Frocktober helps me Act, Belong, Commit
From the 8th to the 15th of October is Mental Health week in WA and the theme is Act, Belong, Commit. Mental health is always worth talking about, and the relationship between that and fashion/dressing up for me ( particulaly in Frocktober ) is an interesting one.
Anxiety (in varying degrees) is a by-product of loving fashion and being a prolific social media user. It can manifest in the form of the fear of missing out (FOMO), frivolity and even feelings of inadequacy.
To combat or allay anxiety you need to ACT; ritualistically putting on a dress every day and taking a photo, saving your hashtags in a memo on your phone to you don’t forget, snapping a backlog of photos, asking friends and colleagues to take photos.
I was stressing about Frocktober – then this photo happened;
The action of standing in the wind and embracing the wild weather relaxed me!
As I touched on in my last entry “Nearly Ovar(y) it?” – the act of inclusion, Em asking me to team up together was such a small and effective one. It re-engaged me when I didn’t feel motivated. Don’t under estimate the power of reaching out in any way; the feeling of BELONGing can spurn wonderful things!
The act of inclusion motivated us to reach out to other Perth creatives, and set up some pretty stellar events;
- The Frocktober Fashionable Afternoon Tea – October 22nd, Jonté Designs, 12pm – 3pm, $15 (ticketed)
- Shop and Sip for Frocktober – October 13th and 27th, Mercado32, 5.30pm-7.30pm, free!
Speaking of events, collaborations and fundraising – COMMITment(!)
As a Face of Frocktober, being accountable to other people, time management, not to mention having to field the questions of friends, colleagues and family about what your fundraising. Down to organising brownies for an office bake sale!
Frocktober is giving me a new relationship with fashion. I am now okay with people seeing me as distinct, based purely on the way I dress. My talent for playing dress-ups, via Frocktober can draw attention to women’s health, specifically Ovarian Cancer.
Ovaries are important, the cells they produce make up about 50% of a human being. Procreation and longevity are the end game, but I am passionate about ensuring the organs (which I have) can be looked after in a practical and affordable way. Ovaries are pretty important!
I have a distinct feeling my Frocktober experiences are laying some pretty exciting groundwork for my next ‘chapter’ – should be a laugh!
Photo by @natventuring Photography
Frock from @Mercado32 Clothing Exchange
To make a tax-refundable donation: https://frocktober2016.everydayhero.com/au/two-fine-femmes
For all event announcements and some fabulous frocks, follow my Instagram; @thetangibleblog
To become a 2016 Frockette/Frocker Fundraiser, sign up here
To donate or find out more about Frocktober, or see Megan Hess’ beautiful campaign art – go here!
If you have unwanted, unworn, unloved frocks, I will collecting them throughout the month of October, to donate on!
Playing dress ups as a young girl resulted in a love of dressing up (wearing lip gloss to the dinner table regularly, according to Mum!). Dresses and skirts felt like ‘Uniform’, a sentiment from my school days – I preferred pants, thanks to the late 1990s and early 2000s trackpants, low cut and wide leg jeans trends.
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