I had a clothes wobble last week. I know! It surprised me too!
After all these years working with clothes, I don’t often stand in front of my wardrobe thinking, None of this feels quite right. But there I was, getting ready to speak at an event and struggling to find an outfit that felt like the person I was becoming.
I had plenty to wear. That wasn’t the problem. My carefully planned outfit was fine….and we know my feelings about fine. We want fabulous, not just fine.
The problem is that I’ve changed, and my wardrobe hasn’t quite caught up. You know that feeling when your clothes no longer feel like you? When nothing is actually wrong with what you’re wearing, but somehow it belongs to a version of you that you’re quietly leaving behind?
At the event, my talk was called “I’m Good At What I Do, So Why Does It Matter What I Wear?” where I spoke about the connection between clothes and how we see ourselves. Having just experienced it myself, the timing was perfect.
Sometimes the outfit that used to make you feel capable feels off, like it belongs to someone else. Or the things you’ve always worn are perfectly nice, but they aren’t quite you any more.
It can happen after a career change, a difficult year, a shift in your body or a decision you’ve finally made about your life. You don’t need to have the new version of yourself worked out before you notice the old one no longer fits.
This year has brought a lot of change, especially in the last few weeks, so it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise. I knew things were shifting…..
I came back from a retreat recently knowing something in my work had changed. Coaching feels more central to what I do. Styling is obvs still part of my world, but the conversations that are lighting me up are about the woman wearing the clothes: what she wants, what she’s ready for, and what might be holding her back.
I’m still giving myself room to work out what comes next, in my wardrobe and in my business. And you have front-row seats!
If autumn has you looking at your clothes differently, start with one question:
What in my wardrobe still feels like me, and what am I only wearing because I’ve always worn it?
Jane x