I Started Getting Dressed Every Day...and It Kind of Changed Everything

It all began while packing for a trip to Europe—which creatively reshaped how I wanted to show up in my everyday life.

In this episode, I talk about a shift in my perspective on fashion and personal style—learning to dress for my body, trusting my instincts, and defining what style means to me.  What started as a small and fun experiment turned into something much bigger. Getting dressed every day has become a part of how I step into my confidence.

Although every day isn't perfect, this simple habit has allowed me to bring new life to the pieces I already own and to get creative with the way I style things together. It has been an unexpected shift that has brought me so much joy in how I show up in my life.

Podcast IG: @letstakeabeatpod

Host IG: @nicoleathill

*The content of this podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I am not a licensed therapist or medical professional. If you are experiencing mental health challenges or need personalized guidance, please seek support from a qualified professional*

Thank you for listening!

Transcript

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Hello, and welcome back to Let's Take a Beat. I am your host, Nicole. It has been quite a while since I've recorded an episode for you all, and I'm so excited to be back because I have a topic that I feel really passionate about and one that's a little bit more lighthearted and fun. And before we get into all of that, I just wanted to give a couple of updates on where I have been for the last month. So March was a month where my husband and I spent the majority of the month at home. Although we were at home, it was very, very busy. We were both working like crazy. There was a lot going on here at home. But nevertheless, we pushed through March, and especially here in New York City, the weather is constantly back and forth. We had some really cold days, really warm days. So we were just doing our best to kind of adjust as the days went on, and also just working really hard, especially because we have a lot going on over the next couple of months and into the summer. We have a lot of exciting trips, and we are home for about another two months before we head out on another trip. So we're really trying to take these next couple of months easy and just enjoying time at home while also working a lot. What's also really exciting is we just came back from a trip to Paris, and it was such a beautiful, wonderful trip. I am literally in love with Paris and I could live there. It was just so magical and so beautiful. I have been before when I was about 13 years old, and so I remembered snippets of it, but it was really special to be able to return as an adult with my husband and his family, and it was just wonderful and perfect. And so we just got back from that trip, and prior to heading out to Paris, we had a nine-show week over at Aladdin, so it was very, very busy leading up to the trip. There was also Easter. So with all of those wonderful things behind us and looking forward to April, we are already in the middle of April and heading into May, and I am just excited to kind of get things back in order, get set back into my routines, get settled back into work, and just doing a bit of spring cleaning and reaching out to friends, and especially because the weather, at least today, is like 80 degrees and beautiful. I just came back from a little walk and a little bit of reading in the park. And I definitely want to do my best to embrace this spring weather and really taking advantage of getting outside and meeting up with friends and cleaning up in my house and getting rid of things so that we can go into the rest of spring and summer with a clear mind and with excitement for what is to come. So this episode is all about how I started getting dressed every day and it kind of changed everything. So just to go back and why this is the topic for today, is when I was packing for Paris, I was very inspired by Parisian style, by European style in general. And also when I travel, especially when I've traveled to Europe, I really want to make sure that I am creating outfits that are simple and elevated, and I'm not overpacking or packing too much. So my goal was to create outfits that allowed me to be very flexible in my travels and something that allowed me to feel very put together and polished. So when I laid out all my clothes and started mixing and matching different things, I started turning to Pinterest, I started turning to YouTube, and I really just wanted to get more inspiration of how I wanted to dress there, how I could utilize the pieces that I already had, and that kind of just clicked for me. Where I then started to go down the rabbit hole of not only just seeing how my pieces could work together, but also how to really dress for my body type. And what's really interesting is I feel like growing up, I just never cared about clothes. I never loved spending money on clothes. And obviously that might sound a little dramatic, me not caring. I obviously cared about clothes, and there were certain styles and brands that I would gravitate towards, but it was almost like I would have the clothes that I had in my closet, and I liked the clothes, but I never actually knew how to style them or wear them, or why a certain neckline would look better on me, or why adding a certain accessory would look better on me, or certain color palettes. And those are just things I never paid attention to. And growing up in middle school and in high school, I wore a uniform to school every single day. And so throughout that time, I didn't really get a chance to experiment a ton with my style. And I remember when I went to college, it was kind of a shock to me because I was like, oh my goodness, I have to dress myself, I have to figure out what I like and what I look good in. And when I think back on my time in college, I absolutely was not a fashionable person. I just kind of threw things together, and of course, I can't blame myself for that. I was just doing my best at the time and being in college and being in theater school and running around all day and being in class all day long. You're I'm wearing my sweatpants, I'm wearing my leggings, and you know, there also wasn't that much opportunity for me to really explore my style. And what's so funny is that my mom is an incredibly fashionable person. She always knows how to look put together, she really understands her style. And when I would go shopping with her, she would be very specific about the things that she liked. And I would clock that, but that never really translated over to me. I kind of would see things that I liked, but I would never fully piece it together with the things that I already had, or if I were gonna buy multiple uh different items in a store, it's like, okay, how would I pair this one thing with the other thing? So I truly have been kind of lost in the fashion space and the style space. I would say that I feel like prior to me being really inspired over these last couple of weeks, I feel like my style was fine, but I really never put that much thought into it. And I feel like the clothes that I have I really like and enjoy, but again, I never really put much thought into it. So I went down the rabbit hole of silhouettes and dressing for my body type and paying attention to necklines, paying attention to where things hit on my waist. And this is also just a disclaimer here is that everybody has different beautiful body types and beautiful body shapes. And I think what's really tough is that when we look at Pinterest or social media or YouTube and we see people who are dressing and they look amazing in things, and we try to replicate that and we realize that doesn't look good on me. It's because that everybody has a different shape and style and vibe, and even skin tone and undertones play a huge part in things. And I would always feel so confused why I would look at Instagram and would see an amazing outfit and someone looked incredible, and then I try to recreate it, and maybe it didn't look terrible, but it really didn't feel like me. That's also one thing with this conversation is it truly doesn't matter what you look like, what your body type is like, everyone is beautiful and everyone deserves to feel good in their own skin, and everyone deserves to feel good in the clothing that they wear. And another disclaimer is your clothes do not have to be expensive. Designer, all these different types of things. There are so many different ways in which to style and play with your clothing and pair things up with each other where it really doesn't even matter where you get them from or where they're from, it's just how it fits on your body and how you are styling them. And I am no expert because trust me, I literally have not been this excited and invested in fashion and style until literally a couple of weeks ago. But it really just completely has shifted my perspective in the way that I am now. If I am looking at my closet or if I am out shopping, I feel like I'm much more specific about the things that I know will work well for me. So once I went down the silhouettes and the body type and the neckline type of rabbit hole, I then transitioned over to color theory and the color palettes and the colors that look good on my skin tone and not just colors, but again also undertones and how to pair those colors when it comes to the tops that I wear, the bottoms that I wear, the shoes that I wear, the accessories that I wear. And that really opened up an entire world for me. Now I know people get their color analysis done. I have never gotten that done, but I did kind of go online and I was able to use some website where I was able to upload a picture and just get a very rough idea of what kind of color palette I am. And apparently I am a deep winter, which is what I really, really agree with. Typically, with deep winters, we love our whites, like white whites, not necessarily creams, more jewel tones and blacks and cool browns, cool toned colors, also some bright colors, like some reds and pinks. Here's the other thing: you can wear whatever colors you want. I will wear whatever colors I love and colors that I want. But what's interesting about this specific palette for me is that colors that tend to be more earthy toned and warm tone are not necessarily the colors that would pop with my skin tone and undertone. Now, I do have those colors, I will wear those colors every so often, but I really noticed a big difference when I would choose a certain type of color that maybe looked good on me, but maybe didn't flatter me as much as I would like. And then switching over to a color that really brings, really highlights my features and really makes me feel good. And so it's been really interesting doing the color analysis. Well, I didn't get a real one done, but you know what I mean. But doing that type of color analysis and also undertones. I know that for me when it comes to metals, when it comes to gold and silver, I am a silver girl all the way. I have always been a silver gal. I love my silver jewelry, and so that also those cooler tones really translate in colors as well. So I will go for cooler toned versions of maybe those earthy tones. The color analysis part was very interesting for me, and it's something that I have now equally started to pay attention to, along with the silhouettes and everything. And as I talk about all of these things, it kind of sounds very overwhelming. Some of it may not sound that interesting or seem very interesting, and to be honest, I was never interested in any of those things until I've turned my ripe age of 31. Now, this is something that I am fully embracing and wanting to learn about. And I don't know if it's because I'm now in my 30s or because a trip inspired me, or because spring is here and I feel inspired to dress differently and to really clean out my wardrobe and really wear things that make me feel good. But it is just something that has really brought me a lot of joy, and I've been able to learn a lot. And I know that it can be challenging when it comes to finding your style and everything like that, because it's also one of those things where you do look in the mirror and you are looking at what's on your body, and you may not love what's on your body, and there are so many things about that that can feel at times really scary, frustrating, it could be triggering in some ways, but it's something where it takes a lot of practice. I am no expert, like I've said before, I am no expert on this, and sometimes it can be challenging trying to figure out a formula for myself. But as I've started to get more specific and I've started to also take my time in learning about also what can complement my features and my body type and all of these things has also made me more of a confident dresser, and it's also made me more of a confident person. Thinking about the clothes that I put on my body, and again, not obsessing over it, but putting a little bit more thought into it has really changed me in a lot of ways in how I think about myself and how I go out into the world. And so this kind of segues into a psychological theory called encloshed cognition. And this phenomenon explains how clothes impact the way that your mind works and how you think and feel. I have challenged myself over the last, I think it's been about three weeks, maybe, maybe about a month, where I had challenged myself to get dressed every single day. And what I mean by this is thinking about an outfit, putting an outfit together, and in this specific case, I personally wanted to refrain from wearing sweatpants or leggings. There is nothing wrong with that, by the way. I am fully out and about in my leggings and my sweatpants. And also, it's not always realistic to get dressed every single day, right? But I really wanted to kind of do a little challenge for myself. I thought about the outfit I would wear. I would try on different things and come up with an outfit that I enjoyed. And again, I stayed away from any sort of athleisure. Along with getting dressed, I also wanted to make sure my hair was somewhat done and my makeup was somewhat done. Again, I'm not somebody who tends to wear a ton of makeup, and even if you're somebody who doesn't like makeup or doesn't want to put on makeup, that is absolutely okay because those are the there are days when I do not want to put on makeup either. But again, this was a little challenge for myself. I was like, just a little bit of makeup, just a little bit of extra effort into my hair. That means taking an extra 10 minutes, 20 minutes, maybe 30 minutes to just put a little bit of time, and that might sound like a lot. I don't always need that much time. And I think as I practice, I will get even faster at being able to decide okay, this is what I'm going for, this is what I want to do, and it'll become easier, I know, if I just continue to practice. And again, it can sound like a lot of work, but it's been really fun for me and it's really unlocked this creativity in me that I really love. And also for me, this hasn't really been about me going out and shopping for a bunch of clothes. It's actually allowed me to give the clothes that I have a new life and allow me to use the things that I already have and that I love and maybe have not worn or forgotten about because I felt like I couldn't style them in a certain way. And so it's been a really beautiful experience just being able to use what I have, and also, yes, there are certain things that I have bought and certain things that I will continue to keep my eye on and buy into spring and summer. But every purchase is intentional to my style and what I want to feel and how I want to present myself to the world. And ever since I have gotten ready every single day for almost the past month, I have noticed a significant difference in how I show up for the world. I think putting in a little extra time, getting myself ready for the day, even if I'm not going anywhere, it's an act of self-love, an act of self-care, an act of telling myself that I can feel good and care for myself and look good, however that means for you, and show up in the world as the version of myself that I am, and in ways that I want to be. I feel like it's such a powerful energetic thing to put clothes on your body that you love and get ready for your day. Now, what's easy for me is that typically when I would go to work and on Broadway we do eight shows a week. Typically, on the days where we don't do two shows, I'm not going to work until like five o'clock in the evening. It's very easy for me to just be at home, do my thing, and just kind of rush out of the house. I would always be rushing out of the house and whatever I had on, which was fine. It was totally fine, and there was nothing wrong with that. But having the routine of deciding, okay, I'm going to get ready for work today, it shifted something in my mind. It allowed me to actually put myself mentally in the place of like, I am leaving my house, I am going to my job, I am interacting with my coworkers, and I am putting my best self forward in my job. And what's funny with my job is that when I show up to the theater, I immediately get dressed and I'm wearing costumes for my entire show. So part of it is almost like, well, why would you get dressed to then change out of those clothes and wear your costumes and then that's that? And that's why I just never really bothered, which again is totally fine. I will continue to do that throughout the rest of my time. I truly will. But I noticed a significant difference in how I carried myself and how I walked through the doors of my job and walked into my dressing room and interacted with people. And it was almost like that same energy I had when I got ready for the day and came to work in and was dressed. That same energy translated to when I was doing my job and wearing other costumes and and clothing for my job. And I found that to be very, very interesting. And that was something that was unexpected for me and something that I thought wouldn't really make a big difference. But in doing this experiment, as I called it, I would tell my husband, like I'm doing this little experiment and seeing how it goes. I've just learned so much about how much more open I feel. And when I feel good about myself, it really bubbles over and translates. And I feel like I'm much more open to with people. I do feel grounded, I do feel like myself. What's also wonderful is that I've gotten more compliments in my life than I have ever gotten on my outfit and how I've been presenting myself. And truly, that's not the goal. The goal is not to like go fishing for compliments all the time, but it feels really good when you receive a compliment. And it also feels really good when you give compliments to others. It's that wonderful give and take, and just acknowledging that someone looks amazing or their energy feels amazing. And again, that's not gonna happen every day. There may be days where even I get dressed and I'm not even gonna radiate positive energy. There are so many things that are going on in our lives, and and something like this can feel just so minute and something that doesn't matter. And obviously, I think the the first thing to go when things get really difficult in life is our us taking care of ourselves. Obviously, if you have the bandwidth and the space to be able to create a little bit of extra time in caring for yourself and learning how to do certain things that make you feel confident, I think it's such a superpower and such a gift. And with this topic, I don't want to come off superficial, I don't want to come off having people believe that like you must get dressed every day, that is the key to success, because that's just not realistic, and that's not realistic for me either. But as somebody who literally never cared and never gave a thought about how I dressed and how I would style myself and how I would just get ready for the day, it's really created massive waves in my life of confidence and and a feeling that I just feel like I hadn't really experienced before. I do attribute a lot of this to also just, you know, as I'm getting older, as I've hit my 30s, as I've had a lot of wonderful things and change happen in my life. I felt this need to be creative in other ways. And doing a podcast has been the best creative outlet of my life. I love doing this, and I love when I get this surge of inspiration. And fashion and style over these last couple of weeks have really, really filled my cup. And being in Paris, the Fashion capital and being able to just learn more about designers and really creating a keen eye for the things that I like and the things that are my style. And again, being able to decipher the difference between how something can look great on someone else and maybe not look the best on me. And that is okay. And that is something that I acknowledge. And it also makes getting dressed every day easier. It makes going shopping easier. It makes everything so much more intentional. I think the biggest lesson that I have learned from my little experiment, and it is one that I will continue. Obviously, it's not gonna be perfect. I will there will be those days where I'm not gonna get dressed, I'm not gonna always look presentable, and there's room for that as well. But one thing that I've learned is that my confidence has been unlocked in such a deep and beautiful way, and this is coming from someone who has not always been very confident. I was such a shy kid, and I'm still a relatively reserved person around people that I don't know very well. I, you know, I'm not always the most comfortable in group situations still, but it's been so incredible finding those little ways that I can put myself out there and feel confident and feel good about myself. And not only in doing that, the greatest gift is to be able to share your gifts and your love and your confidence and inspire others. And not just it doesn't have to be inspiring the world, but it could just be inspiring the people closest closest to you in your life, or a stranger, or a friend of a friend, or truly anybody. And that is just such a beautiful gift of being human and of connecting with one another and finding little simple things that bring you so much joy. Yeah, sure. Like style, clothes, fashion, like it's not the most important thing in the world, but I've learned to really use it as a tool to be a better version of myself, or not a better version of myself, but truly just be myself. And being myself is the best version of myself that I can be. But it also allows me to open the doors to opportunity and to new experiences and allowing myself to open myself up and to stay open. And it's something that I have discovered in fashion out of all things when I literally did not care my whole life about it. So, with all of that being said, I hope you enjoyed this episode. I loved recording this one for you all, and I'm just so grateful to be here and grateful to be able to just catch up with you all and share my stories and share my thoughts and opinions and random things, and it just brings me so much happiness. My heart feels so full right now. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate the podcast. You can also follow the podcast Instagram. Everything will be linked in the show notes. I am so thankful to have you here once again, and I hope you enjoy your morning, afternoon, evening, whenever you are listening to this. And I will see you back here again soon. Bye. The information shared in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical or therapeutic advice. I am not a licensed medical professional or therapist. If you are experiencing any mental health or medical concerns, please consult with a qualified healthcare provider or licensed mental health professional.