My Wardrobe Manifesto

I’d like to say I stick to these guidelines all the time but, no matter how obvious and sensible they may seem when sitting at home, somehow they can fly straight out of the window when I’m in a panic out shopping or trying to find the right thing to wear in the next five minutes.  And I’d like to say that I’ve never gone out with chipped nail varnish or bits of old mascara lingering under my occasionally hung-over eyes, but then I just wouldn’t be telling the truth.  The thing is, some of these things don’t sound so nice in print, but they kind of make sense and I try to work with them.  But it’s a bit like trying to stick to a diet – and I do think I deserve a reward if I manage half of them most of the time (or even most of them half of the time).  I thought I would share: 

1. I will be true to myself - fashion is about communicating a sense of who I am through what I wear.  When I check in the mirror, if I feel confused, I can be sure that everyone else will be.

2. It may be my favourite shirt/sweater/skirt/whatever and I may be desperate to wear it RIGHT NOW, but if it’s got a mark or stain on it, I will take it off and put it in the wash.  Mucky is never a good look (yes Mum, you were right about this).

3. This is true for my body too – greasy hair, old makeup and sweaty armpits bring nothing to an outfit or an occasion.

4. I will buy clothes in a size that actually fits me, not a size I want to be or something that I love but which simply doesn’t fit.  I won’t buy anything that gives me an extra ass, or is so big I disappear inside.  I know I won’t get my wear out of it and need to trust that, even if I am having a desperate shopping day today, something better is waiting out there for me tomorrow.  This is a killer rule to try and stick to. 

5. I will dress to impress myself – never for anyone else; if I wear what makes me happy then my friends will be happy with that too.  I sometimes find this one a bit tricky too.

6. I won’t be a slave to current trends.  It’s so brilliant on those few occasions when you put something on and it feels immediately right – I won’t wait and worry and talk myself out of it because it’s not a colour or shape I usually wear or intended to buy – I will go for it with confidence that if something feels so right for me, I will look good in everyone else’s eyes too. 

7. Know when to let go – maybe that skirt with loose threads, or the favourite jumper that’s lost its shape and gone a bit thin.  It’s had its day, then I will let it go or re-love it into something else – a soft clutch bag, a new cushion – anything that’s reasonably simple to make!

8. Once I am dressed and satisfied, I will let any thoughts or worries about my clothing go, be happy and confident in what I am wearing and will not tug that short skirt hemline down every two minutes, fiddle with the hems of my short shorts or keep yanking up that strapless top!

9. I will remember that I wear the clothes – I won’t let the clothes wear me.  I will be confident and appear relaxed.   

10. I will never, ever, wear kitten heels.

Sexy or Slutty - Where do you stand on High Heels?

In an interview with Emine Sinmaz last month, French actress Catherine Deneuve, one of film’s all time sex symbols, challenged the notion that woman have no chance of being sexy without a pair of towering high heels.

The French actress said that mid heels are much more alluring and she consciously chose mid heels that weren’t too high when she played the role of a bourgeois housewife who became a prostitute in the film Belle de Jour (1967).  Despite an initially frosty reception from audiences and fashion experts, the shoes eventually became a huge hit with over 200,000 sold in one year to customers including Jackie Onassis and the Duchess of Windsor.  Deneuve says ‘It’s something that comes out of a slightly twisted desire which, for that matter, makes for a rather twisted way of walking.  I suspect that it has its origins in the minds of the designers, designers who have pushed the limits, who were imagining an extreme woman … nowadays a silhouette must be strong; it must create an effect, make an impact – all these powerful words.  She goes on ‘a simple well-made shoe with the perfect arch is such a pleasure.  It makes us walk differently; we feel free, emancipated, as if we can deal with life’s challenges’ and goes on to remind us that in the sixties, high-heeled shoes were ‘for women of ill repute.  They were reserved for those who were obliged by their profession to live up to a caricature’.

Well sorry Catherine, but I beg to differ:  mid-heels or flats are great for an average long day at work, serious shopping expeditions and trips to the beach, but when it comes to making a presentation at a sticky meeting, or a seriously good night out, it’s go high or go home as far as I’m concerned.  And kitten heels?  Please, destroy them all now.   Okay, so keep your high heels slender and keep them classy – these aren’t slag heels, these are weapons of power!  Victoria Beckham and Sarah Jessica Parker aren’t famed for being tarty, are they?  Seriously, once you have learned the secret of how to walk in them (toes down first, head high, hips forward), those heels are going to give you more value per inch than most other things on offer out there.  So come on girls – let’s get out there and strut our stuff whilst we can. 

Exploring the streets of Brighton

In Brighton for the first time, I took the opportunity to explore and, tucked among the lanes, cobbled streets, pretty little shops and striking graffiti, were some fab shoppers I just had to photograph  to capture they way they had composed their outfits or because their whole appearance just ‘worked’.  My absolute favourite was a pretty, petite, girl dressed in black and brown, with a striking hair style to accentuate her ‘worker girl chic’ look.  Might try that …

  

                                                     

//Photography by Lillie Cooper