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I wonder how you are feeling about your style right now? I’ve definitely noticed a theme amongst the women I’ve been working with over the past few months. They need their wardrobes to work in a different way to how they used to, and they’ve called me in to help them to understand how to make their style more casual and relevant to their new ‘more-time-at-home’ lifestyle.

As you already know, my passion is helping women to up-level their personal style, so that they feel fabulous and wanting to say ‘yes’ to more opportunities in life, whether in their professional life, social life or their downtime.

The world has changed since March 2020. Most of us have spent so much time at home and have got quite comfortable with being dressed in a casual way BUT I know that for some women it feels like this comes with a compromise of not looking as well put together. They tell me they are starting to feel ‘scruffy’.

I’m here to tell you that it’s perfectly possible to be dressed down, feel comfortable AND stylish – but there are certain things to take into account.

Top tips for casual and stylish dressing

Your own unique clothing style determines how much of (what I call) the ‘natural’ style you can wear and still feel good. If you have a high amount of ‘classic’ in your style and a low or zero score for ‘natural’, you’ll most likely find dressing more casually a challenge.

A good solution for you is to have a go at High/Low dressing. This is when you mix up your casual and smarter pieces to create looks that feel good to you, use more of your wardrobe more often and is a great way of being comfortable and practical without loosing that feeling of being well put together.

wear the correct size!

Some women have a tendency to wear clothes that are way too big for them. Whilst you might think this ‘hides’ your tummy, in reality it usually has the opposite effect of making you look bigger than you really are. And along with adding poundage, it can look really quite scruffy. Check in with yourself about your ‘true’ size. It might be smaller than you think!

‘relax’ a smarter outfit

It’s easier than you might expect to ‘relax’ an outfit and still feel good.

Try:

• Rolling up your sleeves (or folding them back)
• Half-tucking a top or shirt into your waistband (otherwise known as a french-tuck)
• Swap out a shirt for a fine knit

up the care and maintenance

These tips might sound obvious but it’s amazing how often they get overlooked and they have such a big influence on how your outfit looks and therefore how you feel in it.

• Clean your shoes! Scruffy or dirty shoes aren’t casual, they are sloppy!
• If you are a lover of trainers and your white laces are now grey – soak them in soapy water or even bleach (but not for too long or they might go yellow…)
• ‘De-bobble’ your knitwear & wool coats. It’s perfectly normal for wool to ‘pill’ or ‘bobble’, you just need to remove it using either a cashmere comb or a de-bobbler every so often. It’s amazing the difference it can make.

I hope these tips help you to find your version of casual if you’ve been struggling. Do let me know in the comments how you get on.