A Styled Life

Alex Standley

Welcome to A Styled Life, the podcast for purpose-led female founders & senior leaders ready to use style as a powerful tool for confidence, impact, and influence. I'm your host, Alex Standley, multi award-winning Personal Stylist, Speaker and Sustainable Fashion Consultant, with two decades of experience in the fast-paced world of fashion. Join me as we redefine success from the inside out. This podcast isn’t just about clothes. It’s about personal power, purposeful style, and creating a life that aligns with your values. So whether you’re running a business, leading a movement, or stepping into your next chapter, you’re in the right place. Each week, we’ll dive into the world of personal style, sustainability, female empowerment, and living with intention. Through real stories, expert insights, and plenty of inspiration.

  1. 5d ago

    Find the Courage to Be Yourself: Reinvention, Style Confidence and Colour with Emma Chapman Jewels

    Most of us wait to feel ready before we change our lives. We wait for permission, for the right moment, for certainty that it will work. Emma Chapman did the opposite. She left a successful career in film PR and moved to Jaipur alone to teach herself an ancient jewellery craft from the ground up. Emma is an award-winning British jewellery designer, who lives between Somerset and Jaipur and has worked with the same family-run workshops in India for over fifteen years. But the thread that runs quietest through her story is one most women will recognise instantly: learning, after years of hiding, to dress for the body you actually have. Emma's story is a masterclass in following a calling before the path is clear. We talk about the burnout that pushed her out of a glamorous industry, the leap of faith that took her to India, and the world behind her work: goldsmiths who lead their days by astrology, the meaning gemstones carry, and why she stopped chasing trends and started designing only what she loves. Then the conversation turns personal. Emma is honest about her weight changing over the years, the wardrobe full of sizes she can't get into, and the tent-dress phase where covering up only made her feel worse. It's a conversation for any woman who has waited to fit into something before she lets herself feel good. KEY TAKEAWAYS The burnout hiding underneath a glamorous careerReinvention as a series of brave choices, not one clean leapHow astrology shapes daily life, and the stones people wearThe honest limits of the word "sustainable"Investment dressing and pieces made to be passed downDressing your body as it is now, not the size you're waiting forWhy jewellery holds its power through every change of shapeColour, confidence and the courage to be seen TIMESTAMPS 04:20 — Servicing everyone else's creativity, expressing none of your own 05:33 — "I can't do this anymore": the pivotal weekend 08:00 — Jaipur, gemstones and a leap of faith with no plan 16:22 — Why women get stuck at the point of reinvention 17:46 — When you focus on something, everything conspires 20:55 — Astrology, goldsmiths and the day you must wear green 25:03 — The energy objects carry, and how Emma cleanses her pieces 28:35 — Leading the trend by refusing to follow it 33:23 — Is there a tension between luxury and sustainability? 38:23 — Fast fashion, landfill and the case for buying one, not six 39:32 — Melting down a grandfather's ring: jewellery as reinvention 41:16 — Growing bolder with age, colour and what suits you 42:03 — Comfort, dresses and feeling good in your own clothes 44:04 — Why British women are afraid of their own jewellery 46:04 — Jewellery holds its power through every change of shape 51:03 — The "one day I'll fit into it" wardrobe If this conversation landed for you, and you're ready to stop dressing for who you were and start dressing for the woman you actually are, a Style Strategy Call is where we begin. It's a free, no-pressure conversation. Book yours below. 👉 https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call CONNECT WITH EMMA CHAPMAN Website: https://emmachapmanjewels.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmacjewels/

    Find the Courage to Be Yourself: Reinvention, Style Confidence and Colour with Emma Chapman Jewels

  2. Sep 23

    Why Your Style Became Public Property:Style, Feminism & Refusing to Shrink with Nicky Denson-Elliott

    Why does a woman's appearance get read as public property in a way a man's rarely does? A politician's wife stands next to her husband and the internet decides her dress is fair game. A woman pops to the supermarket in her gym kit and strangers line up to tell her to cover up. This conversation is about what sits underneath all of that. And what it costs women who are trying to be seen. In this episode of A Styled Life, I'm joined by Nicky Denson-Elliott, founder of The Wilder Collective and host of the Women's Business podcast. Nicky calls herself the professional feminist, and she builds spaces that help women own their value, take up room, and stop apologising for it. We get into the double standard around how women are seen, the internalised misogyny most of us are carrying without naming it, and why style is not frivolous but a tool women can use to walk into a room and feel they belong there. This is a conversation about power as much as it is about clothes. I used to shrink when people said "I see you everywhere." It landed like a dig, and every instinct told me to make myself smaller. Learning to stay visible on my own terms, without performing, has been some of the hardest and most important work I've done. It's exactly the work I now do with the women I style. WE EXPLORE • Why women's appearance gets policed while men age into "distinguished" • Internalised misogyny: the judgement you feel is your conditioning talking • Taking flattery off the table and dressing for how you want to feel instead • Using clothing to turn up your confidence before you walk into the room • Why "can I pull this off?" is the wrong question • Feminism as fuel, not something to hold in until it makes you ill • "Who am I to do this?" and why authority isn't a follower count • Separating a safety response from a genuine "this isn't me" TIMESTAMPS 08:00 — Claiming "the professional feminist" out loud 11:00 — Midlife, perimenopause and the eyes-open shift 20:00 — Why women's appearance is treated as public property 25:10 — The double standard, from Demi Moore to Andy Burnham's wife 28:00 — Style, power, and the fear of judgement that keeps women small 39:30 — Bold, colourful and growing into her style 44:24 — "Pulling it off" is an energy shift, not a rule 51:55 — The real blocks around visibility: who am I to do this? 58:51 — Advice for the woman mid-reinvention If this conversation landed for you, and you're ready to stop dressing for who you were and start dressing for who you want to be seen as, a Style Strategy Call is where we begin. It's a free, no-pressure conversation. Book yours below. 👉 https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call CONNECT WITH NICKY Website: https://www.thewildercollective.co.uk Podcast: Women's Business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickydensonelliott?stkn=Mjlncm0zNGp6cjln

    Why Your Style Became Public Property:Style, Feminism & Refusing to Shrink with Nicky Denson-Elliott

  3. Sep 16

    Wardrobe Full Of Clothes & Nothing to Wear? Dr Dion Terrelonge on the Psychology of Personal Style

    Retail therapy has never once fixed the feeling it was meant to fix. Dr Dion Terrelonge, a chartered psychologist known as The Fashion Psychologist, explains exactly why, and what to do instead. It starts with Dion's own story: an outfit from Tammy Girl, chosen entirely by her as a child, and what that taught her about identity before she had any language for it. We talk about why clothing becomes the first tool most of us use to work out who we are, and why so many adults never finished that exercise for themselves. We get into all you need to know about style & the way you shop: why your Instagram feed has quietly started dressing everyone the same, why women police other women's style and call it good advice, and why a purchase can feel like relief for about a day and nothing more. Every one of those patterns has a specific, doable fix once you can actually see it. Dion also shares why she can spot bad quality in seconds now: an unfinished seam, an unlined jacket, a hem that gives up before you've worn it once. She talks about internalised misogyny, the unspoken rule that tells capable women to tone themselves down before they're taken seriously, and where that rule actually comes from. The thread running through all of it is choice. Who gets to make it, who's been taught to hand it away, and what it takes to take it back. TIMESTAMPS  02:07 — The first outfit that was entirely her choice  09:02 — Age twelve, and clothing as the first identity tool  15:35 — Why teenage style has flattened into one global look  19:50 — Dressing like "a primary school teacher" to be taken seriously 22:53 — Letting go of permission for good 25:39 — Internalised misogyny, and women policing other women's style 34:07 — The truth about retail therapy  37:44 — Swindled by Zara, and what unfinished seams reveal about quality  39:19 — The addiction cycle behind overconsumption, and how to punctuate it  42:34 — Why a full wardrobe can still feel like nothing to wear  47:37 — What dopamine is actually for, and why fast fashion hijacks it 49:03 — Alex's TEDx talk, Oxfam's research, and why intention keeps clothes in rotation  KEY TAKEAWAYS The first outfit that's entirely your own choice teaches something about identity that stays with you for life.If retail therapy worked, you wouldn't need to do it again.Your social feed has quietly flattened everyone's style into the same look. Recognising that is the first step to shopping outside it.Internalised misogyny tells capable women to tone themselves down to be taken seriously. Nobody actually told them to. They absorbed it.Overconsumption isn't fixed by willpower. It's fixed by deliberately punctuating the cycle until your brain stops reaching for it automatically.Most full wardrobes aren't short on clothes. They're short on things anyone actually chose. If this conversation changed how you're thinking about how you want to show up in your style, a Style Strategy Call is where we start putting that into practice. 👉 Book yours here: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call CONNECT WITH DION  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefashionpsychologist_ Substack: https://askdrdee.substack.com/

    Wardrobe Full Of Clothes & Nothing to Wear? Dr Dion Terrelonge on the Psychology of Personal Style

  4. Sep 9

    What Secondhand September Taught Me About Personal Style: A Stylist's Preloved Shopping Secrets

    Most women are taught to want the next thing. The drop, the trend, the piece everyone is wearing this month. But the pieces that actually make you feel like yourself were never about being new. They were about being you. Worn in. Chosen slowly, and kept for years. Alex Standley, Personal Stylist & Sustainable Fashion Consultant, marks Secondhand September with the story behind her own shift. Fifteen years as a global fashion buyer meant a wardrobe built on constant, unconsidered newness. A pregnancy, a rabbit hole into sustainability, and one green jumper on eBay changed that. Alex shares what changed when she slowed down, and the practical approach she still uses today to shop preloved, from upscale charity boutiques to the menswear rail. This episode is for women who want a wardrobe that reflects who they are, not what the high street is selling this season. Key Takeaways Style was never about being new. It was about being you.The eBay jumper that started a seven-year shiftDoubling how long you wear a garment cuts its lifetime emissions by 44%The pieces that last are the ones you'd buy again tomorrow, not the ones bought in a rushWhy the menswear rail & upscale charity boutiques deserve a proper lookPreloved is not a compromise. It is often where your most treasured pieces live Timestamps 01:03 Why Alex started rethinking her wardrobe07:00 The purpose of Secondhand September09:21 How to buy preloved well: sellers, sizing, and the menswear rail12:06 Buying off season: planning strategy14:56 The wardrobe edit: what earns its place and what doesn't17:31 Using trends as a lens, not a rulebook18:51 Where real personal style lives Ready for a wardrobe built on intention? If you want support building a style that is genuinely yours, Alex's Style Identity Blueprint starts with getting clear on who you are and translating it into a knockout style. A Style Strategy Call is the place to find out if it's the right fit. https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call Mentions: Rebound Store, Brighton — reboundstore.comPhoenix Style, Wimbledon and Cobham (Paige) — phoenixstyle.co.ukThe Preloved Edit, St Albans (Sarah) — https://theprelovededit.com/The Green Muse, Bristol — thegreenmuse.co.ukOne Scoop Store, East London — onescoopstore.comStyle with Purpose, Thursday 24th September 6pm alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-with-purpose-the-identity-editInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandrastandley• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-standley-personal-stylist

    What Secondhand September Taught Me About Personal Style: A Stylist's Preloved Shopping Secrets

  5. Sep 2

    Behind the Brand: Claire Burrows of Air & Grace on Style, Design and Building a Business

    Behind every brand you love is a conversation you never usually get to hear. This is one of them. Claire Burrows is the founder of Air & Grace, and fashion has been in her blood since the beginning. She grew up watching her mum make her school dresses and her nan show off a wardrobe of clothes she'd had made. That thread ran through Claire, from a little girl who refused to wear anything she hadn't chosen herself, to twenty years in footwear at Office, Kurt Geiger, FitFlop and Aldo, to building a brand of her own. This is an insider conversation, Alex spent fifteen years as a buyer including product development sourcing leather and hardware, so she and Claire speak the same language, and they get into everything most interviews skip.  What a full year of making a shoe actually involves. How you tell genuine quality from something that only photographs well. And why the industry decided women should choose between looking good and feeling good, when it was never a law of physics, just a choice someone made. There's the founder story too, and it's a good one. Being turned down by buyers who wouldn't risk a new name, then winning the investment that changed everything. What it takes to hold your nerve when no one believes yet, and why trusting your gut is the skill that matters most. And then there's sustainability, though Claire would be the first to say she doesn't think of herself as a sustainable brand. For her it was never a marketing line. It's common sense: make beautiful things properly, from good materials, that people will want to keep for years. It's an approach that mirrors how I work with clients. Start with the person and how she'll really live, not the trend or the clothes. Timestamps: 02:05 — Where her eye comes from: a family of dressmakers 04:09 — Fashion college, and falling into footwear by accident 11:54 — Where inspiration really comes from, and starting with how she'll wear it 22:08 — Inside the year it takes to make a shoe, start to finish 33:36 — Spending everything, and the Metro competition that changed it 39:42 — Nerves of steel, trusting your gut, and self-trust as a founder 44:52 — Sustainability, or why she'd rather call it common sense 56:17 — Quickfire: wardrobe love, excess and regrets Key takeaways: How to spot genuine quality in a shoe or bag, and what actually justifies a higher priceWhy comfort and style were never opposites, and what to stop accepting when you shopA smarter way to buy: choosing fewer, better pieces that last for yearsWhat it really takes to build a brand, and why trusting your gut matters more than any outside opinionHow to think about sustainability without the jargon or the guilt, as plain common sense If you'd like to meet Claire in person, she joins me live on the panel at Style With Purpose: The Identity Edit on Thursday 24 September, 6pm, at Hart Shoreditch, during Sustainable Fashion Week. Use code AIR&GRACE for £10 off your ticket. Book below: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-with-purpose-the-identity-edit Connect with Claire: Website: https://www.airandgracelondon.com Email: Claire@airandgracelondon.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/airandgrace/

    Behind the Brand: Claire Burrows of Air & Grace on Style, Design and Building a Business

  6. Aug 26

    Building a Purpose-led Brand: Luxury, Fit, Wealth & Intentional Decisions with Priya Downes of Nudea

    Most sustainable fashion tells you what not to buy. This conversation asks a better question: what happens when you choose with intention and something finally fits you properly? Priya Downes trained as an actuary, worked on poverty and environmental projects at the World Bank, then spent over a decade in luxury with Chanel and Burberry before founding Nudea, the fit-first, B Corp certified underwear brand now worn by tens of thousands of women. She is a data person to her core who built a business around one of the most personal things a woman puts on. We talk about the layer nobody sees and how much it shapes the way you show up in everything else. Why most women are wearing the wrong size and what changes, physically and otherwise, when that's put right. The mindset shift underneath sustainable dressing: buying less, buying better, and the reasons that shift is so much harder than the maths suggests. We also go somewhere I didn't expect. Into what it really takes to build a business when you can't clock off at five, when you've fundraised, and when the brand is a direct reflection of your own values. And into wealth: why women are so often left out of the financial literacy conversation, why investing for the future still skews male, and how the same psychology that keeps women from investing shows up in how we shop. For me, this one connects directly to the work I do with clients. So much of how a woman carries herself starts underneath the outfit, with whether she feels comfortable in her own skin before she's even chosen what to wear. Priya and I come at that from different ends. We land in the same place. Key takeaways: The layer nobody sees shapes how you show up in everything you do.Fit isn't vanity. It's comfort, health and how you carry yourself in a room.Buying less and buying better costs the same or less. The barrier is behaviour, not maths.You can't separate a purpose-led founder from the brand she builds. The values are the product.The same psychology that holds women back from investing shows up in how we shop. Both are shifted through education. If you enjoyed this conversation and you'd like to hear more from Priya, she'll be joining me live on the panel at Style With Purpose: The Identity Edit on Thursday 24 September at Hart Shoreditch, alongside Air & Grace founder Claire Burrows, and Paige Mengers from Phoenix Style. With a styling showcase from me and my clients. Book your ticket here: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-with-purpose-the-identity-edit use code NUDEA for £10 off. Connect with Priya: Website: https://www.nudea.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nudea.underwear/ Nudea is also stocked at John Lewis, and internationally via Nordstrom and Free People. Email Priya: priya@nudea.com

    Building a Purpose-led Brand: Luxury, Fit, Wealth & Intentional Decisions with Priya Downes of Nudea

  7. Aug 19

    Lead from Who You Are: Intuition, Visibility, Hormones & Getting Dressed as a Female Founder

    There is a version of you that already knows. Knows the price is too low, knows the outfit isn't right, knows the decision before you can explain it. And then a second voice arrives to talk you out of it. In this episode I'm joined by Danielle Hobson, Intuitive Business Coach and founder of The Aligned Business School. She helps women build businesses that run on their own intuition rather than someone else's blueprint, and the more we talked, the clearer it became that we are doing the same work. We both read energy in different ways. Neither of us is predicting anything. We're helping women recognise who they already are and act on it. We go deep on the difference between intuition and fear, and why one is a felt response and the other is your nervous system trying to keep you safe from a decision it has mistaken for a threat. Danielle explains why confidence is the last thing to arrive, not the first, and why waiting to feel ready is the thing keeping you small. Then it gets physical. We talk about how the same outfit can feel triumphant one week and unbearable the next, why what you wear changes how you actually work, and why the woman who feels invisible online usually needs to change her environment before she changes herself. Danielle is also honest about perimenopause in a way few women are, and about what it costs to stay quiet. The thread running through all of it is self-trust. How you lose it, why the world is built to take it, and what it looks like to build it back, one decision and one outfit at a time. TIMESTAMPS 01:03 — Two women working from the same place  02:42 — When Danielle first trusted her intuition over any strategy 07:18 — Intuition or fear: feel first, think second  16:35 — Courage before confidence (the four Cs)  18:55 — What it means to be an energetic match for what you want 33:26 — Dressing from your mood, and the days you override it  39:01 — Hormones, the mirror, and Beyoncé versus homeless person 42:24 — Perimenopause at 36, the GP battle, and breaking the silence  53:39 — Visibility, environment, and the mother-in-law on your feed 57:47 — Quickfire: leopard print, blue, and the tartan trousers KEY TAKEAWAYS Your intuition responds first and your fear argues second; once you know the order, you can tell them apartConfidence doesn't come before you act, it's built by acting before you feel readyWhat you wear isn't vanity; it changes your energy and how you work for the rest of the dayThe same outfit can feel completely different across your cycle, and that's your hormones, not a failing in youIf you feel invisible, look at your environment before you question your nerve If this conversation landed for you, and you're ready to stop dressing for who you were and start dressing as the woman you are now, a Style Strategy Call is where we begin. 👉 Book yours here: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/style-strategy-call CONNECT WITH DANIELLE HOBSON Website: https://www.daniellehobson.co.uk  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedaniellehobson The Aligned Business School: https://www.thealignedbusinessschool.com/waitlist

    Lead from Who You Are: Intuition, Visibility, Hormones & Getting Dressed as a Female Founder

  8. Aug 12

    Why You Keep Buying Clothes That Don't Feel Like You | Personal Stylist on Identity & Sustainability

    Why knowing who you are is the most sustainable thing you can do. The overwhelmed wardrobe, the impulse buys, the pieces with the tags still on. Most women assume it's a shopping problem. It isn't. The buying is the symptom. When you don't have clarity on who you are, shopping becomes a way of searching, and searching is the least sustainable way to dress there is. This one is for founders, senior leaders and speakers who are becoming more visible, and who keep landing on the same sentence: this doesn't feel like me. Most sustainable fashion advice hands you a list of what not to do. Buy less. Stop chasing trends. Wear it thirty times. All well-meaning. All quietly exhausting. This episode takes a different route. Because the women I work with don't need another rule about what they consume. They need clarity about who they are. Get that right, and you buy differently. Not because you're forcing yourself to, but because you no longer want the thing you used to reach for. I reframe sustainability as something that happens to you when your style finally matches your identity, rather than a set of restrictions you impose on yourself. YOU'LL LEARN Why the buying is never the problem, only the symptomHow identity clarity quietly ends the search, and the overspending with itWhy the seasonal colour of the moment leaves a graveyard in your wardrobeThe order that actually works: identity first, presence next, clothes lastWhy the woman who doesn't care about sustainability still ends up with a wardrobe that lastsFour questions to start reading your own wardrobe differently TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Why the usual advice feels like restriction03:10 — The buying isn't the problem. It's the symptom05:20 — Searching at the till: what you're really reaching for07:40 — The seasonal colour trap and the wardrobe graveyard10:15 — This doesn't feel like me: the sentence I hear most13:00 — Identity first, presence next, clothes last15:30 — The five lenses I use to read who you are18:20 — Where sustainability actually comes from20:40 — For the woman who couldn't care less about eco23:00 — Four questions to sit with this week My Styled for Impact guide is for the woman stepping into her own event, keynotes, media features, photo shoots and high-stakes rooms who wants to walk in thinking about her message, not her reflection. It's five questions, it's free, and it will show you exactly where the gap is with your style and change the opportunities you create in every room you walk into this year. 👉 Download Styled for Impact: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/styledforimpactguide And if you're ready for the full personalised picture, working together 1-2-1, that's the Style Identity Blueprint. Two sessions, a complete read of who you are through my identity framework, and the clarity of your own signature style that makes every wardrobe decision afterwards simple. It's the work that brings my clients their biggest light-bulb moments. £750 for two sessions. 👉 Book yours: https://www.alexandrastandley.co.uk/service-page/the-style-identity-blueprint

    Why You Keep Buying Clothes That Don't Feel Like You | Personal Stylist on Identity & Sustainability
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About

Welcome to A Styled Life, the podcast for purpose-led female founders & senior leaders ready to use style as a powerful tool for confidence, impact, and influence. I'm your host, Alex Standley, multi award-winning Personal Stylist, Speaker and Sustainable Fashion Consultant, with two decades of experience in the fast-paced world of fashion. Join me as we redefine success from the inside out. This podcast isn’t just about clothes. It’s about personal power, purposeful style, and creating a life that aligns with your values. So whether you’re running a business, leading a movement, or stepping into your next chapter, you’re in the right place. Each week, we’ll dive into the world of personal style, sustainability, female empowerment, and living with intention. Through real stories, expert insights, and plenty of inspiration.

Information

  • Creator
    Alex Standley
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Alex Standley

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