Do I need to talk softly this morning?
It is the first day of the New Year, after all.
Perhaps you’re just getting home from watching the sun come up on the beach with the love of your life. Perhaps I need to stop reading romance novels.
Because of course, my New Year’s could not have been further from such a Hollywood notion. No, it involved post-midnight pick-ups of teenagers and consequential curbed champagne consumption.
But that’s ok.
There’s so much pressure on New Year’s Eve, don’t you think?
To have a good time. To reflect back over the year past and set your mind on the year to come. I’m very much a rule-a-line-under-things kind of girl, so I do like that part. That the line gets drawn.
I like that during January I usually do a lot of navel gazing. I look at the parts of my life that need a good kick up the bum, and I write down how said kicking will be delivered.
Some people call this goal-setting. Bum kicking works for me.
Style is one area of my life that’s always getting a regular bum kick, not least of which because my style has to accommodate a sizeable bum of the wide, flat pancake – not the bootylicious Beyonce – variety.
And given the amount of questions I get here on the blog or via email throughout the year, I’m hazarding a guess that style is always up for an annual – or bi-annual – review for you too?
Which is why over the next few weeks, I’m going to bring you the Styling You Style Holiday Camp where the aim is to Unlock Your Style in 14 days.
Starting today.
Because there is no time like the present, is there? Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you work too hard. Just want to get your mind in the right frame (insert evil laugh here).
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Let’s talk mutton and lamb. We won’t be cooking them so it’s ok, my vego friends, it’s safe for you to stick around.
One of the biggest concerns voiced to me from women over a *ahhemm* certain age is their concern that if they wear a certain style of clothing or follow a certain trend then they are in danger of being labelled as mutton.
The inference being that said style of clothing or trend should solely belong on the flanks and shoulders of lovely young lambs.
To that I say, RIDICULOUS.
If you’ve got it, flaunt it. If it makes you feel fabulous, wear it.
Blanket style rules are disappearing from the world of fashion faster than real bargains in a stocktake sale.
Trends are no longer being set purely on the international fashion catwalks. They’re being set on the street.
And last time I looked down those streets, there walked women of all ages, shapes and sizes.
All. Wearing. Clothes.
We are more likely to take our fashion cues from these women – strangers, best friends, work colleagues – than a high-end luxury designer who shows garments on six foot tall coat hangers (aka genetically blessed humans).
No longer do we reach a certain age, only to be pigeon-holed into wearing what our grandmothers did at our age.
Your personal style doesn’t need to get packed away in the same box as your dry-cleaned wedding gown when you return from your honeymoon. And it doesn’t have to go on permanent holiday if you become a mum either.
What it took me a long time to understand was that our time on this earth is made up of many “seasons”, if you like.
Seasons that take us on crazy roller coaster rides through this thing we called life.
We change as the seasons do.
And that’s ok.
When it comes to how your project that change out on to the world, often the easiest way to do that is through what you wear and how you wear it. It’s when you don’t find a way to project that change that you can find yourself in a style rut.
Trust me, there have been plenty in my life. Plenty.
The key to getting out of a rut is recognising it for what it is. Taking stock and moving on.
Embarrassing photos aside (thankfully most of mine are in a box in the cupboard … except for those on my parent’s family slide show shared via Apple TV on Christmas Day. Thanks Dad 
), the only evidence of each rut will be the new-found confidence you discover once out the other side.
Developing a personal style is not rocket science. It’s not going to change the world.
But it could help change the way you feel and how you face the world.
And to me that’s got to be a good thing.
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Style Work – Day 1
Each day of the Styling You January Holiday Camp will bring with it a little homework – style work – if you please.
It’s not compulsory.
There are never right or wrong answers.
If you’d like to share your ideas and thoughts in the comments, or have more questions, then go for it. I’m giving away a beautifully printed copy of the Styling You manifesto every day to someone who participates.
And, I’m here to help. So, let’s get started …
- Where do you think you’re at with your personal style? Got it nailed? Or a work in progress?
- Do you think you understand your style better now than you did 10 years ago?
- How would you describe your style to me?
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** The Styling You Holiday Style Camp {Unlock Your Style in 14 Days} is based on the Styling You Manifesto. If you don’t have your own, you can download it here. I’ll also be giving away a proper printed Styling You Manifesto from The Smile Collective every day to the reader who catches my eye with their comments and participation.
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