Life in Colour - 19: 10 Things I Wouldn't Skip When Rediscovering Your Style In Your 40s+

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Rediscovering your style in your 40s can feel a little daunting; your body has changed, your lifestyle looks different, and the old “rules” just don’t fit anymore. But the good news? This is the perfect time to embrace who you are and create a wardrobe that feels like you. In this episode, I’m sharing 10 things I wouldn’t skip when refreshing your style in your 40s and beyond. From trying new silhouettes and finding your best colours, to forgetting outdated rules and learning to dress for your life now — these are the steps that will help you reconnect with your wardrobe (and yourself). 🎧 Listen in for practical tips, real-life advice, and a gentle reminder that your 40s are a great time to start owning your style again. 👉 Read the full blog post for more details here: 10 Things I Wouldn’t Skip When Rediscovering Your Style in Your 40s Want to learn more about seasonal colour analysis? Get my free Find My Colours Guide. A step by step starter guide to discovering your colour palette @ https://www.lovingcolour.au/findmycolours Or want to know your perfect colour palette now? Purchase a Virtual Colour Analysis with me to find out exactly which colours light you up! Go to https://www.lovingcolour.au/colouranalysis Follow along on Instagram: https://instagram.com/lovingcolour__

Welcome to Life in Color, the podcast where we dive into the real, raw and wonderfully colorful aspects of life. I'm your host, Ashley, and I'm here to explore the ins and outs of seasonal color analysis, navigating motherhood, thriving in your 40s and beyond, and embracing health and wellness with a healthy dose of humor. Join me as we uncover the secrets behind finding your perfect palette, share stories of the joys and challenges of being a mom. And from practical tips to heartfelt conversations, life in color is your space to laugh, learn and live life. unapologetically in all of its colorful hues. So grab your favorite drink, settle in and let's add some color to this adventure that we call Life.

Welcome to Life in Color. Hey everyone. I hope you're well. Hope everyone is good. We are slowly starting to see some sunshine here in Sydney and I am all here for it. We even had like one day that was 27 degrees and I don't know. I think I must talk about the weather maybe on every single episode of this. It really has become a big part of my life.

life. But I think that's when you're so used to seeing the sun all the time and it becomes really dreary and rainy. You really miss it. Anyway, I diverse. This week's episode is all about 10 things I wouldn't skip when you're rediscovering your style in your 40s. Now, you may have seen this as a post that I did on Instagram, but I actually thought this would make a really great podcast episode because we can go obviously a little bit more in depth on here than what I could in the Instagram post. And they are all written there. So I'm actually going to link that post in the show notes because I think that will give you a whole lot more detail for you to refer back to as well. But I just wanted to do this episode because as a color stylist myself in my mid-40s,

I've literally just had my birthday and I've turned 44. These are the things that I definitely would go to or use if you're feeling like you need to rediscover your style or if you need to have a bit of a style reset or if you're thinking that something's quite a little bit off but you're not quite sure what it is. Just having a little play around where some of these things may help, and by all means, you can try one or you can try them all. But I just feel like some of these are really simple tips that you can use just to elevate the everyday, make it a little bit more special so that it doesn't feel like such a mundane routine and outfit that you're putting on, even if that is literally just like jeans and a tea. So let's dive into it because we've got 10

things to get through. And I know that you don't want to be here all day. So number one, try new styles that didn't suit you before. Sometimes a shape, a cut, a color that didn't work, for example, in your 30s can now suddenly feel amazing in your 40s. I'm going to give you an example. And for most of these, I will give you examples, whether that's clients of mine or whether that's from myself. But I never used to wear wide leg ever, like ever, ever, ever, till my 40s.

I must have been about 41, 42 maybe when I started wearing wide leg. Now I know that they have also been in the shops more, but like different styles of jeans have always been out there. But I'll be honest, even when I was young, like in my late teens and in my 20s and everything, I wore, I guess back then, it's more like what you classify as like the cigarette cut or the boot cut or a straight cut is what I would wear sort of more back then. I used to love a good buttonfly as well back in like my early 20s. But that was what I stuck to. And then skinny jeans came in and I bought every color in skinny jeans, as you do.

And I just stayed in them. And I literally religiously stayed in them. And when I got into my 40s, I remember, you know, starting to hear, not that it bothered me in the slightest, you know me. I wear what I want to wear. I don't wear what I feel like society or trends wants me to wear in order to stay relevant and modern. I'm not about that at all.

I want you to feel good for you, not because you're trying to keep up with society. All the Joneses, like keeping up with the neighbours, which side note, my old neighbours used to have a surname of Jones. That was always a running joke in our house. It was quite funny. So from there, I decided when I went to the States a couple of years ago that I wanted to try, I'd heard of Made Well, and I'd heard of their vintage style denim that was a bit looser. Now, when I tried those on at the time, this is what, 2023? And I tried those on. And I just wasn't quite ready for that. They were quite wide.

I felt that particular cut isn't actually the right cut for me now. And I know that now. They're more sort of more of a straight. But they were quite baggy. And I just, I felt like I was back in 1996, you know, with the low-rise baggy that everyone was wearing when I was a teenager that I followed suit and absolutely hated wearing. So I didn't go for that. But I found the stove pipe, which is like it's in between a skinny and a slim.

And for me, it works really, really well with my body shape as a rectangle. I absolutely love it. And it just, it fits really well. So it's sort of tighter up the top and on the thighs and then it loosens out around my knees. And then it's not tight by the time it gets to your ankles. But it's not baggy either. It's just, it's really nice.

Anyway, so I went to those. And then I went shopping with my best mate. And I was in Target and I saw their Kelsey wide leg jeans. And just out of interest, I was like, you know what? I have no idea. These look at, they're like, they're going to be too big and everything. I'm just going to try them on. And I did. And I loved them. Absolutely loved them. Now, for me, a wide leg has got to be a crop. It just, it sits on me much better if they're cropped. But by trying this new cut of gene, I've opened, or jeans, I should say, I've opened my wardrobe right the way up to so many more styles. And wide legs come in to many different varieties as well. So I now have quite a selection of different styles and cuts. And I hadn't done that in my 30s. And I never thought I could wear those kinds of cuts. I never thought I could wear a wide leg when I was younger.

But as a rectangle, a wide leg actually works really, really well for me. And it works so well for many other body shapes too because it nipsy win at the waist. So it gives me a waist. It gives me hips to give me those curves. And it really elongates my legs. And like, even though I'm 163 centimeters, I've got quite long legs, but it elongates them even more. And when I put on heels with them, oh my gosh, my legs look like they go on

for days, which is just fantastic. I just love the look that it gives me and it gives me that boost of confidence. And I just love it. And actually from years ago, would never have tried that. I wouldn't have even tried them on. I would have been like, no, they're going to look ridiculous even holding them up. So try a new style that didn't suit you before. I challenge you to do that because I think you're going to be really pleasantly surprised. Give that a go. Okay, number two, this is a really big one and it can be really hard to do this. But I I promise you once you've done it and you've moved the things out of the house, you feel so much lighter and so much better. I want you to let go of what no longer works. It's okay to say goodbye

to clothes that no longer suit you or fit you or suit your season of life. And when I say let go, I'm meaning donate. I'm meaning to throw them out if they're obviously not being able to be donated. I'm meaning sell them so that you can recoup some money on them if you want to. And I'm also meaning that if you're just not ready to let them go out the house, but you know you're letting go of actually wearing it, put it in a container, put it away, mark it for six months time and come back to it and then relook at it and think, okay, do I still like this? Do I still want to wear it? Do I want to give it another go?

Or am I ready this time to actually let it go and move on? Letting go of what no longer works for you is so freeing. it just frees up mental space, it frees up physical space within your wardrobe. It really makes a very, very big difference to your life. And once you've let go of that and let go of whatever is behind the reason of why you're hanging on to it, you feel so much lighter and so much better. And then you're ready to move forward. Sometimes those things can really be holding you back to what you actually want to

wear, what you want your style to look like, how you want to appear every day. and then obviously that all has an impact on how you feel and show up every day too. That's really, really important. Number three, and of course I had to include this, you know, being a colour analysis expert, but find the colours that bring you to life. Shades that make your eyes, skin and hair glow can lift your whole look and mood and how you show up for the day instantly. And I mean instantly.

If any of you follow me on Instagram and if you don't, I highly invite you to come over. and listen to what I have to say over there. I do lots of videos and tips and all kinds of bits and pieces over there. But they just make such a difference. You can go from looking sallow and a bit yellow and a bit sickly to looking fresh and bright and vibrant, or you can go from looking washed out and pale to looking like you've got colour and it's just the change of a shade of colour. It makes all the difference in the world.

So if you're curious about this, I do have a free guide. on my website called Find My Colours. If you go to lovingcolour.comer.com. You forward slash find my colours and that's Color with you. Download my free guide and I take you step by step through the initial process of trying to discover what your colour palette is and whether you are warm or cool as well. It makes all the difference in the world. And knowing those colours, well, it's life changing.

Like you can change so much in your wardrobe, but if the colours drain you and do nothing for you. There's only so much those items of clothing can do. There's only so much that the makeup that you wear can do. So I highly, highly recommend go and download that guide, have a color analysis. It doesn't have to be with me, but go and have a color analysis done. So many do virtual, like I do virtual color analysis too. But make sure you go and you find out what your colors are because it makes such a difference to getting dressed every day. Like, highly, highly recommend that. Now, number four is refresh your accessory. So small changes like shoes, bag, scarves can make older outfits that you've had in your wardrobe

that you love. It can make them feel new again. It can give them a whole new lease of life. And I know I've used this example a lot, but if you have like a white or cream shirt with a pair of denim jeans or denim shorts, the whole outfit can change depending on the color shoes, accessories, handbag, lipstick, blush, you name it. It changes it. It dramatically. It changes it. So I did this actually in the color collective, my membership the other day. We had a live Q&A and I was on a call and I was chatting to one of my members and she was wanting to incorporate color, but she doesn't want to be dressed in color from head to toe. She's a bright.

And so what I did in the color collective was then I showed her, I think it was eight different slides and I had two colors. It was like a beige and then it was a coral. And I showed her with accessories and then changing the color of the shoes or changing the color of the handbag or changing the color of the top or the pants, the difference it made to the outfit and the difference that it would make to her wearing the outfit and how many different outfits you could get out of just those base items. It made such a difference. And those small changes, for example, even just shoes, you don't just have to wear tan and black. Go with some color.

Have a little bit of fun. Like recently, I've invested in, I've got fabulous pair of hot pink loafers that I've just bought. And then I've bought like a pair of pointed ballet flat. Navy suede shoes as well. A shout out to both of the places that I got those from because I love them. The navy suede shoes are from Millwards. They're a small Australian brand. They are super comfy. They're the first one that I've had from her and I really, really impressed with the quality. I love them. They come in the most spectacular red as well, but I don't wear red. It's not in my color palette for me. So navy is something that I know I will wear again and I've been looking for something that's not black because I don't wear black. I have no black shoes in my wardrobe,

apart from like a pair of boots from about 20 years ago. Having that makes all the difference. Having a scarf in your colour palette can make all the difference. It just adds that little bit of life and colour, but also some of these don't have to be an expensive investment in order to change up the outfits that you've already got that it may be just feeling a little bit tired or you're just a little bit sick of wearing them. Now, number five is a little bit controversial. And I'm going to bring up the comments actually so that I can actually give you some feedback that I gave somebody that was following me. Number five is don't be afraid to tuck in. A simple tuck can highlight your waist and give your outfit a fresh and balanced look.

Now, I know this can be controversial because not everybody likes to tuck in. And the reasons and not everyone likes to tuck in is because they're really self-conscious of their stomach. And they feel that they can't do that with their stomach. stomach, they will always leave it out. The thing with always leaving it out is that you're not creating any shape of a waist. And I'm not saying that you can't ever do that, not at all, but a tuck can really change the balance, the proportions, everything of an outfit that you're wearing. Now, the lady on my Instagram said that with her stomach, she feels that a tuck looks awful. I went back and I was like, I totally understand that, but you don't have to do a full.

tuck. A tuck can even be a tiny amount of material tucked or nipped in one side of your hip so that the fabric then drapes diagonally, creating a new line and a new way for your eye to follow down the shape of your body. And a lot of women who are around or an apple shape find this actually quite a nice, neat trick to use because it creates less bulk of all the fabric that is just hanging loose, especially if you're more petite. But it also draws the eye away from the tummy because you're creating a diagonal from one corner at the top of your hip, say down even to like, it could be the bottom of your hip or the middle of your thigh. So you're completely going over the stomach area, but you're creating shape and dimension in your outfit. Now, she asks then,

do you tuck it into the waistband? So there's a couple of things that you can do. You can tuck it into the waistband just a little bit and literally just tuck it right the way into the top of that waistband. If the waistband's a little bit loose, you could even tuck it then into the top of your knickers so your knickers can hold it in place underneath, obviously, your pants. Another thing that you can actually do, some people tuck it into the top of their pocket, but the only thing with that is that it can then come undone a little bit. And so then you might be faffing around with it and know who wants to faff around with their outfit for the day. You don't. You want it to be one and done. Another thing that you can do is you can

pull it into like a little bunch in your hand, tie a hair tie around it or an elastic band, around it and then tuck that underneath. That will then create a lift on that side of the top or the shirt that you're wearing and then that will create the line. And then you can either, you can just arrange the fabric yourself. You can either tuck a little bit on on the other side because it will be form fitting enough that you can do that or you can have it so it really just drapes down. But it is a fantastic thing to do. There are so many different things that you can do. You can do a side tuck. You can do a front tuck, which is like a French tuck where you leave a a little bit at the front in and then it drapes sort of symmetrically towards the back.

So then you've got quite a bit of fabric hanging out at the back, which can cover your bottom area if that's an area that you wish to cover up a little bit more. I use that a lot just because I really like the dimensions and the shape that that gives me. You can then do a full tuck as well or you can even create that knot sort of at the beginning at the middle of your waist, sorry, and then you can tuck it that way. And so then it drapes round to the back and you get this really, it's not bunched, but it's like a gathered kind of look. There are so many things that you can do.

Now, there are so many body shapes that can actually wear a full tuck. They don't think that they can, but you actually can. And the reason that you can do a full tuck is that it defines your waist. It then gives you a set of hips. You don't want to be tucking in like really bulky fabric, but there are a number of different body shapes that can wear it very, very successfully. Again, it just depends on you and your body and what you feel the most comfortable in. Now, number six, know the pants rise that suits you best.

The right rise feels really, really comfortable and works with your proportions, making daily dressing really effortless and easy. When I'm talking about the pants rise, I'm talking about whether you should wear low rise, mid-rise, high-rise, and then there's very high-rise. Let's just go into that really quickly. A low-rise, think of it as the 90s low-rise, I'm pretty sure we're all very familiar with that. And the low rise sits as low as they can go, like right the way down onto the hips even sometimes. They're really, really low. They are miles below your belly

button. Now, not everybody likes to necessarily wear a low rise. Some people who have a very, very short torso may find that a low rise works best for them. But the majority of people who have a very short torso would find that a mid-rise would work better on them. Now, a mid-rise on someone who has a long torso or like an average kind of torso, an average mid-rise is going to be below the belly button. It's going to be about a few centimetres below the belly button. It's not going to touch. And so a mid-rise is a really, as you would expect, it's right in the middle.

It's very universally flattering and so many body shapes can get away with it. if you have an extra long torso, you may find that a mid-rise sits a bit lower on you than others. This is where knowing your body shape and your body proportions is really, really important as well. And I am going to do a whole podcast on that. But for the moment, it's more about looking at where they sit in proportion to, say, your belly button and then just knowing the proportions of like your torso, is it longer, is it shorter? are you sort of in the more average of that? When it comes to a high rise, a high rise will sit on your belly button, like right in.

Now, high rise has definitely, I never wore a high rise till about 2019. I always wore a mid. I still wear a mid to this day, but I probably go for a high rise more. What I love about a high rise, it will give you that waste. Whether you have, so for body shapes that don't have a defined waist, a high rise will absolutely do it. It nips you in at the smallest part of your torso. It naturally does that because that's where that natural kind of curve comes in. Now for the body shapes that don't have that sort of more exaggerated curve, like say for an hourglass, an hourglass has that very exaggerated curve.

Like a rectangle or even around might find that we don't have that definition as much. By having that high rise, it will cinch you in and it will give you the illusion that you have more of an exaggerated waist than you actually do. Now, I know that sometimes for a triangle shape, like a pair, it can get tricky because your waist obviously can be narrower than what your hips are because your hips are the broadest part of your body. And so trying to get that right fitting can be a little bit tricky. We were talking about this in the color collective recently, but that's where the high rise, it gives you the waist that you're after in order to create some of those extra curves, especially in particular for the body shapes that don't have those curves.

So like the rectangle and the round, an hourglass obviously will naturally be able to wear them because of the proportions of their body. The very high rise, they're the ones that come way above your belly button. Sometimes you can feel like those very high rise are literally sitting underneath your boobs. Like they are right there. If you have a super long torso, absolutely you can get away with them. One other thing about a high rise and a very high rise, they're going to make your legs look so much longer. If you're wanting to elongate your legs, then they are a fabulous cut to do that because they create that illusion that your legs are much, much longer than what they actually are. If you have shorter legs, they're absolutely fantastic for that.

But the very high rise, it depends on what you wear with it because with a, say you want you to wear a very, very high rise and you want you to wear a shirt with it, you may then find if that high rise is literally just a couple of centimetres under your bust, tucking in is going to be a bit tricky. You'd almost want to wear a bodysuit underneath or something that is so super thin that you can tuck in that there's not much bulk to it because it's sitting so incredibly high. They can look fabulous. They absolutely do have a place, but again, it does depend on your proportions. But knowing the pants rise that suits you best will be a game changer when you go shopping looking for pants, I promise you.

Number seven, look for inspiration everywhere of the kind of outfits you would like to wear. If you're feeling that the outfits you're wearing just aren't cutting it for you and you're not enjoying it, then start looking at some inspiration as to what you can do to change that. So look at celebrities, for example, Reese Witherspoon or Jennifer Garner or Jennifer Aniston or who else is there? like you've got Anne Hathaway, you've got many different celebrities that you can look at. I love Jennifer Garner because she's just so down to earth. I think she's fan. And I'm not saying about the red carpet events.

I mean, we can all look at those and dream of wearing one of those dresses. I'm talking about their everyday style. So look on Instagram or look at pictures online, like search it up in Google. Then have a look on Pinterest. Now, if you get fed photos of people who look like they're in their 20s and a gazelle, You're going to have to pop in like outfits for your 40s or outfits for your 50s or mature women outfits, things like that because otherwise it's going to keep showing you things for women in their 20s. And the more you engage with things that the things that you like, the more it's going

to show that to you, the algorithm will work that way. So use Pinterest. It is an absolutely fabulous tool to use. It is not social media. It is a search engine. Use it as a search engine. It's just a picture-based search engine. And the best thing is that you can create a mood board on there and you can keep it. And then you can come back and refer to it if you've seen an outfit you like and that you actually want to try. Obviously, Instagram is a fabulous place for inspiration as well. And so make sure create a little folder for outfits I'd like to try and just save them. There are so many people out there like me and so many other content creators out there

who are creating outfits for you or there are stylists out. there creating outfits for you. If you know that you really have like a boho kind of vibe, find those people on Pinterest, on Instagram, find the celebrities that are a little bit more boho, a little bit more hippy or relaxed in what they're wanting to wear. Because if that's the style that, even if that's not you right now, if that's the style that you actually want to wear, then you need to start finding inspiration for that because it's not going to happen on its own. It's like anything. It's like things that we teach our kids. If you want to make a change, you have to do it. You have to take the first step. And so that's a really great way of doing it. And you never know

what might suit you. You might try something and go, oh my gosh, that really isn't for me. But that's okay because you've tried it. So then you've discounted it. But then you might try something and go like, actually, you know what? I really, really like that. That's worked out really well. I'm so happy that I tried it. Make sure that you look for inspiration everywhere because it is everywhere. you just need to start using it. Okay, number eight, and this is a big one. I want you to forget the rules for the over 40s that you hear all the time. And I'm talking about, no, you can't wear a short skirt, you can't wear a sleeveless

top. That's if you want to wear a sleeveless top, not because you don't feel comfortable in wearing a sleeveless top. No, you can't wear the shorts because you can't show your legs anymore. No, stuff it, wear it. If you really think you've got the most amazing legs, wear it. Wear the short skirt. If you really enjoy wearing strapless tops, wear the strapless top.

Like the other day, I bought a holterneck top. I haven't bought a holterneck top in ages, but I used to love wearing that style. And so part of me was like, why did I stop wearing a holterneck? I don't actually know why. I don't. Maybe it could be because I didn't think I could wear a holtneck to the park when the kids were little. I don't know.

But now that I'm 44, I'm like, no, I'm going to wear the holterneck top. why can't I? I can. So I really want you to think about these things and not about what you think you should wear. I want you to wear what you want to wear or what inspires you, what makes you feel good. You look at it and you go, gosh, you know, I'd really, I'd really like to wear that. Now, sometimes I bought a dress the other day and I put it on and it was a baby doll dress and it was really, really pretty. And I'm not going to say that it was too young for me in terms of the style. I just didn't particularly like the style on me. It just didn't sit quite right. There's a difference in that and I want you to know that. I love wearing short dresses.

There are so many people who and women that prefer to wear a midi or they prefer to wear a maxi. I love the idea of a midi and a maxi. Do I wear them? No, they hang in my wardrobe every single time because I like wearing something short. I like the movement that it gives me. I just, I just like wearing short things, always have done. And I've gravitated back to what I enjoy wearing because that's what I like to do. And that's what I want you to do as well. So forget those rules that, you know, can't have long hair when you turn 40. It's ridiculous. Don't listen to any of that. Follow your heart and continue to do what you want to do. You want to wear those, you know, cowboy leather pants. Wear the cowboy leather pants and wear them

with pride because they're you and they reflect you and that's what matters the most. Okay, that leads me in really easily then to this point, which is number nine, dress for you, whether you're working home, working at home, holidays, you're at the park with the kids, your wardrobe should reflect your life and make you feel good every day. Even though, like, I work from home a lot, and I think I've even mentioned this before, sometimes I can get dressed and my husband would be like, all my sons will be like in particular, not my daughter. But my sons be like, where are you going today?

You look really nice. Where are you going? I'm like, I'm going to my office or I'm going upstairs. And I dress for the day. I do. Unless, like, you know, I'm recording this. I know I'm in trackies today and it's a work day, but we've had COVID for the past two weeks. I'm going to forgive myself for that. But generally, I dress for the day because it's important to me and I like being dressed nicely. Now, I actually do, now that I've got some really nice clothes in my wardrobe that I'm really enjoying wearing, I'm going to start going to the library or I'm going to go to the local cafe for a couple of hours. I'm going to do something

because that's what I am wanting to do because I feel really good in what I'm wearing. I'm not wanting to necessarily hide at home or anything. It's not about that. I'm making sure that I feel good in what I wear. That means like putting on my makeup most days and doing my hair most days. And you'll know when something needs to change. Like my hair at the moment, so this is a tangent, so go with me. my hair at the moment. It's not that I've had another hair loss. Like for those of you who know me, I had like a massive hair loss. What?

It was about June, July last year. We had something stressful happen, and I kid you not, within overnight, my hair started falling out. And we've had quite a few stressful things since. But in the last month or so, I've noticed my hair, it's gotten thinner. Now, I think one of the reasons for that is I stopped taking one of my hair vitamins. That's a side note. This isn't sponsored.

I love the JS Health, hair and energy. I've gotten straight back onto it and I am noticing a difference already. This isn't sponsored. I just love it and I've been taking it for a year. So if you're having issues with your hair getting thin and fine or falling out, then I would definitely try that. And go back and have a listen to my, I think I did all my favorite products and there's lots of hair care stuff in there too.

And I'm not feeling great with my hair at the moment. I'm actually even thinking of getting my appointment drawn forward a little bit because the ends are just so thin. I'm going to cut it. And I'm wearing it up all the time because I don't like, don't like how it looks when I'm wearing it down. So you know when there's something there that you need to change. And the thing is, you could have been feeling that for ages. You could have been feeling for a really long time of like, I just, it's all right what I wear. Like, it's not a major

issue. It's not a major problem. I don't love it. It'll do. But I don't want it to just do for you. I want you to enjoy it. I want you to feel joyful. I want you when you catch yourself in a reflection at a shopping center in a lift, walking past or, you know, doing your hair in a bathroom or something. And you give yourself that little smile of like, I feel really good in this today. I really love this outfit. I really enjoy it. It's so much fun. It's the color. It's the blouse. It's pretty. It's this. It's that. I want you to have that. I don't want you to look in the mirror and go, yeah, it's all right. I'm not here for that. And neither should you be too. So make sure you dress for you and what you want your wardrobe to be. Now, I know that there are some confines in there,

depending on if you work in a really corporate environment and you're a little bit more restricted. Or, for example, if you're a nurse, I know that you're wearing scrubs and everything during the week. If you have a work uniform, I'm talking about when you're off duty, wear what you want to wear. And even if you are, you know, the mum in the park with your kids, I've been there. I really, really have. You do not need to wear active wear every day if you don't want to. You don't. You don't need to wear jeans and a t-shirt every day if you don't want to. there are so many other things that you can wear that you can enjoy that will make you feel so much better if you feel that those aren't right for you. Okay, last but not least, now it looks like I've

already touched on this before, but I'm going to talk about it again because it links in. Last one is know your body shape and proportions. It makes choosing outfits so much easier and so much more enjoyable. I didn't know I was a rectangle for a really long time. I didn't. And, you know, I always knew I was quite straight up and down. and I've always been petite, like my whole life, but I didn't ever really think about it. Like, you know, I'm smaller busted. I don't really have any hips. Don't, sort of a little bit of a waste, but not a huge amount.

It really, I try on things. So you know how they've got the long linen skirts, like the long A-line maxi linen skirts. They do nothing for me. They just drowned me. And I, this is years ago. and I kept trying them on, trying to find one thinking that it was the cut of the store. It wasn't the cut of the store. It was me.

It was my shape. My shape just doesn't suit that. It does nothing for it. Give me a pencil skirt that kind of stops mid-calf or, you know, like a mini, 100% my kind of thing. It looks fantastic. And I'm happy to say that it looks fantastic because I know it does. But the A-line sort of maxi, no, nothing. It looks like I'm wearing a sack.

literally looks like I'm wearing a potato sack and yet other people can wear it, they look phenomenal in it. And that's because it suits their particular body shape. I will do a full podcast episode on this, but just have a look at the different body shapes. There's loads of information out there. I will be putting some stuff on the blog. I used to have it on my blog years and years ago when I had my I Choose Me Clothing store and I had a whole guide on there. I've had a measure your body. So I think I might try and put that back up for this episode so that you've got a reference that you can use to go to because it was all written in there on how to measure your body. So use that and then start to have a think about your proportions. You know, for example, if you are an inverted triangle,

an inverted triangle, it means that your shoulders are broader than your hips. Your shoulders are your broadest point. If you're around, obviously your waist hips and your shoulders are sort of more all in proportion, sort of similar with a rectangle. And then you have the triangle where your hips are wider than your hips are wider than your shoulders. And then obviously you have a traditional hourglass as well. I will go into that. But knowing that, and there's a number of different names for all of these. They're just the ones that I use. But obviously, they're an apple, pair, all those kinds of things. There's so many different ones. You can be between a couple. It can sometimes be like that. You might even fluctuate between a couple, depending on, you know,

So we all know with perimenopause what can happen to our body shape. So you can fluctuate, you can move. I'm not trying to pigeonhole you into you must, you're this and then you stay this forever. So body shape analysis is quite different to colour analysis. Color analysis, no, you stay with your season. You might move around your subseason, but you stay with your season 99 times out of 100. Body shape analysis, that can change depending on health, depending on exercise, depending on what's going on in your life at the time.

So many different things can impact and change that. Like surgeries can impact and change that. I know my body shape changed before and after I had my hysterectomy. My endometriosis can change my body shape depending on where I'm at in my cycle, even though I still have a cycle, even though I don't get a period anymore. So just knowing that makes all the difference in the world. It is a great, great starting point. I hope that's been helpful for you today.

I've really enjoyed doing this podcast episode for you. If you have any questions, you know where to find me. I recently just opened up my five-week style reset, which is a five-week one-to-one private mentoring program. Now, I've just literally closed it off in the last 24 hours. However, if you are interested in it, just send me a DM and we can have a chat. If you feel that this is something that you'd like to do, we go week by week in depth. We go from mindset, we do body shape analysis, we do style personality, we do color analysis,

and we do everything and then you get to come into the color collective as well. So you get a full color analysis, you get the five-week program and then you get to go into the color collective for three months too. It is an absolutely fabulous program and I am loving doing that with the clients that I have already started with this week. And as always, like I mentioned in number three, if you want to know your colors, I am here up ready and waiting to discover them with you. Knowing your colours is an absolute game changer. And when I say that colour is at the heart of everything, it really is. It is absolutely at the

heart of everything. Because you can get everything else right. But if you're not in the right colours, you're just missing out. There's no other way to describe it. Like really, you're missing out on the final missing piece of the puzzle that literally just brings everything to life. If you're interested in either of those, head to lovingcollar.a.u forward slash color analysis. You can always drop me an email to Ashley at lovingcollar.a.u. Or you can find me on Instagram at lovingcolor.com. I had to think about that for a second. So yeah, that's where you can find me.

Anyway, take care. Have a fab rest of your week and I will be back next week with a new episode. Thanks. Bye.