Day 3:
White
crochet mini dress
Snakeskin
boots
So, today
I’m miserable to the point of sulking…In fact, I am sulking…
It’s taken
me hours to get dressed to the level of ‘nothing too fancy’ and here I am in a white
crochet mini dress.
I feel like
a 1960s bride….
Do I feel
like me? Well it might be easier if I didn’t – at least then I could pretend to
be a different character and all the fun that brings with it…
The most
depressing, difficult part is that is
that I feel like an altered version of
myself. It’s almost an out of body experience. Inside me there’s an
unadulterated version of myself
screaming to get out…
I’m well out
of my comfort zone. No ‘hardware’, short dress, legs out, hair down…it had
better be worth it…
Got the once over by a bus conductor as I walk into the tube station. He was about 50 odd…maybe I reminded him of his wife on his wedding day.
What I really want to wear is my black demin shorts and black backless t-shirt with some killer heels..
I have a
retouching meeting with my fav photographer - and actually one of my fav people
in the world - Jackie Dixon.
She is
‘cool’ personified. Ex stylist and fashion editor, now maverick fashion photographer, she is one
of the most genuine people I know.
We arrive at
the same time..at first she doesn’t recognize me. After a double take she
sreams ‘Oh my God!’
Jackie knows
about my experiment..to be fair, it’s her that told me to blog about it.
I’m enjoying the fact that she is recognising my effort.
‘I can't
believe how different you look’ she says as she takes off her sunglasses to
get a better look. She stands there gawping at me ‘the hair, the dress..it’s
all so …..soft’.
‘it’s even
changing the way you’re sitting in a chair’ she interjects once we’ve started
the meeting. ‘you’re all demure and crossed legged…like a lady’
Its true
that my most comfortable demeanour is slouched
in a chair, legs akimbo, but today that just feels wrong.
'….but,
you’ve still got too much jewellery on’….
I hadn’t
even noticed, but somehow 3 necklaces (small and fine mind you) and a
pair of earrings had snuck their way onto my person….
‘strip it
off, get it all off. I want purism’ she demands – and quite frankly, I will not
deny Miss Dixon much….
During the
meeting, if find it hard to focus initially , I loose my cpa, I’m mixing up my
shots, I’m pulling my skirt down…
‘Get a grip
St Louis!’ I chastise myself.
As we get up to leave, Jackie looks at me again.
'This is great. You must keep going with this. It’s gonna be amazing…just one thing…those shoes...’ she points to my snakeskin boots ‘they’re still too fashion.
I wanna see you in some LK Bennetts!'
With that
parting shot, she leaves me naked – not literally obviously- but sans any
jewellery or even a watch and whilst lt that felt ok in the safety confines of
an office space… in the wide world with the sun shining, I feel mighty exposed.
Time for a
walk for reaction.
It’s safe to
say that despite my reservations about this look, this outfit is a winner..
I get what
can only be described as positive feedback from men… a little older today
though it feels.
The
interesting thing today is that I’m also getting smiled at by women. This
rarely ever happens…in fact my friends and I joke about it regularly. Usually
women scowl at me and pull their boyfriends closer, but today I’m getting
positive reinforcement form the sisterhood.
It’s great.
I’m an equal opportunities dresser!
I finish the
day with a meeting with a supplier. He’s
known me for years and has come down from Leeds. I have to give him some last
minute.com instructions for window
scheme that needs to be in yesterday…
'bet you’re sorry you came in to see me
now’ I say.
‘It was
worth it just to see you in that dress’.
(Dress - Miss Selfridge, Boots - Zara)
Bag - Beyond 
Glasses - Vintage 
Shoes - Office
