Internet users popularized monthly clothing subscription boxes like Stitch Fix and Nadine West, but for Jean Wyatt helping people find the right outfit for the right occasion remains an art.
“I style people in person,” she said. “Women can go in the dressing room and try on 20 items. They'll find the three that fit them perfectly, and I can help them.”
Wyatt became a professional wardrobist in 1975 and launched her own retail store, The Weather Vane, in 1982. Since then, she’s built up a mailing list of 1,500 clients ranging from 35 to 95 years old. The store is located at 103 Scott Lane in Gambier.
“I do think it's important to look stylish,” Wyatt said. “It leaves an impression. If you've got beautiful blue eyes and you're wearing a beautiful blue sweater, it just pops ... your personality and everything.”
Prior to launching The Weather Vane, Wyatt worked at The Merry Go Round, a trendy retail chain of clothing stores. The “gone but not forgotten” fad store was owned by Leonard Weinglass and Harold Goldsmith. Its heyday lasted from the 1970s through the 1990s before the store's owners landed in bankruptcy court.
“It was a clothing boutique that was very funky, very wild, and cool,” Wyatt said. “I was an assistant manager there at the Richland Mall in the olden days. Then, I opened up my own store in the basement of the Village Inn, and then I bought this building and turned it into The Weather Vane.”
The Weather Vane refers to the right direction in fashion. Wyatt focuses on this at her fashion shows, where new clothing styles are presented to her clients every season at the Kenyon Inn located on the campus of Kenyon College.
The next fashion show is scheduled for April 4.
“The fashion shows show clothing items on real women who have real figures,” Wyatt said. "I don't care what your figure looks like; there is a nice way to dress. You can always flatter the figure by wearing the right things.”
Wyatt developed her fashion sense while attending Patricia Stevens Career College, where she earned a degree in fashion merchandising and developed a love for textiles, buttons, and fabrics.
“I look for nice, quality garments that are made with $18-a-yard fabric instead of $ 1.99-a-yard fabric that you'll find in Marshalls and other places,” she said. “When you're romanced by price instead of quality, you end up with a closet full of things that you don't want to wear. Our clothing is a notch above. We have lots of beautiful items.”
