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900 words

Hey Reader,

I’m just a girl

Standing in front of my wardrobe

Asking it to make me feel like the sparkling lovechild of Madonna, Freddie Mercury, and Audrey Hepburn and honestly I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Ha. Who am I kidding? There are definitely not enough sequins in my wardrobe for that.

Somehow, no matter how many lovely items of clothing I own, I never seem to have anything to wear. The Correct Outfit eludes me every time, and I carry a smidgeon of mild trauma about Getting Dressed.

When I was a teenager, I had a recurring nightmare about it: I’d turn up at a party without having had time to put on my contact lenses, so I was there in my NHS milk-bottle glasses. Without makeup, so my acne was on full display (and it wasn’t just a spot I had — it was full-on pizza-face). And in clothes that were so crashingly wrong people didn’t even notice the glasses or the skin.

Then as an adult, I was invited to a wedding. The dress code: casual. So I wore a smart pair of jeans and a fancy top and nice shoes. I was the only woman in trousers, let alone jeans. There’s a special place in hell for people who put “casual” on a wedding invitation dress code because those of us who read the actual words that are written will be screwed every time.

My aesthetic has, for years, been “children’s TV presenter” and while I’m comfy with that, I’d like to branch out. When I’m uncomfortable, I reach for clown mode and my clothes often match.

So when it comes to “just getting dressed” I’ve always been at a loss.

And I never understood why.

Until Samantha Harman explained it to me: “I’ve got nothing to wear” has nothing to do with clothes.

Mind. Blown.

After that, I went down a rabbit hole and BOY is it fascinating down there:

1. We are never dressing alone and we’re never just wearing clothes. We’re dressing in the context of other people, the media, our early influences, and our own inner voices and of course that’s going to influence us.
2. The world we’re dressing in makes all the difference — despite what we might want to believe. And those who look like they don’t care what they’re wearing… well, they really do. Steve Jobs cared very much what he wore, and had a level of privilege women do not when it comes to clothes.
3. Identity and money is tangled inextricably with style and wardrobes. Who benefits when we stand in front of our wardrobes and feel terrible about ourselves and go on panicked shopping sprees?

So — how can we take our style back? And what will be the impact when we do?

That’s the question Samantha asks and answers in her book Just Get Dressed, which is about FAR more than clothes.

I first met Samantha during a wardrobe workshop she was running and I got a lot out of it — not least how to make dozens of outfits from just a handful of clothing items. But what really floored me was the other stuff I learned.

The history of fashion and women’s clothing. The role of capitalism and patriarchy in what we wear and how we present ourselves and how people see us. The power of voices we don’t even notice, but that shape how we see ourselves.

Sometimes we learn something that shifts our entire worldview sideways and changes everything. I did not expect that to happen in a wardrobe workshop — after all, it’s just clothes, right?

That’s what I thought.

I was wrong.

So I messaged Samantha and asked her when she was writing her book… and was delighted when, a few months later, she asked me to work with her to get it done.

It was an honour and a joy to help her tell the story of style and start removing the idea that fashion is frivolous and we shouldn’t care about it. It’s so much deeper than the clothes on our backs.

If this makes you sit up and pay attention, if you’ve ever stood in front of your wardrobe in despair, you will love Just Get Dressed.

Get it from Amazon and Waterstones and request it from your local library.

Samantha is a former journalist — the first female editor of her newspaper — and her book is not just fascinating it’s a delight to read. Part memoir, part history of fashion and clothing, part social commentary, part rallying cry to own our brilliance, it will change everything about you see clothes and style and yourself.

And it will show you how much power we have when we understand who we are and how to present ourselves to the world. Because like it or not, that’s how the world works.

Read the book, gift it to the other women in your life, and write a joyful review. You’ll be glad you did!

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

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