Another episode of Style Files, where I talk with real listeners about their real style journeys. This time I’m talking with Valerie about how fit changed everything for her, how she built a personal style persona she calls “an eccentric old lady in an English manor,” and why personal style is often more about storytelling than rules. We also get into tailoring, thrifting, style systems, and finding what actually feels like you.

Full Show Notes: https://gabriellearruda.com/style-files-the-eccentric-old-lady-in-an-english-manor

Countess Image: https://www.artnet.com/artists/bruce-weber/the-duchess-of-devonshire-feeding-her-chickens-at-zvjzSVgfWXvUq7CFDKD4ig2

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blog → https://gabriellearruda.com/
podcast → https://www.stylepovpodcast.com
email → gabrielle@gabriellearruda.com

Follow me❤️

blog → https://gabriellearruda.com/

podcast → https://www.stylepovpodcast.com

youtube → https://www.youtube.com/@Gabriellearrudadesign
facebook group→ https://www.facebook.com/groups/gabriellearruda
instagram→ https://www.instagram.com/gabriellearrudadesign/
tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellearrudadesign?
pinterest → https://www.pinterest.com/gabriellearrudadesign/
email → gabrielle@gabriellearruda.com

Disclaimer: The Style POV Podcast content is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts and guests are their own. Gabrielle Arruda is not liable for any errors or omissions, and listeners use the information at their own risk.

In this episode of Style POV’s Style Files series, I sit down with Lillian to talk about her journey from postpartum style confusion to a sense of grounded clarity. Previously, she was deep in online advice, surface-level color analysis, and style systems that promised answers but often created more noise. We talk about growing up, the impact of COVID, her first virtual analysis, and what it felt like to move through multiple systems while searching for harmony, formulas, and something that actually felt right.

Lillian shares how stepping back from social media, questioning rigid rules, and listening to her intuition changed everything. We dig into playful elegance as a personal style statement, building capsule wardrobes that truly work, and the moment when rules and intuition finally aligned. This conversation is honest, thoughtful, and deeply relatable for anyone who has felt torn between structure and creativity in their style.

Learn more about style statements: https://gabriellearruda.com/personal-style-building-developing-a-style-statement/

Follow me❤️

blog → https://gabriellearruda.com/

podcast → https://www.stylepovpodcast.com

youtube → https://www.youtube.com/@Gabriellearrudadesign
facebook group→ https://www.facebook.com/groups/gabriellearruda
instagram→ https://www.instagram.com/gabriellearrudadesign/
tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellearrudadesign?
pinterest → https://www.pinterest.com/gabriellearrudadesign/
email → gabrielle@gabriellearruda.com

Disclaimer: The Style POV Podcast content is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts and guests are their own. Gabrielle Arruda is not liable for any errors or omissions, and listeners use the information at their own risk.

In this episode of Style POV, I’m joined by Dr. Valerie Steele, fashion historian, author, and director of The Museum at FIT. Dr. Steele has shaped the way the world understands fashion. Her work examines the cultural, psychological, and emotional forces behind what we wear and why it matters.

We talk about her latest exhibition, Dress, Dreams and Desire: Fashion and Psychoanalysis, and explore how clothing reflects fantasy, identity, memory, and the unconscious. If you’ve ever felt that what you wear holds meaning beyond the outfit, this conversation will affirm it.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How fashion became her lifelong pursuit and why it is never frivolous
• Whether corsets were oppressive or empowering
• The psychological connection between clothing, identity, and desire
• How style can be armor, transformation, and storytelling
• Why fashion is a "deep surface" with layers of meaning

If you enjoyed this conversation, make sure to follow the show and leave a rating. It helps more listeners discover Style POV.

More about Dr. Valerie Steele:

Website: The Museum at FIT

Instragram: @valerie_steele_fashion

Dress, Dreams, & Desire: A History of Fashion and Psychoanalysis, find it here. (highly recommend!!)

FIT Exhibit: https: //www.fitnyc.edu/museum/exhibitions/dress-dreams-desire

Dr. Valerie Steele Photo Credit: Smiljana Peros

Timestamps

01:01 – Discovering fashion as more than ‘frivolous’
03:31 – The corset: Liberating or restricting?
05:59 – Clothing as parts of history
09:48 – Pacing of fashion evolution
14:27 – Traditional psychoanalytic fashion ideas
17:07 – Gender fluidity in fashion
22:51 – Identification and fashion
30:33 – Clothes as armor
35:29 – Dreams, Desires, and Psychoanalysis Exhibit
42:03 – The idea of a deep surface
46:20 – Major fashion influence
47:38 – What’s next for Dr. Valerie Steele

Follow me❤️

blog → https://gabriellearruda.com/

podcast → https://www.stylepovpodcast.com

youtube → https://www.youtube.com/@Gabriellearrudadesign
facebook group→ https://www.facebook.com/groups/gabriellearruda
instagram→ https://www.instagram.com/gabriellearrudadesign/
tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@gabriellearrudadesign?
pinterest → https://www.pinterest.com/gabriellearrudadesign/
email → gabrielle@gabriellearruda.com

Disclaimer: The Style POV Podcast content is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. The views expressed by hosts and guests are their own. Gabrielle Arruda is not liable for any errors or omissions, and listeners use the information at their own risk.