Recently I worked with someone who contacted me because she had just moved to Melbourne from rural Queensland and felt as though she needed some help putting together some casual outfits – particularly a few things she could wear to pick up her daughter from school. Her wardrobe largely consisted of shorts, t-shirts and thongs, given the climate and the relaxed style of her previous home town, but she didn’t think her old wardrobe of clothes would cut it now she’d relocated to Melbourne.
It was important to her that her daughter wasn’t embarrassed by how her mum dressed when she waited for her at the school gate and she also wanted to make some new friends with the mums and she knew for her to do so she needed to feel confident and good about herself.
When she emailed me the first sentence she wrote was,
“I hope you can help me. I need a revamp”
She went on to say she “desperately needed new clothes” because the climate was so different in Melbourne to where she’d come from and that she had attempted to shop for new things, but really had no idea where to start. She’d been living on a farm and was completely out of touch with what was “fashionable”. She wanted some help putting together what she called, “Melbourne outfits”.
After going through her wardrobe together, we agreed what she needed initially (it was spring when we met) for this area of her life was ….. at least one great pair of jeans (preferably two for variety), one or two pairs of comfy, casual (alternative to jeans) pants, some fresh flattering t-shirts, knits, perhaps a casual dress and/or a skirt, a couple of pairs of comfy yet stylish flats, a casual jacket and some clever accessories to decorate her basics.
I don’t collect a child from school so I don’t see how people dress, but I have been told (in different neighbourhoods) it can feel competitive and intimidating. According to this article in the New York Times mums in New York are feeling the pressure to dress up for school drop-off. Some are dressing up for the school run and then going home and changing into their tracky’s, before changing back into their designer outfits for the pick-up. And in this article in the UK Daily Mail the writer suggests that for the first day back at school, “around one in six will sport a new hairdo, a similar number have bought a new outfit while others will be showing off a bronzed look”.
Goodness……I’m sure things are not quite as extreme here as they are in the swanky neighbourhoods of New York and London….are they!!?
It’s so important to remind ourselves that we are good enough, just as we are. We don’t need to look or be like anyone else. We are all different, unique and individual. If you feel great in what you’re wearing and confident knowing that the style and image you’re portraying is you, then that’s all that matters. Be kind and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
*It turned out, like many things, the unknown and the picture my client had created in her head was a lot different to the reality.
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