Dress the body you have today
It was a pleasure to talk to Sarah Weichardt from the charity Menopaus'ull for Menopause Awareness Month. In the interview, Sarah shares her personal journey through menopause, the work of the Menopaus'ull Support Network, insights into supporting women during menopause, and her own style story.
Sarah, could you just tell me a little bit about yourself please?
I work for the Menopausal Support Network, a project of the Neighborhood Network. I'm a mum of two. I have just reached the fateful year of 50. I did lots of great things at the beginning of this year, but I do - like most people my age - do the balancing of running a house, caring duties for elder relatives and working.
I am menopausal, so I understand what other women are going through. Everyone is unique. I have my own story.
And can you tell us a little bit more about the work of Menopaus'ull?
Menopaus'ull was set up five years ago and we've been running events for Menopause Awareness Month. Every year we're trying to do bigger events and more events and this year, we've got lots of fun activities going on:
our Menopause Cafe on 5th of October at Druid Cafe in Hull at 12.30pm
our Beverley Menopause event with over 50 exhibitors on Saturday 10th of October at Toll Gavel Church
our Hull event on Saturday17th of October with guest speakers, demonstrations and over 15 exhibitors on the ground floor of Princes Quay Shopping Centre.
At the end of October, we are launching our play, formulated by local women's stories - local women from different backgrounds sharing their experiences - written by Sarah Jane Dickinson working with the University of Hull. Performances are on Friday 23rd October and two performances on Saturday 25th October at the University of Hull's theatre.
Are you happy to share your own menopause story, Sarah?
I'm always happy to share my story; everyone's got their own story and it's important to hear lots of different women's stories because people can learn from them and I'm very passionate about women's health.
My story started eight years ago when I was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer, so it was very much touch and go whether the treatment would work. As part of the process of going through cancer treatment they told me I would be going through the menopause and wouldn't be able to have children, but I just wanted to be alive, so I was like just hit me with whatever you've got so I could conquer it.
I went through cancer treatment and got the great news that it's all gone, but I didn't feel quite myself and was getting lots of different symptoms which I put down to the treatment. But a year down the line I felt I was getting worse. The symptoms were the hot flushes which I kind of accepted but I put my body aches down to the cancer treatment. I felt a different person especially on the mental side: I kept forgetting things; it was like a an out-of-body experience and it was going on for months and getting worse. I had a great GP. He listened to me, gave me lots of information to read to do my own research. I thought I can't continue at this level, but you hear all of the stories about cancer treatment and HRT, but the way I was feeling I was prepared to take that risk and started HRT and I started to feel myself again and not this crazy lady who just didn't really understand what was going on.
I was in my early 40s, had just gone through a major life change which I was still navigating and I felt quite alone and my friends didn't have symptoms of menopause. I had a light bulb moment: all of the last 12 to 18 months when I was really struggling, I think it was a menopause and once that switch came on, I started researching menopause and realised I'd been suffering what I thought were the repercussions of cancer treatment when actually it was the menopause.
We put a survey out and the response within a weekend was honestly...well we could not unread these messages: people had left work, left husbands, relationships had broken down, people were considering suicide, not getting listened to by the GP. Something has to be done. There was a fund which had come to Hull looking for brand new ideas - the Ideas Fund - and we were successful in securing two years of funding to work with the University of Hull looking at bone health through the menopause and whether exercise could help prevent the bone disease in future years. We were also successful in continuation funding which has then captured the stories of women who going through the menopause told through the play.
Thank you for sharing something so personal as your own story. I think a lot of women can relate to putting our menopause symptoms down to something else, whether it's that we're getting older or we're tired because we've got a busy life, we're juggling two generations either side of us, whether it's down to feeling stressed because of our jobs - there's always something that we can explain away the symptoms with and therefore we don't get the support always that we need and want.
We have a banner with over 35 menopause symptoms and when we're out in the community, we get women coming over and you can see they're having their own light bulb moment.
We sometimes get told by the older women just to get on with it. But nowadays there are more women taking on more work, looking after parents and still looking after our children. We're juggling a lot. Adding all these symptoms is tough. You need time for you, so we try to empower women to get the help they need, and to look at their own lifestyles and what they're enjoying to embrace that as well.
This brings us nicely to my questions about style. I see my work as a personal stylist as part of the well-being industry and the things that we wear can make us feel a particular way and the way that we dress can empower us and make us feel more like ourselves. So how would you describe your own style?
I like to wear what makes me feel good rather than following the fashion. I am a big believer of dressing for you and your body, what you enjoy and the colours that make you feel good.
I've got a short body and long legs, so if the fashion is to tuck things in, it makes my body look short. I still suffer with hot sweats, so sleeveless is always good. I'm now choosing more layered styles, so that if I do get hot, I can start taking items off.
Purple and blue are my colours, but it's not always easy to get those colours depending on the season and what's on in the shops.
I also think accessories are key. Jewellery is a big one for me. I'm so used to wearing earrings that when I don't, I feel bare!
And bodies change. One of the things that used to affect me is size. It really gets people down when they go up a size when actually different sizes in different shops can range vastly, so try not to focus on the sizing but on what fits well.
If you had a message for the fashion industry, what would it be?
A couple of years ago it was very much about body positivity, but with the introduction of the fat loss jabs, the mindset has changed a little bit where it's going back to 'thin is best', and actually all sizes are beautiful, I think.
We want thin, breathable material that will help us and we want it to be colourful with lots of nice patterns, not just navy and black. Be creative with the layers because those midlife women want to still to dress smartly, to dress colourfully and vibrantly...but we just need the clothes to help us do that.
Thinking about others going through perimenopause, through menopause, do you have any advice in relation to the way they dress?
Dress the body you have today, not the one that you used to have. Dress for you as you are today. Layering for hot flushes will be your best friend, and wear colours, patterns and accessories that boost your mood. Dress for you and nobody else.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
We've got a newsletter. We have a number of workshops. We've got lots going on so just get involved!
Thank you very much, Sarah, for the conversation today.
Instagram @menopausull.
Follow the Menopaus'ull Support Network Facebook page and join the private Facebook group, Menopaus'ull Support Group.
or more content, sign up for my free weekly transformEd style magazine via the link below.
Why not take a look at my other blog posts?
Find me on my YouTube channel.
Comments