Life Styling. Mikhila Mcdaid

Life Style

      A smooth segue from examining who you are is how you live. Your closet should match your lifestyle. Like I said earlier, I could have a closet full of beautiful clothes, but they wouldn’t necessarily fit my very casual lifestyle. You might like the idea of looking put together every single day, but some days, comfort is king, it just is. If you want to extend your swanky attire to loungewear, I will be covering that topic, but if mismatched pyjamas, greasy hair, and a face mask is your idea of evening wear—that’s cool, too.

      As my friend Caz would ask when seeing a city dweller commuting to work in a fancy suit, ‘What is your life like?’ The answer will be different for everyone. Maybe you get up at noon, work in your pyjamas, and rarely leave the house. You are not going to need a huge amount of formalwear. Maybe you wear a uniform to work five days a week…a capsule wardrobe would probably suit you for your off days since you don’t need a closet full of options. Maybe you work in that dangerous ‘smart casual’ office setting where some wear a shirt and tie and others (me) push the boundaries with black jeans…you are going to benefit from this book most of all. Your wardrobe needs to work hard for you, and if you follow some of my basic guidelines, your day-to-day dressing is about to get a whole lot easier.

      Budget also plays a big part here. Your specific lifestyle will only allow you so much cash to spend on a wardrobe overhaul. Don’t dive into this guide thinking of it as a shopping manual. Chances are you have some hidden gems in your closet that you’ve forgotten all about and they are going to be unearthed very soon. Very few of us have the funds to start fresh, so learning to shop your own closet is a handy tip for everyone.

      If you have kids, you may have a whole new post-baby body to dress! It’s like free plastic surgery that you never asked for. Most of us have new ‘problem areas’ to contend with, some have bigger boobs (not jealous at all) or bums, others are thicker around the middle. Whatever body you have, it’s your body. Lamenting that it’s not the same as it used to be won’t change it. If you want to diet and exercise, go for it, but most people will never snap back entirely to their pre-baby selves, so the sooner you accept your new one the better.

      Also, if you have kids, said kids will one day have opinions about what you wear. Did you know about this? My daughter (twelve) is embarrassed by most of my favourite outfits. I will never forget the first time she cast judgement. She was eight. I pulled out a pair of palazzo pants (okay, they’re polarising, but I liked them) in a store and said, ‘What do you think of these?’ She said, ‘They’re okay…oh wait! They’re trousers? Ugh! [pulls a face] Just don’t come to school in them.’ The idea that she’d ever care what I wore to the school run was more of a surprise than it should have been, and she’s turned her nose up at many more items since. I mean, palazzo pants, guys! They’re the ultimate item in comfort dressing. Why wouldn’t she want that for me?

      My six-year-old, Milo, is very vocal about what I do with my hair. He likes his ladies to dress like ‘ladies’, so it would be dresses and ‘down hair’ all round if it were up to him. He frequently comes home with stories from school parties about who wore the prettiest dresses and which girl has the most beautiful eyes (it’s Rachel, for those wondering), and he always has an opinion about his teacher’s new hair colour. He’s also very into his own style, which I’ll talk a little more about later because it’s fascinating to me, and he’s inadvertently taught me a lot about confidence.

      Your wardrobe needs to work for you. You might have an idea of what you want to look like, but try to be honest. Look in the mirror. Are you prepared to iron a shirt every day? Are you going to style your hair and wear makeup before work or school? Are you comfortable in heels? Do you have a fair-haired dog that sheds everywhere? Because if you do (as I do), an all-black wardrobe may not be smart. Try to put together a clear picture of what you realistically want to look like every day. We can throw in ‘occasion wear,’ but I’m talking about on the regular. How do you want to dress that will suit the life you actually lead in Yorkshire…not the life you want to lead on a beach in California?