The last two years have been funny ones when it comes to getting dressed. For long periods of time the truth was that many didn’t get dressed, they wore pyjamas, or loungewear. They dressed from the waist up for Zoom calls, or stuck to comfy pieces as they worked from home. We even had a period of beachwear in 2020, when glorious sunny weather saw us working from home in our gardens as we soaked up the rays.

But the second part of 2021 have seen us emerge from our isolation, as return to work orders surfaced, and restaurants, theatres and nightclubs reopened. For some this has been the most exciting thing to happen in two years, but, for others, this has led to some real body confidence issues. After nearly two years inside, have we forgotten how to dress?

Joe Browns is addressing this issue with their ‘The Power of Dressing campaign.’ This is centred around confidence and making people feel empowered in their day to day lives. The effect that over a year of lockdown has had on people’s confidence is massive, so they are on a mission to get the nation’s #mojoe back as we all re-emerge back into society.

They recently carried out a survey to find out how people are feeling about their wardrobe confidence post lockdown. With over 13,000 responses, the findings showed that 47% of people avoided wearing what they would like due to a lack of body confidence. And yet this is such a shame, as wearing something you love can actually make you feel more confident.

I have been wearing some of the beautiful pieces from Joe Browns to show how, sometimes thinking outside your comfort zone can actually help to improve your confidence.

Black And Gold Majestic Velour Dress

This dress is absolutely beautiful, but is not generally something I would wear. Having a big bust you are always told to avoid polo and high necks in favour of a v neck that balances you out. But this dress is beautiful, and easy to wear, and adds to your confidence as people just can’t help commenting on it, giving you an instant boost.

Confidence boosting from your clothes is about ignoring the rules and making your own – you know what you feel good in, and feeling good in your clothes means feeling good in yourself.

Velvet Perfection Dress

Another dress choice that is totally outside the box for me for a couple of reasons. I also feel I’m too old for boho style dresses now – a bit of the ageing hippie syndrome where I love it on someone else, but not on me, but I love the soft velvet feel of this dress, the flattering length and the pretty embroidery which makes this look so attractive.

The second issue is that beautiful colour. I’m not generally scared of bright colours, but I wear them more in Summer, and this one is particularly striking and standout – do I really want to stand out so much from the crowd? The answer is absolutely – why the hell not. Bright colours totally raise your mood on dark and dull days, and having the confidence to wear them can only increase your own body confidence.