Getting Dressed and Flitting About

New Year and I'm still wearing the same clothes

I have welcomed the new year in the cosiest of ways and barely got dressed besides a rota of OVH and Tekla pj’s. Whilst I’m not mad at that, my working year has started and it is time to get dressed again.

This morning I stood staring at my wardrobe telling myself I have no style and everything I own is bad, this happens every few years and although I ultimately fall back in love with everything I own, I feel a shift in my mentality towards clothes. There is a TikTok circulating right now (@kendraramorous) basically saying even those of us with impeccable taste do not have a grasp on personal style because we have no hobbies. Although I am sick of the constant stream of people saying find your personal style, she’s got a point. Outside of the world of the internet what hobbies do we have?

Personally, I know mine and I don’t feel the need to list them so everyone KNOWS I have hobbies. On a side note should I go on the Traitors? Right now that is hobby number one tbh.

Anyway, this is about getting dressed and shopping, I’ll circle back (lol) to the prior point on hobbies. As a stylist (still assisting) I often shop with the idea of ease, removal of decisions from my day to day by simply buying good clothes that easily go together and harmoniously work to look good (this isn’t a revelation) but I’m finding I’m bored. Yes, everything is beautiful but I’ve taken away the fun, the silly, the purchases when I’m like ‘I was obviously rotten drunk when I bought this’ and put myself in a box. And no I’m not suddenly going to buy ugly clothes but I want to inject a little more fun back to shopping. Out is the of the lack of decision wardrobe shopping mentality.

The later part of last year I started to impulse buying a lot (including my trip up Kilimanjaro later this year), which I feel like I haven’t done since Phoebe’s Celine. I had a bit less money then but always wanted to buy the clothes so whenever I could shop I would simply go to Celine and buy whatever was in stock in my size that resonated with me. Whilst I am going to sell a lot of that this year, mostly because I am no longer a teenager with a borderline eating disorder, I can’t say it wasn’t fab, it was interesting and I things were less formulaic.

I think this is where I have been going wrong with shopping. I think that is where a lot of people go wrong shopping, particularly at The Row. You go in and you’re like fuck this is so fab, this is so soft, this is so gorgeous and then wince at the price and think I’ll just save and buy the black sweater and black pants and the coat and it’s timeless so it works. But timeless is sometimes boring. I have this absolute fear that I am going to wake up at 50, thinner hair, saggier skin and podgy after years of over indulgence and think why was I so obsessed with looking like a 40 year old with their life together just to say it was timeless and effortless and chic. We’re all putting effort into this, it’s ok to acknowledge that.

Whilst this is ultimately the fleeting thought and I know tomorrow morning I will be in love with how I choose to dress, it’s fun to play around with new ideologies. I can feel myself moving into a tad bohemian (NOT in a Marant way) and a lot of far east influences, I have started to resonate more with pieces in my wardrobe that lean into that a bit more and no I am not about to go full caricature but I am currently non stop searching for vintage piano shawls, anything with a mandarin collar and those Celine sunglasses from 2017 that I lost in Shoreditch House toilets a few years ago.

This brings me back to the hobby theory, I don’t think the idea of personal style is solely based in what your hobbies are I think it’s a creators way of telling people to get off the internet and do more with their lives, which is lame. I do think functionality is a huge part of my personal style which goes hand in hand with said hobby theory because if you love gardening of course you are going to wear outsidey clothes that have padded knees (can you tell I know nothing about gardening?) but there is ultimately more to your life than this hobby, don’t box yourself in. I could talk till the cows come home about my thoughts when I get dressed and I do plan to over this next year but as and when it feels appropriate not just in a singular paragraph here.

But as of this morning, I’m making myself be more fun within my shopping choices and shopping around more. Gone is formulaic dressing and in is being a little more messy (cos I’m too fucking clean) ((I need to get off the internet)) and that isn’t telling you all to follow suit because ultimately what do I know, I’m just a girl standing in front of a wardrobe saying I’m bored.