UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF : HOW TO UNEARTH AND EMBRACE YOUR PERSONAL STYLE

Welcome!!
This course has been designed to teach you how to discover your personal style and dress with confidence every day.
We all have a really cool, stylish version of ourselves within, but they've often been stifled to a point that we no longer know that person. Swayed by trends that aren't really 'us' or falling into patterns of wearing the thing that is convenient & comfortable, but we don't love (or even like).
Amongst the million other things we have to juggle, we've put our wardrobe on autopilot and haven't allowed ourselves the time or headspace to question and explore our style in years. 
Well, you're about to change that
Let's figure out what you truly like, so you're excited to get dressed and can always find pieces that work well together. Never again will you find yourself looking into a mountain of clothes in your wardrobe and feeling stressed and frustrated that nothing you have makes a cohesive outfit.
Course Overview
1. Your Wardrobe - Analysing and working with what you've got
2. Future you - in-depth style discovery (including email support and feedback)
3. Personal style reflection - interviews + analysis of people with distinct approach to dressing
4. Care + Repair - Skills, tips and how to get outside help
5. The myth of standard sizing - don't let labels guide what you buy 
Bonus - How trends develop

The following video gives you little insight to how I got here! From learning to sew on an antique treddle machine as soon as I was tall enough to reach the pedal, to working in design teams, managing fit and production for internationally recognised brands. And finally, what lead to me, as the owner of a sustainable fashion brand, to create this course.

03.05.2021

First up we're going to take a dive into your wardrobe. I want you to pull out the pieces you wear all the time whether you like them or loathe them - the key to this is being honest with yourself, because if the pieces you're wearing on high rotation are ones you don't love, we need to figure out why they still play a big part in your wardrobe.

You'll find worksheets for Module 1 in the email sent out on the 3rd of May

Next you need to collect the pieces that you love, and following instructions explained in the video, list why you like them and notes on whether they get worn on not.

Ultimately the goal is to have every piece you put on is make you feel like the best version of yourself and this step is helping us to lay the foundations. So the next step involves collaborating the information gathered in steps A and B to find common elements.

Finally, I think its really useful to get a good overview of the way we spend our time so that we can ensure our wardrobe fulfils our needs. This next activity will help with that.

 

  

 Welcome to week 2!

I hope you found last weeks lessons and exercises helpful. This week is probably the most fun of the course because you get to indulge and explore in a way that you might not have before due to lack of headspace, time or direction.

 

 Next I want you to create your own board on Pinterest called "Style Icons" and thinking of those stylish people that you admire, create a concise board to reflect the elements of their style that brings you joy, lights you up and inspires you. The next video shows you my thought process and tips for putting this together.

Just in case you're not too sure how to use Pinterest, I've attached a couple of guides below to help give you some direction. 

How to set up a Pinterest account

How to create a board on Pinterest

This next activity draws on the results of the exercise from 1c, so these are the culmination of the elements that work for you in your current wardrobe. Have this completed sheet to hand ready to begin following completion of the video below.

Ok, and that's another week done! Let me know how you get on, don't hesitate to email if you have any questions, I'm very open to giving more tailored advice in this section if you feel you need it. 

 

Welcome to week 3! 

This week we’re going to be exploring colour while also giving ourselves some dedicated time and space to delve deeper and open up to our intuition. 

The following guided meditations have been created by meditation teacher and mindset coach Julia Hogarth, especially for this course.

The first one, "Unlocking your most magnetic self" is intended to help you visualise the best version of yourself.

While the second, "Finding your yes" gives you the tools to look within and understand how to pick up on your bodies response to whether something is  positive or negative for you on an intuitive level.

They can be done in either order, in separate sittings or together. You can choose which to listen to first based on what time you have available or which title & description draws you in the most.

To get the most out of these guided meditations, make sure you are in a comfortable space and will be free of interruption (to the best of your ability)

 

 

Ok now let's dive into talking colour. Colour is key when it comes to creating unity in an outfit. As you watch the video below, have your worksheet for week 3 on hand to put down any notes or thoughts that come to mind. 

The next video talks about different ways to use colour in outfits, while still maintaining a cohesive look, and how with the right palette, you can create strong looks that work interchangeably

Here is the website tool that I mentioned earlier called  Colour Space -use this to explore and palettes based on the colours of garments in your wardrobe, or to test out ones you are considering introducing. 

Welcome to week 4! 
This week we’re going to be talking trends, which also leads into putting together and refining all the information that we've been collecting about ourselves.  I feel like this is such an exciting part of the course because you should hopefully be starting to get a clear idea of where you're heading with your wardrobe curation.

 

This is a little more insight into how different areas of the fashion industry operate and how each section is influenced and shaped.

 

After you've watched this weeks videos you might find that you want to create a moodboard in Canva - I've created a basic template that you can use/edit to create your own. However if you'd prefer, you can also start from scratch or use one of Canvas many templates. 

Canva template for phone wallpaper

Canva template for desktop wallpaper 

 
I know it can be hard, but from now on, can you try to ignore the size label attached to your clothes?
I've worked for many brands, from a high end designer who’s fit model was a svelte 29 year old ex-dancer, to a commercial brand whose model was a 20 year old uni student. They both fit their brands respective size 10, but their bodies were incredibly different in measurements and proportion. It's so common to find inconsistency from one label to the next. I know that sometimes people get annoyed at this, but honestly it's not a bad thing.
Varying sizes between brands mean there is more likely a brand that fits your proportions, not just your “size”. Brands have a base size and shape that they work hard to ensure all their garments fit to. Some brands fit models are curvy, with a small waist and rounder hips, some are more straight up and down, some are taller / have broader shoulders / longer arms.
This variety is good, and not something to be taken personally. If jeans are too firm on your waist - dont for a minute think your waist is the 'problem’. It's most likely that the brands’ fit model has a smaller waist in proportion to their hips compared to you. Try on another brand and I'm sure there will be variation, also don't be afraid to size up or down, it doesn't mean anything about you as a person.
You're possibly aware that a size 10 made 20 years ago would be closer to a size 8 or even a 6 in today's wardrobe. So don't let the number stop you from taking home an excellent vintage find, don't let the number ruin a garment for you.
Basically - Don't let a tiny number, that no-one else can even see, alter how you feel about yourself or your clothes, don't let it stop you from wearing a piece that lights you up.
Here's an example from my own wardrobe - you'll see that the "largest" garments according to their labels, (the print skirt and olive culottes at the base of the image) are clearly the smallest by measurement. 
As Marie Kondo’s clearing out enthusiasm has swept the world, our charity shops and city waste sites are filling up with more and more garments. How we dispose of items is becoming increasingly as important as how they are created in the first place. For the pieces you own, which are perfectly wearable but no longer fit you or fit in with your style, here are a couple of options;
  • Take good quality pictures and list for sale on ebay, etsy, or facebook marketplace
  • Attend a wardrobe swap meet - or organise one yourself amongst your stylish friends.
  • If the label is a well known one, or your item is of good quality vintage, approach consignment shops to see if they are interested in selling on your behalf.
  • Donate to an organisation such as Dress for Success, a global charity helping women achieve economic freedom by providing professional attire for interviews and work.
For pieces that are worn beyond repair;
  • Some clothing made of natural fibres can be used for weed matting. A community garden, forest school, allotment or landcare / bushcare group may accept donations.
  • Zara and H&M have garment collection programs in store for clothing or textiles. If you’re in Australia, Manrags collects old (clean) socks which they either upcycle or recycle and turned into new textiles.
As a last resort, clothing that can't be reused or recycled can be discarded in your kerbside waste bin or through your local hard rubbish collection. Clothing and textiles are not recycled through the kerbside recycling bin as they can get caught in the sorting machinery Clearing out items, while making a little bit of cash, or giving a nice piece of clothing to someone who may not be in a position to purchase it, is such a win. You never know who is searching for that exact item which is hanging out unloved in your wardrobe. 

Repair

I don't know about you, but I have a pile of clothes that I would be wearing in high rotation if they underwent a minor repair. The silly thing is that because it's fairly do-able, I never get around to doing it myself.

The answer to this repair avoiding situation, is to find yourself a local repair place -

Repairing things we already own, or having them tailored to fit so they look even more incredible - is far more valuable (and sustainable) than buying new. A skilled dressmaker or tailor can do wonders for that garment you love but doesn't quite fall on your body properly and depending on the level of complexity, it should 9 times out of 10 be more affordable than buying a new piece of clothing. I also love that in doing this you're also putting money into your community and supporting valuable local skills.

Google keyword suggestions, either insert your location on the end or leave as is to see what comes up.

  • Clothing repairs *insert your location*
  • Clothing alterations
  • Tailor
  • Seamstress
  • Dressmaker

You could also use instagram to search hashtags, either on their own or with your location at the front, such as -  

 #tailor #alterations #mending #saveyourfavourites #makenew 

Check google reviews to see what others say about the businesses that come up, and if you're still a little nervous to hand over your pieces of your wardrobe, take something smaller in of lesser value as a trial to see how you feel about their quality and the service in general.

I definitely think word of mouth is your best friend with this kind of thing. As an older trade, garment repairers can be a bit more traditional in their business model, they often wont have focussed on their marketing or branding, so don't be put off by a faded shop exterior or non existent website.

Ask friends if they have used a repair place that they can recommend, it may not be in the area you live, but you could also look beyond to places near your work or an area you visit regularly.

STEP BY STEP SASHIKO REPAIR TUTORIAL