The Internet Didn't Believe Me. I Stopped Caring.

What going viral taught me about discernment, self-trust and dressing yourself on purpose in midlife

Well. I went viral last week, and I have thoughts.

The jeans post drew a wave of naysayers convinced I was lying. And honestly? At first, I felt defensive. Who are these strangers on the internet to tell me that isn’t my body?

Then I sat with it and realised, we live in a time where it’s genuinely hard to know what’s real. Filters, AI, paid promotions masquerading as honest content. The scepticism makes sense. If we’re raising our kids to think critically about what they see online, then fair play to anyone applying that same lens to me.

For what it’s worth, I didn’t put my face in the original images because I have teenagers. I am already an embarrassment for simply existing. Putting my whole body on the internet for the world to see felt like a step too far. Then I remembered I’m perimenopausal and I am slowly, gloriously, running out of concern for what anyone thinks of me. My eldest kept telling me to stop defending it. He’s probably right.

The whole reason I shared it in the first place was that I genuinely couldn’t believe how much difference a pair of jeans could make without losing a single kilogram. And since posting, I’ve had more messages and comments than I can count from women who went out, bought the same pair, and had the exact same reaction. Maybe Kmart owes me a commission.

Clothes matter, people! And I’m pushing 50 and just learning how to dress my body now!

Between Instagram and Facebook, the posts clocked over a million views. My Substack stats went a little wild, too, which means there are a lot of new faces around here this week.

👋 Hi, if that’s you. Welcome. You’ve landed in a corner of the internet where we talk honestly about midlife: the body changes, the identity shifts, the wardrobe crises, the perimenopause plot twists, and occasionally the surprisingly excellent jeans from Kmart. I’m really glad you’re here.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Where did you find me, and what brings you here? Or if you have a question about anything, jeans, midlife, or all of the above, drop it below.

Anyway. I’m slowly building my capsule wardrobe with actual intention for the first time in my life, and in two weeks, I have another styling session with Jade from The Seasonal Stylist to work on body architecture/lines and essence, which I cannot wait for. The goal is a wardrobe that feels relaxed, effortless and actually like me at this stage of life.

I’m getting there. And I’m enjoying the process more than I expected.

And if you think the jeans transformation was mind-blowing, just wait. I've been sitting on something for a few weeks that I can't wait to share. For the last three months, the scales haven't moved. Not a gram. And yet my body has been completely changing. I have the scans to prove it. More on that very soon.

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The wardrobe rebuild is just one piece. The bigger project, the one I wrote a whole book about, is rebuilding your entire life with intention in midlife. Health, habits, identity, all of it. Choose Yourself is that book. Link below.