It’s a new year, and many of us are looking for a fresh start. This year, we tell ourselves, is THE year that we will finally quit smoking, lose the weight, and become a better person. And often at these times of transition, we change our hair and buy new clothes to symbolise the change. So today, we’re looking at a Signature Wardrobe Fresh Start Outfit.

Climate/Location/Activities

Some activities lend themselves more easily to fresh start outfits than others. Things like graduations, initiations, and weddings. Transitions to some new jobs come with uniforms such as court regalia, military combat gear, or team sports.

But drawing a metaphorical line in the sand and jumping over it doesn’t come with an easily recognisable outfit. It’s more about headology, and convincing yourself that somewhere in the air between one side of the line and the other, you have become someone new.

Presence

A fresh start outfit can be any colour or style you want it to be.

Many Western cultures use white is often used for transitions – it’s partly about purity, and partly tabula rasa, or clean slate. You could follow my lead and choose fiery colours symbolising your phoenix-like resurrection from the ashes of your past. Perhaps you are a little less melodramatic and prefer blue skies, green field projects, or letting the yellow sunshine into your corners. Maybe you are casting off your black mood and adopting an enduring brown or a romantic pink.

My suggestion is to pick a colour that you like (and that suits you) that feels like it represents your better version of you.

I hate myself for saying it, but if you get stuck, and like yellow-greens, Pantone’s colour for 2017 is “Greenery” (15-0343). According to Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, “Greenery bursts forth in 2017 to provide us with the hope we collectively yearn for amid a complex social and political landscape. Satisfying our growing desire to rejuvenate, revitalize and unite, Greenery symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose.”

Yes, well… I’m not sure that’s how I would describe it, but maybe she knows something I don’t.

Clothes

What you wear depends on how you plan to mark your fresh start.

Let’s use weddings as an example.

• Many modern women are happy to dump a tonne of money on a new dress, petticoats, veil, headpiece, sash/belt, gloves, wrap, bag, shoes, stockings, garter, undies and jewellery to never wear again after the wedding. Some will conserve them for prospective children, some will put them on a mannequin to look at, and some will squash them in their closets to get in the way of their day-to-day dressing.
• In the old days, there just wasn’t enough money for that. Women made pragmatic choices based on what they owned, what they could borrow, and what they had to buy. And when they had to buy they made rational choices based on long-term use; they incorporated those items into their life.

My recommendation is that if you buy new clothes, buy ones that you can include in your life and get a lot of use from.

Accessories

Some fresh starts, like marriage, come with rituals that take you from one state to another (your father’s problem to your husband’s). You symbolically discard some or all aspects of your initiate’s costume as you move, and reaching the other side take a token of the transition.

That being the case, you could take some sort of talisman or lucky charm to help you through the transition while you bed down the change. The easiest way to do that is with a piece of jewellery. Crystal lore offers a number of suggestions:

• Moonstone or Kyanite: calms fear and helps you bring your desires to fruitition.
• Mookite: shields you from negativity and represents new beginnings.
• Clear Quartz: brings clarity and harmony.
• White Stones: (e.g. howlite or opalite) clear mental clutter and enhance focus.
• Carnelian or Citrine: for humour and light-heartedness.

Not that they literally do this without you, you need to clean and charge them, and set your intention first. But even if you don’t believe that just like lucky charms they act as a visible reminder to your unconscious mind to look for opportunities.

And as your belongings pick up your energetic essence (or at the very least sweat, lotions and body fat), you should clean all the jewellery you habitually wear.

Grooming

Our fresh start outfit will need a fresh start perfume to go with it. I’m thinking something fresh and citrusy. But that’s kind of what I wear all the time anyway.

Luckily, as well as citrus, aromatherapy also suggests rose for self-love and frankincense for truth. Here are some others that might work for you.

• Calming anxiety: bergamot, lavender, neroli, orange, roman chamomile.
• Clearing away old energies: peppermint, pine, rosemary.
• Courage: black pepper, clove, cypress, ginger, sandalwood.
• Creating harmony: bergamot, geranium, jasmine, patchouli, sandalwood, ylang-ylang.
• Lifting your mood: bergamot, clary sage, lavender, lemon, peppermint, rosemary cineol, sweet orange.

Lots to choose from. You can Google more appropriate oils for your situation, and then perfumes containing that oil. Do try before you buy!

Plus a new edgy (for you) hairstyle to tell others you’re not the same person as you were before.

Wrap Up

According to me, every day is a fresh start. Every day I choose a fresh start outfit according to the kind of day that I have planned, and what kind of woo-woo help I think I might need to get through. (Not the vodka drink, though that does merit more consideration)

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