Spring in my Step with Joanie Clothing

I don’t have anything to wear.

How often have I whined those words? With a wardrobe filled to bursting, how could I possibly never find anything to wear? It’s certainly a mystery to LPD (Little Pickle’s Dad), who can’t comprehend my frustration at constantly feeling like I don’t have a wearable outfit. Whether it’s nipping round to my Mother-in-Law’s for a Sunday afternoon, a big day at work or an evening out with the girls, I’ve always struggled to put an ensemble together. And it drives me mad.

Revamping my wardrobe

It may sound like a counter-intuitive way to solve the issue, but in order to try and give me more options, I started by having a good clear-out. I’ve been holding on to clothes from before I was pregnant that I just don’t wear anymore. Not only do they not suit my new body shape, but they’re just not practical for life running around after a toddler. My days wearing mini skirts and mini dresses are over! I spend too much of my time crouched over, picking up things from the floor and running around the park to make anything shorter than knee length work for me these days. And jeans? They just have to be high-waisted, now.

Heather blouse from Joanie Clothing, Jamie jeans from Topshop

Now I’ve made myself a promise that every time a charity bag falls through our letterbox, I’ll make sure I fill it. It’s the easiest way to get rid of things in bulk, and I don’t mind saying goodbye if it’s for a good cause.

Quality over Quantity

I’m making a conscious effort to streamline my wardrobe so that it contains fewer items that are of better quality, than the mounds of ill-fitting, stretched out, faded items that were bought cheaply. I’ve always been one to hunt out a bargain but if I’m really honest with myself, I think I’ve bought far too many items because it’s been enticingly priced rather than because I needed it or even really liked it. Never again will I justify a purchase by thinking: well, at that price, it’d be rude not to, even though it doesn’t go with anything else in my wardrobe and will likely never be worn.

You’ll have seen me wear this stripey top SO MANY times – but it proves that paying a little more is worth it. It washes and wears so well, and I love it as much now as I did when I first bought it.

Being Brave

I have a wardrobe FULL of blue floral dresses and striped tops. I am drawn to the same things every time I walk through a shop. Whilst I think it’s good to have a style, I run into problems when I don’t feel like wearing another navy floral dress – because then my options are severely limited! I’ve been trying to steer away from buying similar things and expand my style. I’ve been asking my friends to give me advice and help me choose different things to wear, and so far – it’s working an absolute treat!

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have picked out this gorgeous blouse from Joanie Clothing. I’d have written it off as too flouncy, thinking it’d just make me look broad shouldered and ‘bulk’ me out (which is not the look I’m going for at all), but after my lovely friend Aly (who runs a gorgeous furniture business with her Mum called Emily & Erin – Beautiful Vintage) picked it out for me, I gave it a go… and I LOVE it. Not even just liked it. I absolutely bloody love it. It feels effortlessly cool, it’s perfect for both casual and smart wear. It’s loose enough for me to feel relaxed but doesn’t balloon in an unflattering way.

I can wear black

This gorgeous dress is called Liv from Joanie Clothing, with a flattering on-the-bias fit.

I know black is a staple wardrobe item but I’ve always steered away from it, preferring to stick to my ever-faithful navy blue. I always thought it didn’t quite suit me and was just a bit ‘harsh’ for me… but it’s making a comeback to my wardrobe! It’s classic. It’s timeless. And I’m starting to realise how versatile black can be.

When I went shopping in Oxford with my bestie Chloe, it was quite refreshing to try on things I’d have never considered before – she pushed me out of my normal comfort zone. ESPECIALLY when it comes to jumpsuits. This jumpsuit was everything I’d usually avoid: culotte length, black and a square neckline. As soon as I put it on, I pulled a face. Ugh. No. Not for me. But Chloe’s reaction to it was the total opposite! She thought it looked great, and lots of you did too. I couldn’t believe how many Insta-messages I had after posting it on my Stories saying I should have bought it! I didn’t… but it’s made me try on whole new outfits that I would never have gone near before. And it’s so much fun!

Less is More

Ideally, I’d love to reduce down enough to fit into ‘capsule wardrobe’ status. I think it would suit me! I tend to wear very similar things on a day-to-day basis anyway, always opting for the same things (more often than not, my favourite items of clothing never see the wardrobe – I’m back to wearing them as soon as they’re dry from the wash!). I want a more cohesive wardrobe that has diversity but is multi-functional. I don’t want piles of unworn clothes cluttering up our bedroom.

I also quite like the idea of sticking to certain styles of clothes and owning them in different colours or patterns. That’s another benefit of shopping with Joanie Clothing! Now that I know the Heather blouse suits me, I’ve got the options to buy it in both blue and pink. They often bring out new patterns and colours of their pieces and I think that makes online shopping a whole lot easier.

Being confident

Above all, I just want to feel a little more confident and comfortable in my own skin. I’m not sure I’ll ever feel ‘at home’ in front of a camera, much preferring to be behind the lens… but I’m hoping by only keeping clothes that I know I feel good in, it’ll help make me feel a little more myself every day. This weekend, I was at the Blog On conference in Manchester, and during the keynote speech, we were all given a very interesting tip…

When you look in your underwear drawer, what do you see? I’m going to hazard a guess here and suspect you have something along the same lines as me. Two distinct categories of pants: every day pants, and your ‘special occasion’ pants. The silky, lacey, exciting numbers that only come out for date nights, weddings and those days you want to feel a bit snazzy. How good does it feel when you know you’re wearing a posh pair of pants? When you put them on? You know it’s going to be a good day! Right?

So let’s all chuck our every day pants out. Let’s always walk with the spring in our step fancy pants gives us. And likewise, with the rest of our wardrobe too. And I’ve got a feeling, mine is going to include a lot more from Joanie Clothing…

Disclaimer: I was gifted both the Heather top and Liv dress from Joanie Clothing for the purposes of review, but all views and opinions remain my own, and as always, 100% honest.