Moving your personal style on from corporate
At the age of 49 I found myself outside of a formal work environment in a permanent way for the first time in 30 years!
This initially felt incredible. I finally had time to do things I had long yearned to do. For 30 years I hated getting up in haste, choosing whether to spend my ‘precious’ half hour before work reading, exercising or tidying the house. Never did I have time for more than one thing and I rarely had the energy or time to do much after work.
For 30 years I was locked into a routine that was unnatural for me, and often for jobs I didn’t particularly like. I yearned to be more creative, to work more directly to improve people’s lives and to spend more time in nature. Spending decades under fluorescent lighting in the air conditioned offices of the late twentieth / early twenty first century, with mandatory in-office presence five days per week, was an anathema of everything I dreamed of.
THE WORKWEAR!
Then there was the corporate culture and workwear! I’m from the suit wearing era, or sometimes we’d wear ‘separates’ that were generally one half of a suit with something else. Makeup and hair had to be worn a particular way as well, unless one wanted the wrong kind of attention. It was all about looking ‘natural’ but not too natural, not truly natural. Ideally you’d have some polish to your look; evidence of lipstick or a blow wave or mascara. The idea was to show you’d made an effort, but not too much effort. If I stepped away from the norm, it was noticed and commented on and sometimes mocked.
It was boring and exhausting. Outside of work I dabbled more in subcultures particularly when I was younger: hanging out with musicians in Melbourne, living with French punks in London and protesting for social justice and environmental causes wherever I was. If I found the occasional person at work I could relate to, it was a joy. And a relief. But mostly I hid my true self behind a subtle hint of makeup and a grey suit. Why did I stay? Because I needed a secure job. There was no Plan B or safety net for me.
Living against the grain, or defying your true nature is detrimental. Your soul suffers if you can’t express yourself or at least reveal who you are. So at 49, after 30 years of living in a way that was very unnatural for me, I set about rediscovering who I was.
Me, 6 months after leaving my formal job. Photo by photographer friend, Carol Ross
WHAT NEXT AFTER HANGING UP THE SUITS?
It was an absolute pleasure to hang up my sensible suits for the last time but I wasn’t sure what to reach for next. In the years before I left my formal workplace my attire had become increasingly casual and unimaginative; I was wearing mostly jeans and t-shirts after hours. But I had always adored vintage clothing and had collected a range of these since I was 15 years old.
I enjoyed exploring what other alternatives were out there in an attempt to find a personal style that resonated with me post-corporate. I drifted for a while, trying this and that to see if it felt right. In hindsight some of the things I dabbled with seem elaborate to me now, but they were right for me then. Sometimes the pendulum swings further than it needs to before it arrives in a comfortable place.
Note; there is no universal criteria when it comes to personal style. But it has to feel right for the wearer.
Designer, Jenny Bannister and me, 18 months after leaving my job with style in transition
MY SOLUTION
I would have loved some guidance or to have been able to undertake an activity to fast track my sartorial discovery process. However nothing existed that catered for both the office-based career woman I used to be, and the more artistic leaning one I wanted to become. So recently I created my own!
Yes, I have created a comprehensive program for women who are transitioning away from formal workplaces and who want to restyle themselves in accordance with the exciting opportunity that lies ahead!
The Vivienne Project
I have developed a hybrid program to refresh personal style after leaving a formal workplace. It offers both self-paced online components and one-on-one in person consultations with me to prepare for what has the potential to be the most exciting chapter of life! Whether through redundancy or retirement or because circumstances have forced a change, this 10 part program has everything required to transition from a longterm formal career.
OVER TO YOU
If you’ve left your corporate career behind and are ready to embrace life with a vengeance while becoming vibrant and, of course, visible as a woman in midlife, this program is for you.
If you feel the world’s moved on and you’re still adjusting to your new reality, this program is for you.
If you’d like to re/discover your passions, establish new criteria for living life on your own terms and restyle yourself as fresh, contemporary and relevant, The Vivienne Project is for you.
Join The Vivienne Project to become the person you were always meant to be! Because if not now, when?