Captain Ahab meets the style guru

Captain Ahab meets the style guru
31st March 2009

Belle was clearly trying to tell me something when she gave me a 1:1 session with a style guru for Christmas. You would think that my yellow oilskins set of by a matching hat, waders and harpoon would strike the right note in any setting, but apparently not!

Now before you scoff at the vanity of it all, you need to realise that the Captain shed 2.5 stone in the autumn using the Cambridge Diet. So my girth has reduced from a strained 38 to a comfortable 36 and I find myself in need of a whole new wardrobe. Rather than dash out I have waited four months to see if all the mockers and scoffers were right, and that the weight would" pile back on again". Well, I have changed my eating habits and those pounds lost have remained a thing of the past.

If I am to undergo a wholesale change of wardrobe it makes sense to have a plan, strategy or formulae - call it what you will. The cost of the consult isn't insignificant but it is only half the price of a decent suit. Kully (style guru) tested my "colours", investigated my personality and very critically reviewed my favourite casual clothes, before finally delivering her verdict. As you would expect, much of what she told me I already knew - sort of - particularly in terms of uber smart corporate work wear. But her comments about smart casual were a revelation. Within hours Belle returned from a shopping expedition armed with a lavender v neck sweater, which I self consciously wore to a dinner party that evening. Much to my surprise my new look attracted lots of positive comment which has inspired me to further experimentation in colour and cut.

Before we finished I asked for some guidance on narrowboat apparel. What with Wand'ring Bark's new paint job I want to look the part. For once the style guru was at a loss for words, so it appears that my signature sou-wester married to thermals cant be bettered. Whilst she was unable to enhance my watery persona, I was able to recruit a convert to the inland waterways. Watch out for an immaculately turned out style guru and her family on a canal near you!