00. hi, Substack
yes, yet another newsletter about personal style
Hi, I'm Hannah. I've decided to start this newsletter for two reasons. Firstly, over the last couple of years, I've been on a bit of a personal style journey. For most of my twenties, I was comfortable with my sense of style and getting dressed seemed (mostly) pretty easy. When I was 28, I moved to a new city to start a new job. My new job came with a significant pay cut and the new city came with a different (much colder!) climate.
Over the ensuing five years, most of my (reduced) clothing budget went to buying clothes either for work or to survive the climatic change. And suddenly one day, I thought "I don’t think I know what my style is anymore?" The outfits I would have worn in my early twenties no longer felt right. I was an owner of clothes, but if I wasn't going to work, or to the gym, it felt like I had NOTHING to wear.
I ended up finding some incredible style resources (Gabrielle Arruda's YouTube channel was a particular favourite), and instead of shopping, I did some work. Cataloguing what I owned, learning about style systems and colour theory, critically examining my body proportions, thinking about what I want my outfits to communicate to the world, and how I want to feel when I open my wardrobe.
Slowly, over time, I used this new input to identify wardrobe gaps and build a wishlist of items to fill those gaps. I want this newsletter to function as a distillation of what I've learned to help others, whether they are staring at a wardrobe of doom, or just want to think a bit more deeply about their personal style.
Secondly, I want to alter my ratio of consumption to creation. I'm a firm believer that writing is thinking. I think it's important to actively do something with new knowledge. Creating a newsletter seemed like a valuable way to balance the ratio of content I've consumed to content produced.
I'm going to aim for a fortnightly post. Indicative topics include: colour theory, style systems, how to vet a potential item, techniques to identify wardrobe gaps, wardrobe editing, style harmony, style proportions, outfit planning, wardrobe budgeting, and digital style tools.
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Thanks for being here!