The metamorphosis of style

Much has written about the joy of sweatpants. While I concur, this is not one of those pieces. This is probably, at best, a musing on how my style, and that of some others, has changed over this last almost year of quiet.

The obvious point: not dressing to go to London every weekday to work in a busy office with lots of people. I have missed that. I have felt, along with the loss of my job (at times), a small subsidence in identity. I know it will return, but with some changes.

I have definitely felt like embracing a gentler style; starting with my hair. A white peroxide crop for a couple of years prior, Lockdown 1 necessitated that I grew it out. It’s now still in transition and I’m not sure where it’s going. I still want the bleach - for the look it brings, although TERRIBLE for the texture - but not the sharpness of a crop. I think I want to continue with the multiplying earrings and new glasses whilst growing my hair into something else. A pixie cut? Whatever that is.

I recently forwarded a link to a top to an extremely stylish friend (oh hi Elisa) who replied that she just wasn’t feeling the frouff these days. A tiny slim beautiful lady, she has often embraced extremely sculptural tops because she looks epic in them. While she liked the colour - pretty much a sapphire blue - she said she wasn’t so much about the frouffiness anymore and that her style was changing. Which led me to think about this article.

I turned 50 last year and this made a difference I think. I dreaded it in advance but once it arrived I felt calm and continue to. This new year I feel very clear about a lot of things, including a zero-tolerance policy for any crap or bad behaviour from anyone. And maybe this is translating into my style. I had an aggressive weed out of clothes a week or so ago. Never mind whether I liked it, or it was expensive or entwined with happy memories; if it doesn’t utterly serve me, it has to go.

And while there are new gentle additions, I rather surprisingly just bought a cardigan (pictured), there is always room for variations on the old faves. Other, way too recent, purchases have included some massive boots very much like, well about three other pairs but with different colour soles; an important differentiator. And a sheer taffeta-style midi dress to be worn with a slip underneath or maybe a contrasting thin layer and trousers but definitely with the big boots and definitely not saved for best.

It is inevitable that this year will have impacted us in so many ways, sadly many in tragic ways. But a change in style may signify one of many mindset changes. I’ll be running a clothes swap event for charity when we open up again, collecting ‘transitioned from’ pieces from friends and clients. But in the meantime, if you feel your style is on the move and you want a chat about it, I’d love to hear from you. When we emerge from this quiet, we may be slightly changed and this could be the time to review how you’d like to present yourself to the world.