Chester County resident, Amy Crawford won the style jackpot when she was selected as the winner of the “Authentically You Fashion Transformation” Contest presented by Katelyn Milley, Personal Stylist.

The prize consisted of each of Katelyn Milley, Personal Stylist’s services: a Fashion Consultation, Beauty Consultation, Beauty Appointment, Closet Edit, Personal Shopping, Personal Styling, and Photo Styling. Additional fashion and beauty rewards included: boutique gift cards, a private alterations appointment, a range of BeautiControl cosmetics, haircut, Shellac manicure, and photo session provided by KALY, Malena’s Vintage Boutique, Green Eyed Lady, Greene Street Consignment, The Perfect Fit Alterations, Spa with Sharon Prince, Tribe, Polished Nail Salon and Blue Pear Photography.

Milley says she selected Crawford as the contest winner because, “My heart melted when I found out that Amy and her husband were in the process of adopting four girls, all sisters. Add in the fact that Amy had really struggled with finding clothing to fit her very petite frame, and I knew she was the one I wanted to take on this fashion journey. The “Authentically You Fashion Transformation” Contest is all about rewarding a woman of strength and character, and it was clear to me that Amy definitely fit the description.”

Crawford’s prize kicked off with the Fashion Consultation. Milley met with Crawford in Crawford’s home, where they discussed her personality, lifestyle needs, body type, body scale and proportion as well as complete a personal style exercise and quiz. Milley also performed a custom color analysis. Crawford was excited to discover her personal style and learn about her natural coloring, “After the Fashion Consultation, I finally had a clear sense of what my style personality is! I was able to picture a cohesive wardrobe, instead of an eclectic mix of styles.”

The second step of Crawford’s fashion transformation was the Beauty Consultation. Milley again met with Crawford in her home and discussed her face shape, hair type, and skin type. They looked through a collection of fashion-forward haircut and hairstyle images and found several fun hairstyles to compliment Crawford's current haircut as well as transitional hairstyles that will work with her dream hair look. Crawford learned the best make-up colors to enhance her natural coloring and was given personalized make-up product recommendations.

The Beauty Consultation was followed up with a Beauty Appointment. This service consisted of make-up shopping with BeautiControl make-up provided by Spa with Sharon Prince. Milley and Crawford had a private appointment to meet with Sharon Prince for Crawford to test and select a full range of make-up products. Milley guided Crawford to the best colors for Crawford, based on her natural coloring and beauty look preferences. Crawford commented, “Having Katelyn narrow down a perfect color palette for my skin, and then playing around with those colors, allowed me to branch out into a lot of different looks that I would have been too afraid to try otherwise!“

After the Beauty Appointment, it was time for Milley to tackle Crawford’s closet with a Closet Edit. A minimalist by nature, Crawford had struggled with adding variety to her wardrobe. Crawford explains that her closet held, “basically a uniform of black shirts, black pants, with occasional grey thrown in. I had a jumble of clothes in piles that were unused but taking up space, and I was frustrated with the fact that I was wearing the same thing every day. I have a vibrant personality and my clothing was anything but a reflection of that.” Milley had Crawford try on all of her clothes for Milley to evaluate. They discussed how to spot proper fit and Crawford was instructed on flattering colors and shapes. Each item was either put back in the closet, tagged for alterations, or sorted to resell or give away. Together, Milley and Crawford also came up with a wishlist of items to look for to fill out Crawford’s wardrobe and give her outfits more versatility. Crawford said, “The most helpful thing about the Closet Edit was seeing just how many things in my closet I had overlooked! There were all these great pieces in there that I hadn’t worn in forever, or couldn’t figure out how to incorporate into my wardrobe, and Katelyn was like a magician – turning a piece that I would have given away to Goodwill, to a piece that will become a new staple in my wardrobe.”

The next step in Crawford’s fashion transformation was Personal Shopping. Crawford was given gift certificates to shop at some of West Chester’s finest boutiques: KALY, Malena’s Vintage Boutique, Green Eyed Lady and Greene Street Consignment. Milley sought clothing and accessories that compliment Crawford’s personal style and was able to cross some items off of Crawford’s wishlist. Crawford ended up with many great pieces: a chic pair of pants, multiple unique tops, practical basic tops, a vintage black dress, two gorgeous pairs of earrings, and three scarves. Crawford commented, “Personal Shopping was perhaps one of my favorite parts of the experience, and something that will forever change the way I dress myself. I was able to see, in person, how to sort through the enormous amount of choices presented by a store, and quickly decipher what will work for me and what won’t. Learning how to scan for proportions on clothing has already saved me literally hours of time in a store, and much frustration. When I go shopping now, it is such an amazing experience – being able to take all that knowledge that Katelyn imparted and put it to quick use is a life-saver!”

After all that shopping, it was time to put some fresh outfits together. Milley met with Crawford in her home once again for Crawford’s Personal Styling session. Milley styled and photographed new, inspiring outfits for Crawford using clothing, shoes and accessories from Crawford’s new and existing wardrobe. During Amy’s Personal Styling session, Milley also put together three outfits and came up with the beauty look for Crawford’s upcoming photo session.

As an added bonus to Crawford’s Closet Edit and Personal Shopping experiences, local alterations specialist Jennifer Oberg, from The Perfect Fit Alterations, provided Crawford with a personal fitting and alterations appointment. Oberg had Crawford try on each of her five garments to be altered. Oberg was able to custom fit a vintage dress and a handmade skirt was hemmed and fitted without losing any of it’s unique details. Oberg looked at each piece of clothing from every angle to carefully evaluate the ideal fit for Crawford. Crawford was thrilled with the fit of each piece.

Milley’s final service with Crawford was Photo Styling. Crawford’s photoshoot day started off with beauty and pampering services in Kennett Square. Crawford received a haircut and fashion-forward hairstyle by Kelsey Lamarra from Tribe hair salon. Next, Crawford was given her first-ever gel manicure by Polished Nail Salon. After Crawford’s hair and nails were set, Milley applied her make-up, and she was camera ready. Crawford’s photo session was shot by Christina Venturini of Blue Pear Photography. Venturini worked with Crawford to create a photo session that looked and felt natural, earthy and authentic to Crawford’s personality. Crawford’s photo session was a celebration of her “Authentically You Fashion Transformation” and the “cherry on the top” to her styling journey.

When asked, “How would you say your styling experience has impacted your life?” Crawford replied, “Apart from giving me the ability to confidently and easily dress myself every day, the styling experience gave me the ability to re-examine my own passions and priorities. As I learned more about how I project myself, I felt like I reaffirmed skills and gifts I have had, and uncovered new interests and ideas that had been lurking in the back of my mind, but hadn’t quite come to light. It gave me the time and space to make myself a priority, too, which had fallen by the wayside in my recent busy times. I am incredibly grateful for the experience, because I feel like I uncovered my most authentic self, both inside and out.”