How Wardrobe Oxygen Came to Be

I am watching the BBC version of “What Not to Wear” and for years, prior to this series even, I felt that I should write a book about what few pieces should be in every woman's wardrobe, be she a size 2 or a size 22. Be it 2005 or 2010, I think they would still be valid. My list has not faltered since 2000, so I believe this list is pretty standard and remain stylish for at least the next few years if not another decade or two.

I feel I may appear cocky in thinking I can tell women how to dress. What are my qualifications?

• Almost a decade in retail management, personal shopping, and visual merchandising. For part of this time, I traveled to stores across my district to teach staff how to dress, how to translate current trends for our merchandise, and how to dress a range of body types, sizes, and ages.
• After working in retail, I worked for myself as a closet consultant and personal stylist. I helped everyone from college student to grandmothers, sizes 2 to 20. Closet edits, shopping sessions, and creating outfits from their existing wardrobes.
• I have had a passion for fashion since I was a little girl, poring over my mom's issues of Vogue, Mirabella, and Mademoiselle.
• I have had lifelong subscriptions to almost every fashion magazine on this planet and a voracious appetite for books on how to look great, how to color oneself beautiful, and survive on two black skirts.
• I have been a size 2, a size 16, and everything in between during my adult life (and always looking stylish, attractive and pulled together).
• I live on a strict budget and still attempt (and succeed) in looking like a million bucks.

Hi, my name is Alison Gary. I am a real person. I am not wealthy, I am not tall, I am not thin. I live in the suburbs of a metropolitan city, but I do not have New York boutiques at my disposal. I have never owned a $300 pair of jeans or a pair of Manolo Blahniks. I shop at the mall and often at Big Box stores like Target. I internet shop on my lunch breaks.

I think fashion is a great way to express oneself, but not a reason to go into debt. I believe all women in America can look great. Money, lifestyle and location should not be an issue to achieve style in the 21st Century.

As a woman who has been on both sides of the fence – slim and able to shop in any store with success, and then heavy and petite and struggling to find stores that will cater to me, I feel as though I can give honest and USEFUL help to those REAL women in America. Those women like me.

This blog is going to be the book I always wanted to write. I will share my tips and tricks for looking great at any age and any size and on any budget. Let's see how it goes…