The first photo I posted on my blog, and still one of my favourites
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am the quiet one. My husband, Rick is the talker, and I am the one word answer person. So, I never thought that I would write 70 blog posts, that's a lot of words for me! I have actually found that the written word has become a great way for me to get all of the thoughts and nonsense out of my head. Some people are verbal processors who just have to speak out all of their thoughts, I use journals to write my words out in a more private manner. I write on substrates before I create artworks on them, sometimes praying for the receiver of the artwork, sometimes just thoughts about what I am creating, and I write here, mostly my ideas and knowledge around fashion.
Upcycled pieces
I decided to look back over my 69 blog posts and have a little trip down memory lane. My first blog post, dated April 17, 2018 was where it all began. I was keen then to make upcycled item re-using materials, and giving a portion of my income to our friends in Uganda. I still do some upcycling, but also make from new materials and from pieces of fabric from my stash, and I still try to support my friends in Uganda and have raised funds and bought several sewing machines for women there to learn to sew so that they can work.
Sewing in Uganda
In my early posts I spoke about my love for fashion design and that has not changed. I also spoke of my need for a greater purpose than to just design and make things and try to sell them. I still feel this way about both these things.
On May 2nd, 2018 I tried to make pompoms and ended up writing about love. I still believe what I wrote 100% and I never pursued my pompom making career. I have heaps of selvedge scraps so maybe I should try again. Hahaha!
I have written about Joy and peace, given a funny account of my surgery, and decided at one point that I was going to "embrace every situation, sit with the good and also the hard, sad, ugly or downright bad." I can't say that I have kept up that last practise very well over the last four years. Who knew that a worldwide pandemic would come along and change the world as we know it?
I have wondered what is going on, shared my experiences working in Uganda, shared poetry and in November 2020 I declared myself to be a Fashion Designer.
I’ve shared my fashion collections on my blog posts and then I wrote about how “sometimes men just have to chop things” and how I was going to stop doing some things in order to concentrate more on other things that I was doing.
Just after that, in July 2021, when we were in the midst of pandemic lockdowns, I got interested in writing about my views on accepting every body shape, colour and size. I also decided to overhaul my wardrobe and begin to work on it containing only clothes that I love to wear that make me feel great and confident.
These topics around body image and wearing only what makes you feel like your best confident person have now become a passion of mine, and I am writing all my posts and experiences into something that may one day become some kind of book. In the meantime, I would love to offer my services, knowledge, and expertise in this area to assist other women to begin their own WARDROBE REVOLUTION.
This would include a questionnaire about who you are and what clothing styles you love, a complete working over of every piece of clothing in your wardrobe and deciding if it should remain there. Then working on styling ideas for your current clothes (look at my blog posts called Vision Board – Meet my wardrobe and Other Thoughts, and 66. Seventeen Things to do with a Pair of Black Pants), and an inspiration board for your future garment purchases. If you are interested, email me suzzimaggs@gmail.com
I am passionate about helping women find confidence through their wardrobe styling, weather that be staying on trend or finding their own unique looks because this is something that mousy shy little me, who has lacked confidence in myself and my purpose for far too long has been discovering through working on my own fashion styling and sharing my ideas along the way. I am finding my confidence, and words like gumption and dignity are becoming important to me, and important to find in my friends and neighbours.
I am amazed that I have made it to 70 blog posts and I will continue to write hopefully for at least 70 more. I am thankful for every one who stops to read them and my hope is that is some small way I can encourage a few of you in finding confidence in your wardrobe styling adventures.