Seven seconds is the amount of time it takes for a person to make an impression once they walk into a room.
In that same amount of time, Annette Loertscher can immediately visualize what hair color would look best on your skin, what article of clothing would look best on your body and what image you should portray to the world. In just a matter of days, Loertscher can make you an entirely new person. How? Because it’s her job.
“A lot of people don’t understand what I do or see how important it is,” personal fashion stylist Loertscher said. “My clients aren’t visual, so I make it easier for them.”
Loertscher said she has always been a visual person, and grew up flipping through Vogue magazines at the local drugstore just to look at the pictures of clothes. When she was the ripe old age of 17, Loertscher left her sheltered home in a small Midwestern town and moved to Manhattan to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology.
After graduating with an advertising degree, Loertscher worked in the beauty business making cosmetic products for big-name fashion houses such as Chanel, Givenchi and others. After 25 comfortable years in the business, however, Loertscher lost her job.
“I had to figure out how to reinvent myself,” Loertscher said. “So I did a transformation on myself.”
In addition to giving herself a makeover, Loertscher helped make-over a few close friends who saw her talents before she even did. It wasn’t until a friend asked Loertscher to step in to transform a client of theirs that she decided to turn her talent into a business.
“It’s been uphill ever since,” Loertscher said.
Five years ago, Loertscher founded ALL Transformations, LLC, to offer affordable head-to-toe image consulting services to people in need of a change or transformation in their lives. Since starting her business, Loertscher said she has seen all of her clients blossom right before her eyes and has built very strong relationships with each of them.
“I know a lot of personal things about them and what holds them back from being their best self,” Loertscher said. “They have to tell me these things so that I can help them break out of their shell and move forward.”
While creating an image for other people is her job, Loertscher has also devoted time to building her own brand. Loertscher said she is sophisticated, chic and approachable. Being detail-oriented and having an eye for shapes and colors has also really helped her be good at being an image consultant, she said.
Loertscher is now taking her expertise and turning to television to help other clients in need. She will be featured from time to time with Oscar De Las Salas on a “What Not To Wear” segment on SmartFem Entertainment TV, expected to air in late March.
While De Las Salas and Loertscher are still in the developmental stages of the program, she said she hopes the visual aspect of the show and before-and-after makeovers will make it successful and gain viewers. She said the co-hosts might even pull people off the streets and completely transform them.
She has also begun watching other television shows and online clips to see what other stylists are doing. As for her own style, Loertscher said she just wants to have fun with it.
“I’ve noticed that with [TV] personalities, people are just themselves and I just want to be myself,” Loertscher said.
One style tip that Loertscher lives by and says will most likely be implemented on the show is maintaining a signature look by finding what looks good on you and what you feel good in. Having a signature style will allow you to get ready in just five minutes, but people will be talking about you for much longer.
More than just looking good, however, Loertscher said you must also feel good. While having a career is important, she said it is not the most important thing in your life.
“The most important thing in your life is to feel good and have loving relationships,” Loertscher said. “Do what you love, find your passion and the money will follow.”
