I’m Sarah Banks and I’ve been dressing women like you, like us, for over 20 years.
Through my fashion companies which hand make couture outfits, from bridalwear to daywear with every type of outfit in between I have intimate first hand understanding of what looks good on women of all different shapes and sizes.
Over and over I see the same transformation take place, each time in a unique way, as women learn to find the right clothes for them, look amazing and feel amazing too
Right from when I was a little girl I used to make clothes for my dolls. Then I was given a small sewing machine. When I was a bit older I started making clothes for myself. It was a time when you weren’t encouraged (or we weren’t) to turn your hobby into your career. I wasn’t even encouraged to pursue creative subjects at school. All my school qualifications are academic, not practical or creative. So I left university with a French/Italian degree and thought, “Right I’m off to work for myself”. I didn’t intend to blaze a trail or make a statement but I didn’t really know what else I was going to do.
Friends and family used to say (some still do), “Oh you must write Sarah, you’ve got such a skill with words, such a great turn of phrase”. I think they thought I might write a novel. And yet here I am all those years later with a dress business and a blog!
I didn’t always know what to wear best for my own body, nor did I have the confidence to develop my own style.
When I first started paying attention to what I wore and understanding my motivating psychological contributors over 20 year ago I was in a very different place.
Like I said, I’ve always loved sewing, ever since I was little. I started making my own clothes when I was about 11. I made them because I love making, creating, going on that journey But I also made my own clothes because as an adult I didn’t fit normal dress sizes.
I had a very small waist and very full hips. So I learned to live with it and hide it, but going shopping was a source of dismay when I struggled with sizing, especially in trousers.
I didn’t own a pair of jeans until I was in my late 20s which made me different to all my friends in slim fitting jeans and tee-shirts. So even though I loved clothes I felt that there was an invisible barrier up in front of me when I went shopping and I felt that I couldn’t “join in” with the clothes conversation that everyone else seemed to be able to have. I also felt that I looked so much older than my other friends in their jeans and tee-shirts when I was wearing much older style trousers. It’s hard to think back then that jeans styles were so restrictive, whereas now there is a style for every shape. I became very self conscious because I felt and looked so different to many girls my age and that self consciousness distracted me from getting on with enjoying life. It was only when I started to develop my own personal style, partly because I had to, that I started to feel freed up to enjoy life to the full.
And this is where being fully you in your life, fully alive in the moment becomes even more relevant. It’s not about fitting in. It’s about being yourself. Learning to be yourself. What you wear is at the intersection between the place where the inner you (what you are and think and feel on the inside), meets the outer you (what people see, how you present yourself). I sometimes call this the zone of peace. That means that getting dressed is really important because it is an expression of identity. Both inner and outer identity. And everyone’s identity is different
So as a result of my earlier experiences as a young adult…
I think independently about how women want to dress. I’m not particularly affected by fashion in how I think. I’m more interested in what would be great to wear and how women can look beautiful and mature and confident without having to subscribe to a particular code of dress. This is what I hope you will pick up through my blog, or one of my courses, or through buying a dress from me.
Since those days I have become more and more interested in what makes people tick. For instance I find it fascinating to learn why we make the decisions we make. There are underlying factors which we are sometimes unaware of which affect how we think. Not only that but there are underlying factors which affect how we think about ourselves, how we rate ourselves, whether we approve of ourselves and think we have a value. All these factors contribute to how a woman will dress, will groom herself and feel that she is worth investing time in.
The stories that we tell ourselves become powerful predictors of future behaviour. But what I have learnt is that those stories can be changed. My blog will show you what to do to change your story and I will show you how. To be able to pass that on and help other women look and feel their best is a gift that I am hugely grateful to have been given. I struggled with thinking that it might be frivolous for many years. Until I realised that far from being frivolous, getting dressed and how we feel about ourselves is vitally important. And it’s easier than you think. Let me show you how….”
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