The Female Duo Behind Styling Service, Dressing the Woman
FASHION

Meet Nic and Deb, the Female Power Duo Behind Styling Service, Dressing the Woman

Ex-banker Nicole Mott met TV presenter Debbie Wong – in classic Hong Kong fashion – at the 2016 Wine and Dine Festival in Central’s harbourside space. A San Francisco-expat in Hong Kong, Nicole emigrated to the city for her husband’s job that year. With no friends, family, or connections, she spent her days home alone watching the Food Network for entertainment, she told The Beat Asia.

“Every day I would see this wonderful woman come on screen,” Nic said, referring to TV host Debbie, “and I felt so homesick. She talks with a North American accent, but she’s also Asian! I really connected with her.” The pair connected at the food and schmoozing festival in 2016 over their love for the Bauhinia city, their husbands’ work at North Face Hong Kong, food, and, above all else, personal styling.

She and Debbie socialised in the same circles following the first meet, bonding over food, cocktails, and fashion. “I had just quit my job at HSBC [in the summer of 2021] and needed a creative outlet. I began an Instagram account called @dressingthewoman and started posting my outfits.”

Over one ritual burger-date at The Diplomat, Debbie proposed that the pair join efforts to post and talk about fashion style on Nic’s account. “We just felt that our friendship and energy resonate together. In that moment, we felt we should do something.”

In August 2021, Nicole (Nic) and Debbie (Deb) soft-launched Dressing the Woman (DTW), a unique styling service catered to female clientele in Hong Kong seeking to revamp their wardrobe, style, and vibe.

Dressing the Woman presents itself as a service with a “holistic approach to styling,” matching one's inner essence with their outer presence. Nic and Deb employ a thinking of being not only just seen in the world, but “felt.”

Judging from the dynamic duo’s Instagram page, the pair have a wealthy authority on personal style and how to dress to the nines. However, it is their curated styling process and scientific measures that they employ to style Hong Kong’s fabulous.

Dressing the Woman offers two priced packages for a considered analysis and styling of one’s wardrobe and personal style. The New You package, priced at HK$6,000, includes two in-person styling sessions with Nic and Deb, an assessment of your current wardrobe for potential additions and adaptions, and a custom look book “designed with your lifestyle, aesthetic, and inner-magic in mind.”

The Belle of the Ball package costs HK$2,500 and covers three looks for holiday season, parties, and “other special occasions,” one in-person styling session, along with a mini-sized custom look book.

On first contact with the stylists, eager fashionistas are guided to fill out a questionnaire that explores your career, lifestyle, personality, and personal style.





“When we work with our clients, [styling] is not about body type or what clothes you like necessarily, but more about your essence and aura,” Debbie told The Beat Asia. “After reviewing their questionnaire answers, we spend time to understand who they are and their personality.”

In the following face-to-face consultation – held in the clients’ home or via Zoom – Nic and Deb explore the clients’ wardrobe to judge what pieces can be highlighted, outfits created, and looks added.

“When we talk to [our clients], we will get a sense [of] the things that they want to bring out in their character more and what they ascetically prefer. By seeing what is in their closet, we form an understanding of what clothes would supplement and highlight their wardrobe. We don’t want to throw out clothes or tell them you shouldn’t wear this; we are trying to find that balance,” Nic said.

Based on their meeting with a client, Nic and Deb design a custom look book of key wardrobe pieces, styling tips, personal styling inspirations catered to the individual, based on the Kibbe Body Type system, a central key to their styling programme.

The Kibbe Body System focuses on an axis of the Chinese principle of yin and yang, describing the curved, soft, and round, and angular, sharp, and structured features of a person’s body, respectively.

Under the system designed by American stylist David Kibbe, your body, face, and look are composed of a combination of attributes that can either be classified as yin - soft, feminine, smooth, flowing - or yang - structured, masculine, geometric, vertical.

"[We use the Kibbe method] as a way of categorizing people based on their vibe, essence, energy, and physicality,” Deb saids. “[Our styling] is not about size, trends, but energy.”

Certain styles, fits, and pieces of clothing can suit one person’s unique combination of both yin and yang, Nic and Deb said, but the level of “vibe” is also accounted for when judging what looks may suit a client.

“There's an element of subjectivity to [this styling], but it's also very tangible. There are physical attributes of a client that we can see that will be a space for exploring – broadness of the shoulder, curved body, roundness of the face – whilst also looking at their astrological connections,” Nic added.

An average look book for a client will source approximately 20 pieces for clients to mix and match and pair against existing items in their wardrobe. Nic and Deb source pieces from Hong Kong and international retailers that offer free delivery, pickup, courier service, and return policies. Direct links to each piece are included in the collection.

“Our service can cater to summer/spring and autumn/winter seasons, who they are as a person, whether they are a stay-at-home mother or a corporate worker, if you want brunch outfits or party gowns, a re-up on the next season, or to update, amend, and supplement your wardrobe,” Nic said.

Once pieces have arrived, a second meeting is scheduled to capture the client trying on their pieces and judging what works and doesn’t. Nic and Deb cater to more style options if necessary and tips on how to create new looks with pieces and existing styles.





Launching their services in late November 2021, Nic and Deb stick true to their tagline: “Let Nic and Deb bring our what’s already within you.”

“We really believe that every person has that magic, that magic that's intangible. But not everyone knows how to communicate that. We [are] going to show you how to communicate that aesthetically,” Deb told The Beat Asia.

With a background in performance arts and television, and a former corporate banking career assisting growth in teams, Deb and Nic, respectively, formed Dressing the Woman with a commanding level of authority in style and communication.

“With a decade of work in TV,” Debbie said, “I have become very attuned to how impactful communication, presence, and aesthetic presentation can be.” Jointly with Nic’s former career at HSBC elevating the individual performances of her colleagues, the pair effectively communicate their personal view of how to dress according to your vibe, personality, and body type.

At HSBC, where Nic was leading large corporate teams, did she see her passion to inspire others through the language of style. “I went through a lot of trials and tribulations being Asian and female in corporate. You must be strong and forceful and manage the male energy and all of that.

“I used my style as a confidence platform. A lot of people [on my team] were inspired by that and felt that it was a language that we could use as women to become more confident, be ourselves, and not conform what it looks like to be successful.”

“You can still be feminine; you can still have your own personal style and actually use that to your advantage versus trying to be a cookie cutter like everyone else in the corporate environment.”

Creating Dressing the Woman and partnering with Debbie, Nic leaned into her corporate experiences, bringing out people’s strengths and empowering people to become better versions of themselves.

Nic and Deb dream the big dream with Dressing the Woman. “We want to be like GOOP,” Nic said.

“We want [DTW] to be a movement where we want people to reference Dressing the Woman as a way of life. It is more than just a silent service. We want it to be any way to communicate what we have to say.”

“This could be a platform for communicating steps to grow and succeed, becoming more empowered, and really coming into your own more, with us offering everything from styling to communication skills, coaching, and career advice. We have a lot to offer and to say, but we’re starting with personal styling now.”

Authenticity and accessibility are at upmost importance for the pair in their styling services., “We want to help people to become better versions of themselves all around.”

In 2022, Nic and Deb are seeking to collaborate with local designers and retailers to promote Hong Kong’s unique fashion industry, begin discussions with creating a production company, and kickstarting a mentorship program.

“We want to make content that comes from our point of view and empowers,” Deb said.

Nic is planning to receive training in life coaching to assist in a holistic approach to dealing with clients’ careers and personal goals. “We want to give people the confidence to be able to present themselves and speak better in public. We are trying to bring all of these skills together to help individuals.”

Subscribe to The Beat's newsletter to receive compelling, curated content straight to your inbox! You can also create an account with us for free to start bookmarking articles for later reading.