Trackies and slides make way for classic style …

By Kelly Yates
WESTFIELD Fountain Gate’s resident fashion stylist has the cure to the muffin top epidemic.
Professional fashionista Lucy Kiraly has an eagle eye for the hits and misses of the style world as she goes on fashion patrol at the Narre Warren shopping centre.
There’s plenty out there that’s not so pleasing to her eye – the tracky dacks, the thongs and most of all the dreaded muffin tops.
“But I never interfere,” she said.
“If they want to have a muffin top, they can. It’s their choice, but I could easily show them a way to look taller and slimmer.”
Ms Kiraly believes the women of Casey are “quite fashion savvy.”
“I do see those who are not into fashion, wearing tracksuit pants, T-shirts and slides. But most are hungry for fashion,” she said.
As she walks through the shopping centre, her eyes dart like magnets to the fashion must-haves displayed in the boutique shop windows.
She’s like a kid in a candy store, as a striking black leather jacket catches her eye.
You can tell this is a woman with a passion for fashion.
She makes a beeline for Diana Ferrari and starts browsing though the new trends.
Stroking the fabric of a vivid red trenchcoat, she praises its beauty.
Ms Kiraly is a 30-year veteran of the fashion industry.
Her career kicked off when she was announced as the Australian model of the year back in 1969 and was well-known as a TV presenter in the ’70s.
She now runs one of Australia’s leading model agencies, Giant Management.
Last year Ms Kiraly ran stylist tours at Westfield Fountain Gate where she did one-on-one sessions with women needing help in the fashion sector.
“We’d sit down, have a coffee and talk about the basics they needed to understand about what looked good on their bodies,” she said.
“It’s very simple; you hide the bad and show the good.”
Ms Kiraly recalls helping a lady in her mid-fifties who was dressing like a 21-year-old.
“She was wearing fishnet stockings, a micro mini skirt and stilettos,” she said.
“It was all wrong. I asked her what she wanted and she replied, ‘to look like a lady.’ I could have cried.”
Fashion is not complicated, says this style guru.
“I like to teach women some little tricks to help them. Black is always a safe option as it’s smart and makes you look slimmer,” she said.
Ms Kiraly is encouraging local women to buy a few new accessories and clothing pieces to re-vamp their wardrobes for the coming season.
“You don’t have to go bankrupt when it comes to shopping,” she said.
She predicted three-quarter length sleeves were going to be a big hit.
“Shoulder pads are back but leave the ’80s jackets locked up in the cupboard.
“Today’s shoulder pads are more angular and dramatic, creating sharper angles,” she said.
“It’s best to have some core classic pieces ready to go in your wardrobe such as a crisp white shirt, a trenchcoat, a little black dress, classic straight-leg black pants and a bright white singlet top.”
Ms Kiraly said metallic jewellery and gold or silver ballet flats could jazz up any outfit.
She said matching high-end fashion pieces with cheaper items was a winner.
“You can look so good wearing a pair of expensive denim jeans with a Target T-shirt. It’s a sexy look.”