Alexandra Standley

Alexandra Standley Personal Stylist, Speaker & Sustainable Fashion Expert. Style is more than just clothing, it’s a powerful tool for influence & confidence.

I help trailblazing women craft a signature style that aligns with their ambitions, values & amplifies their impact. Ex M&S Fashion Buyer
Professionally trained by The Image Consulting Company

Diana was one of the greatest style icons of the last century, but the story her clothes told changed over her life. She...
18/09/2026

Diana was one of the greatest style icons of the last century, but the story her clothes told changed over her life. She went from shy, safe and buttoned up, to bold, glamorous and unforgettable. Her astrology explains why.

Her Venus is in Ta**us, and Venus is the placement I look at most closely for style. In Ta**us it shows her natural, effortless eye for beauty, quality and elegance, a love of gorgeous fabrics and clean timeless lines.

This is why Diana always looked elegant, and why her best looks still feel modern now. She had the instincts of a true style icon.

But early on, only the safe version of that was allowed out. The soft florals and blouses, the shy smile. That was the institution she had married into, not the woman underneath.

Because her Rising sign was Sagittarius which is freedom, boldness and honesty, the part of her that was never going to stay contained. As she found her voice and stepped away from the life that was chosen for her, this is the side that came forward.

And you could see it in what she wore. The elegant Ta**us foundation stayed, but it turned bold. The sharp tailoring, the confidence, the glamour, the famous black revenge dress worn on exactly the night the world expected her to hide.

That wasn’t a new woman, it was the bold, free woman she had always been underneath, finally dressing like herself.

Her Cancer Sun was the warmth through all of it. The tenderness everyone felt from her, the way she made people feel seen. That never changed. What changed was that she stopped dressing as she was told, and started dressing as who she truly was.

That is what alignment looks like. Not becoming someone new, but letting your style catch up with who you already are.

You can feel when your style is not matching who you have become. That is what the Style Identity Blueprint fixes. Two sessions to name exactly who you are, then build a style that reads the moment you walk in.

If you want to stop hiding the boldest version of yourself, DM me IDENTITY for a free Style Strategy Call.

Who should I decode next? Let me know in the comments.

Back in 2024, I attended Rachel Pearson first London event because something told me I needed to be in that room. I was ...
17/09/2026

Back in 2024, I attended Rachel Pearson first London event because something told me I needed to be in that room. I was not wrong.

In 2025, I went to She Sets The Standard and was blown away by the experience Rachel created. The attention to detail, the calibre of the speakers, and the ambition in the room were unlike anything I’d experienced before. Hearing Debbie Wosskow CBE speak was a particular highlight.

I left inspired, and aware of how much further there was to go, with a bigger vision for the rooms I wanted to be in and contribute to.

So being invited back this year as a speaker feels incredibly special.

This November, I’ll be joining the speaker line-up at She Sets The Standard 2026.

I’ll be part of a panel alongside Aly Johnson | Brand Visibility & SEO Strategist Brand Strategist | Photographer | Web Design - Jennifer Hilton and MARYANN•SUBCONSCIOUS EXPERT , discussing visibility, business growth and what it takes to build something meaningful.

The wider line-up includes (exited Nails Inc, which I’m super excited about because I’ve always loved the brand) Taylor Francois | Digital product and business coach Nicola Gunby and Carly Meyers | AI Speaker/Educator and this year’s theme is Decisions From a Different Dimension.

What I love most about this event is that it’s full of women who are building businesses with ambition, purpose and impact. The conversations are bigger than business growth alone; they’re about the legacy we’re creating and the future we’re shaping.

If you’re a founder, leader or entrepreneur who wants to be surrounded by women thinking differently and leading boldly, I’d love to see you there.

I also have 25% off tickets with code SSTSALEX until the end of September. Link in bio to book your spot or DM ME!

See you at Ham Yard in November.

16/09/2026

What feels like free choice is often just playing safely within rules nobody ever wrote down.

I see this constantly with the women I work with: successful by every measure, still dressing like a watered down version of themselves.

In this week’s episode, I sit down with chartered psychologist Dr Dion Terrelonge, to unpack exactly how much of our style is inherited rather than decided.

From the teenage identity experiments most of us grew out of, to the internalised rules that tell capable women to tone themselves down, to why a purchase can feel like relief for about a day and nothing more.

We get into why retail therapy has never actually worked, what real quality looks like versus what fast fashion has trained us to accept, and the specific, doable way to break an overconsumption habit once you can actually see it.

If you’ve ever wondered why a purchase never quite fixes the feeling it was meant to fix, or where half your “personal” style rules actually came from, this is the episode that answers both.

Full conversation live now, link in bio to listen, or search A Styled Life wherever you get your podcasts.

My husband thinks I’m the worst (and best!) person to shop with. I’ll scrunch up a linen blazer in front of him and show...
14/09/2026

My husband thinks I’m the worst (and best!) person to shop with.

I’ll scrunch up a linen blazer in front of him and show him exactly why it won’t survive a full day at work. But I’m also the one who can laser focus and find exactly what he needs in fifteen minutes flat.

When I shop for a client, that is what she gets. Not someone who knows what looks nice. Someone who knows why a garment works, how long it will last, whether the cut will move with her, whether the fabric will look the same at 5pm as it did at 8am.

I can’t help it. Fifteen years as a fashion buyer rewired the way I look at clothes, shoes and accessories.

I picked which catwalk trends would translate for the customer. Sat with my design team turning those into sketches.

Sourced the hardware and fabric from China, Hong Kong, India, Turkey, Cambodia, Vietnam. I visited the factories to develop the product. I was in every fit session, checking construction, questioning details, sending things back until they were right.

And then I’d see women walking down the street wearing something I’d had a part in creating from scratch. That never got old.

I’ve done inspirational shopping across Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Copenhagen, Berlin. I know brands most women have never heard of and I know which high street pieces punch above their weight.

That knowledge is encyclopaedic and it took 20 years to build.

This work isn’t for someone looking to follow a trend. It’s for the woman who knows exactly what she’s creating and wants to invest in her style the same way she invests in her business and career.

Identity to Impact takes all of that and puts it to work for you. Once we’ve mapped your identity, using my unique framework including Human Design and astrology, defined your signature style and your bespoke colour palette, and edited your wardrobe,

I source pieces that belong to you, not a generic shopping list. A curated edit from someone who spent her career understanding what makes a piece worth keeping, and now makes that work uniquely for you.

If you want to be recommended before you’re even in the room, DM me IDENTITY for a free Style Strategy Call.

What if your next level doesn’t require a new identity?I was working with a brilliant coach recently, a woman building s...
11/09/2026

What if your next level doesn’t require a new identity?

I was working with a brilliant coach recently, a woman building something far bigger than the rooms she started in.

The internet had told her the next level meant more polished, more professional, hold back on the bold. So she kept reaching for black, for muted, for the safest things she owned.

Then we started the real work. Not what she thought success should look like, but who she actually is underneath it.

She was never meant for muted. She came alive in colour. A bold red that captures the room. Full fifties skirts that bring that polish.

The feminine details she’d been talking herself out of because they didn’t seem ‘serious’ enough for where she was heading.

None of it was a reinvention. It was who she’d been all along.

She booked the event she’d been too scared to show up at. And this time she worked the room, shared her work, and felt like herself doing it.

This is the part most women get backwards. They think the next level asks them to become someone new, so they dim the exact things that made the room lean in.

I’m over here asking a different set of questions. Who are you when nobody’s watching? What makes you unmistakably you? And where have you dimmed your light to fit what you think success is supposed to look like?

No one knows who you are at your core better than you do. That’s not something you reinvent. It’s the thing you finally let people see.

If you’re ready to stop reaching for safe and finally show up as the fullest version of you, that’s exactly what I do with my clients.

DM me STYLE to book your free style strategy call and find out how that would work for you in Identity to Impact.

09/09/2026

Most women are taught to want the next thing. The drop, the trend, the piece everyone’s wearing this month.

But the pieces that actually make you feel like yourself were never about being new. They were about being you, worn, chosen slowly, and kept for years.

Seven years ago, Secondhand September changed the way I shop, dress, and see my own wardrobe. In this week’s solo podcast episode, I’m sharing that story, from fifteen years as a global fashion buyer to the shift that made getting dressed feel like me again.

It’s also when I noticed something else: the rooms that used to feel harder to walk into got easier, because I was finally certain in who I was and what I was wearing.

Plus the practical approach I still use: where to find preloved sellers who fit your style (get a peak into my little black book!), the charity shop strategy most people miss, why the menswear rail deserves a proper look and how to edit your wardrobe ahead of the new season.

Listen now, via the link in bio, or search A Styled Life wherever you get your podcasts.

And if you’d love to hear more of this in person with a live styling showcase, real women’s stories and inspiring female founders from incredible responsible brands, join us at Style With Purpose with on 24th September at 6pm. Link in bio to book your tickets.

07/09/2026

There’s a moment every Autumn when it clicks.

The light changes, the rails start filling with richer colours, and I’m reaching for texture and layers like I’ve been waiting for it all year. I have. Autumn is my favourite season! I’m a Libra sun, September baby!

Copenhagen street style & catwalks are one of my favourite places to start. Vintage, charity shops and the high street give more inspiration.

Everything starts speaking to me. The leopard and zebra. The red and berry tones. A corduroy collar. And it wouldn’t be Autumn without some checks thrown in.

My 20 years experience is the filter. I’ve spent two decades watching trends arrive, peak and disappear, and I know the difference between a piece that will still feel right in five years and one that’s here today, gone tomorrow. It was my job as a buyer for 15 years to understand that.

That’s the whole point of how I shop, for myself and for my clients. Intention over impulse. What’s worth the investment, what’s best to source preloved, and what to leave on the rail.

I’m also always on the look out for amazing independent and conscious brands for me and my clients and I’m loving this season.

It’s Secondhand September, which makes it the perfect month to slow down and buy with intention.

This is how my autumn begins. What’s the first thing catching your eye this season?

P.s Some of my favourite finds here are from browsing in Southwold whilst on holiday at local independent boutiques & vintage shops. I’d love to hear your favourites in the comments too.

Taylor Swift is known for completely reinventing her style era after era. Country sweetheart, 1989 crop tops, the folklo...
04/09/2026

Taylor Swift is known for completely reinventing her style era after era. Country sweetheart, 1989 crop tops, the folklore cardigans, the sharp bodysuits of the Eras Tour. But look closely and there are actually two Taylors. Her astrology and my trained eye explain why.

Her Sun is in Sagittarius, the sign of the explorer, and Taylor is never done moving forward. Onstage, that restlessness becomes a new visual world for every era. And here is the important part, none of it is a mask. Each era is her expressing exactly what she felt in that creative moment.

Her Venus is in Aquarius, and Venus is the placement I look at most closely for style. Taylor was never going to dress like anyone else. She is drawn to the original and the unexpected, and she builds each era into a whole world of its own rather than following a trend.

But here is what twenty years of reading women lets me see. Offstage, Taylor’s own style is actually quite classic. The ballet flats, the tailored coats, the simple feminine pieces. Away from the stage she has a steady, consistent uniform that is unmistakably her.

There is one woman who expresses herself at full volume in her work, and one with ease in her life, and both are completely true to her. That is what alignment actually is. Not one frozen look you are stuck with forever, but every version of you being genuinely yours.

A lot of women worry that a signature style means being boxed in. One look, one uniform, no room to dress for their mood.

That is not how I work. Your signature style is not a cage, it is a foundation. It is knowing yourself so well that whether you are dressing bold or quiet, sharp or soft, it always reads as you.

That is what the Style Identity Blueprint gives you. Two sessions to name exactly who you are, then build a style that reads the moment you walk in.

If you want a signature style that frees you rather than boxes you in, DM me BLUEPRINT for a free Style Strategy Call to see how this would work for you.

Who should I decode next? Let me know in the comments

02/09/2026

Almost every woman I work with already knows what suits her. She’s just stopped trusting herself.

That’s one thread in my conversation with Claire Burrows, founder of on this week’s episode of A Styled Life podcast. And I’ll be honest, this one was a bit of a fangirl moment for me. I’ve loved, worn and styled this brand for the best part of ten years.

It’s also the kind of conversation you almost never get to hear. Claire and I both come from inside the industry, both ex buyers and in product development, her across twenty years at the likes of Office, Kurt Geiger and FitFlop before building her own brand. So we talk about the things that usually stay behind the curtain.

What really goes into making a shoe, and the year it takes. Why she won’t compromise on the leather. How she finds inspiration watching commuters at London Bridge. The Metro competition she entered on a whim that changed everything. And why she’s never thought of herself as a sustainable brand, even though her ethos is very much aligned.

Running underneath all of it is the thing you hear in this clip. That whether you’re building a business or just getting dressed, the real skill is learning to trust what you already know, and drown out the noise.

Link in bio to listen, or search A Styled Life wherever you get your podcasts.

And here’s the best bit. You can meet Claire in person on Thursday 24 September at Style With Purpose: The Identity Edit 6pm with

She’ll be bringing shoes in a range of sizes, so you can actually try them on, alongside sharing her experience on a panel, a styling showcase and a room of thoughtful, ambitious women during Sustainable Fashion Week.

Use code AIR&GRACE for £10 off your ticket, link in bio to book.

You’ve got the talk down. You could deliver it in your sleep.So why did you stand in front of your wardrobe for forty mi...
31/08/2026

You’ve got the talk down. You could deliver it in your sleep.

So why did you stand in front of your wardrobe for forty minutes this morning and leave in the same black blazer you wore for the last three?

Your business grew. The invitations got bigger, the rooms got better, the audiences got sharper.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, how you present yourself stopped keeping pace. So there’s the woman who built this, and the woman who walks in the door, and they’ve stopped being the same person.

You notice it in photographs. That small drop in your stomach when someone tags you and you think, that isn’t how I feel on the inside.

Stage Ready Style is one day to close that gap.

We start with who you are now, your values, what you want to be known for at this level, then we move to your style, and we build the presence that says who you are before you open your mouth.

You’ll spend the afternoon with Camera Confidence Coach Adam Woods, who spent years directing international television for the likes of CNN.

Plus you’ll go home with a short video of yourself and the tools to show up in any room, stage or camera exactly as you, with full confidence.

Full day. Friday 2nd October. Citizen M, Tower of London. 6 spaces remain.

You have a season of important rooms coming. Walk into them as the woman who owns every one and gets rebooked, referred and remembered.

DM me STAGE and I’ll send you the details. Book before 6th September and get a Style Identity call worth £300 with me before the event.

Address

Saint Albans

Telephone

+447894310037

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Alexandra Standley posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share