Can you get dressed in 10 minutes?

If there were Olympics in assembling outfits, I'd be in the running.

I can get dressed in 10 minutes in an outfit that I feel I look great in.

I sound like I'm boasting, right? Well, yes, but I'm also proud of myself AND it's possible because I have practiced.

Style is like any skill. We need to find someone who can teach us, learn, practice and then Voila!

(Hopefully I spelt that right, remind me to ask my Parisian neighbor. Do you know even she asks what I think of her clothing? Now that's a complement.)

Back to speed dressing.

I learned how to do this really because I am lazy.

Let's reframe that as efficient.

I have pre-assembled outfits. Much like the chefs on TV who pull out "something I prepared earlier," or a Ford assembly line.

The idea of ready-to-go outfits isn’t new. I first found out about them from Mattel, because every time I would get a new Barbie, she would come perfectly dressed for the occasion.

A 10 minute grab-and-go is very convenient. Here's an example:

I was walking my dog at Marymoor dog park, (it’s a great place to think, work, listen to audiobooks), when my alarm went off and I realized I had 90 minutes to get to a dental appointment in Woodinville which was at least a good 40 minutes away.

I had to get my reluctant dog into the car, shove her in the bath, grab something to eat, feed the neighbor’s cats, get changed and then get my butt up to the dentist. Give I was muddy and covered in dog hair, it seemed polite to change. 

My French bulldog is 30 pounds. She magically turns into a hundred pounds when she doesn’t want to go anywhere. I had to wrestle her to the carpark. Marymoor is about 15 minutes from my house and there’s construction. If you'd been anywhere near me, you would have heard me grimly muttering "There is enough time, money, and love. There is enough time, money, and love." Over and over.

I got home, rinsed her, threw her in a towel out into the sunshine, heated up last night’s leftovers, got dressed in under 6 minutes, fed the neighbor’s cats, and then drove to the dentist with 15 minutes to spare.

How did I manage to do this? No, I'm not from Krypton.

I have combinations of clothing I love. Most of them are multi-purpose, some of them are for specific occasions.

In this case, all I had to do was grab a jacket, t-shirt, trousers, pair of shoes, (yes, yes, I was wearing underwear), sunglasses that matched, a bag that matched, and boom, I was out the door.

Sometimes I hang my clothes in outfits. Sometimes I rearrange them in a different way and I just grab the individual pieces.

But it makes life so much easier.

Happy to share how - you're kind enough to be on my email list, so reach out and I'll teach you about outfit formulas and how to use them.

Aroha, Erin.

PS. New style of blog!! New website coming! I'll explain why in next newsletter.