Featured by MIIEN Consultancy: What Does Your Wardrobe Say About You?

In 2023, Mikara Reid, founder of MIIEN Consultancy, invited me onto her “What’s Your MIIEN!” conversation series to talk about consistency, relevance and self-branding.

There was an interesting reversal in this conversation: instead of me examining somebody else, Mikara examined me.

She took me through a live wardrobe audit based on an exercise from her book, looking at how I actually spent my time, what I wore for different parts of my life and whether my wardrobe reflected the person living that life.

What Happens When Someone Else Looks at Your Patterns?

We went through the different activities that made up my days, from professional commitments to home life and volunteering. One of the things I found interesting was how easily I had dismissed activities that were actually taking up meaningful space in my life.

They were normal to me, so I barely counted them.

An outside observer didn't have that same blind spot.

That is something I appreciate even more looking back at the conversation now. We become extremely familiar with our own habits, choices and patterns. Familiarity can make something almost invisible to the person doing it, while somebody looking from the outside may notice it immediately.

Consistency or Relevance?

Mikara and I also approached clothing from different perspectives. The conversation explored whether someone should dress with consistency across different settings or dress according to what is relevant to each part of their life.

At the time, my capsule wardrobe played a big role in how I approached that question. I wanted clothes that could move with me through different parts of my day without requiring an entirely different version of myself for every setting.

The conversation wasn't simply about clothes. It became an interesting exercise in examining how everyday choices can reveal something about the way we see ourselves—and what somebody else might notice when they look at the same evidence.

Being on the Other Side of the Observation

Much of my work today involves giving people an outside read on things that can be difficult to see from inside their own perspective.

In this conversation, I got to experience a version of that from the other side.

Thank you to Mikara and MIIEN Consultancy for inviting me into the conversation and turning the lens in my direction.