A Dream Finally Realised – The Story of Juliet’s Closet

This blog has taken me a while to sit down and write – the story of Juliet’s Closet, but the time has come… so kick off your shoes, grab a cuppa and relax a little while I tell you all about this dream of mine!

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a mother of four children – two boys and two girls. I am a driven, passionate, committed, giving person and when I set my mind to something I want to achieve, I give it 120% – in fact probably more.

When my eldest daughter turned seven (she is now twelve), I, like many of you reading this blog, was completely frustrated with the huge jump in the style of clothing available for young girls. It seemed to go from pretty and feminine skirts and dresses with soft pastels and florals, to oh my, completely inappropriate clothing for a young girl who is meant to be growing into a confident young lady. It was as if large corporations were trying to breed a bad attitude into our girls. I remember looking all over a shopping centre one day for a nice pair of pyjamas for Emily. One pair I stumbled across had the words “I’ll get out of bed when I want to” in big type face on the front of the shirt. I think it was at that moment I decided fashion for girls in the 7-14 year old age group had gone way out of control and I was determined to do something about it.

Unfortunately for me, at the time of deciding this, I had just had my fourth child, was knee deep in nappies and struggling from lack of sleep. I was also a stay at home mum who had been out of the work force for nearly eight years and my confidence in myself was extremely low. However, the seed was planted and it seemed that everything I did from that point on – from working retail jobs, helping a good friend market his camping business and even signing up to the school P&F Committee, was all for good reason and allowed me to learn everything I needed to get to this point of starting a new business. Oh and don’t worry, I still have A LOT to learn!

The launch of Juliet’s Closet was an amazingly proud moment for me, the realisation that the little seed planted nearly five years ago was now a reality….the DREAM finally realised.

I am now more passionate than ever about making a CHANGE and providing another option for young girls. Every item of clothing on the website has been thoughtfully and purposely chosen with the girls in mind. I aim to empower them with stylish and feminine clothing that has not only been designed and made well, but is functional and practical.

I want the girls to be able to play, create, dream, explore and basically just BE girls. There is plenty of time for being an adult, so let’s just encourage them to be creative whilst they still have the pleasure of doing so.

WHAT IS MY DREAM NOW FOR JULIET’S CLOSET?

I want this website to be a hub of information, resources and inspiration for young girls and their parents. I want it to be used to help bring our young girls up to be confident young ladies.

To the girls, I want to say that you will be safe here…we welcome you into this community of amazing women. I ask that you look beyond the mystical world of TV shows and music videos and realise that what you see in this community is REALITY! Your mothers, grand mothers, aunties, teachers and friends – they are reality. Look at what they have achieved in their life, how they conduct themselves with style, how they love and care for you and please use this as your inspiration and role model for becoming a woman.

To the women in our community, don’t ever give up on the girls. Their teen and pre-teen years are when they need you the most. They need you to teach them how to be confident. Help them find their talents, beyond what they look like, and do everything you can to include them and induct them into womanhood. If you have young girls in your life, I am sure you would agree that they actually want to be around you, they want to learn from you – and why wouldn’t they, you are all an amazing bunch of women.

Images by Jessica Ruisan from Silk Truffle Photography 

Styling by Lisa Humphries from Joy and Me