I've given up on myself. How do I turn this around ?

[Thefroglover]

I WFH. Most mornings I don't even wash (but I bath every night). I don't wear any of my jewellery. I live in an old Summer dress which will expand as I do. I've put on 2 stone from lockdown.

I want to be glamorous and stylish. My wardrobe is about 10 years old, due to my shape and fussiness I find it hard to find clothes that fit and which I like. Due to this, I rarely buy anything.

I've let myself go and need to turn this around. But at the same time I think what's the point of making an effort when I'm only at home day in, day out working.

I always "get ready" in the morning when wfh. Not necessarily makeup but I always get up, make the bed, have a bath, do skincare, style my hair properly, put on proper clothes. I think it's really important not to descend into the "roll out of bed and start work in pj's" type routine!

What can help maintain this - Make everything low effort.

Treat that 30-40 mins as valuable time investing in your well-being.

A simple skincare routine with products you can rely on and a few simple steps. This is not the time to experiment with products!

Makeup optional but if you do, keep it to a minimum of tries and tested products you can do quickly. Look on YouTube for a 5 minute face. For instance if wfh and I really wanted to look polished I'd use an under eye corrector, a bit of concealer under eyes and as foundation (2 different colours), a subtle cream blush and some mascara. I can do that in 5-10 mins max.

Work out a few hairstyles you can do quickly, look decent and don't rely on you washing your hair every day. YouTube can help with some ideas.

Spend some time working out 3 or 4 tried and tested outfits you can wear while you're working. On a morning you can just throw one on and you're good to go.

Nice bag

I have been in this place and really relate.

Other than the general micro steps point it can be good to attach new habits you want to build to existing habits eg put your makeup by your tooth brush so you do it after.

You don’t need to do your hair properly every morning if that’s to time consuming, just get some nice clips and pin it up, with light make up and a simple pair of earrings you will still look pulled together. Makeup should be doable in literally 5 mins for the basic tinted moisturiser, mascara, cover up, blusher, eyebrow fill type thing

Oh and fresh air and basic exercise eg walking, they come second only to sleep in making a diff

Also someone started a princessing thread for Christmas. You might like to join that?

@Dogsgottabone I'm interested by your weekend clothes. I don't have stylish casual clothes. I have shitty old clothes to doss around the house in. I have going out evening clothes but no decent casual clothes to wear out. I have sweaty betty sporty leggings which make me feel fab, but I only ever wear them to the gym, which I no longer go to. Do you think it would be ok to wear these out, as casual weekend clothes ? was thinking to style with some trendy white trainers (maybe these or similar www.tedbaker.com/uk/p/Womens/Accessories/Shoes/VEMMY-Retro-Swirl-Printed-Sole-Leather-Trainers-White/262246-WHITE?cmpid=ppc~google~PLA~shopping_brand_uk_en_ww_main_site_high_margin~138446687245~262246-WHITE-37~na~na~UK&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0JOBvL3a-QIVAp7tCh0ueQTHEAYYAiABEgK2wPD_BwE) and a decent jumper/hoodie ?

Ah op, you obviously don't live near me. All the mums wear their Sweaty Betty leggings all the time 😉😂

Mine are a cheap knock off of those power leggings from amazon, there are tons of them on there. I stick to black for the slimming effect.

I wear mine with a nice top, or a vest top with a jumper over. J crew do lovely wool jumpers which often have a little 'twist' to them. The wool keeps you warm, and the little style twist makes the jumper look more expensive. You can get these on ebay too. But a similar look would be Toast etc. Again I get the vast majority of my clothes second hand. This sort of thing would still be nice on a screen for work.

Ditto merino or cashmere second hand. These are both more slimming to wear. Istick to pale grey and navy as that's what suits me. I wash them in the washing machine on the wool wash. If I buy clothes second hand they go straight in the wash from the senders envelope, and I don't try them on until laundered. Then no risk of moths in the wool!

I love your handbag by the way. Have you looked on ebay to see if you can get a nearly new on and then buy some trainers with the money you've saved?!

OP in terms of time to get ready you get faster at it the more you do it! I can be from bed - shower - out the door with makeup/hair dried in under 40 minutes if I'm pushed, although would rather have longer.

I think having some nice casual clothes to WFH in might make you feel better. I'm now a mix of WFH and in work, but on WFH days still dress "nicely" in comfy clothes. I'm not a leggings/tracksuit person, so for me that would be jeans with a cosy jumper, or a Breton top, tee, or whatever. On warm days I wore midi dresses and sandals a lot. Even when I actually had Covid I made sure I was showered and in clean clothes (but no bra and pj bottoms!) for work because it made me feel better. Sweaty Betty leggings and a jumper or hoody sounds perfect!