Whether swiping or scrolling the amount of time we spend deciding on whether we like something is literally seconds. An article in Culture Plot said it takes an average of 3-7 seconds for a Tinder user to decide on their suitor. Wow.
Quick decision making is something we need in a life that is FULL of daily decisions, and with so many to make, how do we know if our choices are the best ones for us?
Well often we don’t.
However when it comes to Love, (yes with a capital L) sometimes the right decision can take time to show itself and that happy ending can take a little patience and work to achieve.
Which is why you need to swipe right, be bold and agree to be open to that possibility.

Woah! I hear you say…..This isn’t a Agony Aunt column or blog, wtf is she talking about!?

Well my my friends stay with me, I am trying to explain to you my passion, my mission and the thing I believe I am here to be your Agony Aunt about.

Wardrobe Love.

As I mentioned, we all need to swipe right on our wardrobes and start dating them, because I know it will lead to a very rewarding relationship.
Now I am not going to lie to you, like most great love stories…it will evolve over time. Think Charles & Camilla… (bit controversial there?) or a personal favourite Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. It may not fit right away but trust the process and it will.

This is something I discovered back when Buddy aka Arthur was born and my whole wardrobe and body confidence was thrown in to complete chaos.
You see before I had Buddy, I had Noo.
Noo was born when I was in the middle of my fashion career which meant that I kind of bounced back more quickly. (and being younger certainly helped!)
I got my style sass back relatively easily. Having to go back to work full-time, when she was 9 months old, to a promotion in a global brand, traveling across Europe with it too, meant I needed my game face on and that gave me confidence.

Fast forward to 2018 when Buddy was born and I was at home, attempting to be self-employed with a newborn baby and a 4 year old with absolutely no clue who I was and where that sass had gone.
My body was VERY different to the one that had done the whole baby thing 5 years before too.
Having just had C-section number 2, plus diastisi-recti, stretch marks and some unfortunate pregnancy varicose veins meant that on a scale of 1-10 of where my body confidence was I barely scraped a 0.5.

These two pictures below, one at a friends wedding in early 2019 and the other on Christmas Day 2018 I look at and can feel in my gut even today how unhappy I was within myself.

Now, I have always been the kind of person that hung onto clothes ‘just in case’ and I had started separating my wardrobe out season to season since I was a teenager, but my wardrobe was a mix of maternity, pre pregnancy (I mean really pre-pregnancy – Nancy wasn’t even a thought when I last wore some of these clothes) post pregnancy, work and sport. Needless to say I didn’t exactly have the wardrobe to help me move further up that confidence scale.
Through my fashion career and up to that point I had the skills to create looks and mix and match clothes to suit a variety of shapes, sizes and trends but that was mainly from a rail of beautifully curated, new clothes which I definitely did not have in front of me.

Something had to change.

After a couple of heartbreaking low confidence moments, I realised I needed to do something to make myself feel better and to try and regain some form of self recognition when it came to my style and the person who looked back at me in the mirror.

Which is when I swiped right on my wardrobe.
I wrote a blog back in May 2020 titled ‘Conversations with my wardrobe’ in there I talk about how my wardrobe and I are good mates, and have got each other’s backs. We go on holiday together (it knows exactly what I need every time by the way) parties and days out with the kids too.

It became then, and still is today, one of the most important relationships I have because this one only affects me, the sole purpose of this relationship is to make me feel good.
How many of us can say we have relationships in our lives that do that!?

From a swipe to true love.

When you swipe right on a Tinder prospect, you might then go on to DM a bit, then after a while (or straightaway depends on how keen you are!) will arrange a date. If that goes well there will be a second, third…there maybe be bad gifts, misunderstood texts and fall outs, all the things that allow you to discover each others needs.

Building a relationship with your wardrobe is the same, takes time.
It is something that needs nurturing (like all the best relationships do) you need to give it something every now and again that keeps the love flame alive and the interest still going.
If our body shape changes, we suddenly decide we don’t like blue or wide legged trousers go out of fashion how is our wardrobe supposed to know that unless you tell it?!

I started to know the things I needed to give it a boost, taking out the duds, searching things like ‘wide legged jeans and cow boy boot looks’ on Pinterest to see if I could pull it off. (great hack if you need some extra morning outfit inspo or reassurance btw) Through this and using my 10 Step Checklist I started to get more creative with the looks I was building. The compliments were coming in too, so my confidence in myself was growing along with my wardrobe.

 

Then the shopping started

You see once you and your wardrobe become are in the throws of true love then it will even be your shopping guide, or it becomes your actual shop!
I discovered all sorts of treats that were already hanging in front of me, weirdly after dud clearance and extra style boost I was having suddenly these old pieces looked totally different to me now.
Now they were something I actually liked to wear rather than holed up in the corner.
There were gaps though which I needed to fill and still do (wardrobe love is a continual process). So, me and my new wardrobe beau hit the high street and preloved and secondhand through Vinted and charity shops to fill them all whilst skipping and hold hands in that loved up way destined couples do.

I can’t end a blog without throwing in some Sustainastyle™ in there too.
Guys, you should know from my warblings that you don’t have to just hit the high street to get your new pieces. Vinted currently boasts more than 75 million registered members in 18 countries. (About Vinted, Financial Times) and has over $1.54 billion worth of items listed, according to the latest sources. (Entrepreneur 360)
That is more than you would find in Zara or M&S!
I find it more creative and fun to shop this way, you are using different influences and inspirations to create a style that is yours and yours only, because who really wants to be a fashion sheep?
After all….

 

Being a Personal Stylist allows me to have the best job in the world because I get to help you and others find that style that represents yourself.
That is not the best bit though we get to do it through your wardrobe and I love being a nosey Parker detective and finding those forgotten treasures!

So if you want me to be your Wardrobe Love dating service and help you swipe right on your Wardrobe the just book your FREE Style chat here and let’s get your profile sorted!

Or if you want to hear more from me? sign up to my newsletter and get some of my inside knowledge and tips too!
If you missed it, click here for you 10 Step Wardrobe Love Checklist!