The Stylish Wellness Institute
is for any woman who feels burnt out, who needs a reset, or who is enjoying her life juggling and being busy but who would really benefit from the support that the Stylish Wellness Institute gives.
Stylish Wellness is the fusion of two ideas. These ideas have developed in my mind over the years of designing and making couture dresses for my private clients. Those two ideas are having your own personal style and feeling well in yourself.
Being a stylish woman
However you want to phrase it: stylish, well groomed, elegant, dressing well, women want to look their best. Sometimes though you struggle to do that. I know that from the feedback that I get from you. You might be inconsistent with your plans to dress well each day. Or you may be busy in your life and not have time, at the moment, to devote to yourself but want or need some help to look great or rediscover your personal style.
Some women, and you may be one of them, have undergone a big life change, such as returning to work after a long break, becoming an empty nester, divorce, remarriage or bereavement.
You may want to re-establish your identity either by remembering who you are or by developing into a new version of yourself.
There are many reasons why you may want to breathe new life into your personal style - most commonly what women want is guidance, some practical advice and someone who has the vision to see the real you and to help you realise that real you and bring her back to life.
Being a well woman
The wellness of the institute's title is your personal health and wellness. I should state that we are not medical doctors and that the core purpose of the institute is to encourage wellness rather than treat an illness or disorder.
Something that I have realised and you may have done to, is that you only really look your best when you feel your best too. I think you've probably also noticed that it is very easy to become anxious, tired, hopeless, discouraged. At those times when our bodies/minds/heart/spirit are under negative emotional pressure we rarely look our best. It is very hard to look your best, be your best, when you don't feel your best.
So, at the SWI we want to take as much time to address your wellness as we do to encourage you and help you to look your best. Because I know that the two go hand in hand.
You can't have one without the other.
What is the support that the Stylish Wellness Institute gives?
I'm so glad you asked that!
The Stylish Wellness Institute (SWI) supports women in two ways.
The first way is the 'wellness' of the group's title.
We encourage you to be well.
And the second is in helping you to develop your own unique style.
What does wellness look like?
Whether you want to lose a few pounds, be more consistent in your exercise routine, develop a meditation practice, rekindle a hobby or develop a new once, spend more time in nature and hike up a mountain, wellness is whatever is healthy for your mind and body.
That wellness is any way in which you need to feel your most healthy, your most well and full of energy.
And the Stylish part?
Being stylish is a unique journey for each woman.
Being stylish is when you put on clothes and you feel like you. It's when you put on a dress, look in the mirror and see yourself reflected back and recognise yourself from deep within.
It's when you wear something that noone else wears because it is unique to you.
It's when you put on clothes in the morning and think, this is who I am, this is how I want to feel and look.
The Stylish Wellness Institute formula
The pattern of life that you will follow at the SWI will be a dual path, encompassing both the style and the wellness of the institute's name.
The way that the institute works is by following a core programme. So every woman who joins the institute will join and follow this core programme.
Are you ready to transform your personal style, rediscover your identity and feel and look better than you ever have?
At The Stylish Wellness Institute we will take you step by step with:
A plan to follow to uplevel your style
Membership modules on how to reconnect with the real you
Strategic advice on how to dress with authority
A guided wardrobe detox where you transform your wardrobe from neglected, overflowing and boring into the head office for brand you!
And much more.... you will also get a road map to follow that will give you a clear path to take.
Let me introduce myself
Hello my name is Sarah and welcome to reDRESS. I am the founder of both Working Frocks and of reDRESS, the membership club for women to help you transform your personal style, reconnect in with your identity, take pride in how you look and live your best life, being fully you.
I have always designed clothes. When I was little I made dolls clothes and as I grew older I made myself clothes. I remember making my first skirt and trying to work out how trousers are made when I was around 10 years old.
After I left university I started working for myself firstly making couture garments - one-off outfits specifically made to the measurements of one woman. I then started a bridalwear company also making couture wedding gowns for brides. It was an amazing time. I learned how to dress women, from creating sketches of the garments, to making the dresses, fitting them and ensuring that they were entirely happy. It was a unique experience of learning how to make clothes for women of all sizes and shapes.
I then began my current business Working Frocks with the aim of dressing women in the workforce in a unique and stylish way. I want to avoid the "identikit" corporate women look and give women an alternative style that is still professional but a little bit more creative than traditional workwear. I could see that women had so many functions to perform and that something about corporate dressing not only took away the heart and soul of women, but didn't acutally support them in their working day. If you are dropping children off at school, going to work, popping into the supermaket in the evening and cooking supper as many of us are, then why would you want to do that in a constricting jacket, tight skirt and shoes that hurt your feet?
Alongside this realisation that women were not being best served in the market place was a desire to help women look and feel their best. I had so many conversations with women who basically all said the same thing as one of my clients, Catherine,
"It's amazing what you can achieve when you throw a little time and money at yourself".
Here was the issue. Women were coming to me to have their clothes made and then were amazed at how they felt and at the transformation within themselves that came with wearing an outfit they loved. But then there was nowhere for them to go after that. They had a "one-time" experience of looking and feeling amazing that ended the moment they walked away with their beautiful outfit.
That was when I started creating online wardrobe styling courses to help women look and feel amazing every day.
And then one day I realised that if I created an ongoing place for women to come, a membership area, then on a daily, weekly, monthly basis I can encourage and support and guide women to look and feel amazing every day. I know from my work how transformative wearing the right clothes and feeling great in them can be, which makes me passionate about being able to help you create it for yourself.
Many women feel that style is something you're born with and if you've got it, you've got it, and if you haven't then you just have to put up with not looking great and feeling slightly ashamed about yourself forever. But that's just not true. Style can be learnt. And I can show you how. So that you can look like you. The real you. The you that might have been buried many years ago but is waiting there for you to come and rediscover.
One of the reasons I started to make clothes for myself was also because as a teenager and young adult, I didn't fit into standard dress sizes in the shops. My waist was tiny and my hips very rounded and so it made buying clothes so hard. Either clothes fitting on the waist but were too tight on the hips, or they fitted on the hips and I had about 6 spare inches of fabric flapping round the waist.
It was very alienating for me because whilst all my friends were wearing jeans and a tee shirt and lovely fun clothes, I had to wear what I could find that suited me, that I could fit into and quite often those clothes made me look older. I wanted to be that young woman having a great time and look amazing, but instead I felt like a frumpy older woman. And it made me feel like somehow I wasn't worthy of looking good. And it alienated me from the experiences that other women my age were having.
When I started to make clothes for myself my life started to change. I still have the first pair of proper trousers I made when I had been to fashion college to learn how to make clothes patterns. They fitted on the waist, and on the hips, they were designed for my shape. And I felt so liberated!
I understand how it feels to be trapped in your own body, and how your brain will come up with all sorts of 'reasons' why you are less deserving than other human beings to live an amazing life.
Even now my hips are disproportionate to my waist. It makes me smile when other women say, "Oh I love what you're wearing, but with a figure like yours you can wear anything". That's so funny because I think I have quite a hard figure to dress, but I've learnt to make the best of it. I do buy clothes in the shops now and I know how to look for things that suit me, and that make me feel like me. Once I realised that it was ok to be me and to not hide or think I was less worthy my life changed for the better.
Most of you won't make your own clothes and that's fine. It's not the making of the clothes that will change your life. It's knowing who you are and being that woman intentionally that will change your life. What you wear is fundamental to you looking and feeling your best. And it doesn't have to be fussy or overly complicated. It just has to be you.
Wherever you are and whatever your life situation, if you have arrived at this page, it's probably because you would like to transform your style, be organised in how you arrange your clothes and be in touch with who you really are.
The great news is you have come to exactly the right place.
