When I’m not cooking, cleaning, raising my family, running them all over town or running my business, I love playing dress up!

Note: All the looks in this post are by Shop With FiFi who breathed life into the old clothes in my wardrobe.

Here’s a Sass & Bide dress I picked up on sale a few years ago teamed with my very old, gold Missoni for Target to wear to a “no stilettos allowed” 50th birthday party I’m going to on Saturday night!

Even if it’s just to follow my son during a round of golf, or on the sidelines of my daughter’s netball game, and certainly when I’m out to lunch with my girlfriends, or on a (rare) dinner date with the hubby, I like to feel confident, chic and effortless in whatever I’ve thrown together.

FiFi foraged around and threw together this cosy, comfy yet chic casual look for Winter

Teamed with this old Witchery jacket for when I’m standing at Heffron Netball Courts, otherwise known as the coldest place on earth, watching my daughter in the Winter time. FiFi tip: Jean cuffs should hit the top of the boot!

But usually at the start of a new season, I’m like a deer in headlights staring at my wardrobe, and I know it sounds like #firstworldproblems, but I almost dread getting dressed for the day.

There’s just too many clothes all crammed in together and I don’t  have time to rifle through so I make do with the Same.Old.Looks #boring

Know the feeling?

A wardrobe detox and styling session is up there as one of my favourite forms of self-care, I’m always left feeling refreshed, fulfilled, confident and so good that I’ve treated myself to something fun.

The other option for the “no stilettos” 50th birthday party on Saturday night, but I might save this one for a dinner date with hubby.

It’s had been a couple years since my last wardrobe detox, and desperate to pare down to basics, streamline and style, I remembered a super-lovely and super- stylish lady I’d met at a friends birthday drinks who was a personal stylist and shopper, and that was FiFi from Shop with FiFi and The FiFi Report.

I highly recommend following FiFi on instagram for all her current fashion tips from ‘luxe to less’. 

So I got FiFi around to unlock some of the dark secrets of my wardrobe on a search-and-destroy mission and a mercy dash to search-and-accessorise and we’re going to follow this up with a shopping spree too (blog post to come).

“I want you to love your wardrobe and get dressed effortlessly and easily in the morning’ – FiFi

And that’s what FiFi has done for me.

Personal shopper/stylist, FiFi totally understood my lifestyle required mainly casual looks and she was determined to style looks for me she was certain I’d wear

Two garbage bags full later and endless looks styled to fit my brief, I’m strutting my stuff down the street as though I’m Naomi Campbell ?That’s truly how good I feel!

Below are a few more looks I love ….

I can’t wait for  Stage 2, when FiFi takes me shopping for a few missing items which will just make getting dressed each day even more effortless.

Do you have a favourite look FiFi put together for me? Let me know in the comments! 

You can follow FiFi at Shop With FiFi here.

Bren x

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In recent years I’ve thrown myself back into work mode, which for me has meant more videos, public appearances, events and meetings with clients. Getting dressed for the day however can become confusing and burdensome especially when one minute you are at swimming lessons or on the sidelines of a 50 over cricket game, and the next at a cookbook launch in a gorgeous Sydney restaurant. I know lots of women feel this way.

Do you have wardrobe full of clothes but nothing to wear?

Cue Dijanna Mulhearn fashion educator and stylist extraordinaire from Wardrobe 101. What I love about Dijanna is that she all about sustainable and ethicial fashion, asking us to buy less, but buy well, consider where the clothes we buy comes from, who’s making them, and how we can stop our clothes from ending up in landfill.

She has ordered me to STOP BUYING CLOTHES and managed to completely revive my wardrobe by creating an endless amount (and I mean endless!) of looks from what already existed in there. Whether you have a lot of clothes or just a few, Dijanna’s flair is for creating numerous looks from one single piece which can take you from day to night, from rugby to a rooftop bar!

On a high since our session, I have worn one of Dijanna’s ensemble creations every day, and they haven’t gone unnoticed. I feel great stepping out and feeling good about how I am presenting myself to the world. You just can’t put a price on that.

Below I share some of my favourite looks from our session, I wish I could show you all of them but there are too many to post.(love having the photos on my phone to permanently refer back to by the way.) My brief to Dijanna was to focus on casual wear which is my main struggle, but t I also wanted a corporate look, day to night options and to revisit some very old, but still beautiful pieces I was unsure how to wear.
In the pictures notice the repetition of clothing items, and accessories, so clever and I would never have considered it. (Excuse the messy room and amateur photos, we were very focused on moving the session along between snaps and have no idea why my head and feet became cut off when I uploaded the photos to my blog)

Oh, and make sure you take a look at the special offer at the end!

Here we go……

When Dijanna walked I was wearing this black dress “just for home” so we started with a super casual look for the beach

Then jazzed the beach look up a little…

Then a little more..

Ending on what turned out to probably be my favourite look of the day using some wedges which were given to me a few years ago (and never worn0 and necklaces also never worn. I’m totally going to wear this for evening drinks at the beach with the girls! It’s so ” me”.

Moving on, she managed to breath new life into my old Camilla top by pairing it with some forgotten Country Road pants and bag from a Byron Bay market stall bought 4years ago which Dijanna fell in love with and showed me how it could also be worn reversible.

She ramped the same look up with my Leona Edmiston wedges and Belinda Pieris bag. Lunch with the girls perhaps?

Add a Zimmerman top from a recent Winter purchase for a daytime summer look

Change the pants to Missoni for Target  that have literally haven’t seen the light of day for two years! Teamed with my old red Rachel Ruddick bag for a burst of fun.

Would never have thought to put my gold Country Road singlet circa 2005 with this waist-banded Dotti skirt for an everyday look..

Let along throwing on some heels and a bag for a day to night look.

Dotti skirt used next for a whole new casual look based around some green earrings I love.

And so thrilled to say hello to this Vivienne Tam top again which I purchased 20 years ago on a shopping spree in LA. Such a gorgeous piece in an amazing fuchsia colour.

And my vintage beaded Temperly top gets a look in teamed with my Dotti skirt, again. I think I might wear this look for a 50th birthday party on Saturday night, the dress code is cocktail.

Next, corporate done three ways…those strappy heels are so old it’s embarrassing, can’t believe they still work!

Added my sequins Gorman bolero and different heels..

Swapped for Target (yes Target!) tux blazer

And back to casual again with my Missoni for Target (again!) dress, Mimco shoes from factory outlet and Rachel Ruddick bag

In the three hour session we seriously got a gazillion looks done and had loads of fun. Dijanna’s passion definitely shone through!

I’d love to hear your favourite look in the comments!

SPECIAL OFFER FOR MY SUBSCRIBERS!!!

The first 5 people to email Dijanna with “BJ Health” in the subject box, will receive
a 3 hour personal styling values at $420 for only $380 PLUS a signed copy of one of her bestselling books – Wardrobe 101 or Wardrobe 101 for Mums.

Best Christmas present to yourself – EVER!!

Terms and Conditions: This offer applies to Sydney applicants only.

Best of luck!