I Don't Know What To Wear
A cry for help
(I apologise for this weeks newsletter being a chaotic word vomit of my insecurities, but I’m in the midst of packing for a short trip and my brain currently feels like scrambled eggs)
Because I don’t work in fashion retail anymore I don’t have much reason to get dressed up for work, I more often than not just stick to my tried and tested uniform of a jumper and baggy trousers. I find myself longing for the weekend so I can take full advantage of my wardrobe and put together something that’ll make me feel more like myself. When Sunday finally rolls around I stand aimlessly in-front of my rails and feel overwhelmed. Half of me wants to push the boundaries of what I wear day-to-day, but the other half of me doesn’t want to appear overdressed. This means I usually end up settling for something not too far from what I wear to work, and then find myself feeling annoyed that I can’t string together a more fun and unique outfit. Once the frustration eases I often want to give myself a good shake and remind myself it’s not that serious.
I spend my evenings aimlessly scrolling through Pinterest collecting inspiration, telling myself that I’ll 100% recreate those outfits at the next given opportunity. Then a suitable plan pops up and I revisit my saved pins, only to talk myself out of it because it feels like “too much”. So I ignore the cute kitten heels and colourful bags in my wardrobe to revisit my old faithfuls. It’s inevitable that while I’m at said plan I’ll see someone in an amazing outfit and wish I’d had the confidence to just wear what I really wanted without feeling self conscious. I’ve never been one to shy away from extravagant outfits, so I don’t know why I suddenly feel like this? As always I like to blame any issue in my life on the unpredictable British weather, which is especially annoying at this time of year. It’s unavoidable that if you leave the house in a big coat that you’ll end up sweating within half an hour, but if you risk it and venture out unprepared you’ll be caught in a freak hailstorm.
Besides the weather, I also blame my sudden ‘getting dressed anxiety’ on the absolute fuckery that was the micro-trend epidemic of 2024.
Obviously trends have always circulated, but there was once a time that their lifespan exceeded the two week mark. Even after the original overwhelming buzz died down, you didn’t feel like a total loser for still wearing it.
Now I will hold my hands up and say that I do own something that fits into every trend that I listed above, and I still happily wear them because I introduced them into my wardrobe in a way that felt genuine to my personal style. But sadly there is now some hesitation as I step out the door because it feels like all those trends have just been oversaturated so much, that if you happen to be combining two at once you feel like a walking meme. I know I shouldn’t care, but sometimes it’s hard not to? It doesn’t matter if it feels like me, because I worry that to everyone else I look like my TikTok algorithm chewed me up and spat me out.
Anyway, all things considered…I’m finding it really hard to get dressed and feel good. I think 2024 put us all off micro-trends for a while, but it’s normal as a society to be following some sort of trend pattern because it can be scary to just blindly do your own thing. I think I need to get offline, have a good rummage through my wardrobe and conduct a movie montage style try on session to really rediscover what makes me feel the most confident.
