Style NOT Fashion
This is probably what is most important to me and what I hope to always convey at the heart of the Mum a Porter way of style. Style always wins. Fashion might not always work for us, trends might work against us. Fashion can be hard to keep up with, it can be exclusive, it is always illusive and it can be a costly hobby that not all of us will have the time or the money to afford. Style takes a little longer to hone, a little more time to invest in, but once we have it, it’s ours and it works uniquely for us. Discovering our style is like knowing ourselves and being comfortable with who we are and figuring this out becomes imperative to a lot of women after having a baby.
Two quotes come to mind: ‘Fashion fades, style is eternal’ and ‘Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months’.
Budget
Our budgets will afford us different amounts of time and money that we are able to spend shopping and of course this will be different for all of us. Some of us might work full time, have some disposable income but limited time to shop. Some of us are at home with small children and can’t find the time to shop and some of us might be working full time and spending all of our money on childcare and have no time or money to shop. Either way, the edits are designed to be succinct, specific and broken down as much as possible, by retailer, by price point, by body shape or by style. Breaking the edits down as micro as possible allows you to save time and skip to the part of the edit, retailer or items suited best to you.
It has been integral to my style journey that I detox my wardrobe. In my wardrobe were clothes that didn’t fit, didn’t suit me, didn’t work for my lifestyle and all sorts. It became a place of dread instead of place that I was going to go to to make me look and feel good. A wardrobe detox is such a good exercise because it can help us to really understand what we have in our wardrobe, what we need and what we like or dislike without having to spend a penny. Admittedly, some of us might find ourselves in a position where we can’t justify shopping due to finances, so even more reason to detox our wardrobes and sell on what we don’t love to buy the clothes that make us feel good.
Timeliness and Timelessness
There are two factors when it comes to time that I consider in the Mum a Porter edits. Timeliness and timelessness. Timeliness; at most the pieces included in the edits will be interchangeable with most of the items in our wardrobe, compliment a capsule wardrobe and be functional and practical, which should make putting together an outfit quick and timely. Timelessness; The majority of the edits aren’t particularly trend or fashion led because I have realised as a mother, that as well as trends not always working for me, trends can date, which takes away from the longevity and timelessness of the item. The trends that will be featured are those that can be interpreted in a timeless way or are likely to stand the test of time.
Wearability and Functionality
Mum a Porter edits focuses heavily on items that can be dressed up with heels for a night out with friends, but dressed down with trainers or flats when with the children or needing a little more practicality. My way of dressing and selecting the items I buy is by making sure every single item in my wardrobe works for me, day and night and across all occasions. Shopping this way just means we get more wear out of our clothes and makes getting dressed that bit easier – which saves time. The more wear we get out of our clothes the lower the cost becomes in terms of cost per wear and if we buy quality and/or treat our clothes well, the less we need to shop, which again saves time, money and let’s be real, the planet too.
Confidence
This is the most important factor to consider above all. For most of us, our bodies will change after we have children and how we feel about our bodies is likely to change too and this has a major impact on our style. Nevertheless, in order for us to find our style we need to try to understand what clothes makes us feel good and works for our lifestyle in order to discover our style. So Mum a Porter will always take into account the different stages of our style journeys and will always encourage shopping slow and choosing well.
Sustainable Style
I feel like I am not well versed enough in sustainable living, so I am not in a position to preach to anyone about sustainable fashion. I would like to become more familiar with sustainable fashion brands and that is something I am working on. However, I am going to put my hands up and say I love to shop and love Zara, I love Topshop and I love H&M and I will shop there for comfort, ease and familiarity. Nevertheless, my approach to my style and the content I create for Mum a Porter is about shopping your wardrobe, discovering your style, wearability and shopping less. I do believe that once we’ve figured out our style and filled the gaps in our wardrobes, the less we will find the actual need to shop.
