Navy Narnia: The Leadership Lessons Hiding in My Wardrobe

Over the last year, I’ve been gradually transitioning my wardrobe to navy. Plain navy, dark navy, light navy, stripy navy and ‘will go with navy’. What started as a practical decision slowly became a moment of reflection, one of those everyday choices that quietly reveals what you value if you pause long enough to notice it.

You see, for the last few months of my time at A Better Start Southend, I was commuting 150 miles each way between Gloucestershire and Southend. If I arrived at Southend with the rain hammering down after leaving Gloucestershire in the sunshine, my suitcase wasn’t always filled with the most appropriate attire. The long commute forced me to pay attention to my limits, what I could realistically carry, and how being unprepared impacted not just my comfort, but how I showed up.

I made the decision to create a capsule wardrobe. In the interests of having a suitcase I was able to carry from the west side of London to the east, and having ready-to-go mix-and-match attire at my destination, I opted to create a wardrobe that would always work with navy. It was a small act of self-care, but also an act of regulation: removing an unnecessary burden so I could arrive calm, prepared and professional.

Recently Vogue published a piece on how to create a capsule wardrobe to stand the test of time. Clearly, I’m more in fashion than I thought!

I thought about black, but Nicky Ficken does black better than me. So, I chose navy. I already have lots of navy clothes and from what I know about navies and blues, they’re a good choice for the workplace to facilitate good communication whilst ensuring a professional tone. Before I say a word, what I wear is already shaping the relationship tone, and that’s something I’ve learned to be far more intentional about.

If you check out the research, there are a number of studies that explore the colour of clothes. Navies and blue consistently top the charts in terms of high trust.

Blue is also the colour of the throat chakra, and you may or may not believe in chakras and energy, but you can’t argue that blue is its colour. There’s little to no link between the vibration of blue and effective communication, apparently. However, blue is thought to be psychologically calming. This is borne out by the introduction of blue light on subway platforms on the Yamanote line around Tokyo. Over 10 years, they saw an 84% reduction in suicide attempts. Other countries have picked up this preventative measure and are using blue light in their stations too.

But, back to clothes.

Swapping my whole wardrobe to being navy-aligned could have been seriously expensive, so I opted to put my money in the coffers of the charity shops. Over the last year and more now, I’ve done my best to buy my clothes, bags, boots and trinkets from charity shops. This is one of those points where beliefs quietly turn into behaviour, whether we intend them to or not. Where I live, I’m very lucky because the end of the high street closest to my house has five well-stocked, well-used