Help Dress Me!
The long-held belief that I am neither elegant nor stylish is no longer serving me. Part of being the best me I can be involves looking hot, feeling smart, and wearing clothes that bring me joy. Here I describe my fashion-sustainability-image crisis and ask how can I develop processes which help me look and feel great with clothes as a creative expression of my personality and values?
Help!
Conducting a DIY-Dickens process in 2017, I wrote “I’m not elegant, fashion isn’t me, I can’t wear make-up — these are signs of superficiality and wasted money”. At that time, I decided to prioritise shifting some other, deeper self-limiting beliefs and let this one sit aside. Two years later, my journals reveal the recurring pattern that wearing clothes that make me feel awesome can improve my daily life. What’s more, clothes hold history; I would like to clear away the items associated with the life I have moved forward from and create a dressing-process which expresses my creativity, my values, my very best self.
Dress
1. I’d like my clothes to look sharp and compliment my figure but I don’t understand what clothes suit me. Out of 30 items in my wardrobe, the only four which bring me joy to wear were given to me, mostly by my wonderful friend Dancing Queen.
2. Historically I have not enjoyed spending money on clothes. Instead I have prioritised investing in healthy eating, activities, and travel to see family.
3. I feel strong aversion to shopping; while living in Tokyo I avoided department stores as they triggered panic attacks. The prospect of online shopping is overwhelming since I have no idea how or where to start, internet connectivity is poor in Pohnpei and the cost of shipping (and returns) is likely significant.
4. Owning objects including clothes feels like a burden weighing me down.
5. I want to avoid contributing to the social and environmental problems in the supply chain of first-world clothes production and waste.
6. Currently I am not attracted to learn clothes-making.
7. I perceive the fashion industry as high jacking creativity to fuel consumerism. “Sustainable clothing” I have seen online looks absurdly expensive — I need to know that how I spend my money reflects my values and is not just lining the organic cotton pockets of another luxury brand.
Me
How can I develop a long-term solution which minimizes the time and effort I put into dressing myself with clothes that add value to my life?
How can I leave the past me — crying in changing rooms, running away from shop assistants, hyper-ventilating my way out of stores — behind?
Photos prove I have the confidence to wear bold, colourful daring clothes and feel fabulous doing so. How can fun clothes be part of who I am and not the rare exception?
World, please help dress me to bring out the very best in me!
