Nice to meet you.
I’m Bella.
I've always loved clothes, but not particularly trends.
After completing a Fashion & Brand Promotion degree, I realised I wasn't interested in chasing trends or collecting designer handbags just because everyone else wanted one. I couldn't imagine building a career around telling people what was "in" this season, or working in an environment where clothes were currency.
Like so many people, there have been many moments in my life when I've had to try and understand who I was all over again. Divorce. Early menopause. Becoming a mum. By day, I was wearing a navy suit to work. By night, I was singing in a rock band.
The more life changed, the more I realised that getting dressed was one of the first places I would notice that I'd lost touch with myself again.
That's where Hang Ups began.
A little bit of background
Later, I completed my professional coaching accreditation with the Association for Coaching (AC) and trained in personal styling through The Image House. Together, those experiences shaped something I couldn't quite find anywhere else: a way of combining coaching, psychology, colour and style into one conversation.
I was also accepted onto the MA Fashion Cultures programme at the London College of Fashion. Around the same time, life took me in a different direction. Rather than studying the relationship between fashion and identity, I found myself talking about it with real people navigating divorce, motherhood, career changes and the question so many of us ask ourselves: "Who am I now?". So Hang Ups grew from those conversations.
I have spent over twenty years in marketing, helping brands become recognisable. Then I realised people struggle with exactly the same thing. The conversations I had with the businesses I have worked with are some of the same conversations I have with people - just trying discover who they are before deciding how to present themselves to the world.
Throwing out the rule book
I've never believed style confidence comes from following a set of rules.
When I had my colours analysed and was told that I really shouldn’t be wearing khaki green, it was the one colour I subsequently wanted to wear the most (I am inherently rebellious!). This is an example of why I don’t believe we can follow a generalised set of rules to find our own style.
You have to begin with the questions that create a deeply personal picture of you.
If you love wearing something, I want to understand why. If you never wear something, I want to understand that too. Only then do colour, shape and styling become useful.
If you’d like to meet me before you book your reset, let’s have a chat…
Book a free 15-minute mini consultation to learn more about how we will work together and how it will change your approach to your fashion identity.