In search of a new image

I begin our session with a disclaimer: "I am unclear about what I want to do with my pants, and I'm aware of past failures."

My advisers nod silently, soberly, as if to say: "We have seen this problem before." They calmly run their eyes over my loose-fitting khakis like engineers surveying the foundation of a condemned building.

They are expressionless.

I pause, waiting for my insecurities to be confirmed. Have I made a mistake putting myself in the hands of a trio of fashion experts? Women have been getting advice from "image consultants" for years, and now – slowly – men are turning to them, too.

I am a sartorial pilgrim, I tell myself, staking out unfamiliar ground.

"Why don't you show us your closet now?" asks Suzanne Fanous, a no-nonsense Long Island native.

With a flourish, I open the closet. The room is silent.

"Tell me what you see," I say, playing the role of observer.

"Blue," says Ginger Burr, president and founder of Total Image Consultants in Sommerville, Mass.

"I see blue," adds Ms. Fanous.

Earthshaking observation, I think, inwardly chiding them. Either these women possess keen insight into the human condition, or they simply take great pride in identifying primary colors.

I came to discover that both traits were true. The act of image consulting lies somewhere between plumbing the depths of the human psyche and belaboring the plainly obvious.

Image consultants wear many hats: artist, tailor, coach, confidant, productivity guru, and psychologist – a mix of Martha Stewart and Carl Jung.

They ask personal questions: "What message would you like to communicate?" "Are you gentle or masculine?" Their verbiage runs New-Agey, with terms like "hue family" and "color messages" popping up now and then.

But after one day under their tutelage, the practical results are clear: I have no embarrassing fashion questions left to ask, and I will never again buy an ill-fitting pair of pants.

I am of average height and build. I keep myself relatively well-scrubbed. My clothing is uninspiring, yet presentable. I take pride in being able to match colors. I assume the majority of Americans are like me. And yet millions are looking for outside help.

When image consultants began offering services during the early 1980s, male white-collar workers wore plain blue and gray suits, and "women basically dressed in menswear [with] a skirt," says Ms. Burr.

Style in and out of the workplace has evolved considerably since then. Fashion options expanded. Bright colors became widespread. Both men and women have been faced with choices so numerous that many have failed to produce a coherent style. For some, image consultants can help separate the fine from the unflattering.

Most of Burr's clients want help preparing for a specific event, such as parties or business trips. Some are more high-maintenance; they won't go shopping without her. Others don't go shopping at all, entrusting Burr and her colleagues to comb the retail racks for them. The consultants often visit clients' homes and critique their wardrobes.

Still, Burr's ultimate goal, she says, is to make herself obsolete. She requires just one commitment from all her clients: They must at least try on whatever she recommends.

By doing so, she believes they will learn to see color and texture and fit in a new light. "It's a learning process. It comes from within. Sometimes it's just exposing them to what the options are," she says.

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