Hi all

My YLF profile tells me I’ve now been a member of YLF for 10 years. Yay!

I want to acknowledge, particularly for Angie, the positive influence that Angie and YLF has had on me. Style is a big part of my life. And reading and participating here has really helped me to hone my style.

I hope you will indulge me in this little review of my 10 years on YLF.

I first signed up to YLF after reading about Angie’s tremendous passion for her dogs. I had found a person who shared 2 of my big obsessions: dogs and fashion.

At that stage, I was very much an intuitive and reactive dresser. Frankly, I had no plan at all. Just a general sense of what I liked and what I didn’t, and an interest in fashion and trends. I would spend most of my clothing budget on buying things “for work” or for “going out”. Shopping for work clothes often functioned as a pick me up when I was having a stressful time at work.

I probably could have coasted along like that, but a big shake up occurred when I left my office job at the end of 2018 to become self employed. Now I permanently work from home. Although my work situation is far less stressful, I immediately missed my workwear. It made me feel stylish. I suddenly realised how uninspiring my casual wardrobe was. Especially my Summer casual wardrobe. And Summer is very long here.

I decided I wanted to change that. I became much more analytical and proactive about how I wanted to dress. I spent a lot of time thinking about my wardrobe from an artistic, practical and directional viewpoint. It took some time to figure things out, but over the years since 2018 I have adapted my wardrobe to my new lifestyle. I love it now. In fact, I would dislike having to dress for an office environment again. I enjoy my sartorial freedom too much.

These are some particular ways in which Angie and YLF have helped with my style evolution.

Colour

As we all know, Angie loves colour. I, however, had a much more cautious relationship with it when I joined YLF.

After 10 years of participating here, that has changed. I have become convinced that colour is the answer. (For me.)

I have fully embraced colour in my wardrobe. It may not be obvious because I don’t wear bright colours like Angie, except occasionally as an accent. However, all the primary and secondary colours (red, blue, yellow, orange, green, purple) are well represented in my wardrobe in my preferred (dark or muted) form. Along with black, white, grey and brown. I have a strict but broad palette.

Colour is my most useful tool for achieving my style goals. It transcends seasons. It evokes mood. Choosing and developing my colour palette gives me an opportunity to create a look that is unique and highly personal.

Formula dressing

Angie regularly posts outfit formulas. I don’t think I ever thought about an outfit in terms of a repeatable formula before I came here. It could be a colour formula. A silhouette formula. A juxtaposition formula. A pattern formula. An outfit might utilise more than one formula.

I now have several formulas that I used to get dressed. It was formula dressing that enabled me to crack Summer, my longest and most difficult season.

Monikers

Style monikers are a very YLF thing. Like colour, I resisted it at first! It took me about 8 years to settle on a moniker: modern moody bohemian.

I think of my moniker as a set of high level goals for my style, rather than as a description of my style. The goals help me with purchasing decisions and help me to put together outfits that I find satisfying.

A key insight for me was realising I needed style goals that could span both summer and winter. It’s easy to settle on style aspirations for a favourite season (in my case winter). But if I set my goals in terms of the things I like about winter dressing (eg tailored, sharp, layered, edgy, dark), I will always feel bad when I wear shorts, skirts, tees, sandals and lighter colours in summer. I needed to find aspirations that straddled the seasons, so that I could work towards achievable goals all year round. Similarly, I needed to find aspirations that could be applied to both dressy and casual occasions. I want to feel good about my casual and at home wear, not just the dressy stuff.

Do your own thing

Participating in YLF has encouraged me to be fearless about pursuing my own style. I’ve tried out various themes eg dark romantic, funky town (70s inspired), byzantine jewel (old world inspired), desert rose (Moroccan inspired). I’ve experimented. Pushed my fashion boundaries. I’ve undertaken all sorts of style projects: dyeing, tie dyeing, upcycling, converting, DIYing. Some successful. Others not so successful.

These projects engage me with my wardrobe in a very personal and productive way. There is a unique or bespoke quality to much of my wardrobe that wasn’t there 10 years ago. And that hasn’t come from collecting designer labels, chasing trends or following someone else’s “must have” list. I am more internally focused and picky than when I started here. I have taken to heart Angie’s mantra: listen to your feelings. I think I march very much to the beat of my own drum. And that makes me happy.

My “still to do” list

Of course, there are still some areas that need work!

I am definitely guilty of overbuying, especially for winter. I love winter clothing so much, but my winter is short and relatively mild. To compound this problem, I also find it difficult to edit things out because I often like, even love, an item even though I’m not wearing it or not wearing it frequently. I appreciate interesting and unique items, and sometimes my admiration for the beauty of a unique item clouds my judgment about how often I will wear said item. These are things I need to be mindful about.

Some other particular problem areas:
Dressing for very warm WET weather.
Dressing for transitional weather, especially cold Spring.
Dresses. Sigh.

But, even so, when I get dressed I generally feel happy, excited even, about what I’m wearing. Even when I’m lounging at home! That’s a great feeling.

If you read this far, thanks for the interest! And thank you to everyone who comments on my posts. I do notice and appreciate it.

Most especially, thank you Angie. I couldn’t have got this far without you. I hope it gives you satisfaction that your positive influence goes all the way to the other side of the globe. You are an influencer of the best kind. I really hope to meet you some day xx

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Pic 1: my first WIW featuring the beautiful Ms Brooklyn. My dog of course. Darling girl.

Pics 2-4: a few pictures from before my style transition at the end of 2018. I wore more contrast then, shorter skirts and heels. Heels begone!

Pics 5-35: some post 2018 outfits.