If a woman has nothing to wear, a new dress will not always solve this problem. Why we often see a full closet empty, psychologist and image consultant Elena Aksenova helps to understand.
“It happens that in the wardrobe there are clothes in which we do not feel like ourselves. We can have many things that fit perfectly on the figure, but they all seem to have nothing to do with us. If we focus only on appearance, even perfectly matched clothes seem stretched on a mannequin. Often we buy things out of inertia, missing something important when choosing, ”says Elena. This “something” is an identity that is revealed through an appeal to desires, values, life principles, goals and beliefs. It is with these categories that Elena works in her trainings “Style as History” and “Me and My Wardrobe”. “I want to give people an alternative: we can go to style not from the laws of perception and the recommendations of stylists, but from self-awareness. My training focuses mainly on the psychological aspects. As one of the participants said, the classes allowed her to “pull out a person from within”, that is, to be in contact with herself, to clarify her preferences. I pay special attention to practical work – visualization of preferred stories and discussion of the resulting images. We are talking about what external characteristics should be considered when compiling a wardrobe and why. We come to our own identity through today’s associations, which are more changeable than the life values of each of us, and allow us to form an image for the near future, based on how we feel at the current moment in time, ”says the psychologist.
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We and public opinion
At the training “Me and my wardrobe”, which premiered in April, Elena managed first of all to create a cozy atmosphere so that the group members would be interested in finding the answer to the question – what do you want to change in your appearance and why. In the practical part of the classes, with the help of a guest stylist, Victoria Gracheva, the girls learned how to handle colors and lines. Victoria spoke about the basic laws of aesthetics, but did not insist on anything – it was up to each participant to decide what to do with the knowledge gained. “We wanted to show that each of us has freedom: we can choose our own style and not live under the dictation of fashion experts. With the help of clothes, we tell different stories, what we want, and it doesn’t matter if we have long enough legs and a narrow waist. Yes, it is necessary to take into account the laws of perception and focus on the opinions of others: after all, we do not live in a vacuum, we are influenced by the environment, society, culture … But it is important that all this does not negate our individuality, – continues Elena Aksenova. – If we imagine clothes as a text, then everything that influences our choice, that connects us and our things, refers to the context. My task is to help the participants understand this context, look at their wardrobe from a new angle, and be inspired to buy.”
Nothing to wear again?
Today, this author’s training is the only one in Moscow where they do not teach how to dress “correctly”, but give them the opportunity to evaluate their wardrobe from a psychological point of view and make changes to it so that the assembled clothing ensembles are “about me” every time, and the problem “nothing to wear” decided by itself. “Identity can be constructed from many things: we are what we love and do, what we strive for in life. These are the people who inspire us, this is the space around us. In this space, there may be things that give us the opportunity to understand, find and compose ourselves. Style is a continuation of identity, not a tool, but a language,” the psychologist is sure.
Details on the training page» в Facebook