JOY DROP ✨ | Dressing to Show Up—for Ourselves, and for Our Kids

I know not everyone in this group is a mum, and I don’t talk about motherhood too often in here—so if this doesn’t relate to you, feel free to skip this one (with love!).

But I’ve been thinking about something this week that I felt was worth sharing.

One of the biggest reasons I started Joyfully Dressed—and one of the things I come back to again and again—is the idea that how we show up for ourselves matters.
And not just for us—but for the little eyes watching us.

I talk about this during the first week of the course, when we explore different ways of thinking about our bodies. Because it’s not just about style. It’s about how we treat ourselves. How we talk to ourselves. How we show up.

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about my daughter. She’s 8 now, and at the moment—thankfully—she’s carefree when it comes to how she dresses (she knows what she loves and wears it) and how she feels about her body. But I know those days are numbered.

Soon, the comparisons will creep in. She’ll start noticing her friends’ bodies. The comments on TV. What she sees on YouTube. What clothes she “should” or “shouldn’t” wear.

And the way I speak about myself—what I put on, what I hide, what I say out loud—will become part of the voice in herhead too.
We can shield them from a lot. But how we show up in ourselves? That’s one thing we can’t hide from them.

If she notices you not wearing shorts on a hot day because you’re worried about your legs—she notices.

If you’ve stopped wearing colour—she notices.

If you are wearing the same joyless clothes everyday to hide behind - she notices.

That’s why this is one of the most important things about Joyfully Dressed for me.

It’s why this line is in my Joyfully Dressed manifesto:

“We believe in being role models for our children—showing them how to celebrate who they are, inside and out.”

So I just wanted to remind you: by being in this space, by doing something for yourself, by learning to enjoy your wardrobe again—you are already doing something powerful.

Because dressing JOYFULLY isn’t just for us, it’s a message to our children that we are worthy of joy, of ease, of taking up space. That bodies change (because just like yours has—one day theirs will too), but style is something we can own at every stage.

When I make the effort to dress in a way that makes me feel like me, I’m modelling something for her.
Not how to look perfect.
But how to live and enjoy your body.

And us as a community? We model it for each other too. So thank you so much for being here 🫶

And just to be clear—this message matters just as much for the boys watching us.
They have a whole other set of pressures to navigate, and they also need to see what self-worth looks like.