Born in 1959 in a family with 3 sisters and a father, who was in the Navy, we spent a lot of time with the 5 women, my mother, my sisters and me. We were a middle-class family with enough money to get by, but not to spend outrageous amounts on clothes and luxury items. I mostly got the old dresses from my sisters, which I hated, because I did not feel well in a dress and especially not the leftovers. I did not want to be a girl, I wanted to be a boy (maybe influenced by my father, who exclaimed in desperation when I was born: “Again a girl!!!???”) And from an early age on I wanted to wear trousers, which my mother did not allow, only with a skirt over the trousers. One must compromise… My oldest sister was fighting with my mother to get to buy and wear a pair of jeans, which in the end she won! At age 11 I managed to get my first corduroy jacket and trousers, it was dusty pink, and I was soooo happy with my new outfit! At high school I wore tight bell bottom jeans that you had to put on while lying down and an Indian midi dress on top and painted wooden shoes. As long as it was outrageous and ‘rebellious. Many were wearing the wooden shoes at some point and it made so much noise on the tile floors of the school that it got forbidden to wear them. Secondhand fur coats were also very popular. We would go to flee markets and purchase a musty smelling black coat with huge collars and wears and tears in the fur. In theatre school, the style changed again, now we were not allowed to wear real fur anymore, so I bought a fake fur leopard coat and a red fedora hat. People from the streets would still shout at me “Animal abuser!” In the pub people would take my hat and putting it on their own head and walking away so I could not get it back. Very annoying. In those days, when you wore flamboyant clothes, it was not really accepted, because of envy or ‘how dare you stick out’ which in The Netherlands is a general attitude. To not protrude above ground level. I always had my own style but I got a little more moderate in my expression in my forties and fifties. I realized that how we dress ourselves is an outer expression of the image we have about ourselves and especially women in their fifties can have a hard time with their bodies, their self-image and to deal with the changes that occur when in menopause. I had my share of that too and had to go through self-doubt, depressive moods and menopause ailments. I had lots of support and I increased my awareness about the lies we get fed about how we are supposed to be as women and how we get crushed by societal demands and norms. Now I am in my sixties and feel more vital then ever, despite some conditions I have that need to be attended to. But the joy and playfulness and spunk has returned(it was never gone, just not lived in full) and the fun I have with my clothes is the reason to start this platform and encourage women to Dare to wear You. There are no rules! It is not about the outside norms, because they are mostly capping. Dare to wear the You that you innately are and yes, there is body forms to consider, but there are no limits to how you can experiment with what you already have or want to throw away or buy new. We change, our awareness about ourselves changes and so does the style of how we dress. It is a joyful adventure to rediscover You in your expression!