Style Wellbeing

This is the site for those with a hunger for style, sustainability and positive change. I believe women are crucial to bringing positive change in the world. This is why female empowerment and wellbeing are at the foundation of everything I do.

Often as women, how we feel about ourselves and our physical appearance affects our confidence, self-esteem and furthermore impacts how we show up in the different areas of our lives. The content of the fashion & beauty industries has left us feeling like we’re not enough. This feeling translates into our relationships, career, business, family, health, communities and affects our ability to maximise our potential. This happens even on subconscious levels.

Beauty should truly be in the eye of the beholder (and/or subject). Yet there’s an unspoken expectation to meet the cookie cutter industry standard for what beauty should look like.

Falling short of this industry benchmark for some, might be the initiation of discontent with their bodies and the need to shrink herself or hide in places where anxiety, depression and other mental health issues may thrive.

My recommendation: Get off the fashion trendmill! Ignore fashion trends. Even if you’re not a follower of fashion trends, recognise and let go of all that you’ve been told or absorbed about fashion and our clothing. And then start again at the beginning by first KNOWING YOURSELF. Who you are, what gives you joy and the person you are becoming. Then add on the aesthetics to develop a personal style that is true to you. This is where you experience self-love and feeling comfortable in your own skin and furthermore, personal growth.

Magical occurrences like this are the reason I became a personal stylist. Especially when you dress someone in the perfect outfit, they look in the mirror and see themselves in a whole new light! It’s beautiful to witness the expression on her face that says, ‘Is this me’? I never thought I could look like this”.

This is the beginning of the empowerment process. When the paradigm shift begins. Her confidence begins to blossom. And with it, the feelings of wellbeing, invincibility, endless possibilities and the reacquaintance with her personal power that was there all along. Strange as it may seem, these magical style moments can transform her life into a more purposeful one. This style magic experience is very liberating for women. What I propose is that as we free ourselves through style, let’s simultaneously free other women, in particular, the women who make our clothes, the garment workers.

It just so happens that most fashion consumers in the modern world are women and millions of garment workers in the developing world are women. As consumers, we can make clothing style choices that positively affect the women who make our clothes. They are women who just like us, want to receive fair wages, have their rights respected, descent work conditions and the opportunity to climb out of the poverty cycle. With far less opportunities than us, we can help these women attain wellbeing through our actions. You needn’t be a woman, nor a fashion consumer to support garment workers but it’s a great start. Cultivating a sustainable and ethical wardrobe is not only beneficial for these women and the environment, it’s also protective of our physical health because conventional (non-ethical) clothing is almost always laden with toxic chemicals from dyes and pesticides that can contain carcinogens or cause infertility. A few tenets for a sustainable wardrobe:

- choose well, buy less, make it last

- buy preloved

- buy new and natural textiles from ethical clothing brands.

On Eco Styles, I’ll feature ways you can cultivate style wellbeing through fabulous, sustainable personal style wardrobe tips on shopping, preloved clothing, restyling, upcycling, re-designing, dying naturally and ethical clothing labels.

Interesting but true; style is something that can help change the world. Who would have thunk?!