Kylie: [00:00:00] Welcome back to episode of the Hormone Hub Podcast, where we talk all things perimenopause, menopause, and have the conversations no one else is having. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode. 

Hello, hello, ladies, and welcome back to the Hormone Hub podcast for all of your perimenopause and menopause needs. And today, this is a big need. So today we have got the gorgeous Jane Mow as our guest. Now, Jane’s a Sydney based personal Branding stylist and style coach, which sounds like a mouthful, but how we met was, it was quite funny.

So I had been following Jane for a while on Instagram. And then it turns out that Jane had been following me. And then we actually got together in the same room and I was sort of like, Oh, I’m a bit of a girl fan. And we had a bit of a, [00:01:00] But it’s so beautiful, when you do meet people online and then you do get to connect in person which is really lovely.

So Jane, hello and welcome to the show. 

Jane

Oh, thank you, Kylie. Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here. I’ve been looking forward to this. Yeah. Yeah. I always get invited to these sorts of podcasts, which is awesome. So thank you for having me. Thank you. 

Kylie: So for the uninitiated, so tell us a bit about like, what do you do as a branding and style coach?

Jane: So I work with women to really bring out the best in themselves and align how they feel. To what they look like or vice versa, because sometimes when we go through seasons of our lives and we look back at how we were in our twenties, it doesn’t quite align with where we are now. So I then mainly work with women in business, women that are climbing the career ladder.

But really finding out, tapping [00:02:00] into who they are, who they want to be, how can we then dress that person sort of bring that character out through the quotes, what I mean? Because much of, I believe is what you wear is your business card. It’s almost like, you know, you walk into a room and people sort of They pay attention because you have this like aura of confidence and I believe that clothes can really give you that confidence so yeah, I Put the right clothes in my client’s wardrobe to make them feel a certain way.

Secret goal of mine is to have Jane come through my wardrobe and just because I think that’s it. I know personally, and I know for a lot of the women listening is our bodies have changed, but, and we, we actually don’t know where to go with that because, I think I have said to you, like, in the first five minutes of meeting you, boobs are bigger, my waist [00:03:00] is gone.

And, like, yeah. My whole body shape has changed, but I, in my head, probably don’t have the confidence to go in now and just try on things that I would have tried on years ago. Because I will confess I don’t want to look fat, I don’t want to look frugal, I don’t want to look old, but I also don’t want to look like a 50 year old trying to look like a 20 year old either.

Yeah. Weird space and yeah, what should we wear? What shops should we go for? Yeah. What are the staples that we should be going for? 

Yeah. Yeah. That’s interesting. I mean, I think, first of all, I think we need to touch on what 

you just said, you know, about the whole hedge thing. Yeah. You, I think you said they, it’s all in your head that you go in and you can’t find what you wear or you feel like you’re actually not the right target market for the shop you’re walking into.

Right. Yeah. And a lot of women experience that when they’re older, it’s like, okay, I don’t really want to wear crop [00:04:00] tops, but for some reason I see them always. Yes. Everywhere. Every brain seems to have them and I can’t seem to have chops that go below my midriff. So what am I going to do, right? Yes. My personal hate of mine, which thank God is backed off a bit, was the cut out shoulders.

And it’s really, yeah, I just didn’t like it. And I think, cause I dunno, I dunno, I think I’d seen it worn not well so many times, but the show, I think, I think the whole mindset piece is something that you need to work through first. I think that is like the, the forgotten piece of the equation that people don’t seem to.

Sort of grass before they even tackle tackle the whole shopping situation. Okay. So if you think about it, we focus, well, I might always focus on the things that we don’t want. [00:05:00] Right. Then. So if you’re walking around thinking, I don’t want to crop top, you’re always going to see crop tops.

Right. So, I mean, I’ve worked in retail before years and years ago, and it’s funny because women will come in and they’re like, but I just don’t want crop tops. I’m like, well, 90 percent of their shop is not cropped up. So I suppose you are in the right location, you know? So when you’re constantly saying to yourself, this is the sort of thing that I don’t want, they’re constantly going to see that thing.

And then, so that’s one piece of the thing. But. The other bit is to, you know, just because you’ve turned a certain season of your life doesn’t mean that you can’t wear certain things. Like, yes, we do feel like, okay, we’ve grown in age, you might be in your mid forties now going into your fifties, but that doesn’t mean that you’re now shopping in Katie’s.

[00:06:00] You can still shop at the same places, but it just means that you need to know what works for your body now for this season of your life. Yeah. And I think that’s the key is knowing what works because I think we are. So, particularly if we’re a bit more on the conservative side, we’re creatures of habit.

So, we tend to go to similar styles of clothing that we’ve always worn. So, think about the season of your life you’re in at the moment. So, your body has changed, you’ve put on weight. Your boobs are bigger. So there are certain cuts that now work for you that didn’t actually work for you before. So before when you were thinner, or you didn’t have the boobs that not blessed with the boobs that you have now, you would have worn necklines that were much higher up now that your boobs are bigger, you need to cut into that chest depth.

Right. So it’s just about flipping the information that used to work for you. It’ll still be in the [00:07:00] same shop, but, you need different information and different. You might look at garments that you never picked up before. So, I think you were talking about your waist has gotten bigger.

You’ve gotten you would put on the weight. So we need to think about then how can we camouflage that? How can we make ourselves look a lot more flattering? And a trick for you is patterns. Yeah. Patterns is your friend not just any pattern, make sure that pattern has a curve to it. So it could be, a beautiful print of a palm leaf, but , if you think about it, that has a curve to it.

So, things that I’d really teach my clients and students is identifying what patterns work for what body shape. So as you get curvier. You don’t want to just be wearing block colors. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So block colors on the top, the bottom half, you will always feel larger. Why? [00:08:00] Because there’s no distraction.

You always see the things that you don’t like. Yeah. Totally true. It’s a big chunk of. It’s a big chunk. Yeah. Right. It’s like, Yeah. Totally. It’s like having a white wall and then a little bit of that white wall is like, it’s got a dent in it. And you just notice that dent the whole time because it’s just a white wall.

But if you put wallpaper on it, suddenly you don’t notice the the dent in the wall. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s so true. Or, yeah, you put pictures on the side. Exactly. Looking at the picture. Tantagon. Yeah. That’s so true. Like accentuating someone’s waist. Because a lot of women I speak to and they’re like, Oh, I’ve got all this belly fat, or I always feel bloated.

I’m, full now, so what would you recommend for that? Yeah. So that body shape is obviously someone that’s an O or what we call a, it’s an O body shape or like apple people might refer to it. So that’s when you have a lot of, fat around your tummy area.

[00:09:00] Nothing wrong with it, but it’s just that time of the, Season of your life that you were feeling bloated. So for that goal and insulin.

So that sort of person, I still, I still tap people’s tops in like, and then a lot of them were like, but if I tap my top in, I feel like I’m accentuating that bit quite the opposite. Yeah, by not tucking your top in, you’re actually putting volume around the area that you don’t want to put volume on. Yeah, so it’s sort of like more of a tent.

Yeah, more of a tent. But if you do tuck your top in, suddenly the eye is only drawn to the waistband of your trouser. Yep. Now again, have the right trousers, have the right trousers or the right pants, the right jean for the bottom half. I come back to prints, prints. Yeah. Or the bottom half is always going to work for a body shape that has a lot of [00:10:00] fat around the belly.

Because again, I don’t know where to look. Oh my goodness. Like there’s so many things happening. There’s so many distractions. So really got to work with that. And also don’t wear things that are too small for you. Yeah. Give yourself the room to have, fabric around that area. Because as soon as you see pockets that are stretched out or gaping, that you’re wearing.

Things that are too tall for you. Yeah, the wrong size. So don’t, again, it’s a mindset thing. Don’t get caught up in sizes. Yes, I’ll never forget that. And my sister and I used to laugh about it all the time. It was a Kath and Kim episode and Kimmy’s come in and she sort of said, Oh, I think Sharon had asked what size she was.

She was a size 10 and she’s gone. Oh yeah. A country road size 10. And it was always a running joke with my sister and I about being a size 10. Oh gosh, that size tag always gets [00:11:00] me all the time. I think to myself, what, I’m going to cut off that size tag and you wouldn’t even know what size it is.

That’s the thing too. And it comes back to confidence and, and is, you go into the store, you’ve always been a size 12 or a size 10. Yeah whatever size and then all of a sudden you are not that size anymore and it Yeah. And I’ve done it as well. Like, I’ve gone in and I’ve grabbed my normal, I have traditionally been a size 12 and that’s why we laughed about the country roads.

Yeah. Because we were both size 10 and Country road. But, yeah, for me now, if I try on something in a size 12 and it’s just not quite fitting the way I would like it, ugh, and it just, it just puts me off instantly and it’s it’s not the outfit, you know? Yeah, it’s not the outfit, yeah. I’m sure if I went and got the next size up and it would feel better and, ’cause there’s nothing worse too than having an outfit on.

And you’re hitching it. And you’re pulling it and you’re Yeah. [00:12:00] Digging it. Yeah. So that’s where, that’s where, when you are in the fitting room, there needs to be a, there needs to be a reframe that happens. Right. So let’s equip you, you with those reframes now. Okay. So when you are in the fitting room and something doesn’t fit, it’s nothing to do with you, it’s to do with the actual garment.

Right. So it’s not about your body. It’s about the garment being the right cut, the right fabric, the right, everything for the body shape that you write. So I always come back to houses because as an analogy, because I love interiors and I love housing and like renovating. So for example, if you’re building by the ocean, you’re not going to put a building material on this, not fit for purpose.

Right. Yeah. No. No. Yeah. Same thing. Same thing as your body. Yeah. If you’ve got that body, why would you put on something? Why would you invest in something that’s not [00:13:00] perfect for purpose? Yeah. Right. It’s not obviously designed for that purpose. Particular body that you have now. So I just need you to think, okay, cool.

Don’t even need to take it personally because you don’t know who is set in the workroom of that brand to then grade out those sizes to be that size. It could have been that last season that size 10 was actually a size eight. You don’t know that. You know? Right. So, and that’s it. And that’s where you start.

And they change, brands change their sizing all the time because they’re actually catering to their market and what sells. Yeah. So they might be going, okay, cool, well this season, I’ve worked as a designer before, so I know this. So this season we’re selling more of the size Eight or ten. So we’re going to change our sizing a little bit to cater to the people that are coming through our doors and who are buying more.

Yeah. So all you need to do is get the size up. That’s [00:14:00] it. And I have to say this, I have to tell you this story. It doesn’t matter what size you are, your mindset will always form the stories for you if you allow it to happen. So for example, I’m working with a client at the moment. I’ve worked with her for the last 13 years.

So I’ve seen her grow through different stages of her career. She’s now going into exact level and really has progressed really well in her career has hit menopause as well, but guess what? She’s lost weight. So we’re all, you know, and so she’s lost weight, but she’s still going through the same mindset as someone who’s gaining weight.

Hormone Hub episode is sponsored by our free hormone help call book in your call today with one of our experienced advisors, and we’ll give you some clarity around what’s causing your symptoms and some simple steps you can use straight away to [00:15:00] improve your menopause experience. If you’re ready to take the next step book in a call and find out more about how we can help you have a smoother transition through perimenopause and menopause, let us help you balance out your hormones, reset your metabolism, and get your confidence back so you can live the life you’re meant to.

The link with all the details is in our show notes or over at kyliepinwill.com / hormone help call.

 Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Loathing herself. Thinking, oh, why, cause when orders arrive on her end, things don’t fit. It’s like, why did I lose weight? Like what’s wrong with me? Same as the person who’s gaining weight. Why did I gain weight? What’s wrong with me? Yes, nothing wrong with us. There’s nothing wrong with us!

It’s just a different season. Yeah, and I love the way that you [00:16:00] say seasons rather than ages because it’s so true. It’s a season,. It’s a season. Yeah, and I’ll give you my example, like my personal example. I’ve gone through size 6, 8, now currently size 10, might go down to a size 8 again in the last, like, two years.

Thanks. And then, I’ve been told in the last like six months that I’m going to hit menopause at 43. I’m like, okay, great, cool. I’m turning 40 this year. So does that mean that I suddenly have to look at my wardrobe in a different way? It’s like, well, no, it’s just a different season.

Like I’ll wear a size 10 if I have to, because I feel a lot more comfortable right now sitting at my desk in a size 10 than a size 8. And that’s it. That really is it. I think that’s the thing. Like, it’s, it comes down to confidence. And I think, always when you feel confident, when you feel like you look good, and I think this doesn’t matter, this is [00:17:00] irrespective of size, when you’ve got an outfit that you feel good in, confidence lifts.

And, if I’m doing speaking gigs or something like that, I’ve got this dress that I wear because I always feel good in it. And,, I always get compliments and, things like that. So I wear this dress because I know I guess it’s something that suits me. But I feel good in it and I wear it because it is my confidence dress.

But, like if I was going to a school, I don’t know, school pickup, or if I was just going out to dinner at the pub, like I wouldn’t be wearing this dress. It’s sort of very much a confidence dress. So are there certain fabrics that we should be looking at? Are there certain patterns?

 We talked about tucking things in at the waist, if we’re to have more of a plunging, sort of. Yeah, what about fabrics and, and things like that? Yeah. It’s more forgiving than others. Yes, [00:18:00] exactly. So this is, again, this is knowing how your body shape works, right? So the curvier you are, the drapery of the fabric needs to be, or the stretch that’s given in that fabric, right?

So for example, you might go after this. This recording, you might go into your wardrobe and look at it in a different way, because you probably will notice that most of the things that you wear has some sort of softness in it, and you probably feel a lot more comfortable in something that has that sort of like silky nature to which, or has, it’s just drapey rather than like a very starchy, stiff.

Fabric. Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. Yeah, exactly. Yep. So those are the things you want to be focusing on as you’re gaining weight. Right. For my client who’s lost weight, it’s quite the opposite. Yep. We put things on her that have, that are a lot stiffer in fabric because she doesn’t have the curves. So she can afford to [00:19:00] wear the stiffer fabric because we need to give her curves.

Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah. So it’s a flip. It’s a flip, flip it around, flip it around. So if you, if you lose weight and you’re feeling like I’ve lost, you know, I don’t have the curves that I used to have, that’s, you know, I’ve lost my boobs. Great. So now you can afford to wear details around your bust. You can probably now have that on your shirt because suddenly there’s no boobs there that is enlarged by those pockets, right?

If your hips has decreased in size, you suddenly can wear pleats now because pleats give you more curve around that area and a bit more volume, but if you’re on the other side and you’ve gained weight, you do not want to wear pleats. Yeah. Right. You want to wear something that’s a little bit more drapey, your slip skirts are going to work well for you.

Anything that’s got that. And [00:20:00] then, we talked about patterns before, patterns that have curves in them or any sort of roundness to it. That always works. Do not put anything that’s geometric on your form because that way, if it does stretch or pull, you’re going to emphasize the bits.

Yeah. That you don’t want to emphasize because it’s a straight line. It’s not a curve. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So fabric for you is going to be super important, even if for breathability, right? So I want you to look at natural fiber fabrics. So you’re looking at your cushions, your silk, no polyester.

Because polyester doesn’t breathe, unless you are going to invest in like Prada polyester, which none of you know, Great. Vegan silk I heard it being called. I was laughing, I was like, vegan silk, like isn’t that just nylon? Yeah. Like, if you, if you’ve got to invest in the top end of polyester, great.

But [00:21:00] anything low end, if you’re thinking about your country road, your Azara Veronica, Maine, those sort of polyester the best, because they just don’t breathe. Then there’s, yeah, so you’re going to feel the heat going through menopause, peri menopause, and the heat is going to be trapped. Yes.

In a vacuum. Yes. There’s no flow. Yeah. So yeah, linen is great as well if you’re living, you’ve got a beautiful linen top on. But those are things that are probably natural fiber, go natural. All the way. Wool is great. Yeah, yes. And coming into Utah for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere. And what about, we can’t go, too far further with this conversation before we talk accessories.

Oh, yes. My favorite. Yeah. So what about accessories? Accessories, yes. Just, again, knowing if you’ve got a fuller bust. How can you use your necklace to cut into your [00:22:00] bust? Say if you’re wearing something that’s a neckline that’s a lot higher than a v neck, so you’ve gone for a round neck instead of a v neck and you’ve got a bit of a bust, just making sure that you’ve got a necklace that, sort of does that v on you.

It comes down to your,, just above your bust. It cuts, it’s sort of almost creating a V without you wearing a V neck top. Yes. See what I’m saying? So yeah, necklaces are great even, I think, well, earrings are always great as well. Right. So if you’re wearing something that is, you’ve got a beautiful earring on, it’s got a round front.

Ball at the top. And then it’s got the square that is really great for your body shape. Cause again, it’s got rounded it. So it’s got a curve, right? So, yeah, so those are the things you want to be looking at and statements. I believe setman earrings are always great because it gives you that sort of like a talking piece.

I will challenge anyone who has never been complimented on their earrings. Like, it’s always [00:23:00] the, yeah, wow, the wow thing and the cherry on top. And again, it’s, it draws the attention out. If you don’t want the attention on your body, something fabulous,

There’s some amazing, like in the online sort of coaching space that you and I are in, there’s some women out there who do the most amazing job at, I mean, given we only ever see each other from the shoulders up. And they always look fabulous. And it’s just, yeah, and I’ve sort of asked, ’cause I always ask women, I’m like, oh, so your earrings are great.

Where did you get them? And, and then they stand up and then they show me that they’ve actually got T-shirt and shorts on, or really daggy on the bottom. But, they’re, they’re put on a pair of earrings and put on lipstick and they look fabulous. So. Exactly, exactly. So again, it’s honoring the season of your life and how can you make, how can you put the cherry on top that make you just feel that extra.

Yeah. You know, just like you said, with the zoom conversation, it’s funny that I just had another light bulb [00:24:00] moment. We’re talking about this season of life where you’re gaining weight or you’re losing weight for my other client, but we’re going to have a different conversation. Once you’re here, you’ll hit your sixties.

Yeah. Because that’s another dressing sort of calculated dressing when you’re, when you start losing skin, not losing skin, but your skin starts, it doesn’t have the elasticity of it anymore. Right. So that changes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we’re going to have a different conversation then because your neckline of what worked for this season of your body shape we’re talking about now is not going to work for them.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Right. So I just want you to know that style changes with the season, like it still can be the same style as you had in your twenties, but it’s just a different iteration according to the season that you’re in. Yeah. That’s it. Yeah. That’s so true. And I remember after I had [00:25:00] kids coming out of hospital wondering why I couldn’t get my, my jeans on, like, Oh, and no one told you that your body is never going to be the same as it was before.

And then someone should have just been waiting with like a Jean size up with a lot more stretch in it. The 10 percent stretch. That’s it. Yep. Same cut. Just a different stretch. It’s different stretch. Oh, totally. I know. I’m going to put stretch in Jane’s genius.

So, yeah. So I, I think the whole point of this is just really giving yourself grace. and dressing for the season that you’re at. Yeah. That’s it. Yeah. Jane. Amazing. Great conversation. And where can people find you? So yes, please come and join me on Instagram. I am probably you’ll, you’re going to get me, get to know me a lot more.

And a lot more personal on my Instagram stories, because I do tend to have this as a conversation on [00:26:00] stories, just giving you tips on how you can, you know, sort of do that mindset shift. I also do a whole lot of behind the scenes of what I’m shopping for with my clients and things like that. So you can sort of climatize yourself of what’s out there that you can tap into.

So Instagram is the best place. My handle is my name. Jane Moe stylist at the end of that handle. So if you have all of Jane’s details in the show notes too. So, yeah, exactly. And please do say hello and hi. If you came through this podcast, Let me know. Cause me and you are going to have a, a nice conversation in the DMs.

Cause I’d love to know what your thoughts are around the season of your life you’re in. Cause I’m always curious. Yeah. Oh, amazing. Yeah. And that’s it. And we’re just, I know this episode is going to go down very well with a lot of our listeners because it’s, something we talk about. All the time, with my clients, it’s sort of like, oh, none of my clothes fit.

I don’t know what to do. And I think [00:27:00] a source of frustration for a lot of women and, and like a lot of our women, yeah, they’ve got wardrobes of beautiful clothes that they just don’t know what to do with. Yeah. And also so not to plug or anything, but I do have a group program and I do have students in a group program that have gone through this season or are going through, and there’s so many ways we can fix the clothes that you love.

You know, there’s alterations, it’s like different styling techniques and things like that. So first join me on Instagram first, and then suss me out. And then if that is right for you, then great, I can help you out, but just know there’s help. Like there’s help out there. Yeah. Absolutely. And everyone deserves to feel amazing and confident and beautiful.

So, yeah. And we all can. Exactly. Yeah. All can. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. We will make sure to have all of your details in the show notes. And thank you so much for joining us. This has been really fun and yes, a interview that [00:28:00] I’m going to come back to time and time again. Thanks for having me, Kylie.

Thanks for listening, everyone. See you in the next episode.

Kylie: Thank you for taking the time to listen today. You can head on over to the show notes at kyliepinwill.com/podcast where you’ll find all the links. Now, before we go, it would mean the world to me if you’d head on over to your favorite podcast channel, subscribe and leave a review. Don’t forget to share it with your friends.

Then stay tuned for next week’s episode and I can’t wait to see you then.