Giving Gratitude To What’s Living In Your Closet

Every morning (Ok almost every morning) I wake up and take an hour and a half to two hours just for me.

The first thing I do is turn on my lamp which has a soft lightbulb so that I’m not jolted awake. I want to wake up slowly, especially my mind. Then I listen to my affirmations on an app that I enjoy. (ThinkUp – I like this app because it allows you to record your affirmations and then you can play them back to you with background music.) I do this for 10 to 20 minutes.

There’s a few other things that I do but one of my favorites is writing down the things that I really appreciate in my life. This visual exercise gets me connected to what’s important and reminds me that I am blessed with so much abundance.

My list may have a few unique things everyday but for the most part, I am pretty much repeating myself. I list the things that I am grateful for as well as the things that I want more of. Because it is my belief that more of the things that I want to come to me, will, if I am grateful for what I have of them already.

I write as the words flow. My gratitude is in no particular order. This is what I wrote this morning:

I am so grateful for:

• My perfect health,
• Clarity and focus,
• Quiet mornings,
• Money in the bank,
• My comfy, warm bed,
• My wonderful family,
• Lucy’s snoring (my beloved dog)
• My amazing clients,
• Fresh filtered water,
• Hot & cold water readily available,
• An abundance of organic food,
• Awesome girlfriends, and a few guys too,
• Girl time,
• My power, talent, compassion, and intelligence,
• My exciting wardrobe,
• Clean sheets,
• Being able to live in California,
• My new car
• My new closet,
• My computer.

So what does this have to do with style? Well, quite a lot actually. Creating great style is a work in progress because great style is never-ending and always evolving.

Why? Because our lives are the same…maybe not “never-ending” (Darn) but certainly always evolving.

Wherever you are with your style, whether you’re frustrated, feeling pretty good about it, or absolutely loving it, I suggest that you embrace it, pat yourself on the back for wanting to look and feel your best, and be grateful that you have control of where you want to take your style, and how you’re going to create it.

I can already hear some of you saying, “But Michelle, I can’t afford to dress the way I want to.” Or “I’ve put on weight, nothing fits me anymore.” Or “I’m too busy, I don’t have time to shop.”

Every woman I know, including myself, has expressed at least one of these excuses when it comes to creating her authentic style.

I have worked with lots of women who have huge clothing budgets, yoga perfect bodies, and all the time in the world, and still they’re not happy with their wardrobes. Great style doesn’t happen by default. Great style is created.

Building your wardrobe, and mastering your unique style, and maintaining your closet takes effort and a plan. Don’t you think you’re worth it? I do.

We plan our work day, our vacations, and hopefully our retirement. Getting dressed is something that we do everyday, so some effort in creating a wardrobe plan so that you can feel confident in your fashion choices, is a must.

If you’ve worked with me, you’re probably feeling pretty happy with where you are knowing that your wardrobe is an evolving work in progress.

However, if you’re struggling because you don’t know where to begin, here’s a little exercise to get you to feel gratitude about what’s currently living in your closet:

1. Take out a piece of paper, and across the top write: “My Awesome Clothing”
2. List your favorite pieces that you love. It may only be a few, or it may be many.
3. Next to each item, write down the following:
   • Why you love it;
   • How it makes you feel when you wear it.
4. Go to your closet, pull out these pieces and with excitement give each piece love and gratitude for helping you feel ___________! (Confident, wonderful, sexy, etc.) I know it sounds silly. But if you want more of those pieces, I suggest you discover which ones really bring you joy and then be grateful for the joy you receive when you wear them. Remember how you feel because when you go shopping you want to feel this same joy when you’re about to buy something new.

If you want to take it a step further, after you’ve gotten all mushy with your lovables, lay them all out on your bed. If you have too many (You lucky girl!) lay them out in groups (Jackets, Pants, Tops, etc.)  and take notice:

1. Do they all have something in common?
2. Are they mostly neutrals? Or are they colorful?
3. Solids or patterns?
4. Are they frilly and feminine, uber classic, or cutting edge?
5. Mostly soft knits, or sharp and structured?

Whatever you’re noticing, this is your authentic style. Even if you only have a few pieces, believe me, those few pieces have something in common. Discover what it is and make sure that when you shop, you find pieces that have a similar style, and help you to feel____________.(Confident, wonderful, sexy, etc.)

This can be a huge discovery! So give more gratitude!

I love looking into my closet and feeling joy and excitement over my wardrobe. But I confess, even though I’ve been in fashion my entire working life, I didn’t always feel this way. Like most women, I had no plan. I was dressing by default instead of by design.

It wasn’t until I became a personal wardrobe consultant did I understand how important it was to have a plan.

Let me just express my gratitude for a moment. Sometimes I feel like I am the luckiest girl in the world because I not only get to do what I do, but I get to work with awesome people. I am so thankful. And yes, my work has inspired women to say to me, “Michelle, you have changed my life.”

What could be better than to hear that sentiment from my clients. I am so filled with gratitude.

And since we’re on a roll with giving gratitude, this is the deal:

If you haven’t worked with me, to express my gratitude, I’m offering you my Initial Consultation to get you started in creating a plan for your style. This style service is regularly $450, but for you it will be a special price of only $350.

Want to chat and discover what my Initial Consultation entails? Let’s talk!

Schedule a phone call with Michelle!

To my VIP clients, don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about you. To show how much I appreciate you, the next style session you book with me, I will give you 20% off.

The details:

To take advantage of this special “thank you” pricing, you just need to pay for your style service by the end of the year. And you have until July 31st, 2017 to schedule it.

For my VIP clients reading this who already have a style session scheduled with me and want to take advantage of my offer, you still need to pre-pay by the end of the year. However, I will honor this special price until the end of 2017 so that you can use it toward another style session with me. To schedule just respond to this email.

This is a wonderful gift to show appreciation to yourself, an awesome gift to receive (Hint to the significant other), or a delightful gift to give to someone to show how much you appreciate them! 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Now, it’s your turn. I’d love to hear from you.  Your insights and inspiration are appreciated so please share your stories in the comments below.

If you have a question also post it in the comment section below.  I check it daily. Since the topic is always about fashion or style no question that you ask will be “off Topic.” 

That means as far as I’m concerned, when you ask a question that is the topic. Everyone else who’s reading it can follow up on my answer. There will be no questions that you ask that will be too far off topic because your question will be the current topic. So…ask away!

Oh…and your email address is not “required” even though it says so. 🙂 Don’t even ask.

Blog me.

Love,

~Michelle