Day 15 Without Anxiety

Family Outfit Takeover

What's The Challenge?

Members of my family will be choosing my outfit and deciding what I will wear.

Why The Anxiety?

With this challenge, I have literally given up all control of my personal image. I love my style and choosing my outfits, it's my way of expressing myself and who I am. My family now have control of how I present myself to the world, they could go simple plain jane or go all out and I end up looking like a clown. I'm also worried they will put me in clothes or outfits I wear all of the time, they would defeat the purpose of this challenge. I'm beyond scared of letting go of control and not feeling comfortable in what I'm wearing, If I don't feel comfortable my anxiety is even higher, and the chance of having a panic attack simply because of my outfit is very real.

Anxiety before? 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴⭕⭕

Initially believing this challenge would be fun and exciting, my anxiety, doubts, and fear of losing control started to creep in. I realized I was very scared, nervous and I was essentially letting my family members choose how I present myself, personality and identity to the world just by choosing what I wear. Can I change my mind? Can I do this challenge later? Oh man, I actually feel sick, the fear of the unknown is real right now ladies and gents. Nausea, shaking, tightened chest, breathlessness, dizziness, and feeling 'that something bad is about to happen' are my current anxiety symptoms.

Anxiety During? 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕

Let's Do this outfit by outfit:

Outfit 1

This outfit is made up of pieces from my wardrobe that I love and have worn recently. However, this ensemble is not one I would have put together. Whilst the top is super summery it's rather a low cut and I would probably style this with a crop top underneath to cover up a wee bit more. The hair and earrings are very out of my comfort zone, I cannot remember the last time I wore statement earrings as big as this, and the hair with racing stripe upon my head is not a style I'm fond of. Whilst rather close to something I would usually wear, the combination is not and I'm feeling very uncomfortable with the cleavage area being more 'on show' than usual.

Outfit 2

My dad was either going to go completely mad or super chill with his outfit choice and I'm super happy he went chill. This outfit is so comfy, one of my favourite T-shirts, denim shorts, and comfy toms. The nightmare panic of wearing a white t-shirt in this sweltering heat is not ideal, "hello Sweat patches" and despite my 'Shorts Day Challenge', I'm still not 100% comfortable walking around town in a pair of shorts. Even though this outfit is super simple and comfy, I feel I'll be very self-conscious in shorts and constantly check the arm-pit area, the anxiety in this outfit is surprisingly higher than the last.

Outfit 3

This outfit is very mishmash to me, purple top, navy shorts and black shoes (not forgetting the green hair.). Whilst my outfits are 99.9% monochrome in grey/black the 0.01% of the time I occasionally add colour it's often coordinated with the rest of my outfit or accessories. I'm worried people are going to look at me and think I don't know how to dress myself. Maybe It's not normal that uncoordinated outfits stress me out, but I (... Wait... Hold that thought because I have just discovered something about myself!! -I told you this was a Journey of self-discovery too!- I am someone who likes outfits to have some sort of coordination *takes a bow whilst everyone throws roses onto a makeshift stage*) don't have any control today, So I must do as the little one says and feel uncomfortable in what I am wearing. Cheers Sis!

Outfit 4
This is THE HOTTEST day of the year, my mum definitely has the hardest day to dress me, I feel like I'm actually about to melt! I'm so happy to be in this dress! I have owned it for over 6 years and I love it, want to know the best part? I don't have to wear a bra when I wear this dress! Why is that the best part? Because ye old gals can feel safe and snug without any underboob bra sweat, ladies we've all been there in the hot months (ok fine, days, It's England), but under bra sweating non-existent in this pretty dress. I also love this dress because of the little beach scenes it has all over it, it is the one piece of clothing that I have that screams:"SUMMER!" nice one mum.

Anxiety After? 🔴🔴🔴⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕

Despite a few hiccups early on, me not thinking I could breathe properly and thinking I was about to vomit (mmm, tasty) the rest of the week went better than I had thought. I felt uncomfortable for most of the week but it was a week about 'realising stuff' aka; understanding more about the way I like to present myself to world and communicate my personality through what I wear = I like to play it safe and never step out of the comfort zone and keep my outgoing, fun, happy, adventurous and colourful self, locked away for only the people closest to me to see. My clothes are a true reflection of how I am feeling and how I express myself, my outfit tells a story every day, I'm less worried about what I wear now because I love every item of clothing in my wardrobe, I've had my eyes opened to different combinations and possibilities

Update?

So far, I haven't let anyone else dress me but if you think I should let other people dress me or fancy having a go at it yourself let me know in the comment down below or get in touch via my many social media pages ( Instagram/Snapchat/Twitter: @thebash_uk ) Thanks, love you long time. I loved this challenge and have made a conscious effort to wear something (at least one item of clothing) bright/colourful every day since. If that's not a success then I don't know what is?!

If you have any Challenge Ideas; Please comment down below and let me know.
Remember to check out The Video!

Thanks for Reading
xo

Enjoy Day 15? Why not Read/Watch Day 14?

Struggling with Mental Health?
Helpful Links:
....Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/helplines/
    Infoline: 03000 123 3393
....NHS: http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth/Pages/Mentalhealthhome.aspx
    Call: 111 (for urgent needs)
....Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you
    Helpline: 116 123 (UK & ROI)