Assimilating my old businesswear into my home-based wardrobe is leading to a unique mix’n’match ownworking style which I am still perfecting.
This has been going on for ages and I still can’t get it right.
Admittedly I have fewer formal outfits to incorporate these days as I’ve been visiting the workplace very little recently. Nevertheless these past-life clothes make up a substantial chunk of my wardrobe and I feel I should be making better use of them.
Well I did, but I’m not so sure anymore.
While I love the burgeoning loungewear/athleisure/at-home collections every clothing retailer worth their salt is churning out at the moment, it’s not a movement I’ve wanted to buy into.
I have loads of reasons for this reluctance: I don’t like to be catered to so precisely; I can’t afford the stuff right now; I have piles of clothes I should be able to make work for me, given a bit of imagination.
But while it’s all very well being a nonconformist fashionista, I’m wondering if I’ve really got what it takes to home-style myself from the hodgepodge of stuff I’ve accumulated over the years.
A Parade of Mistakes
Judging from my repurposing efforts so far, the jury’s still out. Big reveals over lockdown have included:
Babushka: core cottage meets shaggy gilet and felt clogs
Icelandic cop: ancient Uggs plus denim skinnies, leather belt and chunky jumper
Accidental hillbilly: plaid shirt, gardening dungarees, plaits (not my best look)
Fifties girl mechanic: boilersuit with rolled up cuffs and pony tail; Stan Smith trainers
Varsity vibe: boyfriend cardi over chinos; moccasins and polo-neck
Absent academic: batik skirt (charity shop), batik top (hand-me-down), unearthed East silvery necklace, with still-attached label hanging down back of neck
Equestrian/Land girl: jodhpur-like leggings topped with Fairisle tank over white frill-neck shirt
Grandma: tartan mule slippers with fur trim (a bad start), brown cable tights, oversized cardigan and kilt
Mutton: leggings (bit tight, must have shrunk), long shirt (too short, see before). Mistake, this one.
Aeroflot trolly dolly: shirt with epaulettes under rather severe pinafore (see above photo)
Jungle Jane: camo trackies, khaki tee, scrubbed face
None of these feel quite ‘me’ however. In trying to make use economical use of what I already own, I seem to have lost my way a little. Thrift, guilt and stubbornness have taken the place of ease and style, possibly taste too.
I need to repopulate my wardrobe to properly meet the needs of my new lifestyle, to shed my stockpile of clothes like an old skin. This of course necessitates parting with redundant things to make room for the new.
However this is difficult. I know the theory. I’ve even helped others to do it but it never gets any easier even though I know it’s the right thing to do - because I’m attached to my clothes, unhealthily so.
There’s a Feng Shui saying, that we have three skins: the first is our epidermis; the second, our clothing; the third, our walls or habitat.
Each skin is a manifestation of our state of mind and being and can be ‘read’ as such. When we are comfortable in our skin, it shows. As it does when we’re not.
Aged, inappropriate, ill-fitting, unflattering clothing that does not authentically represent, support or adorn the wearer as they are now, does them no favour. In fact dragging the past around with you like this - wearing it every day - can seriously hold you back.
Goodbye Old Friends
The kindest thing you can do for these clothes, and more importantly for yourself, is to respectfully bundle them up and forward them someplace where a new owner might be able to get some joy from them.
So I’m going to bite the bullet and do just that. Me and my old-life clothes have had a great time together but it’s time to face facts and part from each other while we still have some dignity. I’ll keep the best (fitting, flattering, reliable and comfortable) and ditch the rest. Time to move on and seriously embrace what’s to come. A few new clothes can help with that.
Photo Scott Frank/Netflix, 2020. Spoiler alert: it seems that no flight attendant anywhere ever wore this uniform, thankfully.