Life in Colour - 27: The Most Comfortable Pants and a Little Life Update

Episode Date: March 26, 2026

After a little break from the microphone, I am back — and I thought the best way to ease back in was with an honest life update episode. This one is a little different from my usual episodes. There's no masterclass, no style formula — just me, catching you up on where I've been, what life has looked like lately and some of the shifts that have been happening behind the scenes. From body changes and clothes that no longer fit the way they used to, to spending more time in the kitchen, finding a little more balance and an update on The Style Reset launch and my business — I hope this feels like a chat with your style bestie ☕ Because life is always shifting, and I think it's important to talk about that. In This Episode, I Cover: - Where I've been and why I took a little break from the podcast - Body changes, comfort dressing and why it's okay to buy new things that actually fit - The Uniqlo finds that started it all 😄 - Spending more time baking and cooking — and why that feels so good right now - Finding a little more balance and what that means for my business - An update on The Style Reset and what's coming next Mentioned / Resources: ✨ If you're ready to work with me and get clear on your colours and style, you can find all the details here: https://www.lovingcolour.au If You Loved This Episode: Please leave a review, share it with a friend, or pop it on your Instagram stories and tag me — I LOVE seeing what you're listening to. 💕

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.

Well, hi, everybody. I hope you are well. I hope everyone is good. It is the 26th of March that I am recording this and I'm going to try and get it up quite quickly. I actually do have some episodes sitting waiting to be edited for you. And I think time just kind of got away from me because I was doing client work and I was doing other things that I'm going to explain to you. So today's episode is actually going to be more a little bit of what I've been doing, like a bit of a life update, I guess, obviously talking about fashion and style and what I've been buying, which is very intentional purchases that I've been doing. But I just thought I'd give you an update as to where I have been and what I've been doing because I did have a goal, and I'm going to put this out there

because I think it's important to sometimes share some of your goals. And I did have a goal of being more consistent with the podcast. And so far, I have not done that at all. And I know that for me, I think sometimes it's the editing, because I'm a one-man band or a one-woman band, and I do it all myself. And sometimes the editing is what takes me more time. And then for whatever reason, the episode doesn't come out. And every Tuesday, though, I'm really aware that I haven't released an episode for all of you. And I do get feedback a lot from so many of you about how you say, how much you love listening to the podcast. So today's going to be a little bit of a mixed bag. You know me. I sometimes make notes. Generally, I don't and I just sit here and talk to you.

So it is the end of March. We hit the ground running. I had it, as you know, I think I've done a couple of episodes at the start of the year. It had a really great summer. And then I decided this year that I felt I'd lost a little bit of a balance in my life that it had skewed very much to not necessarily, well, working on weekends. I was doing a lot of that. and I pulled back on that, obviously, when I took time off at the school holidays with the kids and just realized that there were some things missing for me, like being able to take time to cook dinner without rushing. I felt every night it had become a real rush and like a massive chore. And I used to really enjoy cooking and I didn't want it to be like that anymore. Obviously, there were going to be

some nights like last night. I was so tired last night. I could barely keep my eyes open. And luckily, my husband was working from home. He's like, I'll cook dinner. I'm like, fantastic, because I can barely stand up because things have been so busy and I'm so tired and I pulled back a bit on my estrogen, which I can talk all about that later in this podcast too, for those that are interested. But they just felt that the balance was out a little bit and so I've worked really hard to reclaim that. And I think the podcast probably got put to the wayside because of that. So I want to make it more of a priority because I really, really enjoy doing this podcast for all of you. and I know how much all of you enjoy listening to it as well.

So what have I been up to? So the kids went back at the end of January. And then for those of you that follow me on Instagram in February, I did a really fun 14 days to, oh, I can't remember the name of what it was called now. It was all the names of 14 days to wearing what you love in 2026 or making a wardrobe work for you. That's it.

Making your wardrobe work for you in 2026. and I did 14 days of videos every single day with tips that you can do. It's all still up there if you're interested. And it's also on my blog as well. So everything is on there on the website. And I absolutely loved it. I hadn't been posting as much because I took time off. And what I've learnt is that social media, you can become a bit of a slave to it.

And this time I took the time off and I didn't feel guilty about it. And I knew that when I came back, people would really enjoy the content that I was putting out. and so I didn't put that pressure on myself, but I did come back with a bang and I did that. And I really enjoyed it. It was things from like color and style personalities and mindset. It was just a lot of fun. And I know that I had a lot of DMs from people saying how much they were enjoying it, but also asking me questions to do with warm versus cool, which obviously I know so many if you find so tricky or if you're trying to figure out if you're a deep or a bride or a light or a soft, all of these different things. And then we talked to obviously like,

I've mentioned style personalities and measuring your body to determine your body shape. I went through everything in like a little snippet. And I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed that. And then I went from there where my son got sick. He seems to get sick literally around the fourth week of the term. And then the same thing happened last year. And then he decided to share it with me at literally it was what was like the worst possible timing because that was when I was opening up spots into my private,

at five week one-to-one mentoring program that I do, the Star Reset, and I only had five spots, and I got sick. And I was literally sick in bed, and I'd been sick in bed with that. Then we had like a tummy thing come in the house. And then on top of the tummy thing, I did the best thing possible. I gave myself food poisoning. And that wiped me out. And yet I was so proud of myself because I didn't disclose this online until afterwards. And I showed up because I really wanted to show up with an energy for the women who were so interested in joining the Star Reset and working with me. And I wanted to be there for them to have those discussions if they wanted to work with me in order to help them with how they were feeling about their relationship

with their clothes. And it just happened to be the worst possible timing. And I'm sharing this all openly because, you know, when you go into something like that, you want high energy, you want to be able to show up the way that you want to. I have certain goals set in mind for me. And some of that, I just almost had to put by the wayside a little bit and just go with it. Because obviously when you have to be within like a few feet of a bathroom, it's not ideal. But I still did it. And I've had some wonderful women come into the style reset. And we are, it's week by week where I do a Zoom call with them for an hour,

just over an hour sometimes. And we work through everything from like mindset and the psychological side of getting dressed and the clothes that they're choosing, which is so important. that is a foundation to everything when you're getting dressed every day. And for some people, it can be out of alignment with what they actually want or they don't actually know where the misalignment is happening. And that's where I help with that. And sometimes that can take the first couple of weeks to go through that.

And so we do that and we do style personalities. We do body shapes. And then we move on to colour. And like there's a full colour analysis that takes place, a virtual one. And then I do makeup and makeup tutorials. and help them choose products and shopping and clothes and everything. It's amazing. If you're interested, there is a tab on my website, The Style Reset.

So it's Lovingcolor.org-a-U forward slash the Star Reset. So I had that going on, and obviously I really wanted to show up for that, whilst also not being well-wise, I think I've been unwell for like a total of, must have been about three weeks. And then I came out of that. And just as I was starting to feel a little bit better at the end of last, no, beginning of Last week, my son had a fall at school. We ended up in emergency.

All of that, that's still ongoing. And then we had two birthdays on the weekend. We had my sons and we had my dads. And it was actually their birthdays, they're one day after another, which is wonderful. And I love it. And we spent the time together and we had so much fun celebrating and being together. But it's a lot of work. Like it's two cakes.

And my mom was amazing. Like she, we were supposed to go there because of the sickness we couldn't. So they came here because they live outside of Sydney. And we had just a really lovely family celebration. And my mum brought all the food to us. So it was like eating a home-cooked meal that my mum would make in my house, which was really quite surreal. And I just loved it.

It was so nice. But yeah, I made a chocolate cake for my son and lasagna. And lasagna is a whole thing in our house. Like it's one of their favorite dinners, which is in so many houses. However, because of our allergies, I have to make three. So I make a gluten-free one for me with dairy, normal dairy. And then I make like a regular one with gluten and dairy for my family. Now, the reason that I use, I don't use gluten-free pasta for everybody is because mine comes

from the States. It's a rice-based one. It's lovely. It's the closest I found to normal pasta. It costs a fortune. So I don't share that with anybody. That's why we have an extra one. And then my son, who is dairy-free, he has to have like nutlicks and almond milk and I'm allergic to nutlakes. You couldn't make this stuff off if you tried, could you?

But that's how we roll in this house. And it's just, I know it. So I lost a little bit of puff with mine and I did like a deconstructed lasagna in my bowl still tasted amazing. But yeah, it was like a deconstructed one. So by the time I get do that and like do two cakes and like like you've done balloons and presents and I also decided to make bread from scratch. I used, actually, side tangent, my favorite, favorite account to watch on Instagram is called From Scratch with Bob. And Bob is in the UK and he has his like own farm, has a lot of things that he brings from his farm to cook with.

Obviously, goes to the market to get like local produce and everything as well. And he must do like one video a week or, every two weeks. And then my highlight, I just love them. And he shows you what he cooks on a weekend. And it was actually probably from watching that that I realized how much I've always enjoyed baking and cooking, like baking in particular. And I realized how I had lost that out of my life. And so it was from watching that that I decided that I wanted to make more things from scratch, more things from home, which obviously with the cost of living at the moment is exactly the right thing for me for us to be doing. I wanted less packaged things for my kids. And so that's what I've been doing.

And like they've had carrot cakes. And I made a chocolate cake on the weekend for my son, a coconut cake for my dad. I made Bob's homemade bread and I put it into rolls. Oh my gosh. So when I was growing up, I used to, as you know, I used to live in the Middle East. And in Dubai, there is a shop called Spinneys, which was like the local supermarket. And back then, there wasn't a huge amount of different supermarkets that you could go to. Like you had Spinneys and then you had Cho-Trims, which was another one. And then you had, I think they had Carrefour back then, which was like a French supermarket. We didn't go to that one that often. So we went to Spinneys and I always remember as a kid, the bakery was on the left hand side, sorry, the right-hand side as you walked in the store and my mom would pick up fresh rolls.

And she, my mom makes the best homemade rolls like salad sandwiches, all these kinds of kinds of things. She's just epic at it. And they turned out just like that. Like I took them at the oven and I was like, oh my goodness. They are literally like the spinies rolls. And I called my mom and I said, look, they look like the spinies rolls. And the kids really enjoyed them. I saved money. And it didn't have like so much bread has soy flour in it, which my son can't really have soy. He can tolerate it in bread, but it's much better if he doesn't. And so that's what I've been baking and it's been so therapeutic. I tried it in the bread machine, didn't turn out in the bread machine, but when I made it by hand, it really turned out. So we're starting even on weekends as a bit of a,

even a family activity, like one of my other son, my other son has asked to make like knocky and stuff this weekend, so to get stuff for that. So just really nice things. And so that's what we're trying to do a little bit more of. And so that's where that balance, I feel like my nervous system needed that kind of balance. And if that meant that I didn't post that night because it meant that I had baked them a carrot cake or I had cooked something and taken a bit more time with it and put on some music and just enjoyed the cooking, then so be it. That's what I did. So that's what I've been doing, I guess, up until about now. And like I say, I haven't, I have been on socials, not as much as maybe as what I was towards the end of last year. But I have been on socials and I've

been doing a huge amount of client work in the background. So like tonight, I have a masterclass in the colour collective and I had planned on doing it on a slightly different topic, but there are so many new jacket styles that have come out. And I'm going to do a full podcast. I actually put up, going on a side tangent, I put up a few weeks ago that I was looking for a new denim jacket. And I put up all these different styles and people sent me DMs asking about them. And then I was like, do you want like a full roundup of denim jackets and would you like it on the blog or would you like a podcast or both and majority of people voted that they'd actually like both so I will be doing that and I just need to plan a bit more but I will be doing that but tonight in the color

collective we're going to be talking all about the different jackets because I've noticed quite a few different jacket styles coming into stores which is really really nice it's not just all like trench or mini trench like the crop trench or denim jacket and the different kinds of styles of denim jackets coming out as well. So I've been doing stuff in the colour collective. I've also been doing the roundups for what's in stores and the colour collective has changed slightly before I used to put pictures up and I was noticing that some of my members had felt that the pictures were great but didn't necessarily know why I had classified something say as a warm spring or a deep autumn or a bright winter and so I've started recording some of those and I chat them through. And it's been so

much fun. Like I've really enjoyed delivering it that way because I really get to talk through and I get to talk to the styles too. As you know me, I can talk to other cows come home and that's, I think, one of my sweet spots or superpowers is being able to explain things in a way like, let's face it. I have a podcast about fashion and most people would think that that is crazy because fashion is something you've got to look at and yet I really enjoy talking about it. And so that's what I've switched up doing in the color collective. So the color collective is my month. membership that women join and we have like a live Q&A every month and we have a monthly masterclass and I put up what's in store. So yesterday I did a video and it was for Rodney Clark.

Let's see if I can remember this with my perimenopause brain at the moment. My forgetfulness has gone through the roof. So I did Rodney Clark and then I did R.M. Williams and then I did Blue Illusion and there's one more in there that I am missing. So I'm going to log in quickly and have a look and see if I can remember what the other ones. Suzanne Gray. There we go. That was the other one that I did. So I went through and I tried and do like a number of different price points. But some of them, I'm actually going to obviously a condensed version. But I was going to pop on to Instagram or even on my blog and just put a little bit on there as well.

Helpful for all of you. Obviously, if you're interested in joining the colour collective, there are so many things and you can ask me a question anytime you like when it comes to color or style or shopping or if you're looking for something. I've got a couple of women in their moment who are looking for things. and so I've been searching for like a light-colored bomber jacket, light-color crop jackets, and a V-neck cardigan and like a cream top. It are things that I've been searching for, and so I do all of that work for them. And I just love it. I really, really enjoy it.

And it's so nice that when I come on the course with them, like, oh, I bought the thing that you'd suggested. So I've been really, really enjoying being in the colour collective, as always. The ladies in there are so much fun. We always have a laugh, and I can't wait to catch up with them tonight. And what else have I been up to? So personally, this is a bit more of a story and I'm actually going to do like a full podcast episode on it

because I think to do with women's health, I do feel like you learn things by hearing it from other women. Like I literally just did a podcast interview with Kirsten, who used to own Betikin. She was on the podcast last year. So heads up a new episodes coming up with her for an update on what she's up to. And we were talking after we'd recorded

and I mentioned a few things to do with my health. And she said, oh, have you thought about? this or this test and that. And it's only when you talk to other women that you think maybe that's what I have or maybe that's what I'm dealing with. Like a GP or a doctor won't always suggest it to you. And so it was when I listened to Nikki from styling you and then I listened to Kat from the organised housewife just recently and they were talking to do with prolapses and obviously like issues with bowel. And I've been dealing with that ever since my hysterectomy. I've been sort of, I have been open with it. I haven't given a huge amount of detail necessarily. I've talked a lot more

about my endometriosis and my histroarotomy in general. But it's definitely something that I'm dealing with. And I feel like I feel like I may have figured it out what it is now. And I'm going to get that investigated in the next few weeks. So I'm going to do a full podcast on it. And all of the symptoms came about for me and everything that I tried because I wouldn't have known about this if Nikki from styling you and Kat hadn't have mentioned it. And so that's why I'm going to open up on another episode and talk about that. But in the meantime, I'd notice that my shape had changed, put a bit more weight on my tummy, which is fine. But then there are some days where I'm super bloated, like massively bloated. And, you know, I don't have a uterus anymore. So we know it's not that,

but obviously my endo in there, like I've had to pull back a bit on my ester gel that I'm using. I've talked about how with perimenopause, I've started using some eestrogel. And I've pulled back a bit on that because I feel like it's making my endo grow at a more rapid rate. That's why I'm more forgetful and probably more tired. So it's that balancing act that so many of us have to do. And there are some days that are harder than others in terms of like figuring out with my estrogen and everything what to do. But I had a day recently where my stomach was really bad. So I have, well, I think I have IBS, but it could be endos symptoms with my bowel. It could be if I do have a prolapse. it could be to do with prolapse.

Who knows? Anyway, and I was supposed to meet my best friend with my daughter to go shopping. Nothing fit. And I mean nothing fit. I tried on every single skirt. I tried on all of my pants and everything. My Lorna Jane tights fit a bit. Like we were going to Chatswood Chase, which is a nice shopping centre.

I didn't want to wear my Lorna Jane tights. But I ended up wearing a pair of like pink trackies. And I just felt awful. Now, I know. Now I know that I didn't necessarily look it. I didn't look my best, but I felt really awful. And it was a moment where the line in the sand was drawn of like, I don't want to feel like this anymore.

However, I just thought it was a really bad endo day. And like I had a bad stomach and, you know, I ended up in the bathroom and everything for a while. I just, I put it to one side and I thought that'll be fine. And then it must have been about a week or so ago I went to put on my denim skirt and my jeans, and I'm like, geez, they're too tight. And then I was on the phone to my mom, and I was like, oh, I'm not sure if I need some new jeans. I think, I don't, they're not too tight.

Like, I can do them up and I'm fine? And then she's like, yeah, but they, do they feel too tight? And so I talk about how I felt they were putting pressure on my pelvic floor more from, like, around my bottom area. And I was like, yeah, I just, I feel uncomfortable. Like, if I sit in them for too long and I take them off, I feel relief and, like, I feel like I'm in pain. or that it's like really pulverized my pelvic floor region and everything feels sore from hanging on for dear life. Like I felt it was putting a lot of extra pressure on that area that certainly doesn't need it. Like I've already got a hypotonic pelvic floor anyway. So I had the moment of like,

I need to get some new jeans. So I got some new genes, some new country-road ones. I wish I could recommend them to you, but I tried to recommend them to a client yesterday, one of my star reset clients and they've already solved out. So unfortunately I can't recommend those. But I found some new ones that are a lot less restrictive, especially around my bottom area. So I'm moving away from the more like stovepipe slim kind of leg, moving into more of like that wider leg because I need it looser across my bottom. Anyway, they hadn't been taken up. And then I thought, I just, I don't have any other pants and jeans.

And I don't, this winter, I felt it very much last winter that I just pretty much wore jeans the whole time. I'm like, I do not want to wear jeans this whole. winter and they're going to be sometimes when I'm really bloated that even jeans you know you just don't really want to be in jeans or in denim fabric and so I knew that I needed to get some things I put on my denim skirt my seed one which was quite expensive and I couldn't I could do it up but like I had that bolt of a tummy and I was like something's not right here and I'm like I think I've definitely gone upper size and that's part of the problem that I was still trying to squeeze myself into clothes that

were no longer comfortable for one, but also just didn't fit me. And because they didn't fit me properly, they made my shape look more exaggerated, made me look like that pregnant tummy more exaggerated than it needed to be. Not saying that that tummy is going to go away by going up a size necessarily. It's more that I'm more comfortable and it's not as restrictive and tight and just putting pressure on that area, which then doesn't make it sort of poke out as much because it's not under that much pressure. So I went to my local shopping centre, and I went everywhere.

Now, I found a fabulous denim skirt in Target. That was when I first walked in, and I can't remember the name of it. I think it was called the shape, maybe the shape skirt. I'll put it in the notes. Anyway, it is a really, really lovely denim skirt, just above the knee,

perfect colour for like a light summer like me, really cool-toned blue, so beautiful, and super soft and stretchy denim. like the denim that I've gone for in the jeans and the denim that I've gone for in the skirt is not rigid. They do have that sort of a little bit, especially the skirt, it's got some stretch to it and the jeans. It's just a much softer denim. So will they last as long as maybe like a traditional regular denim? Probably not because eventually, especially the skirt, it will stretch out because it's got that stretch in it. But gosh, it is so much more comfortable.

And I did go up a size. And as soon as I went up a size, I felt so much better, like so much better. like so much better. And I heard something the other day where people have said, you know, I have different sizes in my wardrobe depending on how I am on the day. And I think that is so important. And I know that that is so hard to do. And not every woman listening to this is going to feel that they have this or maybe they used to have it when they were younger or maybe you haven't obviously quite got to that yet, if say if you're in your early 30s. But I think every woman at some point in their life, they're shape changes or shifts or you put on weight or you lose weight. Like I've had the opposite where I've lost so much weight and none of my clothes fit me because I lost so much weight

after some of my surgeries and it took me a long time to put that weight back on. So all of my smaller sizes, they're not going anywhere just in case I ever like have surgeries or anything again. I know that that weight will come off and the same thing will happen again. So I'm keeping that in, but knowing I've got flexibility within my wardrobe, I just feel so much better and so much karma. So I bought the skirt and I went everywhere. I went into sportscraft, trainery, Maya, witchery, country road. Obviously, I'd done Target.

I'd looked for pants in target to glasses, nude Lucy. Where else did I go? Cotton on, like, full range of budgets, everything. and I just wanted some comfy pants. And I was almost a seed and I was at the end of my shopping trip. And I was like, oh my gosh, I haven't found anything. Okay, that that's just going to have to do. The one denim skirt and the jeans.

And then I saw Uniclo at the end. And I was like, you know what? I'll just go in and have a look. Now, previously, I haven't had a huge amount of luck in Uniclo for me. Not necessarily because I don't like the things, but they just weren't in my colours. And so I haven't purchased from them. Whereas I know that they wash and wear really well because I've bought shorts and t-shirts for my husband in there so many times over the years and they wash and come up

beautifully. Like they're really great quality. It was heaving when I went in there. And I think there's a few reasons it was heaving. They've got a really great collection in. But also I think it's with the state of the economy at the moment, with the fact with the fuel prices going up, interest rates are just gone up. I was also really aware of how much money I was wanting to spend. And they're at a really, really great price point. And I came out with a number of different pairs of pants. And I'm so excited with what I got. So I do have a reel on Instagram at the moment. I think it's the latest one at the moment, but maybe by the time this goes out, there might be another one. But let me just get the name for you. And I can tell you exactly which one it was. Because I literally talk about everything. It's called I needed

stretchy pants and these are what I found. That's literally what it's called. So I've, if you want to see what I'm talking about, these are the pants. So the first ones that I got were that I wanted to try on. I've wanted some knit pants last year, but I couldn't find any. I tried on the ones in glasses that my daughter had, but they were too uncomfortable in the inseam. Like if I tried to pull them up higher on my waist, then it was really uncomfortable in other areas. And if I pulled them down, I just didn't like how they fit. So I bought, these are called the women's washed, knit, ribbed pants. Now, in store, they were 39.90.

This was last week. They had a special that if you bought them on the app, they were 2990. And then they had the same for the top. But either way, 39 or 29, they are still amazing value. Now, I did go up a size. When I held them up, the waist looks so titchy. It looks like it would fit a kid. And look, I did try on my normal size of extra small that I used to would have gone for.

And I could have worn it. They're so stretchy on the waist and they've got a drawstring. But I didn't want that. And also they're a bit tighter fitting on the legs. I didn't actually try the small on. I should have, but I didn't. I'd actually went straight to the medium. And I bought the medium because they're a little bit more of a while.

But also they were so comfortable on the waist. I wanted it that when I was having a day where I'm really bloated or uncomfortable, you couldn't notice it as much. And in these pants, I can do that. I can get away with it. And they are fantastic. So they do have a matching top, which has like a little collar and a v neck. They're long-sleeved. Just a note on fabrics with these. As you know, I normally wear like cotton, denim, linen, but these ones do have some nylon, recycled polyester and some viscose. There's a lot of viscous in these pants. But comfort for me was number one. And also I'm happy to wear that sort of on the bottom. That doesn't bother me as much. In a top, I probably would go for a more natural,

breathable fabric majority of the time. But that's what I chose because I needed the comfort. I needed the pants. I needed something to wear. Ironically, it's been so warm since I haven't actually needed to wear them. But I know that it's about to get colder literally from tomorrow. So they will be definitely be start to be worn, be worn. So the colours that I got, they came in black, navy, which obviously cool toned. They came in a really lovely grey, again, cool toned. They came in a deep chocolate colour, deep autumn, deep winters. And I think other autumns and winters could also borrow them. They are a very deep intense chocolate though. So if you're more of a spring, a bright spring perhaps could borrow it, but I feel like for some

of the others, it's just a bit too deep and too intense. Like it's a really intense deep dark chocolate. Really lovely though. And then they have them in like a natural colour, which is perfect for all warm tones. Cool tones you're going to find that it makes you feel or turn yellow. So, and then they have like a beautiful soft summer blue, which I bought the matching set in that I bought the top and the pants in the light blue. It's really beautiful like soft summer lighter blue. And I bought the navy and I bought the grey. As you know me, I don't wear black. I did buy the chocolate for my daughter. So that's the first ones that I bought. The second pair that I bought, when I walked in right next to the knit pants, which is what I wanted to try on, were the jersey barrel pants. Now, I had already

heard of the jersey barrel pants, but I had no intention of trying them on because I have tried barrel pants before and I just had no interest in them purely because I've tried on the barrel pants. I felt and looked like a clown and I didn't like them. I really, really didn't. And the woman next to me said, I've just seen my friend for a coffee. She has these. They're amazing. You have to try them. I'm going to try them. And I said, no, no, I've tried barrel pants. They are not for me. Just like, no, no, honestly, you need to try these. So I was like, you know what, I'm trying on about a thousand other things. I will just try them. So I took them in and oh my goodness, I was so surprised.

And this is why sometimes like even me, you need to try something out of your comfort zone because you never know how something might look. Now, I bought what I thought was navy. They're actually called dark grey. I think they look like navy. I am in my tutor size and an extra small and even then they're still quite generous on the waist. They are high-wasted, but they're quite generous. But they're super comfortable to wear.

They go with a lot of things. Now for me, because I'm quite petite, in order for me to wear them and feel comfortable in them and feel balanced in my outfit, I will wear it with a tight top on the top. If I put anything on that's too exaggerated, like as in flowy and everything, I would just feel like I was dominated by fabric and it was all just hanging off me. So that's where I need to sort of balance out the proportions for me. But that's for my body shape being a petite rectangle. So I loved them.

They came in black. They came in like a chocolate color, which were really, really lovely as well. The chocolate color is a lighter chocolate color than the chocolate in the knit pants. So I think so many different warm seasons can wear those. They came in like an off, they called it an off white. I call it a cream. It's very much a warm toned cream. So that's great for like warm tones.

And then they have a beige, which again is great for a neutral for like springs and for autum. So that's the viral jersey barrel leg pants. They were 5990 from memory. Now the next one that I got, these are called the wide sweats. Let me double check them. They're called the wide strep pants. And what I loved about these is they had an elastic waist, but it was a flat elastic waist. So it's not scrunchy one. It was a flat one. And don't let the name fool you. These are absolutely not wear around the house kind of pants. They are, you can dress them up and go out. They are fantastic. They have a hidden drawstring on the inside and they have a wide leg and it's got a most beautiful like center seam pin stripe in the same fabric. You can put these with a shirt or a nice knit and

some ballet flats and jewelry and you'll look at the bees and knees. They're 5990. Oh my gosh. I absolutely love them. I just wish they came out in like an off white white because I would snap them up in an instant. I really, really love them that much. Now, one thing to note, I will need to get mine taken up as they're a little bit long for me because I'm 163-10 meters, but if you're taller, then they're going to be perfect for you. Now, they come in, navy, grey, black, obviously all cool tones. They have like a red burgundy color, which I would classify as a warm, like, warm color, great for like deep autumns and other autums. And then they come in the natural, which is similar to the natural in the knit pants, again, for warm tones. Now, just to

an honorable mention, I didn't get these pants, but I tried them on. They had like a jersey felt straight leg pants. Again, it had that center seam. They were great. They were so comfortable. It was for me, I tried on like a charcoal color. And that's the reason I didn't get them was because I was like, I really know if I'm going to wear charcoal. And that's the thing. If in doubt, don't. Do not talk yourself into buying something just because, oh, it might work. I might be able to do this, perhaps I could do that. No, you have to feel really certain. If you don't feel certain, you bring it home, you try it with at least three different outfits. And then if it still doesn't work, you take it back. So I left those in stores. Now, apparently they do have them in navy.

I did want to see what other colours, because I've got quite a bit of navy now. I am looking more for like a lighter pair of, say, like that off-white, white kind of pant. That would probably be the last one that I have left that I would like to buy. But I would say for pants and my denim skirt, I'm set. And I went very intentionally. Yes, I spent a little bit. If I think of how much I spent on all of that, though, excluding my daughters, that must have been about 280 maybe that I spent. And I got the three pairs of knit pants for me, the knit top, the barrel leg jeans, and then the other pants. And if I think in other stores, how much that would have been, it would been a lot, lot more. So I feel like for my basics and I've really restocked my wardrobe and I'm so

excited, like, I don't get excited by the cooler months because I love wearing summer things, but I'm actually quite excited for the cooler months because this time I actually have different things to wear that aren't just jeans all the time. I really was getting so bored of wearing jeans all the time. So that's what I did last week. And now you're pretty much up to date on me, my life, what I've got going on. If you are wanting to work with me in any way, shape or form, or you feel that you'd like some help with your wardrobe, there are so many different ways that you can actually work with me. You can have a virtual colour analysis, which is all done via email and photos. You could do an in-person colour analysis with me if you are coming to Sydney. We can do lots of fun in

the colour collective. There are so many amazing women in there, like I mentioned before. And you get so much color and style and makeup advice and we just have the best chats and everyone helps each other. Like we're on a call the other night and one of my members needed help with getting a stain out of something, like sunscreen out of something. And so there was another member in particular that she wanted to ask because we all know that she's amazing when it comes to these things. And so we just all help each other and give advice and it's just the best. Like the group of women in there are just so much fun. So if you are interested in that, you can absolutely join the color collective. And if you feel, though, that you have a relationship with your clothes that

is more negative than positive and you feel like the style reset could be something that you're interested in is calling to you, that's where you work with me one-on-one. It is not a course, it is not a portal. You do this with me holding your hand and guiding you the entire time and in between the time where we are on, where we're not on calls together, we're on messages together. and I answer any questions that you've got. I go through things. You send me photos. You name it.

I am there. And we do it together. You are not alone in trying to figure out what you want to wear, how you want to feel, all of that. So there are so many different ways that we can work together. And if you just enjoy listening to this podcast and that's what you enjoy the most, I just want to thank you so much for being here and being part of my audience. It means the world to me.

I really appreciate it. And I'm sorry that I haven't shown up as much. but I feel like I needed that time to sort of just do what I've been doing the last few months and now I'm going to try really hard to get consistent with bringing Life in Color the podcast to you more regularly. Anyway, take care. If you have any questions, please always feel free to send them to me at Ashley at Lovingcolor.org.com.com. That's with a you in color. And if you want to find me on Instagram and have a chat, I am at Loving Color double underscore. And as I've said, I'm always here to help. I'm always here for a chat and I'm always ready to help you with any style

and colour and makeup questions you might have. Take care. Have a great week and I will catch you in next week's episode. Thanks so much. Bye.