For most people, the thought of strangers peeking into their closet, commenting on their culottes and Phil Collins tour tees, would be somewhere on the humiliation scale with having their high school yearbook photo plastered across the side of a Muni bus.
So when this stressed-out reporter, after years of wearing yoga pants, agreed to let San Francisco entrepreneurs Rachel Fauman and Jennifer Naylor revamp her closet, it wasn’t without trepidation. But Rachel and Jennifer are not the fashion police, nor are they fashion junkies. They’re just two nice Jewish girls who want to make people feel better about themselves.
Fauman and Naylor recently started Ensemble Personal Image Consulting, a business that helps clients develop the style they’ve always wanted but couldn’t achieve due to a lack of funds, fashion expertise or time.
Contrary to expectations, my first image consultation was not an exercise in humiliation, but a lesson in fashion possibility and a boost in confidence. The Ensemble team took on the daunting challenge of reinvigorating my personal style and getting me excited about clothing again. Because of my hectic schedule, I’d long eschewed style for comfort, which made me feel frumpy.
Ensemble’s goal, as stated on the company’s Web site, is to “outfit your body as if dressing were an art form.” The first step, in my case, was to raid my closet and yank everything that didn’t fit, wasn’t worn and was out of date. The second was to meet at Loehmann’s for a three-hour, high-energy, budget-minded shopping spree. The women took turns scouring the racks for gems and staying with me as I tried on clothing.
The consult culminated with a return to my closet to reincorporate new purchases and create different outfit combinations. Their fresh eyes gave me a new outlook on my old wardrobe.
To achieve the sexy, funky, put-together look I was after, the diagnosis was simple. First was a layered look to keep me warm. Then Rachel and Jennifer incorporated some of my vintage pieces and new finds into offbeat outfits. They used accessories to accent my clothes, and belts to redefine my waistline. They suggested I wear jewel-tone colors to bring out my skin and eyes, and unearthed some forgotten treasures in my closet.
My favorite were the versatile pieces, like a pair of cropped designer trousers with a silk waist, which could be dressed up with heels for work or down with sandals for a casual night out. And the best part — though they retail for $200, Rachel and Jennifer spotted them for $40.
Not only does the Ensemble team know their stuff, but they use their passion for fashion to promote positive body image among women, and to perform mitzvahs in the Jewish community.
“Dressing well can help women love and accept their bodies,” says Naylor. It can also provide the boost of confidence some women need to attract a mate, she adds. Ensemble’s consultations have helped several single clients flourish in the Jewish dating scene.
After meeting last July while working at a San Francisco boutique, Naylor and Fauman became fast friends and fashion soulmates — also bonding over their involvement with and love for the Jewish community.
Naylor, a San Francisco native, grew up attending Camps Newman and Swig, and was involved with the Midrasha Jewish learning program in high school and with her campus Hillel at Washington University in St. Louis.
Fauman, who grew up in Michigan, was a leader at the Jewish Tamarack Camps and at Eastern Michigan University’s Hillel.
Today, both girls participate in the Mission Minyan in San Francisco.
Shortly after meeting, the pair formed Ensemble as a side business to their regular jobs. Fauman, 24, works as a distribution analyst for the Gap, and Naylor, 23, who has a college degree in business, is currently studying fashion merchandising and product development.
Mixing business, pleasure and their Jewish roots, Ensemble is producing this year’s fashion show for Israel in the Gardens on June 4.
Not only are they picking models from the Jewish community and coordinating outfits from Israeli designers, they’re trying to promote, sell and distribute Israeli fashion lines to local boutiques and customers.
“Israeli fashion is very avant-garde, figure-flattering and reasonably priced, but its seasoned design industry is not well known on the world market. We want to create local exposure and a following for Israeli designers,” says Fauman.
Naylor and Fauman work with men and women of all ages, dealing with different budgets and tastes. They have a standard formula for each client: first the consultation, then purging the closet, then shopping and, finally, putting it all together for a bedroom fashion show. Hanging out with the Ensemble ladies is like renting stylish, enthusiastic best friends who are totally focused on you.
While shopping comes as naturally as breathing to them, the women see themselves as more than just wardrobe visionaries. Typically, people hire image consultants when they seek a life change; thus, the pair become clothing therapists to their clients. They listen carefully and tailor their solutions to the client’s needs. And they are amazed at the personal transformation a little image reboot can create.
“The best part of the job is not the clothing, but seeing the change in our clients after the sessions,” Naylor says.