Building Your Emotional Wardrobe

We were reflecting this Christmas about how Christmas jumpers serve a specific purpose, and they come out for a specific season. It got us thinking about coping mechanisms, and how it’s important to have the right things in your ’emotional wardrobe’ to pull out to match different seasons and serve different purposes.

Watch Si talking through it below (or you can click here!) And you can read along below!

Let’s talk about this Christmas jumper. It’s thick, it’s warm, it’s festive – and it only comes out for a very specific season. Just like this jumper, our mental health coping strategies aren’t meant to be universal. We gotta have the right ones for specific moments; specific challenges.

Before we even open our emotional wardrobe, though, let’s pause. Check in with yourself. How do you actually feel about this season? If you find it difficult, that’s completely valid. But ask yourself:

“Is this year different in any way? Am I wearing last year’s emotional jumper without checking if it still fits?”

So challenge the way you’re thinking about this season, cuz it might be that something’s changed for you, but you’re still feeling the same way about Christmas, just because it’s how you’ve always felt about it.

And here’s something important: you can feel multiple things at once.

Just like layering clothes, you can “wear” or experience different emotions. Joy about seeing family, anxiety about social events, excitement about celebrations, sadness about who’s missing. All these feelings can coexist, and that’s okay.

Some strategies are like this jumper – heavy, protective, perfect for when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Others are like a light cardigan – just enough coverage when you’re feeling slightly exposed. Am I working this clothing metaphor too much? Tough. We’re literally a clothing company.

The true (Christmas) magic is in having a range. But the range is for life not just Christmas.

Think of it like An emotional wardrobe where you can pick out what you need, when you need it, to match the season or the emotion that you’re experiencing. Maybe one day, that’s a five-minute breathing exercise when anxiety creeps in. Another day, it might be a long walk to clear your head. Sometimes it’s journaling to process difficult emotions. Other times, it’s reaching out and asking for professional support.

It isn’t about having one perfect strategy. It’s about having options. About understanding that what worked last winter might not work this Christmas.

So here’s my challenge to you: Start building your emotional wardrobe. Collect strategies. Experiment. Be curious about what supports YOU. And if you’re looking for some inspiration? Head to hatw.co.uk. We’ve got heaps of wellbeing strategies – and hey, while you’re there, maybe pick up some merch to build up your actual wardrobe too. It says it in our shirts but one size doesn’t fit all. And it’s the same for mental health.

So build up your emotional wardrobe of coping strategies to help you through whatever season you find yourself in.

If you found this helpful

Please consider picking up some of our merch with a message! Help build up your actual wardrobe (as well as your emotional one!) It helps fund our work, and can help you manage your mental health too!