ORDINARY PEOPLE

Bucking the Trend?

I am currently travelling to Heathrow airport, making my way to Melbourne, Australia to run some training programmes. Yes, very exciting – I know.

However, I have been having a dilemma. A crisis of conscience if you like.

It’s not due to a lack of confidence, knowledge of the subject matter, the hours of flying, or going into unknown territory (I’ve trained there on many previous occasions).

No, it’s far more personal and, for many us, the perennial problem – what to wear!

The first issue is the weather. Australia is diametrically opposite to the UK in location and season. As it heats up here, it’s getting colder over there. Despite that, it’s not ‘cold’ as we know it. Trying on my warmer clothing when it’s 23 degrees and counting is uncomfortable in a house with no air con. So, it’s been sweaty work pulling the various items on and off.

However, the second is more troubling for me. I have always been of the opinion that your internal ‘self ‘moves before the external. This is where I am finding myself right now.

In the past, I have always owned ‘special’ outfits for just this type of occasion. Clothes that make me ‘look’ like an image professional. As most of my recent work has been on zoom – head and neck on display – what I’ve worn hasn’t really been an issue. So, I find myself with nothing really amazing, fabulous, eye catching – whatever you use to describe it. Truly – none.

Here's the thing: My belief is that we need to dress for who we are at our very core and make it meaningful for the current time. For me, that means clothes that enable movement encompassing simple, uncomplicated styles in neutral colours. Think knit dresses, jeans, sweaters, trainers, the ubiquitous trench, dungarees, jump suits. This is who I am now. To change this, in order to fit perceived needs of the job, means buying clothes that will eventually remain in the closet until the next time this type of occasion comes around.

In the past, I always wanted to stand out. I made sure I wore unusual, creative designs in bold colours. Covid changed that. My internal self wanted something quieter and less dramatic and my appearance eventually changed accordingly.

It seems I am not alone.

Yesterday, The Sunday Times magazine ran a feature on bags. The new so called IT bag is one with no labels, thus totally anonymous and thoroughly unrecognisable. In other words, just a plain, ordinary bag probably made from canvas. Hello!! How wonderful.

According to this month’s UK Vogue, we now find ourselves enjoying being less individual in the way we dress. Ten years ago, our focus was on #OOTD but now we are taking comfort in the presence of sameness. There is a new terminology Trend Fatigue. Basically, you can only get so far ahead of the herd before the herd catches up. This ongoing roller coaster of a ride has the potential to overwhelm both mentally and financially. Perhaps not altogether cognisant or aware of it, this thinking has been instrumental in my eschewing IG and Facebook over the last few years. I got so bored with posting photos of myself in various outfits. The time and effort it took was also a factor and I decided to let others tell their story. Mine remains more insular. Maybe more of a mystery – which I quite like.

The Vogue article talks of a rebellion in the fashion houses. It cites the example of The Row’s, 2025 Paris runway show where no cameras were allowed. Instead, notebooks and pencils were provided for reporters to take notes. Kylie Jenner is also dressing in a more uniformly, practical and understated way and is frequently seen re-wearing her older clothing. Phoebe Phylo’s highly awaited and very expensive collection, IYKYK, is also born out of a discreet- mode dressing and an anti-trend mindset, so maybe I’m just being ‘trendy” after all.

Anyway, back to the dilemma. I have put my money where my mouth is. I have packed normal, everyday clothes, that I feel comfortable in. “Life Evolves, Style Evolves” is my mantra, and it’s a salient teaching point that my students need to recognise in themselves, as well as in me. I may not look like an image professional, to some people, but I am dressing my image in a way that speaks genuinely to and for me and my beliefs.

Wish me luck!

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