Through working in retail during college and later as a personal-style consultant, Lauren Deloach has seen her share of confused, overwhelmed and exhausted female shoppers. "I would always see women lacking confidence because they didn't know where to begin," she says. For them, she launched Category 5 ( shopcategory5.com ), a Web site dedicated to helping women establish a fashion foundation. "I wanted to find a way to reach out to women on every [budget] level," says Deloach, adding that Category 5 is "a way to make my service accessible to women across the board."
Category 5 helps women determine their "style intensity," using a 1-to-5 scale similar to the meteoric hurricane scale. While the Category 1 woman currently lacks her own personal style and is working with only the bare essentials, a Category 5 woman stands out, armed with confidence and lots of accessories. The site also defines body types.
Women can shop by body type or by style intensity on the Web site. Fashions include those by Ali Ro, Julie Haus, Leigh & Luca and 39 Sixtyone. If a user feels as though she needs more advice, information about setting up an appointment with Deloach through her business D&R Style Consulting is on the site.
"What I ultimately want is to get women where they want to be, so they can be happy with what they see in the mirror," she says.
