DON’T FORGET TO GET READY IN THE MORNINGS! IT’LL MAKE YOU FEEL MUCH BETTER.
In this post covid era- when many of us spend many of our days working from our study or living room, the desire to keep on our pyjama bottoms and not dress up like we once did and pay much less attention to our image is increasingly becoming the norm. It just takes a walk down your local high street to confirm that jogging bottoms are the new jeans and that the way in which we present ourselves has taken a huge hit and a serious demotion. In fact, combined with the woes of the economy that present themselves to us, retailers have also recently reported a 40 percent nose dive in shoppers in retail outlets.
But, dressing up and putting effort into our image should never become something that we only did “a long time ago” and “once upon a time”. Sure, we can become a little more relaxed about the way we appear but there are serious dangers to letting pyjamas and slippers become the daily outfit of our choice.
When the pandemic hit, I like the rest of us was stuck at home day and night. As the demands of a regular working day in the office, or travelling to meet friends and having lunch with my girlfriends took a nose dive, I was gradually losing an interest in putting any effort into my appearance. Within months, I had gone from the woman who loved to dress up, do her hair and put on some daily make up to hitting my morning walks with my hair in a bun with just my leggings on and a jumper. It felt great for a while, even liberating. I didn’t have to worry about my image anymore, care about how people perceived me and oh the time I was saving- now that was the biggest eye opener.
But it wasn’t until I started getting back out into the world again in the post covid era that I realised how much my self image and self esteem was related to looking presentable and how much better I did really feel when I self groomed and put more effort into the way I looked. I began to realise that by losing my focus on my appearance, I was losing a part of myself, my identity and something I had always enjoyed. Although it was great to have some time away from being excessively looks orientated and image focused, I realised that dressing up, putting effort into my clothes and appearance was also a huge part of caring and showing up for myself and as to how other perceived and saw me. So slowly but surely, I restarted some of my pre covid habits. I started shopping for some clothes again and started paying more attention to getting ready every day. Of course I was more relaxed than I once was having had a long period where I could dress down, but it was truly refreshing and uplifting to see a nice reflection peering back at me from the mirror in the mornings
Of course, once again, people noticed. The compliments about my clothes or my hair or my make up began to return once again. But more importantly, I felt better every morning having restored a routine of putting in a little more effort. It made the day somehow nicer, I felt better inside and others around me had a fresh break from another person in trainers and jogging bottoms passing by. Because the fact is, that post covid or not, the way we dress makes an impact on ourselves and on the way others treat and respond to us. It also demonstrates to ourselves, that we care about ourselves and value ourselves enough to adorn ourselves and put in that effort- because we worth doing it for.
Having been through the track suit phase and a long period of almost zero make up and then getting back into the groove of dressing up, I’ve now reached a point where I make sure each and every morning, I spend time choosing an outfit and put my make up and jewellery on for the day. Even if I’m popping down to the local high street or working from the coffee shop, I know there is something powerful about dressing up that I never want to lose sight of again.