I’ve started filming and sharing daily “Get Ready With Me” reels over on instagram. Monday-Friday, first thing in the morning.
For me, the process of actually getting dressed is something I love, love, love. The thought process, specifically. The choosing. I actually adore just thinking about outfits. What will I wear? How will I wear it? How will I top off the whole look?
It’s all just about the sheer joy of getting dressed.
I can appreciate that this is not how it goes for everyone. I know many who find getting dressed a chore and loathe the process. It’s just one of the things I like to indulge in, actively make time for - it’s pretty pure enjoyment for me- rifling through my wardrobe, uncovering new combinations, pulling pieces together in fresh ways I’ve not considered before. It’s just something I do that flicks my switch, every day.
It’s not really even about shopping. Yes, I love clothes. I adore clothes. I always have. But for me, the pure, undiluted enjoyment comes not from the shopping, but the styling. The piecing it all together. Shopping for me is not so much about looking for a specific thing for a specific occasion, because I want to look or feel a particular way (I think this is how a lot of people shop?) It’s certainly how many of my friends shop when I chat to them on this topic. The way I shop is more just, when I stumble across an item that feels absolutely “me” (often I get a feeling like I am really yearning to collect it or add it to my trove) that’s when I purchase. Disclaimer- most items sit on a wishlist for a week or two before I commit. It’s a great test to see how much you think about an item, how often you would’ve reached for said piece if you already had it at your disposal. Does it creep into your thoughts?? IMO, it should do, that’s the test.
If I do have a particular occasion, this actually usually just spurs the process of trawling through what I have and searching through pinterest for fresh inspiration that I can bring to the moodboard, rather than a shopping haul.
Conversely, the way I shop also means I can stumble across the most perfect evening dress and feel an absolute gut desire to purchase, even if I have no imminent occasion or need for one. I just know. I actually feel like shopping with my gut (or maybe it’s my heart) saves me a lot of ££. Rather than desperately buying pieces to fit an idea of what I’d like to look like at a very particular event, I just know I adore an item (there could be a hundred different ways and occasions to which I could wear it in the future.) It’s just a knowing that a piece needs to come home with me. I am very “magpie” about the whole thing.
Often, I think that the itch most people scratch by shopping, I satisfy with Pinterest. Pinterest, for me, is about digging up the lessons to be learnt. What am I drawn to in an image and what can I learn from it about how to put my clothing together in a way that gives me that inner satisfaction or sparkle? The only other reliable source of inspo (short of signing up for a really good substack, wink wink) is the biannual trawling through the shows. I love watching the shows come in. Most seasons there are two or three that capture my imagination, pick up my creative flow and tweak it a bit- realign it for a new season.
You know by now that with my fashion brand, Stalf, it’s NEVER about a seasonal overhaul. It’s about a slow evolution. I have styles that have remained in my collection for nearly a decade with very little change - it’s this thought process that goes hand in hand with how I shop and how I get dressed. Each season, rather than shop (although I do shop, like I mentioned, when I find THE pieces) I instead trawl for fresh inspo. I’ve been wearing our Cocoon Jumpsuit for ten years, it’s just the way I’ve worn it that has slowly developed over that time.
I’ve pulled together three shows that have captured my imagination recently. (Last week I shared my love for the Loewe Mens show, read the article below.)
I spent the whole article recounting fresh new ways to wear my wardrobe I learnt from that one particular show. There was so much to say and no space left for the handful of other designers that also captured my imagination. And so, below I’ll explain: both what it is about a show that jumps out at me, and how I bring that fresh inspo to the daily exercise of getting dressed.
Lesson 1 is from Rabanne FW 24.
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