The Hot Heads Salon Manager Plans To Help The Rest of Us Sizzle Too!

If Hot Heads is the Central Florida equivalent of The Charm City Bakery, then Salon Manager, Georgette, must be our Mary Alice. The similarities between the women are many. Both are friendly and self assured. Both have thriving side businesses in the creative realm. Both are crucial to the successful operation of their respective organizations and both are smart, knowledgeable and resourceful. How do they two differ? Well, for starters, Georgette would not wear that color yellow.

Left:  Charming Mary Alice Yeskey, Office Manager of Charm City Cakes, and
Right: The Unforgettable Georgette Marable, Salon Manager at Hot Heads  

I was interested to hear this. I know as much about fashion as Steven Cojocaro knows about this year’s BSC football standings, but even I know that yellow is a hot color this season. The idea that Georgette is willing to pass on it piqued my curiosity.

Though Georgette and I are just beginning to get acquainted, one of the things I do already know about her is that she is a certified image consultant. Why would an image consultant pass on an “it” color? Simply stated: because yellow isn’t her color. It wasn’t her color in 1999. It isn’t her color in 2009 and it won’t be her color in 2019.

Per Georgette, style is about more than just opening a fashion magazine and attempting to duplicate whatever you find on page 119. Style is about knowing what’s timeless and what isn’t. It’s about adapting trends to suit your lifestyle and it’s about knowing yourself. I like that!

I was raised by practical folk. My childhood wardrobe was not selected because it complimented my complexion or was in style at the time. My clothing was purchased because it was on sale, because it didn’t require ironing, because it would conceal stains and because I would grow into it. My sister had even less luck in this department. If she wasn’t sporting one of our mother’s sewing projects, she was wearing my hand me downs.

Me (far left) with my brother, sister and Mom at Busch Gardens in the late 1960s.

(Note the matching sundresses).

My Dad told me once that what he initially noticed about my mom was that she “carried herself well”. She still does. What she doesn’t do, however, even now, is follow fashion trends. She has great posture and an abundance of confidence. She exercises. She eats right and she rocks her signature look – matching, monogrammed sportswear in plaid or jewel tones, white walking shoes and short Anderson Cooper – colored white/gray hair.

Because of my Mom’s no-nonsense approach to style and because of my limited resources, I had very little access to the world of fashion in my youth. Anything I learned, I learned not when sitting at the well heeled feet of a style mentor, but rather by flipping through the pages of a friend’s Glamour. Even if I had studied every issue, there still would’ve been much to learn. I didn’t read them cover to cover though. Basically, I looked at the cute male models in the “How To Keep Your Boyfriend Drooling” stories, then flipped to the back of the magazine hoping I wouldn’t recognize myself as one of the fashion “Dont’s”.

Me, on Ft Lauderdale Beach, Spring Break 1982 or 1983, 

committing an unpardonable fashion “Don’t”

I guess that’s why I’m so excited about having the opportunity to spend time with Georgette. While I spent my childhood climbing trees and making mud pies, she was undoubtedly creating a fall clothing line for her paper dolls. It’s apparent that she knows her stuff and that she’s had a lot of experience.

I’m hoping Georgette will become my Nigel (Stanley Tucci’s character in The Devil Wears Prada). I’m hoping she can take this 5’8 ½” frumpy cerulean blue sweater wearing lump of clay and mold it into a head turning fashion dynamo.

What Georgette shares with me, I will share with you. We’re going to call these little lessons, Gems from Georgette, and they will be a recurring feature of this blog. In Gems, Georgette will pass along tips about everything from skincare and makeup application to wardrobe essentials and seasonal trends. I can’t wait ‘til we get started. Georgette will share her expertise. She'll answer questions. She’ll make recommendations about "must have" pieces and she’ll show us how to shine.