How to use your wardrobe to change your life

I know I haven’t been writing much lately and I have no excuse but I am back and what I do have is A LOT to share.

This week, I traveled to Miami to spend the week experiencing a different side of the country. As a fashion brand owner/creative, traveling is a crucial element of inspiration but as a minimal gal who loves neutral tones (in just about everything), who’s favorite season is winter and being a person who focuses on mostly modest clothing- Miami was not my usual cup of tea. 

But….

I am currently sitting on the 43rd floor of a high rise building in downtown Miami with flashing lights and sirens and all… and I feel like I have breathed in new life. And this brings me to today’s topic… CHANGE. 

Now I know I am writing this from the perspective of a fashion brand business owner but as I have said from the very beginning, we are not just a clothing brand. We strive to build a collective of women who are supportive of growth and adventurous with their femininity. I will relate this back to fashion in a moment however, hang in there with me. 

Change is scary. We get so wrapped up in our comfort zones and having things jusssst the way we like them that when something new comes along, it’s easy to say “no, I’m okay.” Not all the time is this the case and if you are a woman who chases opportunity, I applaud you. Andra the Brand is all about building the woman you want to be and actualizing the life you want through intention and femininity. Andra was born from a place of confusion actually, wild I know. I felt like I was stuck living for others and trying to be what someone else wanted me to be (usually this someone was a man) Bleh! Point is, I struggled connecting with my femininity and finding confidence in myself which made it hard for me to accept challenges and welcome change. 

Now, when we speak about or think about change the first step is to make a commitment to ourselves that our only constant in life from here on out will be…. GROWTH. Change can feel scary until you find the purpose for it. That’s the secret sauce. In my case, the first step for me was to change the way I felt about my energy and how I presented that energy. It was the easiest of changes that were on my plate at the time next to shedding the bad boyfriend, finding a job that valued me, moving to a new place that I could decorate with my voice and the list goes on but I think you understand what I’m saying. My life needed to be turned upside down to be right side up again. Part of changing that energy was changing what I put on my body that made first impressions more acute to the person I am. You’re probably thinking, “okay, here comes the pitch..” but really, this was the first and most important step for me. Whether you align with Andra (I am hoping so since you are reading this blog) or not, a great first step in the great build of the woman you WILL become is to find your personal style that reflects your energy. Finding my style was no easy task but that’s a story for another time. In short, I had to strip everything I thought I knew about myself and start over. Keeping a journal for this was helpful for me. The more I wrote the more I came to realize that I was most comfortable in basics that made me feel clean and crisp and calm. Wearing less aggressive clothing so my energy could speak for itself.  Less is more and there is luxury in simplicity. A refined elegance that is unspoken and 10000% just as powerful.