Clovember Rambling

Quite a lot of my friends have been having fun with Clovember, a month-long daily posting of their clothing. It’s been lovely, not just to see their different styles but to get to see photos of them each day. I see faces I love and interesting clothes and grumpy morning faces and people throwing silly shapes. I haven’t joined in because (a) I feel it’s a good day when I manage to get dressed and to the bus or train on time without adding photos into the mix, (b) my school has a blazer rule so my choices are rather limited to boring or very boring, and (c) I currently hate almost everything in my wardrobe.

I’ve been thinking a lot about clothing lately, as you do when the other 97.3% of your brain is occupied by teaching and can’t handle anything more challenging. My mother, who is buying me a gorgeous winter coat, put her finger on something that’s been bothering me lately about my style. What I realised was that a lot of my general blahs with myself comes from the fact that I find my wardrobe uninspiring these days. While I am never going to be someone who is fashionable or follows trends or looks like a model, I really like well-cut clothes in beautiful colours, and I appreciate that a striking outfit can make me feel immediately better about myself. I used to think I had a very definite sense of style, a combination of laid-back, preppy and vintage. I had certain stores that I shopped from and knew exactly where to go when I wanted something. It helped that I have been given a lot of my mother and grandmother’s incredibly beautiful jewellery, handbags, beaded clutches and scarves. Over time I have added to that with things I love, and with a rather massive shoe and handbag collection. When I moved to London, I got rid of a lot of things I knew I would never wear again, and the rest are in storage. I’ve added some warmer things to the mix since I got here, but it was mostly whatever I could find on the spur of the moment that I needed. As a result, my wardrobe over here is an odd mix of items clothing – just not my kind of clothing. I pretty much wear the same things each week, including the same jewellery, and as a result, I feel stuck in a rut. I decided to have a quick look at some of my favourite stores, both at home and stores I’ve discovered in the UK. I feel slightly relieved to discover that my style mojo has not completely disappeared…I can still find clothing I love and that excites me. Now to snag a few of these charmers before they disappear!