Dressing for success in 2020
She’s the makeover guru who tells her clients you can mix Prada with Zara — as long as you really mean it
“I think there is a real stereotype among senior executive women that you have to dress like the men. You don’t have to look like a bloke or sound like a bloke to be successful. You can wear something other than a black suit.”
These are the thoughts of a senior partner who until five years ago did exactly that. She would wear a black suit, a shirt with cufflinks, the same brand of stockings she had been wearing since the early 1990s and some black heels. Then she met Nicole Bonython-Hines, an experienced stylist who has worked for multiple fashion magazines (Vogue, Cleo, Elle) and celebrities from Kylie Minogue to Naomi Campbell and Celeste Barber. Everything changed.
“Nicole literally made me put a pair of heels in the bin in the middle of Pitt Street,” says the woman, who prefers her dubious fashion past to remain anonymous. “She said they were ridiculous and got me some better ones. She is delightfully brutal. I now wear things that are a better cut and better quality like wide-legged pants and a beautiful blouse. It’s not an understatement to say she has changed my life. I feel more elegant, more comfortable and so much more confident. I think there is something about an elegant woman who also has something to say.”
Bonython-Hines calls this particular senior partner her “client zero”.
She was the first person she styled outside her career in fashion magazines and celebrities. The referral came through a friend who knew the busy executive needed help to pick an outfit after being invited to the races at Royal Ascot. Bonython-Hines had a week between styling jobs so decided they should go shopping.
“We never ended up finding the elusive Royal Ascot outfit in Australia but while we were wandering around, I kept saying to her, you would look good in this, why don’t you try it on, what do you wear to work and why are you wearing that underwear?” recalls Bonython-Hines. “Instead of getting something for Ascot, we ended up reworking her office wardrobe and she has got a lot out of it.”
That was the beginning of a new business for the fashion stylist who now dresses corporate women around Australia. Bonython-Hines offers a service where she meets her client in person, goes to the client’s home and checks out her wardrobe. She assesses what her client needs on a day-to-day basis, whether it is clothes for meetings, dinners or hosting functions (and now thanks to COVID, Zoom meetings and virtual events) and comes up with suggestions, either shopping in person with the client or online.
“I like to get into their heads and try to figure out what their life is, what their day looks like and what kind of person they are,” Bonython-Hines explains. “Some people like wearing a heel, some people can’t wear a heel. Some people hate being restricted so they hate wearing a tight skirt. Some people hate their legs. Some people don’t want their arms to be seen. It is endless.”
Next is trying to get rid of the clothes her clients don’t wear, haven’t worn for years or shouldn’t really wear. Bonython-Hines says people often have trouble throwing out old clothes (even ones with holes) and that can lead to a style rut, as can preconceived ideas — that are sometimes wrong — about what they should and should not wear to the office.
“The more stuff you have in your wardrobe, the longer it takes to get dressed,” she says. “One of my girls had a pile higher than up to my waist [of clothes to throw out]. It was a mountain of clothes and I asked her, when did you last wear that and she said ‘oh, about 10 years ago’!”
Bonython-Hines says that time is a big factor for her clients. Women in senior executive roles and leadership positions never have enough time and so shopping is difficult and not given priority.
‘The more stuff you have in your wardrobe, the longer it takes to get dressed’
— Nicole Bonython-Hines, stylist
“These women are extremely competent in other areas of their lives but how they dress is not something they have time to think about,” she says. “But they know they need to look good so it is reasonable that they hand this task over to me.”
Bonython-Hines’ “client zero” could not agree more. She says her job involved hosting events and the thought of shopping for something to wear was both stressful and time-consuming. “I did a big federal budget event last year and I did not have to worry about what to wear as I had a whole closet chosen by Nicole. I could just concentrate on what I was going to say.”
Bonython-Hines is famously blunt (“I am honest and that is my blessing and my curse”). She doesn’t hold back when asked what she thinks of how women dress in the corporate world. There are, she says, far too many black polyester suits and bad shoes.
“I think my girls do fine but I generally think it is a car crash for women who work in the city,” she says. “Some of my clients have really weird preconceptions about what they should wear. One believed she had to wear colour to stand out from the men and I said ‘why? If you are good at what you do, you don’t need to stand out by what you wear, you stand out because you are good at what you do’. That is just really a ridiculous idea.”
The stylist says she never dresses her corporate clients in a full suit (whether it be matching skirt and jacket or pants and jacket).
“Some of my girls, you put them in a suit and they look very masculine and almost become a man,” she says. “You don’t have to do that. You can look feminine, strong and fabulous without a suit.
“My ‘client zero’ never wore pants before she met me and now she pretty much only wears pants; often a wide-legged pant. It is the bomb; everyone looks fabulous in a wide-legged pant and a heel and a beautiful blouse.”
The other misconception she finds is that people believe you have to spend a lot of money to look good, polished and confident. This is not the case according to Bonython-Hines. You can embrace high-low dressing, mixing pieces from Zara with pieces from Prada.
“I have a very practical approach to fashion and even in terms of my own dressing,” she says.
“I may have a pair of designer shoes but the rest may be made up of pieces from Zara or Uniqlo or even from an op shop. I could never afford a full designer look and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to do head-to-toe in anything. There are certain things that elevate a great look. I think you can pull off Zara if you have a great handbag — if there is something polished that elevates everything else. That is my approach.”
Like every business Bonython-Hines’ styling services have been affected by the global pandemic. Requests for corporate attire have dropped, given so many people are working from home. It’s now all about how to look good on Zoom. “They all want options they can wear with jeans,” the stylist says. “Even my most corporate woman — she is a CEO — spends most of her days in jeans and some kind of shirt on Zoom. Before then, we were a heel, a bag, a coat and a dress.” And what is her advice to look good on Zoom?
“Your hair and make-up needs to be groomed,” she says. “My girls usually wear a nice shirt or a nice knit and an earring.”
Bonython-Hines, who is herself dressed in jeans, heels, a shirt and a beautiful blazer when she meets The Deal, says she affectionately refers to her clients as “her girls” and they often text her with pictures of their outfit for the day and that makes her proud.
“Every time I work with someone, it is like having a new child,” she says. “I get an enormous amount of satisfaction out of dressing these women, so much more so than working in fashion with models.”
Tips for Corporate Dressing
● Ditch the suit. Get rid of stockings too
● Wide-leg pants flatter everyone.Team with a blouse and heels
● You don’t have to spend a fortune. You can wear Zara, Uniqlo and H&M and mix it with designer pieces such as shoes or a handbag that can elevate a look
● Invest in shoes. Cheap shoes are a “dead giveaway”
● On Zoom, wear a nice shirt or knit. Make sure you have done your hair and make-up and complement with earrings
nicolebonythonhines.com