Written by Miss Ghazaleh Rahimi Khoub for Doctify
“Style is a state of mind. A confidence in your own beauty and vision.”
– Tamara Ralph
Feeling good is the new looking good. Our wellness depends on our connection to the world around us and fashion and style are considered to be a form of connection, a language that we use to communicate what we feel, what we stand for and who and what we represent.
How can looking at health and fashion together improve our overall wellbeing?
Fashion and wellness go hand in hand.
When we look good, we feel good and when we feel good our physiological, psychological and possibly spiritual selves are aligned better. This in turn leads to much higher levels wellness, better quality of life and better social and emotional connections.
By focusing on the way we present ourselves to the world and how we take care of our external appearance, we are investing in our wellbeing. By that I mean when we ensure that we are groomed well and that our hair, skin and dress sense is presentable and stylish we are rewarded by those who come into contact with us.
In addition, by offering the best version of ourselves we are also looking after our physical body that requires attention to stay healthy. An example of this could be that by wearing the right style of shoes, you may prevent from future deformities.
We start to care about ourselves and those around us more, and in turn we create a positive rippling effect in our environment that benefits everybody.
Why is this philosophy so important to you?
From an early age my I was taught that my body needed to be taken care of through good diet, nutrition and a sense of belonging. This, coupled with taking pride in the way I dressed and presented myself to the community, gave me a sense of purpose an identity that was unique to me and something I had to create individually.
Currently, I believe that society is overworked and over-stressed. Type 2 diabetes is on the rise and in a decade we will be spending over a trillion dollars on mental health issues just in the USA alone. I guess you could say that we are at crisis point, and something needs to change. Having worked in the medical industry treating patients with long term medical conditions, it occurred to me that managing a patient’s symptoms was not sufficient to ensure that the patients were back in good health. Often patients would be out of care and in in a very short period of time they would be back in with the same issues.
The fashion industry is a community that can support the medical industry by offering us a platform to move away from a treatment paradigm to an education paradigm. A space where our wellbeing is not dependant on some therapy or anyone else. A language that offers a system that just by educating society you are enabling people to self sustain and take responsibility their own wellbeing.
Do you have any tips for everyday life?
We have to approach our wellbeing by first looking at ourselves as a whole. Remember that we are each unique individuals and that one size does not fit all. It’s important to educate ourselves about ourselves, find out who we are on a physiological level and and cellular level. What I mean by that is that we must spend time and money on finding resources that help us gain an understanding of how our body is currently functioning and what its needs are should be want to improve it.
- Make sure you get your yearly well woman or well man check ups
- Visit a trichologist and have your hair assessed
- See a medical aesthetician to have your skin assessed and work together with the professionals in developing wellbeing regimes that support you to return to your natural, youthful self
I would advise that you get to know your personal style and taste in footwear to go about creating yourself a wellbeing wardrobe. By that I mean, a wardrobe that speaks to who you are, how you feel about yourself and one that supports your biological needs. A wardrobe that allows you to dress comfortably without having to compromise on style.
How can you put this into practice?
At an appointment, you will learn what footwear styles are the most appropriate for your foot shape based on an assessment and management plan. This will ensure that your feet are not only aesthetically healthy but also cared for from a mechanical point of view, preventing any future deformities or complications. Once you understand what skin type, hair type and body type you have, you can be much more mindful and effective in making better choices when it comes to clothes, footwear and beauty regimes.
A medical stylist can help you with all of this. They can asses you and support you in getting the right help and advise that is bespoke to your internal and external specific needs. Helping you with your transformation .Its also important to consider that today we are all considered as individual brands, Therefore how we appear to others and how we value our wellbeing shapes the way others experience us.
On the social front, I recommend that you incorporate old fashioned rituals that allow you to connect with others, but also at the same time offer a space to reconnect with yourself and detoxifying your body. So, rather than spending your evenings at pub or bars maybe check into local spas and socialise in a space that is relaxing and restorative. There are several spas that offer this service. The Mondrian hotel, for example, regularly hold a ‘Spa Social’ event.
Lastly, organise or attend events that require you to look your best. Dinner parties are a great opportunity to dress up and catch up with your friends or meet new people. They offer a safe environment where you can relax and enjoy connecting with people on a more intimate meaningful level, as well as giving you a sense of belonging to a community.
Most importantly, remember to have fun as you learn about yourself and your body. Be flexible and open to trying out styles that you haven’t normally considered, and be open about who you want to be so that your medical stylist can support you in creating the best version of you!
