Years ago, when I was a teenager, I was a bit of a goth …. OK I looked like I was wearing a bin bag most of the time, but at least I had some sort of style! Then in my early twenties along came babies and my style went out of the window. I lived in jeans, T-shirts and trainers and twenty years on not much has changed. I don’t wear trainers any more, but I do stick to T-shirt-style tops, jeans, sensible shoes and long cardigans to hide the flab. And you know what? it’s boring. I’m bored of being stuck in a fashion rut – but I don’t really know what else to wear, what suits me, what a size 18-20 woman of 44 can get away with!

My friend mentioned a challenge she is doing, Do Something Different, about  doing little challenges every day to make life more exciting, and on the same page I found the Wear Something Different challenge, “a unique psychology based programme to shake up your wardrobe habits, revamp your look and help you to look at life from a new perspective” … which seemed perfect! So I signed up as a new year treat for myself and eagerly awaited my first challenge, which was due to arrive on my birthday, January 5th.

The website promises that you can “keep an online diary, upload photos and see others transform their looks” but it’s actually pretty flawed. The first email, “Before”, suggested I record stuff on the website but there wasn’t any way of doing that, and then the first “do” arrived and I could record things, but discovered I couldn’t edit anything, couldn’t change the photo, couldn’t upload more than one image etc ….. all very frustrating for someone used to WordPress where you have complete control over content! So while I probably will put some stuff on the site, I’m going to use my blog as the main record of how things are going. To follow all my posts go to the Wear Something Different category. I’ll probably do the Do Something Different challenge at some point too – but you can only sign up for one at a time, so it will be after this one has finished!

So let’s start with the “Before” email:

Interestingly, just joining up to this programme seems to have got me thinking about wearing different things. I planned to wear (and did wear) a dress-style tunic and leggings with my new boots, which is pretty different to my normal look – but before I got dressed I put on the kind of thing I normally wear – jeans, top and long cardigan – posted the picture on Facebook and asked people for their opinions on my style.

Here’s what they said:

“Safe.”
“Comfortably hiding yourself.”
“Hiding your colourful personality.”
“Comfortable.”
“Casual.”
“Get some colours woman! You have a bright personality, and your clothes should reflect that! I think the “hiding” comments are spot on. Stop it!”

Hmmm. Think that just about says it all! Stop hiding behind baggy stuff and start wearing some colours!