Be the designer of your own fashion show
Be the designer of your own fashion show
Introducing Guest Blogger: @joannagreeny
Documenting everything motherhood and fashion
Girl next door who wants to be your mate. I'm a lover of all things fashion with no particular 'style' and basically wear what I feel good in. I'm a mummy to two boys and document the mad 'mummyhood' journey here.
Firstly, I’m no stylist, or fashionista (whatever one of them is) and I’m certainly no model. I’m just a normal mum, who happens to love clothes. And a wine (or two). Ok, maybe a bottle.
But it’s more than just a jumper, or a pair of jeans, or them boots ‘which are all in fashion’ (as my husband would say).
To me, ‘those clothes’ (which they are casually referred to all the time), are part of MY identity. They accentuate MY personality. They make me feel more than just a Mum. They make me feel like me. Because I wear what I want to wear and feel good in, not what the A/W trends tell me to wear. That’s the secret ingredient. And because I wear what I want to wear, not what others want me to wear, I feel good not only on the outside, but genuinely on the inside too.
Why would I want to wear what everyone else is wearing anyway? We don’t all drive the same style car, or eat the same foods…so why should we wear the same clothes in the same way? I would look totally ridiculous in those chunky balenciaga trainers anyway.
I’ll be honest, one day you’ll see me channelling my inner ‘Carrie Bradshaw’ with a full tutu skirt and tailored blazer cooking Sunday dinner with a vino, and the next, I’m in gym leggings, an oversized hoodie drinking copious amounts of caffeine to see me through the day (due to an all-nighter with the baby). And you’ll find lots of my other looks in between the two extremes. But the key thing is, in all instances, the clothes I choose that day, make me feel good, and therefore allow me to radiate ‘my best self’.
I get a lot of ‘You look so stylish for a Mummy’ or ‘How do you get the time to look so good when you have kids?’. And it blows my mind. Sorry, at which point did it happen that women with children should look like s**t and have to compromise their own fashion identity for their small humans?? We take time to do all the other ‘essentials’ (getting the kids ready for school, food shopping, cleaning the house blah blah blah), but this should be no exception. Taking time out for you should be considered an ‘essential’.
I don’t mean get glammed up every day for the school run (who could seriously be arsed with that!). Build in 30 minutes every morning to do your hair, put on a little make up and dress how you feel for that day (seriously, that’s all I need). By simply adding a necklace, a scarf, or a hat can transform your look, and in turn, how you feel.
I wore a grey oversized ASOS jumper with gym leggings today so nothing super chic or stylish but the amount of comments I received from ‘You look amazing’, to ‘That jumper looks so cosy’, to ‘that outfit is super cute’, was mind boggling. Carrie Bradshaw wouldn’t be seen dead in it but I figured it out quickly. People love positivity. They are drawn to ‘feel good vibes’. Not a grey jumper.
Trust me, I don’t have some massive entourage that does all the dirty work so I can leisurely style myself each day (but secretly wish I did!). I still get up through the night with baby, still breastfeed 24/7, do meal times, do the food shop, do bath times. But I make time for ME. You can to, if you let it. Manage YOUR time to include YOU.
Now more than ever, self-care is paramount in these times where our mental wellbeing is taking a mega battering. It’s critical that you create time for yourself. Carve time in the daily routine for you. Not your partner. Not your little ones. Not your friends. YOU. And before you think it, it’s not selfish. It’s completely the opposite. Taking time out to ‘check in’ is the best form of self-care. What good are you to anyone if you’re burnt out, feel rubbish or ‘just not yourself’.
So my biggest advice…
Explore.
Experiment.
Fall in love again with your own fashion show. Dig in your wardrobe. Have a mooch online. Wear that skirt. Buy the hat. Own that dress.
And I’ll be right there, front row cheering you on (with a glass of fizz in hand of course).
Written by @joannagreeny in collaboration with MRK.
