Changing Your Clothes

Shopping, Sewing, Upcycling, Repairing: Make the most of your clothes!

Tag Archives: personal style


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Who Am I, Anyway? Part 3: Style Icon Found!

Okay, I know, in Part 2, I promised a list of my likes (and, now that I think about it, dislikes) in clothes, but I just had to tell you about this right now:

Newsflash: I’ve found a style icon!

Remember in Part 1 of this series when I mentioned my quest for something, anything to give me a starting point for my newly-evolving style? Well, I’ve found it incredibly difficult, possibly because I was looking more at women whose style has been famous for decades, the same ones most of us think of immediately: Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, etc. And while I love and admire all these and many more, and can find elements of their styles that might work for me, no one woman has felt like the right fit for me. This is good, actually, since it means I still have some sense of individuality going on; I don’t want to be a clone of anyone.

But it also adds to my confusion about who I am, style-wise. I mean, where do I start? Hence my search for someone who embodies not specifically the way I want to look, but more how I want to feel in my clothes.

This morning, I found her, not in our cinematic past, but very much a present-day star: Christina Hendricks!

Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks on my new Pinterest board. (Click on the picture to see the rest of this board.)

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Who Am I, Anyway? (Part 2 of… many)

In my last post, the first of what promises to be an epic series, I confessed to a serious wardrobe identity crisis. This led to me biting the proverbial bullet by showing you pictures of what I really look like, body-shape-and-size-wise. (And thanks to all of you for your supportive and empathetic comments!) Today, I’ll show you what I was inspired to do with those photos to help this process along.

Already this process is leading me in unexpected directions. After finishing that last post, I suddenly felt much better! Could it be possible that simply facing up to what I had thought of as the truth about the way I look actually steered me straight? As I suspect many of us tend to do, I had fallen into the habit of focusing on what I perceived as the negative aspects of my body.

But after looking at those photos for a while, it occurred to me to think of it like this: What if that was a friend of mine, who had come to me for wardrobe advice? Would I be telling her that she’s too thick in the middle? Her shoulders are too narrow and her rib cage is too small for her bust? Of course not. I’d be telling her to focus on her assets, and dress to make the most of them.

So why am I not doing that for myself? Continue reading →


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Makeover Monday, Meet Closet Confessions: Who Am I, Anyway?

I promised you another juicy Closet Confession, and today is my monthly Makeover Monday, ergo…

This is hard. I’ve been thinking about tackling this subject here for quite a while, and now seems to be as good a time as any to stop procrastinating. Yes, it will be a makeover (eventually), but I have to start with the confession.

Here’s the thing. You know how I’ve written about our wardrobes evolving as a reflection of changes in our lives, and in us as individuals? Well, for several months now I’ve been feeling thoroughly confused, clothes-wise; it’s like I’m no longer sure what works on me, what’s flattering, what’s age-appropriate, and most perplexing of all, what is actually a reflection of who I am?

Ah, there’s the real question I’ve been avoiding like an itchy wool sweater:

Who am I?

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