What you wear Who you are =

Why it’s important to express yourself through clothing.

By Lucy Carlile

What you wear can shape important factors in your life such as wellbeing and personality. It can shape how you see yourself and how others see you. Knowing what you feel comfortable in is key to expressing yourself the right way for you. Although of course, people can only make an opinion of you and it may not be correct, but it is about whether or not that bothers you. You could be drawn to a new trend that you wouldn’t normally wear, like if you are an introvert for example like me, you can still rock patterns or ‘loud colours’ and feel good about yourself. It can even make you appear more confident or feel better in social situations. But the great thing about style is a sense of freedom to pick out what you like to wear. You don’t have to fit into one big box.

In terms of wellbeing, feeling good in an outfit can increase your confidence and have a positive impact on your day. It can lift you up and make you feel like you fit in with your surroundings in the best way. Not to mention, people can truly see the impact it has on your appearance and level of confidence you show, even if you don’t feel it in the situation.

Often when you have favourite pieces in your wardrobe, it brings you joy to pick them out and put them on for the day. This contributes to great wellbeing and can have a positive impact on your entire day. You may even have a favourite print or style that makes you feel good, a love for dressing up for a formal occasion or a love for fitness wear. Even wearing the right kind of fitness wear could increase your performance and give people certain opinions of you depending on what style you go for.

Sometimes, we even see people in work uniform who may add a touch of their favourite jewellery or wear some funky shoes, just to show off who they really are. There are always ways to add in your personality and what you feel comfortable wearing. Even piercings and tattoos count and can show what we like and how we like to look, it isn’t just within our clothes but other aspects of our appearance.

I definitely invite you to explore your style and have fun with clothing that you have or buy. Maybe go through some of your pieces now and see which pieces make you feel different ways. Does that floral blouse make you excited for Spring? Do those shorts bring you back to beach times? Do you feel like your best self in that hat? Does that pair of trousers remind you of who were at college? Whatever you find, there is bound to be a story behind it. From your clothes to your jewellery, to your bag, your style can really tell a story; the story of you.