Time Well Spent

September 23rd, 2016 admin

When Grey was a toddler, he would wake up at 5am, doggedly determined to start the day. Every. Single. Day. Not sharing his enthusiasm for pre-dawn darkness, I would groggily put on whatever was within arm’s length. Even after the coffee kicked in, I felt how I presented. Tired and sloppy. Not a good look for a burgeoning stylist.

At the time, I was a newly single mom, and I hadn’t yet gracefully transitioned. I was getting dressed on auto-pilot because my 20 minute self-care allotment was really 18 minutes of unpredictable “mommy, I need” declarations and 2 minutes to get dressed and brush my teeth. I needed a strategy.

My solution was simple: upgrade the pieces that were at the top of the pile so that, no matter what, I always loved what I was wearing (a gray cashmere turtleneck, black skinny jeans and Isabel Marant sneakers were the uniform) and I got rid of anything undeserving.

As my lifestyle changed, the clothing changed, but the strategy remained. Five years later, I still have a repertoire of solid (albeit more sophisticated) “go-to” looks to access when I am strapped for time. On days that I have a bit more leeway, I get creative. On days that I don’t, clients are none the wiser.

A seemingly small effort with a huge impact on self-confidence…definitely time well spent.