Wearing someone else's clothes

Why is it that when we wear some things we feel great and when we wear others we just don’t feel comfortable in them all day?  I don’t mean literally ‘comfortable’ although that’s important (we’ve all worn that pair of pants that you can’t wait to take off because they’re not comfy so you have been aware of them all day), I mean at-ease, relaxed, yourself.

I had a bad experience like this with a suit about twenty years ago, and I still think about it today.  I was going to a wedding and had the usual “I’ve got nothing to wear” going round in my head for weeks beforehand.  I’d looked in the shops but didn’t really know what I was looking for and ended up with nothing. 

Then – someone came to the rescue with a white trouser suit that they said I could have.  Great – I tried it on, it fitted, there was no expense and I could stop worrying about what I was going to wear.  There was just one problem – it didn’t feel like ‘me’. 

I couldn’t put my finger on why, it was good quality, it fitted well and I should have loved it, right?  I struggled to find any of my shoes or tops to go with the suit which in itself should have been a warning sign, but I wore it anyway. 

All day I felt self-conscious and uncomfortable in it.  I felt frumpy, didn’t have any confidence that I looked good, and certainly didn’t feel it.  I still look back at photos of the day and can remember how I felt more than I remember anything else about the day. 

Of course, since understanding my colours and style through House of Colour I now know that the suit was completely the wrong colour and style for me.  It was cream (too warm), and too sharp and not nearly feminine enough for me as an ingenue. 

The moral of the story is that what you wear can affect how you feel, and no one wants to feel like an imposter in someone else’s outfit.  The whole purpose of a colour and style consultation is for you to find the best version of yourself so you can just get on with stuff feeling confident, put-together and like you.