It’s been over six months since the start of the Lockdown Clothing project, and everyone’s lives have changed considerably since we first began collecting stories of how people are dressing under lockdown and quarantine. Oh Golly! Miss Dolly! answered the original questions back in May 2020 and this is what she told us when we checked back in.
1) Can you describe how your daily routine and/or social life has changed in recent months?
My routine has completely changed from six months ago. Even though Ireland has gone back into lockdown, the schools and preschools are still open, and my child started preschool in September. So we’re up and out of the door just after 8am every day , Monday to Friday. I don’t drive (yet! I’m currently working on it!) so it’s a half hour walk there and half hour back every morning. I then get about two and a half hours to myself before I have to go make that journey again. Then, on the weekends, I teach online burlesque classes, and I walk an hour in the mornings to get to the studio where I do them.
2) Has your approach to clothing changed since you submitted your story to us?
My approach to clothing has very much changed since the last time. I don’t dress as pinup or vintage as I used to during the week. Because I’m up so early, having to get my child ready and fed and washed before rushing out the door, I just don’t have the time to do my hair or makeup, and because of the strenuous walk (it’s all hills where I live), I usually just throw on leggings and a jumper and my converse. There’s been a few times where I will come home after the school run and do my hair and makeup and put on a more vintage style outfit, but also having fibromyalgia and suffering from chronic fatigue and pain, most of the time I really can’t be bothered, I have to save my energy.
3) If you feel that your personal style and/or self-perception has changed since lockdown, can you describe how?
I wouldn’t say my personal style has changed, I would still describe it as pinup/vintage, but there’s just circumstances at the moment which has forced me to adopt some more relaxed/ active wear clothes, and in a way this has really changed my self-perception. I don’t feel as confident as I once did, the imposter syndrome that I had before is now magnified by a million. I’m not wearing the kind of clothes or the kind of hair styles that make me feel authentically me because I’m just exhausted all the time, or rushing to get out the door. Plus, it hasn’t helped going into a second lockdown, cos I just kind of feel, well what’s the point? I’ve got nowhere to go and no-one to see. When I have a little bit of energy, I do try to set my hair on a Friday night, so at least on Saturdays I can do my hair and makeup to help myself feel a bit better.
4) Is there anything that you wear now that you didn’t wear when you submitted your story? If so, why?
Active wear hahaha….I very rarely used to wear track suit bottoms out in public unless I was going to an aerial class, but now those and leggings are just the easiest thing to pull on in the mornings when I’m trying to get us out the house! I’ve even started looking for some funky kind of leggings like leopard print ones, just so I can still inject a bit of my own style into my active wear! If anyone knows where to get some let me know please!
5) Has your approach to purchasing clothing changed as a result of lockdown? How so?
I’ve had to do a lot more online clothing shopping. I was really sad when all the charity shops had to close because to be honest, that’s where I get a lot of my clothes from. But there is an Irish website called Thriftify which sells clothes for charity shops online so I’ve been keeping an eye out on that for anything. Also, at the end of summer, a few of the vintage reproduction companies did sales, so I picked up a few wardrobe staples that will last me through a few seasons, just so I can have a few more sustainable, longer lasting clothing choices.
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