Читать книгу Life Styling - Mikhila Mcdaid - Страница 5

Introduction

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Let me set the scene for you. I’m currently wrapped in a blanket (because May is now a winter month in England) at my dining table (because no room for a desk), wearing a hoodie, faux Ugg slippers, and a sheet mask (because thirty-two). Those who know me will not be surprised by the hoodie or the mask or that I’m on my second energy drink of the morning even though it’s only 10:37.

What I’m trying to do here is manage your expectations. I’m not a lifestyle guru. I do not have all of my sh*t together all of the time, but I have learned enough to fake it when necessary. This book is a style guide in the loosest possible terms: a guide to life in general would be more apt. Want to create a cohesive wardrobe, learn your colour palette, and pack like a pro? I can absolutely help you with that, but if you’re not ready to give up the sweat pants, I’m here for you too!

This is not about reinvention. I want to reintroduce you to yourself, and I want you to put this book down (after you’ve read it, not now) and have a clearer idea of who you are, not just what you want to wear. I’m going to cover the basics of colour theory and dressing for your shape, but we’re also going to talk about how social media is (or isn’t) affecting your style and confidence and where you should be drawing your inspiration from instead.

I know you’ve heard about capsule dressing, but did you know there are different ways to adopt it? I am not a capsule wardrobe person (I’m what my husband would refer to as a ‘recovering hoarder’—it’s genetic), but I’ve implemented some of the tips I’m going to share, and it’s made a huge difference in the way I get dressed every day without the need for a personality transplant.

I wrote this book for the little girls who used to love those cutout paper dolls with paper clothes and borrowed books about makeup from the library before they were old enough to wear it—the girls who grew up thinking everything had to be a certain way and that if you didn’t wear high heels every day, you didn’t ‘have style’.

I wrote this book for the women who are struggling with their identities since becoming mothers, those balancing that new role with work and relationships while competing with the mental image of the glamorous woman they thought they’d grow up to be.

Motherhood isn’t a reason to ‘give up’, but it is a reason to get real and stop beating yourself up for not ‘making an effort’. It’s about accepting your current phase of life (which changes all the time) and creating a blueprint for your new style, as well as identifying some techniques you can lean on to give you confidence when your tank is low.

Finding your style is not about becoming someone else; it’s about learning who you are. And just as style is about more than just clothes, this book is about so much more than style.