The Dress, The Memory, And The Woman You Were

Now, I didn’t learn this in a lecture hall in New York. I learned it standing in front of my mirror, wearing a dress I loved last year but couldn’t quite face this year. I learned it the day I put on an old coat and suddenly remembered how I used to walk taller in it. Not because of how it looked, but because of how it made me feel.

We all get dressed every single morning. Whether in pyjamas, power suits, or jeans with no intention of leaving the house.

Getting dressed is something no one escapes, but too often, we forget just how much it tells us.

Our clothes are more than fabric. They’re witnesses. To our confidence, our chaos, our comebacks. They say things we’re not always ready to say ourselves.

Some days, we dress to feel invincible. On other days, we dress to feel invisible. And both are valid. Treat your choices of what to wear as a tool to help you understand yourself better.

Sometimes I stand in front of my wardrobe like I’m at the edge of a memory. Not sure if I’m ready to go back in. I’ll pull out a jacket, and suddenly I’m back at that dinner, that meeting, that birthday where everything changed. And I remember how I moved in it… how I felt… who I was becoming.

I often tell the women I work with: Don’t underestimate what your wardrobe knows about you. It remembers! And when you’re feeling stuck, or unsure, or disconnected from your own reflection, it’s often a piece of clothing that can gently lead you back.

Even when I’m writing, I “dress the moment” first. For myself, my memories. For the version of me that needs to speak up.

So I want to leave you with a little something. A moment of style homework, so to speak, but the kind that softens you rather than weighs you down.