Heyooo! I wanted to share something today that’s been keeping me feeling more positive and feeling more me over the last few weeks. Something I think is often overlooked as frivolous or silly – and that’s the power of fashion, personal style and just dressing up – even if it’s just for your living room!
Fashion is a fraught topic at the moment. Not only is the world of fashion one of the biggest pollutants in the world which contributes heavily to global warming, the CEOs of some of our favourite high street brands growing up have turned out to be misogynistic, horrible men who ask for public bail-outs of their rich businesses at this challenging time and to add to all this, we want to be careful with how many deliveries we’re sending for now, because we don’t want to put the health of delivery drivers, garment workers, warehouse workers and more at risk. In this post, I am not condoning the acts of the fashion industry, nor am I suggesting that we should head online and click ‘order’ on a fashion haul to make us feel better, but I just wanted to discuss the power of personal style, dressing up and utilising our own wardrobe to make us feel a heck of a lot more positive!
Fashion has a power on our well-being and mindset. It has a power to help us express ourselves, help us accentuate our personalities, help us feel positive in ourselves and help us feel quintessentially ‘us’. There are some incredible designers, such as my personal fave, Henry Holland, who’s reason behind getting into the industry was just because they liked how clothes made them feel, liked how they could express a personality through them, and liked seeing how their designs helped others feel happy, too. This is the true beauty of style: something I adore. I do not adore the fashion industry for its mistakes and prevalent issues, but I do adore how dressing up and dressing for you can make you feel. So, here are some reasons why the power of dressing up is the best, thrown in with a day-night lil trend-based look to show how you can utilise the dresses you have hanging in your wardrobe in different ways, and boost your mood creatively mid-lockdown:
It makes this strange time feel like there’s a sense of normality
If you’re dressed as you normally would for a nice day trip out, to reflect the weather or as if you were going out for work, you feel more normal. You can literally trick your brain into thinking it’s a semi-normal day, even if all you’re doing is sitting inside on your bum.
Bright clothes = a bright, positive mind
I adore bright clothes. They’re not for everyone, but I adore how a colourful dress, a clashing print, a kaleidoscope of colours, makes me feel. I feel more positive when I’m wearing something that’s bright and cheerful and it works wonders for my mind.
I just feel me when I’m dressed like me
I express my personality through clothes. When growing up, I felt incredibly insecure about myself, from a confidence level and from the level of how I looked. It wasn’t until I found my love of style that I started growing into myself. Clothes express me like nothing much else does. Clothes and writing: that’s my jam haha.
The power of getting ready can transform your mood
If you take the time to have a leisurely shower, do something fun with your hair, throw on a bit of makeup and choose a nice outfit, it transforms your mood. It’s something easy yet busy to do, so your brain is distracted – and you feel your mood lift. Likewise, sometimes all you need is a pj day and that equally has transformative qualities, so it’s just about doing what you feel is right for you to help you feel better.
Getting creative and utilising different looks from your wardrobe makes you smile
Getting deep within your wardrobe and putting together different combinations of outfits you’ve never tried before really does make a big difference to your mood. I love whiling away hours just playing with different clothing combinations and once a week I plan all my outfits for the next week. It’s just how I roll – and it’s a fun lockdown task to do.
And to end today’s post, I just thought I’d offer some quick tips for utilising the most of your wardrobe and to make you get creative with clothes over this period:
- Get your wardrobe organised in a way that works for you. I recently put my clothes in colour order, and now my wardrobe is more of a joy to sift through
- Perhaps rotate your wardrobe. Whichever the first piece of clothing is that you come to, make it your mission to wear that. The next day, wear the next item. Try and work your way through your entire wardrobe, and it’ll be exciting to try out new outfit combinations.
- Listen to your brain. If you want a pj day, have a pj day. There’s no rule or right way to be doing lockdown – just do what works for you.
- Wear pieces of clothing in different ways. A long shirt can be worn undone with a cami underneath, tied up round your belly as a crop top, or done up for a dressier effect. You can wear a shirt for a lazy day, or dress it up in the evening with an updo and a nice pair of earrings for a zoom call with pals. There are so many ways to utilise each item of clothing within your wardrobe – and with today’s blog look, I’ve tried to go from day-night with one of my most-loved, longest-owned dresses.
I hope this post has been some fun and has got you thinking about your own wardrobe and what style makes you feel quintessentially ‘you’! I’ll be back next week with another post 😊
