Empowering Women Through Fashion

Pittsford resident and personal stylist, Kelly McCarthy, helps local women build confidence by discovering their style, curating a closet they love, and embracing the season’s most desirable trends. She has always loved beautiful clothes; learning about quality garments and classic styling from her mother, she is a fashion enthusiast who loves how the right outfit can help someone build confidence in themselves.

In 2017, Kelly decided to re-enter the workforce after staying home to raise her three children. She began working as a personal stylist for cabi, a home-based designer fashion brand offering women’s clothing and personal styling. Just like Kelly, the cabi brand stands for much more than just clothing on a rack. It is dedicated to helping women find their own unique style, create curated closets, and give them confidence to feel their best.

“When you look good, you feel good and then you do good. It’s never been about the clothes, it is about the woman wearing the clothes… how she feels and what she does as a result,” McCarthy shares.

Kelly sat down with us to share tips on building a classic wardrobe while also embracing the season’s latest trends.

Building a Curated Closet

Building a designer, curated closet over time with collections that mix and match from one season to the next is the dream. Investing in quality pieces you will love for a long time and building upon those items each season creates a capsule wardrobe that is easy and fun to pull together. A capsule wardrobe is a collection of clothes that all work together and can be put together and styled in different ways.

To create this type of wardrobe, Kelly advises clients to first refine their style. Decide what type of look you want and how you want to show up for the world. From there, she works with women to help discover the fit and colors that work best with their body type and skin tone. Having a professional color analysis can be well worth the time so you understand which colors work best for you and those that don’t. When it comes to fit, finding something off the rack that fits perfectly is ideal, but not always possible. When you can, work with a local tailor (especially for staple pieces such as pants, dresses, or jackets) to get the perfect fit. It can be relatively inexpensive and make a world of difference.

Being thoughtful about how you build your wardrobe makes capsule dressing effortless and allows for easy daily outfits. With this approach, women love that they no longer go to their closets and see a closet full of clothes “with nothing to wear.” Having a multitude of choices that work together gives a woman the confidence to face the day.

“Finding your unique style is easy with a personal stylist that cares about you and can help translate how you want to show up in the world. We understand fit, styling and can even help push you out of your comfort zone to find what works for you,” shares Kelly.

What to Wear: Fall Wardrobe Essentials

Design experts spend hours observing and pulling together inspiration from the runways in the form of mood boards, which really drive the trends coming forward each season. Here are some of the top trends Kelly and the design team embrace this fall:

Brownie Points: Brown is everywhere and in every shade. From chocolate and caramel to camel and khaki, this is the new neutral for fall and will be a foundational color for your wardrobe.

Ivy Style: The resurgence of classic, tailored pieces has come. This look embraces iconic items such as V-neck sweaters and well-fitting pencil pants. Here, the trend isn’t about fashion, it’s about style. These pieces will live in your closet forever.

Refined Rebel: This look is femininity with an edge. Black and leather are part of this trend but not everything. Add flowy pants or cargos with ruffles and lace to soften the look. The perfect blend of soft and tough elements pull it together.

Accessories

• The over-the-knee boots that made an appearance last season are all over the runways for Fall ’23. Lace up boots and loafers are also huge this season.

• It’s all about the handles for your handbags or carry a bag held close to the body, which is trending as well.

• Keep your makeup simple and effortless. A strong brow is back and so is a glossy lip. Better skincare is trending heavily in the makeup world along with creating a fresh and clean palette.

Styling Tips from Kelly

Accessorizing and remembering the rule of 3 can take any outfit to the next level and give you the look of being well-styled. “We can all put on a pair of pants and a top. It’s adding at least two more pieces above the waist that takes a look from drab to fabulous,” Kelly says.

• A belt and a topper make this standard outfit more styled and refined.

• Layers such as a scarf or a statement piece of jewelry elevate the look even more.

• A handbag, hat, or sunglasses add the finishing touch to pull the look together.