Shoes live in a box, you shouldn't.

The process of becoming confined is a lengthy one, it doesn't happen over night the boxes we live in are defined over time and unfortunately usually by other people.  In my experience it is the people who are more difficult to define or who continue to surprise you that we find most interesting and as a result want to emulate in terms of fashion and lifestyle.

A style icon is someone who doesn't just do what they are told, they look at the options and make an active choice, passively accepting your lot in life is not the way to a genuine smile in the morning.  I'd like to tell you a bit more about Louise, she of the first date in 'Event dressing 101'.  She was married for a decade, the lived a fairly comfortable life but as her twenties became her thirties, the list of things that came before her in the pecking order got longer and longer.  When we first met there was no room in her life for fashion, as far as she was concerned, "clothes are what stop me being arrested on the school run", "no body looks at me anyway so what does it matter what I'm wearing?"  The boxes Louise had put herself in were: Wife and Mother, and then she was thrown out of one of her boxes, quite unexpectedly.  Life changes are one of the things I do the most as I can help illustrate ways to bridge the gap between what you are used to and what you need.  In this case Louise needed armour, confidence carrying clothes - that would mean she could fake it, for a while, until she was back on form.  Before we could build a wardrobe though we had to destroy some boxes.  As inside the big boxes were lots of little belief boxes, 

Mummies aren't meant to be sexy

I do not have time to spend hours on myself

No body cares what I look like

Fashion is not functional

To be honest the list could be endless, so why don't we concentrate on these as they are all effectively saying the same thing:- I don't matter!

It came as a huge shock to Louise that she did matter and by improving the way she felt about herself and treated herself, she was generally better at everything she was doing.  I think there is an old proverb something about the world being a better place through happy eyes and when we are unconfined we have more of a view of that world.  I'm not saying you need to question every character trait and thought that defines you, although if you have an urge knock yourself out, my friend.  What I am saying is that you aren't what you do, so why wear a uniform at home?

Go on crack the lid, I bet there is more inside than you thought!