Notes on Styling | 47 | The problem with having a full wardrobe.

Some thoughts.

Hello my lovlies,

There were times in my life when seeing my wardrobe full was kind of like seeing a full fridge. I felt like a true visionary. I could see into the future, what I wanted to wear (and what I wanted to eat!).

But the problem with a full fridge is - that things go off. Just like we learn with age we are just as likely to dig into a full wardrobe and declare “I have nothing to wear”.

I have learnt over my years in styling that less is more (no matter what the personal shopper says). Slow is better. Buying well and considering items that add to what’s already there is a strategy that gives a whole lot more choice (and joy) when getting dressed.

And so I share this week’s post and pictures with this in mind.

The photos below were sent to me by a lovely client who is on a personal style journey with me right now. This lady has got oodles of style, clothes, ideas, and a zest for putting things together. She loves fashion. Lives and breathes clothes, colour, and is never afraid to try something new.

We met several years ago when she joined a class I was hosting in Dublin. She is that person I instantly remembered once we spoke on the phone. (happily, she always remembered me too!) She really got involved in all the fun we had that day.

Clothes light her up and give her joy. But somewhere along the way, all the clothes she had accumulated over the years had the opposite effect.

That’s the thing. Life changes and so do we. And it doesn’t have to be earth-shattering shifts either to feel you are someone new. So, we somehow try to bring along the pieces of who we were into who we are now. And it’s hard. To bring this new version of you into focus.

A colour palette, new feelings around your body and what feels good for it now, style elements and how you can create new habits from understanding old ones. Creating a refreshed picture starts by bringing things slowly into focus again. Creating one clear picture, vision, and look that lights you up.

And so we pick amongst the evolving branches of our wardrobe, to find those things. Perhaps it feels drastic from the outside looking in but from in here, it feels like a new world has opened up, with items we carry forward with joy, love and excitement.

In her words - Pieces ‘I’m not sure about anymore’.

Pieces ‘that feel like me now and that I love in my wardrobe.’

And this is the magic of less but better. For your wallet. For your mind. But mostly for the joy you feel getting dressed again. Take one piece and have a picture of how you can build it up into 3 different looks. A picture that sees the items you own as building blocks to creating outfits you will feel great in.

And my lovely client is beginning to get her joy back. I can see it and feel it.

I am about to start her styling boards, to pick and style up a range of looks so she can see her refreshed style picture coming to life again. To help her focus, and let those other versions of herself, the ones that no longer serve her, go.

And the best thing is, she is so ready for this, so much part of her process now that SHE is picking items for me to play with and add to her Styling Boards to style and complete.

The bright, bubbly, colourful, excited about fashion lovely lady I met all those years ago is back, and this is the most special part of all ♡

Julie x

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