Starting to find a new me

I met a lovely lady today - she's a stylist who runs a business called Wardrobe Angel. She specialises in getting women to make the most of their wardrobe, and getting their clothes to work harder for them - the philosophy of buy less, wear more.

Now, I have a pile of clothes in my room which are now all too big for me. This pile resembles the Great Wall of China and contains items which are new (with tags on ) or hardly worn. I am (was) clearly a woman with too many clothes.

And now I have to start again, from scratch, to build a wardrobe of outfits for work, rest and play. No mean feat when you've dropped over half a dozen dress sizes and are a different shape. I don't want to repeat mistakes of the past in buying too much, but I also don't want to just buy the same kind of things in a smaller size. Having spent years covering up with baggy tops and ill fitting trousers (in regulation black) or long and floaty knitwear, I think it's time for a change.

So, I've enlisted the help of a stylist / shopper / advisor and today was our first meeting. We talked a lot about clothes, style, lifestyle, body shape, colours, confidence levels, accessories etc, over a cuppa in a nice quiet cafe. And then we went for a potter round some shops, just to test the water.

I'm not ready to buy my new wardrobe yet - I've got about a stone to go to target - but I'm building up to my big treat with some careful planning. I don't want to panic buy everything, but want to have a more considered approach. Anyway, we were in Marks (always a good place to start I think) and I saw a cardigan that for some reason took my eye. Steph told me to try it, so I picked up a 16 and duly put it on over my sweater dress. Steph frowned at me. "It's miles too big", she said, try a smaller one. So I put on a 14, at which point she marched me over to the mirror and said "Look! That's too big for you, you need a smaller one". Off she went to get a 12, which I put on. It fit me. OK, it didn't particularly suit my shape or do anything for me, but it fit.

I got all emotional and had a little tear - not the big sobby kind I had in the tea aisle last weekend, but a little, lump in the throat kind of tear. Steph gave me a hug (in my size 12 cardi) and we marvelled at how this happened.

My head has definitely not caught up to my new body yet - when I'm selecting things from a rack, go for the big sizes at the back of the rail - not the small ones at the front. And I kept reverting to "baggies" to hide my bumps, and long jumpers to hide my bum - which apparently doesn't need hding any more!

So there is a whole new me out there somewhere - and my fashion world got bigger - and smaller - all in one day.

Can't wait for our next meeting - investigating what's in my wardrobe - mind you, there's not many clothes, and my shoe collection is vastly reduced since my feet are at least one size if not two smaller, and all my belts are way too big. But I've got drawers full of scarves, pashminas, jewellery, handbags, gloves... so I'm sure we'll have some to go at!

If you'd like to check out Steph, I've put a link to her website (Wardrobe Angel) in the links section.

Thanks again Steph - roll on our next catch up.