Alex Davies
Easy Elevated Everyday Style
What if walking up to your closet filled you with creative possibility instead of that "ugh" feeling? I want to help you make clothes a source of inspiration and a way to embrace your body every day.
Does Your Period Change Your Personal Style?
Have you ever noticed what you want to wear changes throughout the month?
I’ve been observing my period over the past six months and formulating a theory
that what I’m drawn to in my closet - the way I want to feel in my clothes and express my style - is correlated to which phase of my menstrual cycle I’m experiencing.
This might sound crazy, but here me out.
Have you heard of the four inner seasons of your menstrual cycle?
It’s a poetic way to think about the hormonal phases of your cycle and the outward affects they have on your mood, energy, etc. It goes like this:
1. Inner Winter
- the first week of your new cycle during bleeding and shedding the old stuff. Usually accompanied by a low energy but also a feeling of relief along with introversion and introspection.
2. Inner Spring - the time when your hormones are preparing for ovulation during the follicular phase. A lift in energy brings a sense of more power, creativity and the confidence to take risks.
3. Inner Summer - the days of ovulation when your estrogen is at its peak and your womb is fertile. There is often a surge of all the positivity you felt in spring taken to a new level. Women often say they feel and look their most attractive and confident on these days.
4. Inner Fall - during the luteal phase your mood and energy are winding down. Toward the end of fall you may experience more negative mood swings, a craving for comfort, alone time and good food, as well as some anxiety and irritability and just plain tiredness.
Doesn’t seem so crazy anymore, does it?
What does all this have to do with fashion? I can’t help but notice
a direct relation to those feelings and energies that my hormones instigate and what I think about my own personal style.
Those days I have nothing to wear despite a closet bursting with options often come in my Inner Fall and Winter
when I’m more insecure and I just want to be cozy, comfy
and probably alone with a bowl of ice cream. I also think my style tends toward a more casual masculine emphasis during these weeks/seasons.
And
when I notice myself making the most daring inventive outfit choices with striking colors and even sexy feminine lines, it’s almost always during my Inner Spring and Summer.
I want to wear a huge twirly skirt and puffy sleeves or a creative new look that in the days before I didn’t have the confidence surge to believe I could really “pull it off” and actually wear it in public.
Is any of this sounding familiar?
Are you clicking some puzzle pieces together about your wardrobe struggles and highs?
Next month, jot down what shifts you notice in your relationship with your closet. You can use your phone notes or even the notes in a period tracker app.
I’d love to hear if you believe or don’t buy it that your period actually might affect your sense of personal style!
Keep reading for some style affirmations for every season of your cycle...
And if your cycle does affect your fashion, what should you do?
I’ve made
a couple realizations that have given me more peace with my closet
during the ebbs and flows, ups and downs of each menstrual month. You can call these inner season style affirmations, if you want to.
Here’s what I’ve observed:
- Embrace the cozy.
Don’t berate yourself for wanting to wear joggers three days in a row. Add a jean jacket and some cute sandals and call it an outfit. Let yourself winter without judgment.
Spring will come again.
- When it’s springtime,
enjoy taking those risks.
Now is the time to try new things. You might just learn something new that you love and want to reach for all month long.
- When it’s fall and winter time,
don’t clean out your closet and donate all your bright feminine clothes because spring and summer are right around the corner.
- Don’t try to tone yourself down in the summer. Wear the twirly dress and the colorful headband and the white cowboy boots without fear of what others might think. They probably just wish they had your summertime confidence, too.
- And finally, have grace for your changing body. She might not fit in your favorite jeans during some days of her cycle. You don’t have to punish her for that. that your period actually might affect your sense of personal style!
Tell me what you think in the comments below!
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