So I have decided to start writing a blog.

I’m sure most of it will be waffle. It seems I have a knack for rambling off subject, as my English Literature teacher said to me 3 weeks before I took my A level exam.

Thing is I quite enjoy talking waffle. 

It can fill an awkward silence, help put someone at ease or generally just as an inoffensive way of passing the time.

See there you go, waffle.

(for those that have been in lockdown with Cbeebies you will appreciate I now have the Waffle the Wonderdog theme tune in my head!)

Anyways, I’m hoping this is going to be a form of therapy…wait, stop! No need to run for the hills!
I’m not expecting anyone who reads this to suddenly become my therapist (I have a counsellor as a husband…BELIEVE me I get enough counselling talk from him)

No what I mean is I have so many thoughts in my head…like literally thousands and it’s not because I am a genius or anything – far from it.

As a working mother of two who is freelancing as an Interior Designer and building her own Personal Styling business whilst attempting to be a cleaner, laundrette, PA to every member of my household, cook and general dogs body, I have a lot of things to do/ think about.

Some are profound, (rarely) some useful, (not often) some not entirely PC and many of them of no use to anyone but myself.

However on the odd occasion a useful thought appears I have thought for my own sanity to put on paper (or my Mac/the internet in this case) and share on the off chance someone else maybe having the same one or maybe my waffle with its useless thoughts are filling your time beautifully.

So what is the point of this blog post!? I hear you ask….

Well there isn’t one entirely, if I’m honest. With the current Lockdown situ my main conversations are with a toddler who thinks a suitable response is to throw something and a 6 year old who has more sass than a contestant on Ru Pauls Drag Race!

So I thought let’s just start writing… I have lots of topics I want to and will talk about but this first one was me just writing (waffling) to see if the ‘blog writer’ shoe fits.

(let me know how I’m doing with that one…) 

I also wanted to introduce myself as this post will probably be linked to my website/insta/fb pages and whilst I am in the process of launching a new personal styling business there are many strings to my bow or many hats that I wear so to speak and I feel sometimes its nice to have a bit of background to a person.

Firstly why am I an absolutely BONKERS person who feels they need to work freelance in one sector and start a business in a completely different one.

Well the answer to that my lovelies is, I’m an over thinker/dreamer who loves trying new things and is never quite happy with just having one finger in the pie…

I started off working in fashion whilst studying for a degree in Fashion Marketing at Nottingham Trent University (which IS a university thank you – hopefully the stigma of it being a glorified tech college have long gone) and fell into a Sales Assistant job at French Connection.

I won’t bore you with my entire CV but the long and short of it is I knew from the many hours of working in fitting rooms whilst on the shop floor that this was what I loved doing, also had a bit of a knack for if I do say so myself.

You see when a woman, or a man is in the fitting room I believe they are at their most vulnerable and if you are going to be really ‘salesy’ about it….impressionable.

Let’s be honest the mirrors are always shite, as much as retailers say the mirrors are true, lighting is at its most flattering setting, it’s all bollocks – your bum still looks bigger than it does in your mirror at home and the other wobbly bits….it’s a horror show. (well mine is anyway)

There are some people who walk in with their items and are very quick to determine what looks good on them and what doesn’t, fair play to you guys, I salute you. You are in, clothes on, decision made and out before the person on the fitting room entrance has had time to tidy the last persons poorly hung clothes.

Others and myself included at times I must admit, are a bit unsure.

We need someone to look at our outfit or even the one single item we have brought in to try on and give some form of encouragement. Even its a simple smile of appreciation or subtle nod that honey, that ain’t your best look.

If you haven’t got your mate or friend or daughter/son with you, who do you ask?

Well, this is where in my old retail days I would hope to come sweeping in like a fairy godmother and put all of your anxieties and doubts about whether you looked good at rest.

Don’t get me wrong, if you looked awful I would politely suggest an alternative style/colour of the particular look or item you were going for, I don’t want you going out looking like a sack of spuds tied in the middle.

A – because I’m a kind person 

B – If anyone asks about your outfit/item once you’ve left the store and you are not happy or doesn’t look good – doesn’t exactly say much about the service!? 

I always smashed my sales targets on fitting rooms because I usually got so carried away with myself and my ridiculous passion for styling, the poor person who came in simply looking for a top was leaving that afternoon with a whole new outfit for their event…and in some cases the one after it too!!

Most of the time all it needed was a couple of tweaks, as I said, a change of colour or cut that enhanced their figure or colouring better. It’s not always a drastic over haul.

I would like to point out most left with a big smile of their faces, walking about a foot taller and feeling more confident about themselves and what they could (and could not) wear than ever before!

That gave me such a huge buzz I cannot tell you. It still does now which is so exciting and why after a career deviation into Visual Merchandising and then Interior Design (which is another passion – for another day) it has led me back to where I started and is the driving force behind why I want to start personal styling again.

So next time you are in the fitting room, don’t be afraid to step outside and ask the sales person. If they are worth their salt then they will be supportive, kind and be able to find you alternatives.

If they can’t then someone isn’t training them properly and that shows how much that particular brands cares about their customers and the service they give them.

So take a picture and send it to me, I’ll give you an honest answer! 🙂