Feel like your wardrobe hates you?

Did you, like me, wake up one perimenopausal morning and wonder why all your clothes no longer fit? Erica Davies (46-year-old stylist, mum of two, size 14, jeans-refusenik) has your back

Erica wearing the trousers she “made” me buy. Bay to Breakers cargos from Free People if you’re interested! (Pic: Instagram)

My doctor recently questioned whether I was asking him (yes, a male) about perimenopause because “it was trendy”. “Trendy?” I asked incredulously. “Not trendy, no.” Thanks to some brilliantly vocal female experts and celebrities speaking openly about symptoms, I am more informed than previous generations of women, who would have been written off and given something for “depression”. I am not prepared to feel less than myself, when I know there are hormones that can help replace and balance those that are depleting. So, no, I am not trying to be “trendy”, doctor. I just want to feel like me again.

Menopause and all things perimenopause have become a hot conversation topic – thank God. The fact that we have experts speaking out about symptoms and what we can do to help ourselves is revolutionary. The idea that now, in the twenty first century, given all the knowledge and medical innovation, menopause should stop you being anything but yourself is ridiculous. As was that question from my doctor.

That isn’t to say going through menopause is easy. It isn’t, and it comes with a variety of changes, from the physical – shifts in your weight, metabolism and the way your body looks – to the mental – overwhelming feelings of anxiety or flatness. Many women find their bodies become difficult to dress and they have to adapt in ways they hadn’t had to before. Stomachs have a mind of their own, swelling at a moment’s notice and painful to touch. Often, this is in conjunction with an internal temperature gauge that no longer works. What will today bring – being freezing cold or off-the-scale furnace hot? And that’s hard to dress for when you’re not entirely sure how you’ll be feeling. I am going to try to help. You are not alone.