When Roz Pactor reflects on her fondest UH memory, one person comes to mind.
"Dr. Shirley Ezell had a great impact on me," Pactor said of the consumer science and merchandising professor. "What I do for UH today, I will do it for Dr. Ezell since she's been a big supporter of mine. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her. She knows what she's doing and she's committed to her students."
Pactor's major in consumer science and merchandising has taken her far and wide in the world of retail, but she considers her most beneficial course to have been a class on speech for business and professional people.
"I really feel that no matter what area you are in, you always have to present and verbalize your mission, and a speech class helped," Pactor said. "It taught me a lot – I had to get up and give speeches and it taught me how to use the language to my benefit because the higher up you go in the corporate world, the better you need to present yourself verbally."
Pactor has two children. Her oldest, Nicole, works for her in the office three days a week.
"She's my right arm in my office," Pactor said.
Her younger daughter, Crystin, plays soccer for UH.
Pactor lives in central Houston with Alan, her husband of 31 years and their yellow Lab, Mills.
After college, Pactor was accepted into the difficult and prestigious Tobe Coburn School in New York.
"I worked at Neiman's the entire time I was in college," Pactor said. "They sponsored my admission to the Tobe Coburn School for Retailing in New York. The school's founder began the Tobe reports – the fashion forecaster's bible."
Afterwards Pactor held almost every position imaginable in the world of fashion retail. She went through buyer training at Bloomingdale's, then worked for a marketing-based public relations firm in Manhattan. Pactor then moved back to Houston and received a call from Dr. Ezell about job openings at Foley's.
"And the rest is history," Pactor said. "I worked there 30 years, as VP of visual presentation for 12 years and then fashion director for 10 years. I went through buying and on to store management."
When Foley's became Macy's, Pactor found a new niche to share her experiences gained in the world of fashion and retail.
"I was like a go-to person for all kinds of people," Pactor said. "From the CEO and merchants of Foley's to my friends and family, everyone wanted to know ‘what do I wear, how do I get it and how do I put it together?' First I thought about doing a column, but I put the site, MyRedGlasses.com out there in order to gain exposure for consulting jobs and other marketing projects."
Pactor knew she could use her knowledge of fashion to show others how to dress.
"Because I've had a varied background, I had broad-based retailing and merchandising knowledge," Pactor said. "I feel like I have more value to clients or to people in the industry because I have a more varied and broader scope on the retail world. I've always felt like my knowledge is my greatest asset – that's why consulting was an obvious move because I have a bank of fashion knowledge to offer people."
On her blog, The Chic Sheet, Pactor likes to encourage Houstonians to sample the local fashion fare.
"My mission is trying to encourage people to buy local," Pactor said. "There are a lot of great local designers and boutiques. You don't have to go to NYC, London and L.A. to find great stuff."
Pactor finds shopping and fashion scoop from every corner of Houston for her blog.
Pactor loves finding the season's next great fashion item.
"I get excited about things I see and shop owners would start showing me things," Pactor said. "If you're excited about merchandise, people get excited to show you their wares. I've had people take me in their stock rooms. So now shop owners will call me and ask me to stop by."
Pactor has found that wardrobes have become less about newness and more about updating your wardrobe in color.
"You need to shop your closet, buy less and buy smart. It's now less about style, it's about attitude," Pactor said. "In these times it's less about having the newest trendiest things — you need to invest your money in timeless pieces that will supplement your existing wardrobe. An easy way to do this is with the addition of color and the colors for the season are pinks and citruses."
Visit Roz's blog at www.myredglasses.com
- Jasmine Harrison