Speaker 1: You're listening to Amma Mia podcast. Mama Mia acknowledges the
Speaker 1: traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast is
Speaker 1: recorded on. Whoever said orange is the new pink but
Speaker 1: seriously disturved laurels for spraying groundbreaking?
Speaker 2: Oh my god, you have to do it. You live
Speaker 2: for fashion.
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Nothing to Wear, the podcast that
Speaker 1: solves fashion problems and levels up your wardrobe. I'm Lee
Speaker 1: Campbell and every week I talk to an expert who
Speaker 1: helps us work out how to get more out of
Speaker 1: the clothes we already own and tells us exactly what
Speaker 1: is and isn't worth adding to our wardrobe. And on that.
Speaker 1: Do you have all your favorite wardrobe pieces but feel
Speaker 1: a bit lost when it comes to putting them together.
Speaker 1: The chances are you haven't yet discovered the blueprint for
Speaker 1: your wardrobe, a way to unlock the full potential of
Speaker 1: everything you own. Today's guest, Anthea O'Connor, is here to help.
Speaker 1: A personal stylist and former Melbourne editor of Bogu Australia,
Speaker 1: Anthea has spent decades helping women discover their signature style
Speaker 1: and simplifying their morning routines to make it easy to
Speaker 1: choose what to wear and how to wear it. Finding
Speaker 1: your wardrobe blueprint is just one of her go to
Speaker 1: tips for making fashion feel effortless. Anthea, Firstly, welcome to
Speaker 1: the show. It is so wonderful to have you, and
Speaker 1: I start every episode with a new guest with a
Speaker 1: couple of questions. So, firstly, can you describe your own
Speaker 1: style in three words?
Speaker 3: Oh goodness, well high lay and thank you for having me.
Speaker 3: Very excited to be joining you today. And look. I
Speaker 3: have given this a little bit of thought because I thought,
Speaker 3: by now, at this point in my career, I really
Speaker 3: should have this downpat. I've come up with a word
Speaker 3: called progressive classic, which I kind of made up because
Speaker 3: I guess, like most people, i'd like to think my
Speaker 3: sense of style is classic, but I think progressive meaning
Speaker 3: I'm not going to get stuck in a style right,
Speaker 3: and I'm always looking ahead to what the kind of reworked,
Speaker 3: refreshed classic pieces.
Speaker 1: I really really like that there's the classics that shapes change,
Speaker 1: but it's still a white shirt. It might be a
Speaker 1: different white shirt.
Speaker 3: That's exactly right, and the category might be the same,
Speaker 3: but execution is tweaked a little bit, and you're moving
Speaker 3: forward with it.
Speaker 1: I love that. Now are you claiming that as one
Speaker 1: word or two?
Speaker 3: Look? I in my notes yet, I've made it up
Speaker 3: and it was hyphened, but we could make that one word.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the one word. What else have you got?
Speaker 2: Elevated?
Speaker 3: Which is sort of a funny old word, but I
Speaker 3: think for me that means I'm just going to be
Speaker 3: trying to smarten it up all the time. I'm one
Speaker 3: of those people where I feel, you know, don't save
Speaker 3: your good stuff, put it on, feel good, look your best,
Speaker 3: and don't kind of save it for.
Speaker 2: A special occasion.
Speaker 1: I agree.
Speaker 2: Mind being the most overdressed person in a room.
Speaker 1: Me neither. I'm not going to wear a ball gown.
Speaker 1: But if I've got five pairs of jeans and one
Speaker 1: of them are the best ones, I want to reach
Speaker 1: for the moment.
Speaker 3: So that's exactly my thinking as well. And then I
Speaker 3: thought another word was maybe assured, And by that I
Speaker 3: mean I know what looks good on me by now,
Speaker 3: and I know how it makes me feel, and I
Speaker 3: hope that's reflected in my style and how I'm wearing something.
Speaker 1: I love that too, and I hope so too. Because
Speaker 1: this is your job. And I must agree you are
Speaker 1: definitely those three words. Now, the saying that rings true
Speaker 1: with most people. We wear ten percent of our wardrobe
Speaker 1: ninety percent of the time, so there's stuff we reached
Speaker 1: for over and over. What's in your This.
Speaker 3: Is such a great stat and it's interesting because I've
Speaker 3: sort of used that stat a lot myself, and I
Speaker 3: thought we wore twenty percent of our wardrobe eighty percent
Speaker 3: of the time.
Speaker 2: So I'm loving this increased.
Speaker 1: I feel sorry for the ninety percent though.
Speaker 3: Oh it's so true. So what is in my ten percent?
Speaker 3: It is definitely denim. I do feel we've had a
Speaker 3: couple of seasons of very denim centric kind of style
Speaker 3: and fashion looks, so denim at the moment shirts, I
Speaker 3: wear shirts and shirting a lot. I really kind of
Speaker 3: go between those and white T shirts.
Speaker 1: You and I sound like we should share a wardrobe
Speaker 1: as long as.
Speaker 3: I get your skincare in the mix too. So definitely
Speaker 3: denim shirts, T shirts and a great blazer are my
Speaker 3: definite sort of tight pieces within that temper.
Speaker 1: I like that we are very similar. Now, Listen, you're
Speaker 1: a personal stylist and you have been for many years,
Speaker 1: so who are your clients and what do you find
Speaker 1: are their main problems with their wardrobe? What are they
Speaker 1: coming to you for?
Speaker 2: Good question, Good question. I am a stylist.
Speaker 3: And I work with everyday normal ladies, just regular women
Speaker 3: who are getting about their weeks, their days and their weeks.
Speaker 3: I have a really broad mix of clients. I've been
Speaker 3: doing this for fourteen years since I left Vogue, and
Speaker 3: really I'm working with clients that I began working with
Speaker 3: back in twenty ten. So it's been a really lovely
Speaker 3: next chapter of my fashion career. And I work with
Speaker 3: regular women that can be anything from corporate executive to
Speaker 3: stay at home mum to someone that is juggling their
Speaker 3: own business with other aspects of their life and kind
Speaker 3: of everything in between. So I guess the thing that
Speaker 3: probably sets my sort of little business and what I
Speaker 3: do a part is I sort of begin this journey
Speaker 3: with all my gorgeous clients, and we sort of really
Speaker 3: stay together. That's amazing, in and out of work together
Speaker 3: and see each other a few times a year, once
Speaker 3: a year, once every two years.
Speaker 2: It kind of depends on the client.
Speaker 1: And why do they come to you? Are they overwhelmed
Speaker 1: by fashion? Do they not have time for fashion. Are
Speaker 1: they try to get the best out of their budget
Speaker 1: all of the above.
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, all of the above.
Speaker 3: I think essentially they're coming to me because they're busy,
Speaker 3: they've got a lot on they've got other things that
Speaker 3: are taking priority in their brain capacity, and they're coming
Speaker 3: to me for my kind of expert eye. I can
Speaker 3: cut to the chase, I know the best black pants
Speaker 3: they need for what they need them to do. It's
Speaker 3: a little bit, I guess I describe it a little
Speaker 3: bit like being an interior designer.
Speaker 2: Not many people would embark on a.
Speaker 3: Big house renovation project without getting an expert opinion or
Speaker 3: an expert eye in the mix for some of those
Speaker 3: critical decisions. And I feel I sort of am a
Speaker 3: little bit similar. But in the wardrobe clothing space, they're
Speaker 3: coming to me for my expert eye, a bit of
Speaker 3: a well edited and I present to them the kind
Speaker 3: of curated edit of what I think they need for
Speaker 3: what they need.
Speaker 1: That's such a good analogy, that is so so true.
Speaker 1: It's like you wouldn't do a big fit out without
Speaker 1: a professional and it's the same thing.
Speaker 3: Embarking on the process of a personal stylist is an
Speaker 3: investment but I do feel you're setting yourself up for
Speaker 3: better financial decisions and outcomes with your wardrobe. Oh and
Speaker 3: this is where it gets really funny. After we sort
Speaker 3: of work through our process together and we set up
Speaker 3: their wardrobe and everything's there, they'll say, oh God, I've
Speaker 3: got a black taie function on Thursday.
Speaker 2: I need a new dress.
Speaker 3: And I'll say, no, you don't refer back to those
Speaker 3: black velvet pants that we just set you up with
Speaker 3: that look great for an after five event and that
Speaker 3: fabulous top. So you don't need to go and do
Speaker 3: that impulse spend panic purchase.
Speaker 1: I never panic purchase, but I emotional purchase a lot,
Speaker 1: which and I'm always in some sort of emotion and
Speaker 1: so honestly, I do need a bit of a mind.
Speaker 1: And when it comes to shopping, it sounds like that's
Speaker 1: what you're good for. Now. Something you've talked about before
Speaker 1: is when you go shopping with these clients, you're like
Speaker 1: their projector against the shop assistance, and you're their advocate.
Speaker 1: What do you mean by that?
Speaker 3: I like to think that I'm a sort of a
Speaker 3: value add in a retail space with a client, because
Speaker 3: I really work with women that are predominantly, I guess
Speaker 3: sort of early forties through to late fifties, and interestingly,
Speaker 3: a lot of women in that demographic might have lost
Speaker 3: their style confidence and lose a little bit of that
Speaker 3: self confidence part, particularly when they're at retail and they
Speaker 3: get a little bit overwhelmed by what's in front of them.
Speaker 3: And I like to think, I'm there. I am a
Speaker 3: bit of an advocate. I will say exactly what I think,
Speaker 3: so whereas perhaps a retail assistant will.
Speaker 2: Say that looks great, that looks great.
Speaker 3: I'm there going actually they really do look great, and
Speaker 3: actually that pair doesn't look as great, and they don't
Speaker 3: look great because of XYZ. So creating a context and
Speaker 3: explanation which makes the whole shopping process a lot more
Speaker 3: informative and educated and easier.
Speaker 1: Ultimately, Yeah, and it can be intimidating. I mean I
Speaker 1: mostly shop online these days, but if I do go
Speaker 1: in store, sometimes as a sales assistant is saying, how
Speaker 1: do you look in that now the size? Let me
Speaker 1: have a look. Oh that looks great, And sometimes you're like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: and you might end up buying, or we might end
Speaker 1: up leaving because it's a lot But if you tried
Speaker 1: on other things in that story, you might have found
Speaker 1: some winners.
Speaker 3: One hundred percent, and I really kind of make that
Speaker 3: retail time count. I'm out there running around the floor
Speaker 3: making sure I've got all the items that I think
Speaker 3: are right for that client. How they move back with
Speaker 3: the pieces that we've already pulled, So I guess I'm
Speaker 3: sort of that edit running around.
Speaker 1: Half the time, I'm like, oh, I need a different size.
Speaker 1: I can't be bothered to go put my clothes on,
Speaker 1: go get it. I'll just leave that's.
Speaker 3: Exactly right, Whereas I'm out there getting the size above below.
Speaker 3: So we've got all the options and we're doing that
Speaker 3: in real time, bang bang bang yes no, yes no.
Speaker 3: So it ends up banging a much more efficient way
Speaker 3: to go shopping.
Speaker 1: And speaking of in real time. So you take these
Speaker 1: clients shopping rever possible. Do you ever work with people
Speaker 1: that are into state? Do you have people that shop
Speaker 1: online or do you ever recommend, you know, online purchases.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: The nature of how we do our retail what I
Speaker 3: call our retail appointment together, because we start with the
Speaker 3: wardrobe board at their house, in their own wardrobe. Part
Speaker 3: two is the retail appointment. That has changed significantly in
Speaker 3: the last four or five years since COVID, So pretty
Speaker 3: much the model now is I will go back to
Speaker 3: with clients with a full recommendations list and it is
Speaker 3: largely online. Now some things we will do in person
Speaker 3: at retail, but largely it will be online. And that
Speaker 3: again depends on the client and the brief and what
Speaker 3: we're trying to fulfill. It is a mix, but it
Speaker 3: is definitely skewing more towards online. And then we go
Speaker 3: we are fitting, and this is where it gets even better,
Speaker 3: because we do a fitting then at the house and
Speaker 3: we are trying all the pieces on with their existing
Speaker 3: items of clothing okay, their accessories in their own personal environment,
Speaker 3: and it just makes for a I think a more
Speaker 3: efficient experience at getting the whole.
Speaker 1: Big picture kind of a wardrobe at it, and then
Speaker 1: a shopping situation of some sort. And then at the end,
Speaker 1: it's kind of pulling together the older than new.
Speaker 2: Pulling it all together.
Speaker 3: We're integrating the new items that we're using to rework
Speaker 3: and refresh their old existing items because we don't just
Speaker 3: throw obviously, we don't just come in and move everything out.
Speaker 3: I'm going into the eye to say they're great, but
Speaker 3: we're going to wear them this way. We're going to
Speaker 3: try those pants with a whole different concept of top
Speaker 3: or a different shape blazer. So we sort of em
Speaker 3: up the things that are certainly there with potential. We
Speaker 3: then bring in the new items that are going to
Speaker 3: just update and refresh what they have, and we just
Speaker 3: do a massive, big fitting together at the end. And
Speaker 3: then that allows them to get a big picture, complete
Speaker 3: sense of how their wardrobe is going to work for
Speaker 3: them and how they're going to get dressed every day
Speaker 3: because seeing it in situ.
Speaker 1: And you need to write because otherwise you just think, oh,
Speaker 1: that new top goes with those pants. But actually, if
Speaker 1: you take the time to work out all the combos,
Speaker 1: you've got so much more to wear than you think
Speaker 1: you do. You've got some great tips. So you have
Speaker 1: three objectives, and I want to break down each of them.
Speaker 1: Their first is finding the blueprint to your wardrobe, the
Speaker 1: second is the style uniform, and then the thirty is
Speaker 1: unlocking the way women get dressed in the morning. So
Speaker 1: kind of three steps. Can you explain the blueprint? First?
Speaker 2: Well, I guess when I.
Speaker 3: Say blueprint, it really is identifying and establishing what your
Speaker 3: personal style is. So once we get a handle on
Speaker 3: what that is, we can then sort of put some
Speaker 3: pigs in the ground, if you like, What are the
Speaker 3: items of clothes that are going to contribute to that
Speaker 3: sort of style blueprint?
Speaker 2: Okay, what are the things you need? Once we establish
Speaker 2: what that blueprint is, it just makes every future purchase
Speaker 2: a little easier.
Speaker 3: Yes, and it relates back to what you have, how
Speaker 3: you get dressed, how you want to look.
Speaker 1: How can someone at home establish their blueprint? They don't
Speaker 1: have a you there. Do they look at their ten
Speaker 1: percent the stuff they wear all the time? Do they
Speaker 1: assess their lifestyle? You know, they've got a toddler, they're
Speaker 1: out on the floor. You know, they're a lawyer and
Speaker 1: they've always got to wear, you know, a certain style.
Speaker 1: How does one find their blueprint?
Speaker 3: Get a big clothing rack or two, pull out everything
Speaker 3: and start organizing into groups. Pull out the things you
Speaker 3: wear all the time, okay they're over there. Pull out
Speaker 3: the things you really wish you could wear more of,
Speaker 3: but you're a little bit unsure as to how to
Speaker 3: do that. They're the things you really like that you
Speaker 3: find appealing from a style point of view.
Speaker 2: Put those on another rack.
Speaker 3: Put the things that you just have in warning ages
Speaker 3: and you've got no idea why they're still hanging around
Speaker 3: taking out wardrobe space. Put them on another rack, and
Speaker 3: then a picture just slowly emerges. Okay, I'm wearing those
Speaker 3: things all the time. Am I wearing them because I
Speaker 3: want to? Or it's just a default position because I'm
Speaker 3: used to it.
Speaker 2: Little threads will start to emerge.
Speaker 3: Now obviously if I'm there, I can sort of make
Speaker 3: that connection a little faster, But it does become obvious.
Speaker 3: You can see what you're wearing a lot of you
Speaker 3: can see what's sparking, enjoy what you like wearing, and
Speaker 3: then you can sort of define what are those pieces
Speaker 3: that make me feel good that I feel good in
Speaker 3: that I want to wear more of, And it.
Speaker 2: Kind of just starts to gain a little bit of ments.
Speaker 1: Makes sense, it does, So that's working out the blueprint.
Speaker 1: And then from there, I guess we're left with what
Speaker 1: you call the style uniform, which everybody has. But everyone
Speaker 1: must have a different style uniform.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. No one's meant to look the same.
Speaker 2: That's all a bit no thank you.
Speaker 3: A lot of people will associate the word uniform have
Speaker 3: a negative connotation about it.
Speaker 1: It sounds a bit boring, but it doesn't. But that's
Speaker 1: not what we mean, not at all.
Speaker 3: And when I say uniform, I really just mean pertaining
Speaker 3: to the individual woman and client, because I think a
Speaker 3: lot of people find sort of solace and assurance in
Speaker 3: having a little bit of a boundary or a uniform definition,
Speaker 3: which is okay, what does uniform mean?
Speaker 2: Well, it means it's a collection of pieces that I
Speaker 2: wear that I like that all work together.
Speaker 3: So I guess my big thing when working with clients
Speaker 3: is I want to establish a framework of clothes, let's
Speaker 3: call that their uniform that all work together more than
Speaker 3: one way.
Speaker 2: Things that we're not going to have really.
Speaker 3: Are items that sit on their own in isolation, that
Speaker 3: don't really do anything.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you've got to work hard to work out
Speaker 1: how to wear them, because clothes shouldn't be that way exactly.
Speaker 3: Like, you look at them and you think, I want
Speaker 3: to wear that, but I've got no idea what's going
Speaker 3: with that? Is it a skirt that then brings a
Speaker 3: top and a shoe issue with it? Is it a
Speaker 3: random top that makes no sense with your color palette
Speaker 3: and the tones of the other items in your wardrobe.
Speaker 3: So once we kind of move those things on, we
Speaker 3: then introduce shapes and colors and things that all kind
Speaker 3: of work together.
Speaker 2: So you can basically.
Speaker 3: Put six of your tops with two pezz of your
Speaker 3: pants and all of a sudden, how's my MAT's going
Speaker 3: twelve different looks more?
Speaker 1: And that's kind of you captual wardrobe, but instead of
Speaker 1: sort of there's so many terms for it, but it's
Speaker 1: kind of almost going through your wardrobe, working out your blueprint,
Speaker 1: and then you're like, oh, that's my style uniform, and
Speaker 1: then you can buy more of the similar look or
Speaker 1: length or whatever, because you know that's what you're subconsciously
Speaker 1: throwing on every morning. It's just making that conscious Okay,
Speaker 1: this is my uniform exactly.
Speaker 3: It's like we need to blow it all up to
Speaker 3: bring it back together with less pieces that prove their worth,
Speaker 3: that show how they work a multitude of ways.
Speaker 2: Yes, Like, honestly, we are not buying a blazer unless.
Speaker 3: It works three ways good across a number of different
Speaker 3: dress codes, and if it doesn't get that tick of
Speaker 3: approval for me, it's not coming home with the client.
Speaker 1: It's so funny you say that because I did a
Speaker 1: mini clear out on the weekend and there was this
Speaker 1: blazer that I bought but still had tags on maybe
Speaker 1: nine months ago, and I tried to make her work.
Speaker 1: I love the color, but it's just not part of
Speaker 1: my style uniform. And I was trying to make the
Speaker 1: blazer fit into my style and it just didn't. So
Speaker 1: I've donated her. Someone will love her. I liked her
Speaker 1: on her own, but she did not form part of
Speaker 1: my style uniform.
Speaker 3: That's kind of it, right, That is sort of my
Speaker 3: whole ethos with my clients. It's things that don't make sense,
Speaker 3: that don't then fit into the picture that we create.
Speaker 3: We need to park those for now. Now, having said
Speaker 3: all of that, you absolutely can have an item that
Speaker 3: sparks joy and is therefore no other reason than it
Speaker 3: makes you happy and you love it.
Speaker 2: So it's not all just rules and regulations of all
Speaker 2: the extra.
Speaker 1: I guess that's sort of different. Like you say, spark joy,
Speaker 1: it's kind of the Marie Condo of your wardrobe. It's
Speaker 1: like that sparks joy. But we're talking style uniform day
Speaker 1: to day, so that our busy, rushed mornings aren't spent
Speaker 1: forty five minutes trying to make that bloody blazer work.
Speaker 3: It is all about at the end of the day,
Speaker 3: my whole process with clients is about making getting dressed
Speaker 3: every day easier.
Speaker 1: And that's what I want to ask you about, because
Speaker 1: you finally touch on unlocking getting dressed in the morning
Speaker 1: and not hating it and feeling frenzied and throwing clothes
Speaker 1: all over the floor or throwing on something that doesn't
Speaker 1: make you feel good. So how does this work? How
Speaker 1: do we enjoy getting dressed in the morning.
Speaker 3: By the time that I've gone through the process with
Speaker 3: my clients from sort of the wardrobe board it through
Speaker 3: the retail appointment to the fitting where we do a
Speaker 3: styling session and fitting at home, we've demonstrated.
Speaker 2: Fifty looks and I photograph it. I put it together for.
Speaker 1: The client with So do you have them put on
Speaker 1: the outfit and your photograph.
Speaker 2: It one million percent?
Speaker 1: So then they've got a little bible of outfits to
Speaker 1: look through.
Speaker 2: Percent.
Speaker 3: It's like inspo for the Tuesday morning when it's six
Speaker 3: degrees in Melbourne. You've lost the will to leave. You've
Speaker 3: got to be for a meeting. What the heck am
Speaker 3: I wearing page twelve done, done, and it's just a guideline.
Speaker 3: It will spark thoughts on how to put other pieces together.
Speaker 3: Obviously it's not entirely conclusive. It can't be every single combat.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I might feel them confident enough to go out
Speaker 1: and buy a few new pieces, but I'm sure they
Speaker 1: know how to work them back in exactly.
Speaker 3: The whole point is that I set them up. I
Speaker 3: create this kind of foundation, this platform where yep, I
Speaker 3: know how I want to look, I know the pieces
Speaker 3: that I feel good in, I know how I want
Speaker 3: my style to progress. And then they do have the
Speaker 3: confidence to layer in and add the pieces that are
Speaker 3: going to work back with those core foundation pieces. It
Speaker 3: ends up being a cost saving because not only are
Speaker 3: they set up, and they just don't need to keep adding, adding, adding,
Speaker 3: When they ring me and they get in touch, it's
Speaker 3: like I've got to get this. I am just like
Speaker 3: big Brother bad news.
Speaker 2: I'm like, absolutely no, I.
Speaker 1: Do not need that. Put the credit card away.
Speaker 2: A hard no on that and forget it, and we
Speaker 2: love it.
Speaker 1: If people don't have you at home, should they put
Speaker 1: on their combos, stand in front of a full link
Speaker 1: mirror and take a photo and save them on their phone.
Speaker 1: How should people because I love the visual reminder, because
Speaker 1: I'm so forgetful, So how can we do it at
Speaker 1: home without the joy of you there?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, you need to dedicate a Sunday afternoon colle some
Speaker 3: space in your brin to think.
Speaker 2: Okay, hang on a minute, I'm just gonna go back
Speaker 2: and look in my wardrobe. What have I got?
Speaker 3: Pull some things out, try some outfits on things that
Speaker 3: you see on Instagram, tiktop online, good old magazines. I
Speaker 3: still buy them.
Speaker 2: I still read.
Speaker 1: I love them.
Speaker 2: Sheets behind me. I love that. I've got teest sheets.
Speaker 2: There's a tear sheet there I've carried around for thirty years.
Speaker 1: I love it. Yeah, there's nothing like just having sparking
Speaker 1: an idea from a photo that's.
Speaker 3: Exactly right, and it will often exactly get you thinking
Speaker 3: about that and then something else from there, and just
Speaker 3: pull together those references, those little inspo nuggets, and then
Speaker 3: try things on, photograph them. Yeah, create a folder in
Speaker 3: your phone and you've just got them all there.
Speaker 1: And just shoes at this point as well, and always shoes,
Speaker 1: full outfit.
Speaker 2: Full outfits. Honestly, often I'll be in a change room.
Speaker 3: With a client they've got the outfit on and they've
Speaker 3: left their socks on, like you've got joking.
Speaker 1: Oh you got that's me. I shop in active wear
Speaker 1: leggings and I just try dresses on over leggings because
Speaker 1: that's how.
Speaker 2: That's absolutely not happening. So sorry, I'm like the time,
Speaker 2: like the school too.
Speaker 1: No, it's true, because then you think something works in
Speaker 1: your head. It's Tuesday morning, you're running late, and then
Speaker 1: the shoes don't look good and you're like, o'h bug it.
Speaker 1: You rip everything off and chuck on your boring black outfit.
Speaker 3: So take that extra sort of twenty minutes on Sunday
Speaker 3: to map it out in your brain, find your shoes,
Speaker 3: and then all of a sudden, I promise you, once
Speaker 3: you start, things start making sense and it sort of
Speaker 3: is self fulfilling.
Speaker 1: And you know what I mean. I know it's November now,
Speaker 1: but we'll blink and it's Christmas. This could be a
Speaker 1: good little project to do if you've got some time
Speaker 1: off over Christmas and New Year's, have a play a
Speaker 1: new orderbe it's kind of like a New Year reset.
Speaker 1: And then even if you just start with fifteen outfits
Speaker 1: you like, that'll help.
Speaker 3: One hundred percent and it is often the time of
Speaker 3: year where I do get the most calls because it
Speaker 3: is that call to action to sort of start the year, refresh,
Speaker 3: clean the slide, start again, and also think about all
Speaker 3: the items that you're not wearing that are taking up
Speaker 3: ninety percent that we talked about. You've had a great
Speaker 3: time with those pieces, so how about we pass them
Speaker 3: on to someone else who's going to get value.
Speaker 2: And we're out of.
Speaker 1: Them, or you haven't and you feel guilty and they're
Speaker 1: just sitting there making you feel bad, So all them,
Speaker 1: donate them and get them out.
Speaker 3: One hundred percent everyone wins in that situation. And I
Speaker 3: love the increasing circular nature of fashion. That's just been
Speaker 3: something that's fallen into my process over the last sort
Speaker 3: of probably five years, and I love it. And often
Speaker 3: at the wardrobe bought at stage I'm leaving. I left
Speaker 3: to clients with twenty three garbage.
Speaker 2: Bags last week.
Speaker 3: To be fair, that was an old time peak because
Speaker 3: there was a lot she'd sort of had twenty years
Speaker 3: worth of things in her work.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but how fun your job sounds so fine?
Speaker 3: Well, I just want to remind people fashion is so
Speaker 3: not glamorous because at my age I'm still lugging garbage
Speaker 3: bags of clothes out of the back and the boot.
Speaker 1: Of my car and scouring through dusty wardrobes and cupboards.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 3: I guess in summery it's about what are the items
Speaker 3: you already have? What are the new things we can
Speaker 3: layer in to just give you a refreshed, renewed sense
Speaker 3: of personal style, give you a little bit of a
Speaker 3: pep in your step, because, let's be honest, new things
Speaker 3: and shopping and sparkling new things is exciting and unlocks
Speaker 3: that dopamine and we all feel good about that. How
Speaker 3: do we keep that balanced? And then how do we
Speaker 3: make getting dressed joyful again? For a lot of women,
Speaker 3: getting dressed it's just a chore that is negative and
Speaker 3: not great. I want to make women feel good about
Speaker 3: how they look when they are out there in the world,
Speaker 3: presenting the best version of themselves. I know people say
Speaker 3: clothes and fashion is vacuous and shallow, but funnily enough,
Speaker 3: it's a tool that helps us present the best version
Speaker 3: of ourself.
Speaker 1: Agrees present the best version of ourself and just feel
Speaker 1: happy and confident.
Speaker 2: And feel good.
Speaker 1: Now, Anthea, we're about to jump into bougie and budget.
Speaker 1: But first, if our listeners want to find out more
Speaker 1: of your tips at about your services, where can they
Speaker 1: find you?
Speaker 3: They can have a look at my Instagram at Theoro
Speaker 3: O'Connor and my page is called the Fashion Edit but
Speaker 3: it's under my name, and also my website at Theoconnor
Speaker 3: dot com. So I've got a lot of information about
Speaker 3: how i work with my clients and my services on
Speaker 3: my website, so a bit more detail there.
Speaker 1: It's very expensive, honey, how mud are these percent bougie
Speaker 1: and budget? So sticking to the theme of sort of
Speaker 1: blueprint personal style uniform, I am going to shock you
Speaker 1: because I'm normally jeans and a T shirt. But we're
Speaker 1: heading into the humid Sydney weather. So I've got what
Speaker 1: is my sort of style uniform for summer. I've got
Speaker 1: a more expensive skirt and a more affordable tank. But
Speaker 1: do you want to go first with your boogie or
Speaker 1: your budget?
Speaker 3: A bougie item worth the investment is a blazer and
Speaker 3: now I am from Melbourne, so really we are wearing
Speaker 3: blazers three hundred and sixty out of three sixty five
Speaker 3: And I won Fashion Salotto last year when I was
Speaker 3: in London and I found a saline blazer for sixty
Speaker 3: percent off.
Speaker 2: In my eyes, thank you fashion.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's your good fashion karma coming back to you.
Speaker 3: So that's been just an absolute winner and I love
Speaker 3: it and I'll wear it forever. And it was a
Speaker 3: bit different to what I'd normally buy, but it all
Speaker 3: just fell into place.
Speaker 2: I love it. So bougie blazers are worth the spend.
Speaker 2: It's certainly worth buying as well as you can in
Speaker 2: that category.
Speaker 3: In that space, get a great cut, a great style
Speaker 3: that works for your body shape, that you feel good in,
Speaker 3: and it's going to go the distance.
Speaker 1: So tick worth the money, I think, particularly because when
Speaker 1: you throw on a blazer to it just makes you
Speaker 1: feel powerful, like it is a power item. I don't
Speaker 1: know why, but.
Speaker 3: Well it makes you feel pulled together and polish and
Speaker 3: like you've sort of finished the job.
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, that's a good way to put it. And
Speaker 1: what's your budget?
Speaker 3: Okay, well the budget and no surprise here is a
Speaker 3: white T shirt and my current favorite is the Cause
Speaker 3: Clean cut T shirt.
Speaker 1: And that's such a good tea Honestly, I feel like
Speaker 1: I did to on a tea band, but every time
Speaker 1: I just see a good tea, I can't not buy it.
Speaker 3: Well, I now have a wardrobe of bhaite T shirt,
Speaker 3: so you know, please to say not a full war
Speaker 3: drobe of blazers.
Speaker 2: It's a wardrobe of white T shirt.
Speaker 3: And they all do different things, right, So they do
Speaker 3: different way of fabric, different neckline, sleep, they all do
Speaker 3: little different things so few but that Coose T shirt
Speaker 3: is my new current fave and it's probably be sold out,
Speaker 3: but you know at the end of this season, because
Speaker 3: I've told that.
Speaker 1: Many people, make sure you stuck up before you tell
Speaker 1: anyone else. Well, speaking of cause my bougie is from
Speaker 1: Cosh Oh good. It's the Maxi slip skirt, yes, because
Speaker 1: I love a slipskirt and a tank or a white tea,
Speaker 1: especially it's quite humid here in summer in Sydney and
Speaker 1: also perimenopause. I'm getting hot. I run hot, I run hot,
Speaker 1: so I'm normally jeans and a tea. But my kind
Speaker 1: of version of that is a slip skirt. But the
Speaker 1: reason I love this one is it's fully lined, yes,
Speaker 1: because I don't want that cheap sort of satin that
Speaker 1: snap clings to all your boulders and your undies. This
Speaker 1: is fully lined. It comes in a light sort of
Speaker 1: blue dusty color. It's not that kind of kid like
Speaker 1: baby blue. It's a mature light blue, fully lined silk
Speaker 1: and cotton. It's two hundred and fifteen dollars. So you
Speaker 1: can definitely get a lot more affordable slip skirts. You know,
Speaker 1: you can get good affordable ones, but you can also
Speaker 1: get nasty ones. Nice not too high, slid up the side,
Speaker 1: but enough that you can walk. Yes, you gotta be
Speaker 1: got to walk. So I love that flat heels, sneakers, honestly,
Speaker 1: anything with that, all of it. And then I'm putting
Speaker 1: with that. I've actually got to this in two colors.
Speaker 1: It's a bit like your tea. It's h and M
Speaker 1: Nit tank thirty four ninety nine. It looks like a
Speaker 1: good old Bonds singlet, but it's a thicker ribbed knit
Speaker 1: whereby the straps are thick enough to wear a bra.
Speaker 1: It comes in black, white, beige, and red.
Speaker 2: I'm making notes because I'm buying that that we hang up.
Speaker 1: It is just such a good basic tank. You could
Speaker 1: wear that with a lovely wide leg pant and a heel,
Speaker 1: your jeans, shorts, your blazer, your chuck on a shirt.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just one of those really good all rounders.
Speaker 1: So that's my blueprint for this summer. I'm mixing it
Speaker 1: up perfect.
Speaker 2: And can I just add around that tank?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 3: Can you sort of move out of a cotton tank
Speaker 3: cotton tank into that more of a knit tank all
Speaker 3: of a sudden that feels like a dressier.
Speaker 2: Top, you know, that's it's a nice top concept.
Speaker 3: Yes, and goes back into the hole, back with your jeans,
Speaker 3: back with your jean shorts, back with knee length denim
Speaker 3: jean shorts. That we're seeing a lot of the sum
Speaker 3: that's it. It's going to roll out one hundred ways.
Speaker 1: Yes, But then you know beautiful like I've got like
Speaker 1: a cream pair of wide leg pants, like I could
Speaker 1: check on a heel and go somewhere quite fancy with
Speaker 1: that tank. And I like that the cut looks like
Speaker 1: a traditional white singlet, but the knit just brings up
Speaker 1: that elevation. And it's thirty five bucks.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I'm just going to be jumping on.
Speaker 1: There in the minute, will anthe. I think we should
Speaker 1: go on and buy each other's purchasers before we tell
Speaker 1: the whole world. Thank you for joining me. I love
Speaker 1: the blueprint. I've got it in my head, but I'm
Speaker 1: going to go home and do it physically because I
Speaker 1: know my style uniform. I'm a bit of a chameleon.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, I know what's
Speaker 1: going to be on that first rack you do, and I.
Speaker 3: Think it's just about taking that formal step to moving
Speaker 3: all the other stuff on, just conceding that these are
Speaker 3: the pieces you wear.
Speaker 1: Yes, you know.
Speaker 2: The truth is you don't need a lot in the end.
Speaker 3: Now, that's the thing if you get rid of the clutter,
Speaker 3: the liberating feeling. And I see it with my clients.
Speaker 3: The minute we move the volume out, everyone's shoulders go down,
Speaker 3: things become clearer, things become more joyful as we talked about,
Speaker 3: and it all becomes a lot easier.
Speaker 2: And we've sort of untangled the.
Speaker 3: Little sort of not fashion my wardrobe and how I
Speaker 3: get dressed.
Speaker 2: It all just sort of I love it.
Speaker 1: It's so true, it is. It's simple. We make things
Speaker 1: hard for ourselves. Anthea, thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 1: I will be having you back soon because you're a
Speaker 1: wealth of knowledge.
Speaker 2: Oh you're the best leade. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2: It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Nothing to Wear. Don't forget
Speaker 1: to sign up to the Nothing to Wear newsletter. There's
Speaker 1: a link in the show notes and it is free.
Speaker 1: And if you have enjoyed this episode and it has
Speaker 1: inspired you to shop your own wardrobe, you can listen
Speaker 1: to our episode on the six new season looks you
Speaker 1: already own. There's a link in the show notes so
Speaker 1: that too. See you next week. This episode was produced
Speaker 1: by Grace Rubray with audio production by Lou Hill. This
Speaker 1: podcast is powered by our subscribers. If you believe in
Speaker 1: independent women's media and want to support us, there's a
Speaker 1: link in the show notes, and a big thank you
Speaker 1: to all our current subscribers.