equestriennes who dare to dazzle

lady in red-what a nerve!

I just received an email from one of my fashion faves Top Shop. The subject matter was' Dare to Dazzle'. It's one of those expressions that's strange but true isn't it. Why is it daring to dazzle? Probably because many women don't feel confident enough to twinkle, let alone dazzle. We'd rather dress down and not draw attention to ourselves in case we get mocked for dressing above ourselves!

And why am I writing about it here? Well, it's because even though I'm quite happy to wear attention grabbing clothes in my life outside horses (is there such a thing?), I suddenly realised that when it came to my riding gear, until I started to write this blog I was definitely an equestrian wallflower. I was doing my best to be invisible simply because I didn't feel I had the right to wear anything particularly eye catching or expensive and that's because I didn't think that I was a good enough rider.

It wasn't something that I did consciously but now I can see what I was doing because NOW, I'm doing quite the opposite. If I take a shine to that show shirt I spotted on a top rider then I'll hunt it down, buy it and and wear it.  Why shouldn't I have those long gorgeous looking Italian boots that cost a fortune? (Well, I may have to save for those). Why should I think they're too good for me? And you know, the weird thing is, the more I've spent on stylish looking equestrian clothing, and the more effort I've made to dress up not down, the more confident I have become as a rider.

As the ad says....'because you're worth it.'

So do you relate to anything I've said? Are you afraid to look like you've got all the gear and no idea?

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