Just yesterday I said good bye to a chapter in my life that I thought was long over, yet only on the physical act of saying farewell to the person who formed a large part of this chapter did I realise what this good bye meant. After the tears, came a big sigh of relief and a void filled with hope, that the hard days are finally over and a new beginning awaits. Another good bye is the one I'll be saying to the first chapter of my career. I've formed a partnership, moved my studio and finally hired staff to help with the workload. All in the hopes of expansion, bigger ideas and the bright future I've always believed in. Along with the excitement, comes fear, comes worry, and the sadness that change sometimes brings. A sadness for my little routine, my little decisions and my little fashion livelihood. Good bye to the walls that first held my dreams, good bye to the comfort of the small, and hello to the risk of the opposite.
Fashion, the seasons, and the ever changing flourish of talented designers and fabulous apparel is a dynamic similar to the one we face in our changing lives. Any fashionista will state that cleaning out your closet or sticking to the 'one in, one out' rule is a depressing thought. Often no matter how out of date an item or accessory, parting with these possessions that have carried you through life, through nights on the town, through winter and summer, through love and laughter is difficult. With the fear however, of becoming a dreaded 'hoarder', it is ever necessary to edit a wardrobe as it is to edit your life.
The task becomes easier once looked at with hope. Hope of new colours, the latest styles just waiting to find their space on your rail. I love the pure joy of taking down the hanger and snapping off the tag from a new dress, the money you spent doesn't matter, and any guilt fades away, along with the poor items tossed in order to make way for the new ones. All a dim shadow in the light of the hope that this dress will bring new memories, brighter days and finer fashion fantasies. In the same way a dress can give you power, so can the courage to clothe your life in something new. To clothe life's changes in hope, that's the key to getting through. Where hope exists, no night can be completely dark. Hope fills us up with glad expectations and will always drown out the fear or sadness and longing in our ever changing lives.
As fashions fade, they never disappear, they only lie dormant awaiting a time in which they'll make a fresh come back, new and improved, styled for the moment. And so it is with our past and our memories. Change means leaving them behind, but only until needed again to draw on for experience, to remember and help us to better focus on the future.
So I'm waving farewell to my early career, saying au revoir to yesterday and bonjour to tomorrow! With a hopeful heart, renewed passion and all my humble memories waiting in the wings to help me through. It's all about the positivity people. And who knows, with the sky as the limit, this small town journey may soon have to make way for 'Sass In The City'.....
Stay fabulous fashionista's,
Yours in style,
Melissa Jane xoxo
