29 November 2009

Changes.........

This year has been a year of change and transition for me, and as a result I have felt my style has been in ‘limbo’ a lot of the time. Earlier this year I was made redundant from my job of 5 years, and have subsequently moved from working in the banking sector to public health. This year has also been challenging in other ways, I lost 2 very dear family members within the space of 3 months and my husband and I also suffered a few setbacks on our journey to parenthood. Not to imply that this year has all been doom and gloom, I love my new job and I’m now 28 weeks pregnant so things have definitely improved!

In terms of the impact all this transition and upheaval has had on my style, I feel like I started the year with a lot of focus, determined to try and stick with a ‘4-5 key pieces each season’ philosophy. I felt like I had my style all worked out, I planned out what I thought I would need for the year and was determined not to overspend and buy anything that I didn’t need. However, I quickly lost focus and made some poor decisions. Nothing catastrophic but I’ve wasted money and don’t really feel that it’s brought me any closer to the ideal of the minimalist wardrobe (see 2nd post).

I feel like my style started to move in a different direction this year….I moved from a formal to a casual working environment so I’ve been feeling a more casual vibe…..I bought converse, and plaid shirts, I introduced a new colour. I let myself become influenced by other bloggers who looked, hip, relaxed, casual etc etc and wanted that look too. Maybe its because its been a vulnerable, difficult time in my life and there was an element of needing transformation, of shedding the old and embracing the new? Perhaps there’s also been an element of feeling like I need a new identity now that I will be leaving full time work to look after a baby, that the ‘old me’ would somehow not work for my ‘new life’?

I think for me there is a very fine line between making subtle shifts, tweaking and fine tuning my style, and making additions to my wardrobe which enhance my style versus getting carried away, and feeling the urge to make complete transformations. I felt that this time last year I was really 'getting it', my look was becoming more consistent, I was making less mistakes, and that maybe I was finally starting to find my own style identity. I think that I'm back there again, I just got temporarily lost and sidetracked because of all the changes and upheaval going on in my life. Its interesting to see a couple of images I put together in polyvore this time last year, they still really resonate with me now, the colours, shapes and styles are still ones that I favour now (I would make a couple of small tweaks though).

Winter Capsule
Weekend in Paris


I appreciate that my style, and what I wear, will continually adjust and adapt with my lifestyle, but I want the essence of my style to remain consistent regardless of what is happening in my life. I’ve now taken a step back, and am nearing the end of a one month clothes shopping ban which has given me time to reflect on my mistakes and to plan the way forward. More on that later.

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for this inspiration and congratulations on your pregnancy.

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  2. Thanks so much and glad I could provide some inspiration. Victoria x

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