My dad has retired. Fully as of 12 months ago. With my step-mum still working, that’s left a whole lot of time for him to tinker.
It’s just that he’s not a shed tinker-er. He’s a computer tinker-er.
The upshot of some of this tinkering meant that we sat down to Christmas lunch with a slide show of hundreds of “vintage” photos scrolling across the flat-screen TV thanks to Apple TV.
This, of course, provided hours of amusement, guffawing and “awkies” moments for my children and husband. They reacted particularly in such a manner to my 1984 Desperately-Seeking-Susan-in-a-Melbourne-Winter outfit which I’m so generously sharing with you below {bottom right}. You’ll notice my attention to detail. The hat, the scarf, the vest, the double-looped studded belt, the FINGERLESS gloves and the socks tucked into ankle boots.
Yes, my 17-year-old self was working it, Baby 
My point? That was where my headspace and style was at. And that was ok.
Sure, it’s good for a laugh now but at least I was having a go.
And, as you can see with the snapshot of my style profile below, I’ve been particularly fond of “having a go” over the years.
I may not have always been on target but, hey, that’s part of the fun of playing, isn’t it?
And really, it’s also about remembering that our style WILL change and does change because we do.
When that happens, instead of beating yourself up about what you used to wear or how lost you were, just go with it.
Move on to your next style stage.
Take new chances and have fun. What’s the worst that can happen?
Oh, ok someone might tag you in a photo on Facebook from your school days … a photo you’d hoped was dead and buried along with the negatives it was processed with.
But if you’re now confident about who you are and what your style is then this will be easier to laugh off … at least for as long as it takes to untag yourself and pretend it never happened.
Now, let’s talk through some of those style stages, shall we?
There’s the High School stage. I’ve covered off on this one a bit but suffice to say, most of us follow the crowd. A few break away from the crowd and hindsight will give you the benefit of seeing why. They were the tortured artists, the creatives and they went on to become famous or semi-famous creative types.
If you attended Uni, then most of us still followed the pack. I went to uni in the ’80s so it was a pretty dodgy pack to follow. Perms were an acceptable form of hair styling. And the campus uniform was one of home-sewn shorts made from animal-print curtain material, worn back with a rip-off Lacoste polo shirt that someone’s Dad brought back from a business trip to Hong Kong and Dunlop Volleys worn as slip ons. Classy. If we had to frock up it was all about the taffeta. The more of it the better.
Entering the workforce, following three years of dubious styling, provided the first real style challenge. Suddenly office dress code expectations were thrust upon you. I did not know where to start. My jobs up until this point had come with a bonus sack-style pale blue uniform on the side. Enter stage left, Country Road and what was to become my life-long love affair. I mastered at preppy.
The next big change for me – and my style – was falling pregnant for the first time and second times. There wasn’t a whole lot of time between those two pregnancies and somewhere along the way someone handed me an access-all-areas ticket to Mumsie-ville. See that photo above, to the left of the fingerless gloves ensemble? Yep, that’s me at the height of my Mumsie-ville mode. Princess Di haircut, signature colour of navy and gold chunky jewellery. Cropped out of the photo is my now 16-year-old daughter, who I had styled in Osh Kosh navy, complete with navy hat. I KNOW.
The real me? I think she’s emerged in the past 10 years. Particularly in the past five years. She’s less likely to follow the pack {although currently obsessively attracted to anything neon}. She’s happy to mix up her style personalities and embrace whichever one wants to play on any given day.
She’s excited about what her future style will bring because she’s more confident at choosing clothes and makeup that make her feel fabulous.
And importantly, she’s OK with her past style choices. Because they are just that. They’re in the past.
Style work
The style work is simple today. I want you to have a bit of fun with this.
When you look back on your style “stages”, what’s the stage you remember most? Share your thoughts below.
Do you have a photo of you in that stage that you’re game to share in the comments below or on Instagram?
PS. Don’t forget if you want to share any of your progress along the way via photos, you can upload them in the comments or share via Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #unlockyourstyle and make sure you tag me so I can find it (@stylingyou). Facebook uploads to my page are welcome too.
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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.
Unlock Your Style in 14 Days (Day 4 manifesto winner): Allira Sierke. Allira, could you please email me your postal address: nikki@stylingyou.com.au
