Wood and her partner, Kathy McFadden, have made careers out of helping women make the most of their wardrobes
.They created and market "The Fashion Fit Formula." It's a series of personalized measurements they say will help women find the styles that are most flattering to them. They also provide advice on how to cull through your wardrobe and decide what looks best, what can be tailored to look better -- and what you shouldn't wear at all.
We met Wood and McFadden at the Philly AIDS Thrift Shop to get their tips on whether what looks like a bargain... really is one.
Wood's first tip: Don't spend any money you don't have to. Look in your closet, before you look at stores. Outdated pieces -- like a plaid jacket she found on the racks -- can be updated for the minimal cost of tailoring.
She suggested cropping the jacket at the waistline, getting new buttons, and opening up the neck, to make it trendier.
Her next tip, look for good workmanship. Clothes that fall apart quickly, Wood says, are never good deals. She explained that looking at garment's seams is a key to determining if it's well-made, and therefore, worth what you're going to spend on it.
On plaids, she says, make sure the pattern matches across the seams on the outside.
And inside clothes, look for double rows of stitching in the seams, with more than a half-inch of extra fabric.
Finally, on well-made clothes, zippers should be sewn in without puckers and they should not be visible.
By checking the workmanship on various garments at the Philly AIDS Thrift shop, Wood and McFadden found some good deals. But they also pointed out items that were not only cheap in price, but cheaply made. They say that by using their tips and guidelines, women can tell which items are which, and avoid spending money on clothes they won't really wear.
Here are links to find out more about the Philly AIDS Thrift Shop and the Fashion Fit Formula:
