It's Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May) and many of us are finding new ways of staying positive and healthy at home, including working on new skills and pursuing what makes you tick.
This week, we caught up with tutor Nada Dahab, who shared some of her tips on how to stay creative and productive at home.
Nada Dahab is a British Egyptian Freelance Commercial Fashion Stylist who has styled adverts for clients such as Actimel, Barclaycard and Calor. She is an associate lecturer at Central Saint Martins on the MA Applied Imagination in the creative industries as well as a Short Course Tutor at London College of Fashion.
Her popular Online Short Courses Personal Fashion Styling Online Short Course and Business of Styling Online Short Course are coming up soon!
"Lockdown has been an interesting time for all of us and pretty early on I figured that what I needed to do is try to stay positive, creative and make sure that I am taking care of my mental health by finding happiness in the small things!"
1) Research
If there is anything that you need to brush up on as a stylist and generally as a creative, the time is now.
I am currently trying to learn how to create professional videos and looking into editing. If there is a skill that you need to learn or something that would benefit your process, your business or your creative flow DO IT. Write a small list of things you’d like to improve on and dedicate time to them. I say a small list because it’s very easy to get overwhelmed and not want to do anything.. I’ve been there.
2) Experiment
Take old work you’ve done and revisit it with a new eye. Ask yourself ‘ what would I do differently now’ and if there’s something, try it out. Keep your skills top-notch by trying out things with clothing you never did before, wear things in unusual ways and see how they look, adding and taking away accessories, belts etc.
3) Create
It is so important to create, even if it’s on a small scale. If you are a photographer, keep taking photographs, if you are a stylist, plan outfits and experiment with different pieces. If you are a designer, continue to research, sketch and make things and this could be deconstructing pieces you already have that are no longer used and making them into something new. Great innovation and ideas tend to come from restrictions, you’ll be surprised what you end up creating.
4) Get inspired
Start to collect any visuals, articles, podcasts that inspire you and make notes. I keep a file on my desktop that I call ‘inspirational material’, save things on your Instagram and create Pinterest boards that you can revisit later on.
5) Stay up to date
This is a great opportunity to witness how fashion is about to change forever! Fashion has always changed and shifted depending on social, economic and political change. What we are experiencing will change Fashion and our entire industry drastically so stay informed and follow how brands and designers will adapt so that you can adapt too.
There are lots of really great free webinars and talks on and so getting the most out of them will help you stay in the loop!
Finally, and probably my biggest tip is to continue with hobbies that are ‘non-fashion’. It’s so important to immerse yourself in things outside of your craft, this will give you a multitude of references outside of fashion and they will subconsciously influence your work, allowing it to be unique and exciting.
If you are feeling inspired to pursue your creative projects and learn new skills, check-out our wide range of Online Short Courses
