degree in my lifestyles where I’ve got the entirety, my children are grown up, so my obligations as a parent, as a mother are performed,” she said.
“I’ve finished as plenty as I can in my career and my job, so I ask myself, ‘What is subsequent for me?’ and I recognize what I actually need to do now is to begin living for myself.”
Jean had by no means paid a good deal interest to her appears before. “I changed into harassed quite a few the time, and looking match turned into the furthest from my mind, so I turned into just like any female than in her 40s, with little or no exercise. Even though I signed up for gymnasium memberships, I did not grow to be going.” She became 75kg and “now not attractive; people wouldn’t have given me a second appearance.”
But 4 years ago, whilst her kids, in the end, entered university, “I determined that one of the things I truly wanted to do became to get healthy, be robust and get into form.”
READ: Style Watch: Getting this mum out of hand-me-downs and into her personal style
Over time, Jean misplaced 13kg and has stayed in form for a reason. She determined herself abruptly in ownership of a shapely discern. “It’s not simplest about weight loss – exercise absolutely gives you lower back the essential form and posture. It also gives motion, mobility, and agility, which offers you a positive confidence level. It’s been a journey of transformation,” she stated.
Jean then decided it changed into time for a wardrobe transformation as nicely. She nonetheless has a maximum of her garments from her pre-weight loss days; however, “my cloth cabinet become more functional, extra for going to the workplace,” she said.
“If I placed on a few weight, in place of tucking in my shirt, I would depart it out. I didn’t pay very plenty of attention to clothing – it was simply to get by using. And then, with weight reduction and having a discern, I started opting for a tighter fit and more sleeveless and collarless tops to reveal off an awesome form.” She delivered: “Yet I sense that other than black, I don’t have any different alternatives. So, I want numerous assists with hues and combinations and accessories. I’m still very clueless approximately all that!”
Jean became up in an inexperienced tank top and denim shorts at the Style Switch shoot, a normal look for her. At paintings, Jean normally wears pants, a blouse and boots or shoes. When it comes to casual wear, she’s partial to the sporty, rocker tank-pinnacle-and-shorts vibe. “People generally tell me I look too informal,” she admitted. “Sometimes they say my dressing is a chunk mismatched.”
Jean introduced: “I feel I even have work to do. I want to appear as precise as I can. I want to develop a few get dressed experience and makeup competencies.” Stylist Yang Derong cited that Jean works in surroundings in which she is surrounded by using men. “What she wishes is to look feminine, however, nonetheless, on top of things,” he explained. “So we got down to empower her.”
Jean agreed that she become searching ahead to reaching a classy and female appearance. “I would describe my modern-day fashion as scruffy,” she stated. “And I love the ‘rocker’ fashion. But I absolutely would like to improve in a lot of these areas of dressing and hair and face.”
Derong changed into cautious about appreciating no longer simply the nature of Jean’s activity however also her character. “She’s a mature woman who’s confident and is aware of what she’s doing. So what we did was give her some ‘kick’ to her look and encourage her to discover her feminine aspect,” he said.
He picked out for Jean a pill collection of prints and colors – “a fun and cosmopolitan look” – that pondered the happy, energetic, and assured individual she was, yet allowed her to preserve authority. Working to intensify her athletic physique, Derong determined pieces that showed off her “amazing hands.”
For the workplace, he picked out a geared-up sleeveless pinnacle with cropped pants worn with heels. He completed it off, employing draping a quick jacket over her shoulders. The impact is expert and clever, however also horny.
In a departure from her pants-heavy cloth wardrobe, he also asked her to attempt a colorful dress that delivered femininity to her appearance. For weekends, “there are numerous methods to dress up an informal appearance,” Derong talked about. “Ways to layer; to balance the shape of your blouse with your shorts. It’s nonetheless tropical dressing that’s terrific for the weather. However, it seems nicer.”
He delivered: “And for shoes, get some extraordinary slip-on, some sincerely first-class running shoes. Explore dressing it up a touch.”
