Dressing

Wardrobe Analysis & Identity

Why do I dress my body? What does my wardrobe say about me? What do I want it to say about me? These are the questions we try to answer.

We are born naked, and we dress our bodies as we find ourselves in need. Our wardrobes are full of signifiers: colours, culture, prints and textures that are more than choices.

  • Full of elements with memories and associations that link us to a specific era of our life, or a ‘hat’ that we must wear. ‘This is my solicitor blazer, and these are my uni year ballerinas’. Somehow, the disparate elements coexist in the same wardrobe, but feel alienating. The lack of coherence makes us feel disconnected. Our wardrobes may have been cocoons of comfort but no longer serve us as such.

    In keeping with psychoanalytic principles, the first step is a conversation about your lifestyle and routines, a ‘getting to know you’ through an analysis of your lifestyle, your personality and through scrutiny of your wardrobe, the element at the heart of the Dressing work.

    We can do that online but we prefer to do it in the comfort of your own home. To find the scissions between the different components in your wardrobe, the dressing spheres of your day-to-day life that are often accompanied by items of clothing that might feel disconnected. Finding the disconnection between the different styles of your clothes and how you want the world to see you.

    Our aim here is to link the person that emerges from the analysis with clothes that feel like a natural extension of your personality and history. This doesn’t mean a complete departure, but rather a reconfiguration of what is already there into a wardrobe that can make dressing a ritual that is effortless, coherent and exciting at the same time. We help you find fresh life in the clothes you already own, especially for those pieces you don’t know what to do with but you’re sure you love.

    In this process of reconfiguration, we may identify items that no longer signify who you are today. While we believe in the meaningful circulation of objects – finding them a second life where possible – our primary aim is to ensure your wardrobe remains a collection of pieces that truly serve you. We help you establish a wardrobe with key pieces that it currently lacks, making coherent choices according to your lifestyle and routines that complement what you already have.

Life Atelier Services – Dressing (The Body)

The Process

The Process •

01 | Meeting One Another

A free first online 30-minute consultation for us to meet one another and discuss the possibilities of working together.


02 | Deciding on the Fees

Money has a symbolic value in our work. We have a sliding scale payment system, which means individuals pay according to their circumstances. We have a set fee of £180 for a two-hour session, an add-on extra time of £90 per hour at our base rate, but this fee will be discussed at our initial consultation.


03 | Committing to the Work

This process takes time; the number of sessions will vary case by case, but we need to commit to working together and review this along the work.


The Thread of Reconfiguration

We carefully follow the threads of your history to weave a wardrobe that offers coherence. By untangling the knots between memory and function, this journey invites you to:

Shall we pick up the thread?

Whether you seek to untangle the knots of your thoughts, room or wardrobe, every process at Life Atelier starts with a conversation. We invite you to reach out and schedule an initial consultation to discuss the possibilities of working together.