Hello Chapter One,
Firstly - well done for reaching a point in your recovery when you feel ready to strat addressing the future and look to make positive changes. Clothes and hobbies are a very good place to start. The look you wish to adopt has connotations of health and happiness with education and family at the centre. It's a look I enjoy myself.
People study the history of fashion because it reveals so much about the way people lived and 'wanted' to live. There is nothing wrong with 'faking it until you make it' in terms of sorting out your outsides first while your insides catch up. Be kind to yourself and know that it's nobody elses busniness whether you have decided to be a rock chick, sexy siren or yummy mummy.
I agree with the poster up thread who suggested that people were shocked by your honesty and this has led to some of the less generous comments that you have received. The underlying message for some seems to be 'how very dare you - you lower mc upstart!' Yes, I'm sure that some of the comments were genuinely well meant and worried about your 'mental state' but that is not the case for all!
In relation to that, I would say that the look you are after is not hard to emulate at all. It is not necessary to discover the elusive aura of the mc but there is some advice you can follow (some of which I will doubtless be repeating from upthread).
This all comes from a girl from a very wc background who after doing very well at school went on to get a degree and a ma from a russel group and then into a mc profession. I am about your age and had quite an unhappy childhood before getting into private school on a scholarship and I always wanted to be like those effortless girls who made life seem so fun and natural. I see it for what it is now but I also like to convey confidence, sophistication and health so I dress accrodingly.
Clothes:
I buy most of my clothes from White Stuff, Fat Face, Hobbs with some H&M and Boden. Why not copy some of the suggested combinations on the websites first?
I agree with straight leg denim, leather belt and shirts (I like a plain or floral print), broderie tops are nice for summer as are pretty sleevless blouses. I always were tan leather sandals and wedges at this time of year. Boden have some lovely ones.
Fat Face wrap dresses fit really well and often have a slightly kooky print that is on trend for our type. I like to wear mine with a Boden cashmere cardigan. Always get at least 15% off. I normally team with a sterling silver locket my sone bought me and 'Wuthering Heights' earrings from the Literary Gift Company.
It's a nice look because it's feminine and very presentable without being too formal. I agree about no black. I never wear black now.
Hobbies
Knitting (loads of youtube vids to get you started) - it's a good time to start making scarves fo the family ready for Autumn as first ones would take you ages.
Listen to Woman's Hour every day or get the pod cast.
Read ... just read read read. For my personal reccomendations fo things I've read lately try Jeanette Winterson's Why be Happy when you can be Normal?, Iain Banks The Quarry and Helen McDonald's H is fo Hawk as well as any Jane Austen and Barbara Pym.
Vist museums and art galleries. Get into something and be knowledgeable about it. I like the Pre-Raphaelites.
Read The Guardian and The Times - try The London Review of Books.
I know lots of v mc people and soem like horses and some don't. It's not mandatory.
Food
Get a weekly organic veg box
Eat in organic cafes that serve local produce. Visit farmer's markets.
Ps
The idea of being wc is now generally villified in the media as being stupid and unhealthy - and as a result of this no one can blame anyone from wanting to move away from this image. On that note read Owen Jones The Demonisation of the Working Class. It's an eye opener.