18 January 2023
The blog post for busy women who love versatile, stylish outfits and feeling good about themselves. One woman’s small step in celebrating being kind to the planet, others and ourselves through our clothes.
Hola, my name is Alicia and I am the proud founder of Single Swan, a kind clothing business. My mission is help you find joy in what you wear. As a clothes designer my main focus is inventing clothes and accessories that we can wear to give us that spring in our step and happiness in our hearts. One of the best things about getting older is we get to a stage when we know who we are, we know what style we like and we are more content to dress for ourselves right? BUT, and there’s a big but, we can start to feel self-conscious about changing body shapes-thank you very much menopause! Or quite frankly we don’t have the energy to give a **** about what we wear. I’ve written the following personal thoughts especially for you if you find yourself in a conundrum (as a side note I need to start using the word ‘conundrum’ a lot more) at this time of year when there’s a crazy sense of new beginnings, resolutions to be a better, shinier version of ourselves and yet are run down by bugs, nasty weather and lack of vitamin D. Hopefully, this blog will give you a little bit of inspiration to make a few tweaks in getting dressed.
1. TO PLAN OR TO PLAN? that is the question
Can you tell I was a Brownie when I was younger? The motto Be Prepared has stuck with me. Let’s face it who wouldn’t rather have 5 minutes extra in bed than frantically looking through the wardrobe for some divine inspiration to jump out at them. Whatever you are doing in the day, you may be going into work, working from home, looking after your kiddies… you really do deserve to have that feeling of contentment in what you wear. Take 5 minutes to think about the two main things you have to do the following day and think about the predicted weather. I’m slightly obsessed with layers and always plan for thin layers that I can strip off as and when needed. Plus, is there a scarf or hat you can wear and will there be space in your bag when you don’t need it? I know this is quite a boring start. I promise the next points get a bit juicier. Are you going to spread the items out on a chair or hang them on a coat hanger in. front of your wardrobe/ chest of drawers? Maybe even take photos of the different outfits and save them in an album on your phone for future reference.
I am a massive fan of bright colours, animal print patterns and shiny materials. I think there is quite a high chance I may turn into Crazy Cat Lady as I get older and get even more “brave” in my choices of what to wear on even my most casual daily activities. You may be more restrained in your clothes choices but I promise if you can find one item, whether it be the main, hero piece or an accessory (even your underwear, remember this is dressing for yourself so nobody else needs to see it) that has an element of brightness, pattern or texture it will really help you feel more energised. As an extra note are do you focus on the quality of fabrics when you buy items? Some fabrics feel so much better on your skin than others don’t they? These tend to be materials that are not only kind to our skin but also to the planet so it’s a win-win situation. The fabulous Claudia Winkleman in her book ‘Quite’, talks about her love of modal t-shirts as they feel so good. If Claudia says it then I’m believing it. Can you look through some of your clothes that feel good and see what they’re made of and look out for those fabric compositions when you next buy something? Whatever, your personal style or items that you have in your wardrobe I guarantee you will have something that ticks one of these boxes. By having a focus piece to start with you can then dress the rest of the outfit to compliment this piece. So, what will be the first piece you choose?
This is probably my own personal favourite tip and at first glance might seem contradictory to my point above, but bear with me, it will make sense. Having two auto-immune illnesses and having had long periods of time when I have to rest the colours I wear have really had a profound effect on my wellbeing. At times I want and need to feel energised. At other times I want to feel calm and relaxed. I have built my wardrobe into two main colour palettes:
Bright yellows and greens, gold and a touch of bright pink
Black, cream, denim, olive green and pale pink
Within these two colour palettes I have items that have texture and a slight pattern. The first colour palette is a bit like my armour, it helps me face whatever I need to get done in the day. A bit like opening the curtain and seeing the sun shining these bright colours give me that same feeling. The second, more restful colour palette really grounds me when my thoughts are whirring and I’m feeling anxious/ nervous about my health, work, my to do list. Could you sort your clothes into two different colour palettes on how you want to feel?
Apply perfume. Spraying a little bit of perfume is the best mood lifter there is. It’s like a little secret action of self love. The sense of smell can evoke so many happy memories and make you feel sassy and confident. Do you have one perfume that you always wear or a couple of different scents that you wear depending on the time of day, season, what you’re doing?
You know that fancy piece in your wardrobe that you bought for a special occasion? Well, can you tweak it to make it more accessible for every day? I have lots of smart dresses and skirts that I have collected over the years. It seems almost too sad to leave them in the corner (the Dirty Dancing phrase Nobody puts baby in the corner springs to mind). Is there a way you can dress these items down and make them more casual? Pair with pumps, ankle boots, sweatshirts, anything that makes it feel less dressy. if you follow me on Instagram or have seen bits on my website you know this is my favourite style of dressing, somebody kindly said it looks “like you’ve casually thrown your items on”, I think it was a compliment. So there you have it, my tips for giving yourself a hug of self-love when you’re getting dressed to beat the January Blues or February Flops (not sure that’s a thing but it should be right?!)
So, these are my five favourite tips to dress to feel happy. What tip do you like the most? I’d love to know how you get on. My email is info@singleswan.co.uk or send me a DM on Instagram.
Thank you for being uniquely you.
Alicia x
Disclaimer: I have no formal qualifications or experience in this area, these are just my thoughts that helped me. I write with no aim other than to share tips and happiness to others in the hope that these ideas will make your days brighter too.