It’s All About Stress Picture the week from hell. The deadline moved. The kids, the boss or the parent needs you. You got four hours of sleep. On Monday morning, you stand at the wardrobe, and your hand does what it always does. It grabs the black trousers and the grey top. On Tuesday, you…
The Psychology of Dressing “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” It’s one of those phrases that’s been repeated so often it’s lost most of its meaning, filed away with other bits of advice nobody quite believes any more. Which is a shame, because there’s genuine psychology behind it, and it’s…
You know the outfit. The jeans that always fit, the tee or jumper that goes with everything, the one you reach for without properly looking at it because your hand already knows where it lives in the wardrobe. On the mornings you’re rushed, tired or simply not up for a decision, it feels like the…
The denim jacket is a staple in many wardrobes. It’s a fashion classic in many ways; it’s around decade after decade and can be a great item to throw over so many outfits. It’s a wardrobe staple for many, so let’s make sure you buy the right ones for you. So how do you choose…
“I just don’t have a creative bone in my body when it comes to clothes.” I hear some version of this constantly, usually from women who are clever, capable and creative in every other part of their life. They’ll happily design and plant a gorgeous garden, talk someone through a complicated work problem, or throw…
Ask most women what counts as “being creative”, and you’ll get the same short list. Painting. Writing. Playing Music. Maybe baking, if we’re being generous. Getting dressed doesn’t make the cut. It sits filed away under admin or as a daily chore, somewhere between unloading the dishwasher and replying to emails you’ve been avoiding. I’d…
The Real Reason You Keep Buying Clothes You Never Wear Open your wardrobe right now. Somewhere in there is a top you loved in the shop and have worn twice. A jacket that seemed like a great idea and now just takes up hanger space. Maybe a dress with the tags still on, because the…
Yes, Retail Therapy Works. Here’s the Bit Instagram Left Out. Every so often, a piece of research escapes the journals and goes for a wander round social media, and you’ll have seen this one. Some version of: good news, lovely people, science says shopping actually makes you happier, the effect lasts, and you’re not even…
It Was Never the Purchase in the Bag. It Was the Choosing. Here’s a small mystery worth sitting with. You’ve had a rotten day, you’re feeling down. You go shopping, and you feel better. We all know this happens, and most of us are faintly embarrassed by it, because the obvious explanation is a bit…
When the news came in this morning about the death of the legend and diva Dolly Parton, I was saddened, not because I’m a big country music fan (sorry to those who are; it’s just not my genre), but because I am a big fan of Dolly. She had so many wonderful traits. As someone…
You Bought It for a Woman Who Doesn’t Exist Yet Go and open your wardrobe. Not metaphorically, actually go and look. Somewhere in there, I’d put money on it, is a garment with the tags still on or never worn. Something a size down from where you are. Something for the gallery opening you don’t…
On 19 August 2008, I published my first post here. It was called How to Choose a Slimming Fabric, and it was two photographs of the same woman in two shirts. One stiff, one drapey. I asked readers to spot what else was going wrong besides the fabric. No introduction. No “welcome to my blog”.…
You have seen the graphic. Five dresses in a row, a tidy little caption underneath, and a confident promise that vertical stripes will make you look taller and horizontal stripes will make you look wider. It gets shared thousands of times. It looks authoritative. It is also, in the most important way, wrong. Not wrong…
The Sale Price Is a Comparison, Not a Saving Here is a sentence that has cost women more money than almost any other: “but it was reduced from $120.” We say it to ourselves in the shop. We say it to our partners at home. We say it, a little defensively, when someone admires the…
How to Express a Style That Is Functional, Genuine and Unique A lovely reader emailed me: how do I express a style that is functional, genuine and unique? It’s a great question, and it has a slightly annoying answer. You have to go back to the beginning. Not to the shops, not to your wardrobe,…
“I’ve Retired, But My Casual Clothes Are Still Boring” A reader recently asked me a question I hear all the time from women who’ve just left the working world behind: after years of dressing for business, how do I actually express my personal style now that “casual” is all I need? You don’t even need…
You Didn’t Fall in Love With That Dress. Your Nucleus Accumbens Did There’s a moment in a shop that we all treat as sacred. You’re walking past a rail, not really looking, and something stops you. You reach out. You hold it up. And you get that small internal lift, the one that says Oh.…
Why Do I Look Frumpy? The Real Culprits (And How to Fix Them) “Why do I look so frumpy today?” A reader wrote and told me that that’s how she feels in many of her outfits. If you’ve ever caught your reflection and thought exactly that, I want you to know it isn’t a mystery.…
It’s Not the Mirror, and It’s Not You You go into a fitting room feeling reasonably good about yourself and the outfit you’re wearing to the shops. You come out twenty minutes later having decided that you have terrible legs, that your stomach has staged some kind of coup, and that you should probably not…
If You’re a Shopaholic With “Nothing to Wear.” Here’s What’s Actually Going On. “I’m a shopaholic, yet I feel like I have nothing to wear, and it gives me anxiety because I have too much stuff.” This was emailed to me by one of my lovely readers. If that sentence made you wince a little…
Why You Packed a Hat and Never Wore It (And What To Do Differently Next Trip) A reader recently wrote to me with a confession I suspect a lot of you share. She’d packed a hat for her trip, a good one, chosen specifically for sun protection. It came home unworn. Why? Because nobody else…
