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Why Style Coaching Beats Personal Shopping in Rome - Italian style for women over 50
- Elinor Salter
- Sep 17
- 3 min read
Italian style for women over 50 -
Why Style Coaching Goes Deeper Than Shopping
On Wednesday of this week, I met a client in Rome for a personal shopping session. It was the first time we had met in person, although we had already had a chat beforehand to get to know one another.
She wanted something special to wear to her son’s wedding in November, but wasn’t sure what exactly. Over a coffee (while we waited for a Roman downpour to pass!), she confessed she felt uncertain about what suited her now.
I took her to some of my favourite shops on Via … — always less frenetic than the historic centre. We found a few things she liked, but I could tell she wasn’t convinced. Each time she tried something on, she said, “I’m not sure I can get away with this.”
This is something I hear so often — and it’s the very reason I evolved from being a personal shopper to becoming a Style Coach™.
From Shopping to Self-Discovery - Italian style for women over 50
I originally trained as a personal shopper in Milan and worked in Rome before Covid hit. But again and again, I saw the same pattern: women came shopping with the hope of finding something different, something exciting — yet they so often went home with versions of what they already owned.
Why? Because without a clear sense of who they were dressing for, or the identity they wanted to embody, new clothes felt unsafe.
I knew there had to be a better way. That’s when I discovered Style Coaching™ — a way of combining the psychology of self-image with the creativity of fashion. It was exactly what my clients were looking for, even if they didn’t yet have the words for it.
A Different Kind of Shopping Day
So, with my new client in Rome, I suggested we pause the shopping and go for an early lunch. Over plates of pasta, I asked her to close her eyes and imagine herself at the wedding.
What silhouette did she see? What colours? Most importantly — how did she want to feel, and how did she want others to feel when they saw her?
Suddenly, the hesitation lifted. She began to picture not just a dress, but an experience of herself. We wrote her impressions down, and I encouraged her to create a Pinterest board to gather inspiration.
Two days later, she sent me a photo from a little boutique in Trastevere — the perfect outfit, aligned with her style, her identity, and her confidence.
Why This Matters
Shopping is about more than clothes. It’s about connection — to yourself, to your identity, to the woman you are becoming.
That’s why I love working face-to-face with clients here in Italy. Yes, the shops are beautiful, but it’s the conversations, the discoveries, and the self-confidence that truly transform how you dress.
And that’s what Italian style is really about — not following trends, but embodying la dolce vita in a way that feels authentically you.
✨ If you’ve ever stood in front of your wardrobe thinking, “I have nothing to wear” — perhaps it’s not new clothes you need, but a new way of seeing yourself. That’s where style coaching begins.
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