Quick Fix - #FIVEMINUTESOFMINE
A series of short, to-the-point chats with the industries best. No intro, no small talk, no wasting your time, just the answers you want & need to ensure you feel, be & look your best.
With Entrepreneur & Content Creator, Cat Sanz.
EC. Cat, your imperfectly perfect get ready with me styling videos are certainly having a moment! As a working Mum of three, I know that you feel that getting dressed is so much more than just “getting dressed”. What does getting dressed with effort and intention mean to you?
CS. This is a really great question! I get up, I put something on and then I get on with the day and sometimes I get a glimpse of myself and what I'm looking at doesn't represent the kind of energy I want to bring into my day and I think that we live in a world where we try to multitask, we do everything that we can often as a mother to everyone else and not give back to ourselves.
For me, the #fiveminutesofmine movement and concept is based around the fact that I watched my own mother never give that time to herself. She came to me for dressing ideas. She borrowed my clothes. She never gave moments to herself and that wasn't just in dressing, that was in every day.
So, I try to do a workout, I try to have a hot shower but I also know that when I present myself and put myself in an outfit that I feel good in, it completely changes my mindset for the day and that might also mean a splash of lipstick or it might mean that colour brings that vibe. I've literally had one of those days today! I've just posted a video of #mumlife kicking my backside right now. I am awake throughout the night, we've got lots of issues going on just with my kids needing different requirements and that's okay, but it just means that I get to my work day and I have to find some way to live. So I go into my wardrobe and honestly, there’s a lot of colour because that really changes my perspective of how I look at myself online for meetings and online for presentations. I have to look at myself in the work that I do and when we do look at our reflection, we're looking at - is that the energy we want to bring to the day?
The energy will come if you throw on a splash of colour or something that you feel really good in. It could be a pair of joggers with a t-shirt, but it's a couple of accessories over the top that make you feel really put together in Mum life. At work, it could be a pair of earrings or a lipstick that you love and that presentation gives out the energy that you want to be portraying. I think that's so important because how we put ourselves together, how we present to the world and how we feel that day is how people receive us and that energy then gets flowed back to us, so it's a constant kind of reciprocation. If your energy is high, someone will meet you on that level.
In a nutshell, I just feel like we need to allow ourselves five minutes to grab an outfit that feels good, to splash something on our face or add an extra little something. Maybe that's all it takes to then feel like you've got your, S H I T together - I've got it, I've held it together, I'm going to make the most of this day and visually I'm doing that!
EC. I could not agree more and I'm getting excited because this is a message that I aim to spread far and wide, and there is a term for this called ‘Enclothed Cognition’. It's been studied heavily and proved by Psychologists that what you wear has this ripple effect that completely changes your thoughts, your mood, the way that you impact and show up in the world and your confidence overall. Why fashion thought? Why not meditation or journaling?
CS. Meditation and journaling are still in my life. Before my Instagram account became purely fashion, that was also a big part of what I included in my content and every single day, it's still there. For me, it's not always time-wise available to do each of those in a day, so I pick what that looks like.
Like yesterday, I wore a pair of joggers and a sweater which was low key, but I got my workout done and I had a coffee in peace. I had a few meetings that I really needed to tick off and I ran around and did some jobs, which were things I needed to do for me. So there aren't always days where we're really bringing it so much but that was a tick for me - this is comfort and this feels good for getting a lot of stuff done today.
Meditations still there! I lost my Mum and meditation was a huge part after she died. She passed and we're coming up to five years now and that truly got me through and also exercise for my mental health. They're two really big players, so I don't just rely on fashion. If you watch my stories daily, you'll see that I do heavily stick to a routine of moving my body and giving back those little moments of a hot cuppa or whatever it might be. It's not all fashion, but without a doubt, presenting myself to the world that I have light and life in me is exactly what I want because it comes back to me in the same sort of energy.
EC. Oh, you're a girl after my own heart and I'm so sorry to hear about your Mum …
CS. To be honest, when I lost my Mum, it was the complete starting point for #fiveminutesofmine. She was depressed. She had addiction. She truly never looked after herself and it was the fire in me that wanted to make sure that I never repeated history, but also to never let myself become second best to everything. So, she's charged on in my own challenges of where I see myself and what I hope to spread to everyone else.
EC. What a beautiful sentiment to know that every morning you wake up, she is on your mind and that's the first thing that you think about as you head into the day. I also completely agree with what you said about colour therapy. There's so much research into the impact that colour can have on us too. For example, and you might even find this yourself, when feeling anxious and low, people generally gravitate to neutrals because they’re calming. When you want to feel confident or portray a certain sense of authority, you opt for colour. Do you play with that perspective yourself?
CS. Yeah, definitely. Actually, the video I posted today, I started in a white shirt and a pair of chocolate brown pants. I looked at myself and I thought - this is not the energy! This is portraying weekend/ I want to have a nap during the day vibes. I needed to change that and it's uncomfortable. I wanted to stay in comfortable clothes today, but I have to turn it on. I've got work, I've got presentations, I've got meetings. It’s really important. So I grabbed a shirt in one of my favourite colours because colour lifts. I know it works, no matter what and it completely changed the way that I moved forward. Colour therapy is important and we need to understand a lot about what those colours are that really give us that good vibe to keep going.
EC. Even when it comes to presenting yourself for a job interview, there's been evidence to suggest that employers have hired people who wear a more masculine outfit, as opposed to a more feminine outfit. I'm so passionate about the science behind getting dressed and getting dressed is something we all have to do, so why not put the time and effort into something we all have to do anyway?!
I have 5x rapid-fire questions for you now … a pointed slingback or a sneaker?
CS. A pointed slingback. I'm obsessed.
EC. A layered look or a twin set?
CS. Oh, that's a tough one. Twin sets are an easy, go-to option, so as an easy option, the twin set. As a Mum of three, we're all about ease, right?
EC. A bangle or ring stack?
CS. The bangle stack is my go-to and as a Mum of three, sometimes rings get in the way, but some comfortable bangles never do, so I’ll go with bangles.
EC. A monochromatic or contrasting look?
CS. This is a really tough one! It depends on the day. It really depends on my mood to be truly honest! If I need to feel confident, it will be monochromatic because I'm putting myself out there with complete assurance that I've got myself together. The contrast is sometimes a bit more fun, a bit more eclectic. Can I just say it depends on the day of the week?
EC. Absolutely you can! That’s what this chat is about and just on that, I think for those who want to experiment with this at home, a great question to ask yourself when getting dressed in the morning is - how do I want to feel today? What colour will make me feel like that?
CS. A big concept that I push is - what is your personality today? I really believe that we all have multiple personalities, not in the sense of being concerned, but we have certain days of the week where we are going in strong or we're reversing back and a little more inward, but what's your personality that you would like to dress for that day? What's your feeling? What do you want to be perceived as and go for it?!
EC. A dress or separates?
CS. I'm a real separates fan at the moment. I'm sure that's going to change back to dresses again sometime as we head into Spring/ Summer.
Follow Cat Sanz on Instagram - @catsanz