Our Personal Best

I became an author and stylist for women who wear plus size as an act of catharsis. Selfishly, I challenged clothing and style to facilitate the life I wanted to live but found that it connected me to my sistas in deeper ways I could never have imagined. Just when I thought it was about improving one’s appearance, I learned it was more about improving one’s life.

While a beautiful wardrobe is not the ultimate achievement in life, I’ve found, and many of my clients have found, it’s a great place to start, because it is a tangible act of self-love and self-respect.

In fact, it is the beginning of telegraphing your worth to the world. Personally, I find so many Ulla styles do just that because they’re stylish, flattering, and thankfully, comfortable. The jacket I’m wearing in our recent video is long and sleek and the camisole is rich with metallic embellishment, a pretty-combo, a power-combo. Often, the right outfit makes my confidence soar and subtly says to the world, “stand back – she’s going for it!”

This is, however, just the beginning for Ulla clothing. Some of the most beautiful items I’ve seen anywhere are about to be unveiled in our Fall and Winter collections. The hope is that our customers will love our clothing, see it as an opportunity to be their personal best and “go for it.”

So, girlfriends:

• Where does beautiful, flattering, comfortable clothing rank in your own spectrum of being your personal best? What’s more important to you? What’s less important?
• How can Ulla help you look and feel your personal best?

We want to help you invest in much more than clothing, we want to help you invest in being your personal best.

Babe

Ulla Popken Stylist & Blogger

Be your personal best!

My Personal Best

Our son’s high school graduation came and went. It was beautiful, truly a moment to savor. It was gratifying on more than one level.

I remember when our son entered the school, a prep school, how proud we were. A little daunted by the costs but overjoyed by the opportunity. Yet, I wondered, (as a family,) can we keep up? Self-interestedly, in the back of my mind, I actually thought, “How do I stack up against the other mothers? Ninety-nine percent of them are thin, exercised, well-coiffed and look, effortlessly, like they belong in a Ralph Lauren ad. Guess what? I don’t and never will, but much has happened for me in 12 years – I’ve embraced being my personal best.

The day was warm and the sun soaked through the mature trees. One thousand seats were set up outside Founders Hall. We arrived a half hour early but found that most of the seats were already filled or reserved. As we made our way to find 3 seats together I got an opportunity to check out the “landscape.”

Yes, I’m probably still the heaviest mother of the class, and (not but) I looked terrific! Frankly, I looked great 12 years ago too, but was looking in the wrong mirror. What’s different for me now, and the reason I connect with Ulla Popken, is that it’s all about looking and being your personal best, regardless of your weight or size. Trust me, there were countless women there, who weighed half of what I weigh, who were not at their personal best.

They call it commencement for a reason. Find a mirror that reflects a new standard - being your personal best. How do you distinguish “your personal best”?

Babe

Ulla Popken Stylist & Blogger

Be your personal best.

Amazing Grace Tops

Look in your closet, the tops have it four to one. For every bottom we own, we probably own four tops. Purchasing a new top is a quick way to create a new look, a fresh look, with minimal expense.

I’ve coined the phrase Amazing Grace Tops when a top boasts four features:

• It enhances YOU; your skin tone and coloring look amazing.

Look for tops that make your eyes pop and accent it with tonal jewelry.

• It falls in a graceful drape that flatters (doesn’t try to hide) your curves.

Avoid boxy shapes and stiff fabrics. If you’re constantly pulling at or fluffing the top to make it stand away from puffy areas, it’s the wrong top for you.

• It’s long enough to make you feel comfortable and pretty with your every move.

Try it on in the comfort of your home; sit, stand, walk and move around in ways that reflect your real-life activities.

• It has a contemporary vibe.

A smaller investment than other wardrobe pieces, choose tops that are a little flashy, even trendy and well-embellished. Be playful!

If, in terms of fashion, you should ever feel “out of touch” or you look in your closet and it seems “out of date,” a true Amazing Grace Top just might save the day! What do you look for in a top?

Babe

Ulla Popken Stylist & Blogger

Be your personal best!

Love your aura!

Improving your aura or charm doesn’t cost a dime and yet it’s worth a fortune, because it can enhance your people skills, attractiveness and general mood.

Think of a woman you consider sexy, assured and comfortable “in her own skin.” Pick a real woman, a colleague, relative or friend, not a celebrity whom you really don’t know. When you look at the outer package, the woman may or may not be beautiful. There is a very real chance that she wouldn’t make it to the cover of a fashion magazine, yet this is the person that comes to mind when you conjure up “sexy and assured.” Most women wouldn’t mind being thought of in this way.

Take this process a bit further and try to isolate the characteristics and qualities you admire and may possess. Some of the characteristics may be:

• SINCERE
• CONFIDENT
• INTELLIGENT
• ATTRACTIVE
• PHYSICALLY COMFORTABLE
• INTERESTING
• EMBRACABLE
• ENERGETIC
• ENTHUSIASTIC
• CALM
• GRACIOUS
• ASTUTE
• QUICK-WITTED

With body language that is conscious (“Fake it ‘til you make it.”) –

you can be this sexy and assured woman. What qualities are YOU drawn to?

Babe

Ulla Popken Stylist & Blogger

Be your personal best!