June Ambrose: Fashion Therapist and Stylist

June Ambrose, author of the forthcoming 'Effortless Style,' entered the glamorous world of fashion after a stint in investment banking with no idea that styling the likes of Jay-Z, Mariah Carey or Mary J. Blige would be more like psychotherapy than playing dress up. The fashion maven who defines style with words like "energy" and "persona" often finds that, "one of the biggest misconceptions is that fashion or style is about a makeover, but it's really about personal development. What I do is more personal than it is creative," says Ambrose, founder of Mod Squad. "There has to be trust; a sense of knowledge about who your client really is inside."

Gaining insight into to the depths of what worldly tastemakers like Janet Jackson would want to "project to the world" comes from having each of them take an introspective look at themselves. Ambrose's beneath the surface approach has her asking clients everything from: "What are you trying to convey to the masses?" "Who are you?" "What do you identify with, an old movie reference, a comic book character or is it abstract art?" To: "What makes you feel sexy ... thongs, panties, boxers, briefs?" All of these little intimacies help me to interpret what they want to become," she insists. "It also helps me mask all the insecurities and overcome all the things that hold you back from ultimately finding yourself in your look."

For style to truly become effortless, it must be addressed in all aspects of one?s life. "It's a full package; from your home to the types of sheets you use to the way you condition your body. You have to make it a lifestyle change," Ambrose says she has learned. "Think of me as an architect of style, what's most important is what is underneath the garments. When I first worked with Jay-Z, his posture wasn't the best. So I said let's start physically getting yourself together. Now he's working out and his shoulders are more defined and his stomach is stronger and he wears a suit the way a man should wear a suit. I think it really lends to his confidence level when he puts on a garment and how he interprets it."

Ambrose warns that magazine editorials and instant makeover shows should not be the example of where to find elements of style. In her new book, she insists that developing style does not happen overnight. "I breakdown dressing yourself from the inside out, but I also reveal a lot of the fundamentals as well as celebrity tricks of the trade so it becomes a dynamic read and not just essential must-haves."

In the end Ambrose asserts: "All these smaller elements of attitude, personality, lifestyle changes and physical fitness, once rethought, at the end of the book is what makes style effortless because you?ve now learned many of the things you are conditioning yourself to be."

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