Why dress colourfully?

The first clothing ensemble I remember choosing for myself as a child was a collection of about five bubblegum-pink pieces from Adams, and the next was some mint green items from M&S. I think my parents were great at allowing me to obtain a whole mix-and-match wardrobe in one fell swoop!

I reprised the pink look in 2006 when I was heading to Japan on holiday, with some pieces from Gap including a jacket, and this is when my love of wearing colour really began to take off. When I looked back at other people's photos of that holiday, I realised I could be easily spotted in the photos with my pink jacket, and I decided to keep choosing colourful coats for that reason. So in China I wore turquoise, in Peru purple, and so on.

I began doing the same when attending events that I'd later seek out other people's photos of on Flickr, and it worked really well! I could easily find my deep pink coat in photos of a visit to the Garden of Cosmic Speculation.

I began to notice how drably most people dressed when I was walking along Princes St in Edinburgh and it was a sea of black, navy, beige, and brown. I was determined to go against that tide.

Wearing colour is not just a way of easily finding myself in photographs, it's also a way of bringing joy and fun to my life and to other people around me. Now I have a name at work for dressing in bright colours, and it's always a shock to people when I dress in black & white or navy (although I do love wearing these colours on occasion!). In fact, I have a mantra that you should dress like it's your birthday every day!

This love of dressing colourfully culminated in me joining in with the In Colourful Company colour walk in Glasgow (and soon in Edinburgh). It was amazing to get together with a group of like-minded people who enjoy colour as much as I do, and to bring smiles to the faces of passers-by!