My year of finding a New Me has been an interesting one.
I started by investing in the French Chic Academy, and all I can say is, it's been a total game changer for me.
Seen above left, is a skirt I liked very much, worn at the start of the year, with a black t-shirt and patent ballet flats. I actually thought this looked okay, and it wasn't too awful. But using the very lovely Carolina Herrera (top right) as my inspiration, and the advice of Marie-Anne Lecouer of The French Chic Academy, I have found a more flattering length for this very same skirt, including peeptoe heels, a button down shirt, a hat and a strand of pearls to lend height and length.
Gone are my shapeless shifts, three-quarter ripped jeans, and flat shoes...
...which I had previously felt entirely comfortable in. What I didn't see was that these items were totally unsuitable for my height and shape, and that I really wasn't doing myself any favours by continuing to wear them.
I stopped shopping at the nearby upmarket thrift store. I was previously a weekly, if not twice weekly visitor, justifying my spend-ups by comforting myself with the idea that if I only wore the items once, it didn't matter. Meanwhile by wardrobe was bulging with clothing, and I still had 'nothing to wear'. The savings of $50+ per week, were channelled into paying for my French Chic Academy course, and investing in some genuine Baroque pearls, an item I'd longed for since my honeymoon twenty years ago.
A sleek hat was procured for those days when I might require a little shade on my nose, which here, is most days. This was far more flattering than the tennis style visor I'd previously worn, and has served me well, from beach to lunch events for many months.
Learning from Marie-Anne Lecouer and The French Chic Academy, I've become a student of 'what suits me'. Not what is fashionable, or what looks good on someone I pass in the street or see in a glossy brochure. Me. Just me.
I've learned to use prints and optical illusion to magic myself taller and slimmer...
I've reassessed my ideas on what is 'dressy casual'. Previously the aforementioned shapeless shift had been a key item in my wardrobe. Again, not entirely terrible, but not fabulous either.
Now it's more likely to be skirts and pearls and heels. I've learned that I really can wear a small heel most days, and it was more a case of getting out of the habit of wearing them, that made them uncomfortable.
Little button down shirts have found their way into my wardrobe too, and I am enjoying showing off my silhouette, in preference to hiding it under swathes of fabric.
My passion for black is slowly being tempered with quite a few items in Navy blue, and I am finding that yet again, Marie-annes advice is sound. It's softer and more flattering for certain.
Those pearls have been one of the best purchases of my year. I try to wear them daily if I can, and feel wonderful no matter what I pair them with.
I even learned that switching accessories with this single outfit, can make a difference
The look here with nude heels and pearls,
is different to the same skirt with a long scarf and cardigan,
and that even the cardigan over the shoulder, with pearls, is better sometimes exchanged for the cardigan worn properly with a longer glass bead necklace to add length to the torso. A subtle difference in the accessorising, but a dramatic one in the wearing!
My latest purchase, having enjoyed success with my skirt and shirt combo, is this dress. Not something I would have looked at twice a year ago, but which now I am confident, I can carry off successfully.
And likewise this one here as well.
These both need a little tweaking and adjusting in length and neckline, but again, I've learned this year, that if the silhouette is right, I can adjust things like length, and width easily with my trusty sewing machine.
For now, I am thrilled with the progress I've made. I continue to learn and grow, and am forever thankful for Marie-Anne Lecouers support.
I truly am, A New Me.
