Casey Merrigan

"I had become a shadow of my former self and it enveloped me daily on a physical and psychological level that was all consuming.

For the last 20 years I had stopped believing in myself.

In my mind, there was always someone out there more qualified, more beautiful, more talented, skinnier and more deserving than I was and those thoughts were so dominant in my mind that I just stopped allowing myself to feel relevant.

I stopped trying. I gave up on my dreams and went with the flow.

Then, 2 years ago I did the unthinkable. I backed myself. I studied and became a nurse.

The feeling of achievement was so powerful and addictive, upon graduating (with honours) I was already searching for my next mountain to climb.

So at 37, I became a cosmetic nurse at a boutique clinic and plan to continue my studies in the medical field.

After deliberating for months about embarking on this styling session – I finally decided to give myself permission.

I deserved this.

I had worked hard.. and although I was both petrified and excited - I did it.

I learned more about myself in my pre-styling session than I ever knew.. and then came the ACTUAL session.

This is where my words fail me. The first outfit had me in tears. Pure joy. Disbelief that it was me in that mirror. I looked beautiful. I didn’t recognise myself.

But I wanted to know the person staring back at me.

She was who I wanted to be.

I never thought pieces of fabric could change so much about who I am, how I feel and what I stand for

The internal transformation is even more impressive than the external one.

I’ve always dreamt of being a confident, sassy, effortlessly cool woman. Quite the opposite of what I actually was…… until that day in the dressing room."

‍