When I was very young, I never had any nice clothes to wear because my parents never gave me anything good to wear. I remember when I was at school, I literally wanted to hide somewhere as I didn’t want anyone to see what I was wearing. That’s why my fashion journey is quite interesting
- What you didn’t have in childhood becomes what’s important to you.
When I was at school, I always envied my friends who had nice clothes to wear.
“One day I will leave this place and build a new life for myself,” I was saying to myself before falling asleep at night, “I want to look like a different person, feel like a confident person and live like a successful person.”
Maybe I was naïve, but my prayer was working: I actually went to a pretty good university and found an amazing job in a big city.
My high-profile job gave me the opportunity to live in Eastern Europe.
After graduation from university, I started to have income, so I could afford to buy some high-quality clothes from department stores.
I spent a big percentage of my income on clothes because I just wanted to own what I didn’t have in childhood.
I even remember before graduation, I used the prize that I got from the university for my academic achievement to buy myself a birthday present – a beautiful outfit (because the birthday funds that my mother gave me at that time was not enough to buy that outfit).
That was literally the first time for me to enter a department store in my life, and I was already 20 years old.
- What’s important to you can change.
Perhaps wearing wonderful clothes helped me to attract a partner. Indeed, I was an elegant, stylish and sophisticated woman in my 20s.
I met my partner at that time and we got married. But that marriage turned out to be an extremely stressful experience; consequently, we got divorced.
Throughout that marriage and after the divorce, I stopped buying premium clothes due to the stress. Every item in my closet at that time had to be under $100.
Then the economy in 2008 made me lose my job because I was made redundant by my employer. As a result, I couldn’t use my professional qualifications/degree anymore and I had to find a job in retail.
Interestingly, my first retail job was in an upmarket department store (what a full circle). Because the retail job gave me free clothes to wear, I started to wear premium clothes again. Basically, I didn’t wear high-quality clothes for 11 years.
Anyway, the retail job only lasted for less than two years because I resigned and found a better job.
Now instead of buying low-quality clothes or premium clothes from different brands, I only buy clothes from one premium brand that I actually love. It’s much easier to build a wonderful wardrobe when everything in it comes from the same brand – the style is absolutely consistent.
Living in Eastern Europe means I can meet a lot of fashionable ladies. I have definitely learned a lot from them.
“My life in Eastern Europe is a fascinating journey.”
