I have however, been making the most of my time off (within the boundaries that a cracked vertebrae will allow). My "brain food" books arrived from Amazon so I have been educating myself in the ways of Greek Mythology and Astronomy. I love the learning environment and increasing my knowledge any chance I get and this extra time off gave me a chance to catch up on two subjects that I have been wanting to learn more about for some time.
Another good thing about being off work? My good friend Jo crossing time and space to visit me in Wales this week. We spent a really lovely day together. We rarely get lazy, quality time like that, shame that a cracked bone forced the issue!
She brought me a magazine that I never read before "Psychologies" (Caldicot is a bit light on Vogue subscribers) and I am so grateful that she did. I have often seen it in shops but always been a bit skeptical and never actually picked one up. I tell myself that I am "not that deep", but it wasn't full of the high-brow, journal-style articles I was expecting. Just lots of interesting and thought provoking articles about issues that we face day to day as we trundle along this thing called life.
I was particularly interested in one article that talked about "dressing for who we really are" and the argument that clothes are not just a cover up of our nakedness or protecting us from the elements. It really hit home to me personally as I have always thought along those lines, probably from a very young age if that's possible. Clothes for me are about expression, showing your inner-you to the real world and ultimately having fun with fashion. It talked about being true to yourself, letting your "inner-light" shine through in how you dress each day. Olivia Martin, who runs a design agency was the subject of the article and there were some photos of how she expresses herself through her dress. She looked amazing. Fearless, confident, eccentric, fun. I was instantly envious.
She put together outfits (as seen above - excuse the not so great photo) such as bottle green silky trousers, a baggy slogan t-shirt and a long beaded patterned cardigan, a very plain loose fitting linen dress with an amazing hat, scarf and bag (none of which matched) but she still looked incredible. Working where I do (and despite that I work in fashion retail), I feel like I have lost that exciting inner-me that once existed. The girl who would dare to wear a tutu on a first date or a cobalt blue jumpsuit to Pizza Express before jumpsuits were even à la mode. Having to wear a uniform has stifled this inner person as I must conform to wearing products that are pre-determined for my work. I have a certain level of adaptation I can use I suppose in terms of accessories but not much else.
The article went on to talk about Dressing without Fear....some of the pointers are listed below:
- allow your creativity to overcome your self-esteem
- laugh at yourself while experimenting (I am a huge advocate of this, laugh at yourself first and beat the others to it!)
- collect and wear things that make you smile (again, hugely important)
- dress to counter or enhance your mood
- compare yourself to how you were yesterday - no other comparisons
- and aim for originality, not perfection. Originality is achieveable.
Unfortunately, age changes who we are and how we dress whether we like it or not. Maybe not our spirit or imagination but our parameters change. Life's wants and needs are different as we get older and less "playful" opportunities present themselves (certainly in terms of tutu wearing ones!). Reading this has inspired me though. It has reminded me of how important my sense of dress is and how by hiding in jeans and jumpers as I have been, its hiding the real me. Yes, I have been ill so I wouldn't expect to be find myself in my vintage finery during this period but it has made me re-think for the future. I am going back to work on Monday, but before I do, this weekend I will try and spend some time in my amazing dressing room (if John moves his tools that are currently residing there
ready for starting on our en-suite), just playing around with different (age suitable) looks to see if I can "re-find" myself. I am going to ignore the little demon on one shoulder that's saying "you are too old, you can't get away with that anymore!" and I'm going to listen to the other one that's saying "go on, put it on, think how amazing and confident you will feel!".
I cannot keep blaming the ageing process for me not being myself anymore. Ageing is inevitable for sure but I am not quite ready to be written off as "nondescript" just yet. Everyone should let their individuality shine, surely that is how we leave our footprint on the world? After all, where would Elizabeth Hurley be without that safety-pin dress or Katherine Hepburn without her androgynous trouser suits. We owe it to ourselves, inner and outer, to shout about who we are. Nobody else is going to do it for us.
So, in honour of this new attitude, I wanted to share a picture of a vintage dress that I bought on a recent scouting trip in Bristol centre. I posted recently about the pop-up shop that I found and some items that I bought there.....this is the final piece. A gorgeous blue evening dress that looks like it has just stepped off the set of dynasty, shoulder pads and all. It was £15 and despite the funny shape it appears in photos, it fits like a glove when worn. This WILL require a bit of confidence to pull it off but hey. That is the whole point about having fun with fashion n'est pas?
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