The Chelsea Getting Dressed Instagram account started as documentation of the daily ritual of getting dressed. What unfolded for Chelsea was a creative practice, rooted in intuition, consistency, and the steady rebuilding of a personal spark. Her account has grown into an artistic study in self-authorship, where silhouette, mood, and bold vivid color choices mark a woman shaping and telling her own narrative in real time.
DC: What is your favorite color, and why?
CGD: I don’t think I have a favorite color so much as a favorite quality of color. I’m drawn to high chroma, the purity and intensity of a color, how vivid and alive it feels. Think cerulean blue, a fiery tomato red, or a sharp lime green.
It’s also hard for me to pick a single color because I use color as a mood enhancer. Whatever mood I’m in, or want to be in, I dive fully into it. Some days that looks soft and ethereal, like a light lavender. Most days, it means committing to a full monochromatic look—head-to-toe red or blue. Color has a personality that many people don’t fully consider, and I love letting it lead.
DC: When it comes to fashion, who were your inspirations growing up, and who do you look to now for inspiration?
CDG: I did not grow up with strong fashion references in the traditional sense. I was raised in a conservative religious environment where there were clear rules around female adornment, especially within school and church settings. Jewelry, makeup, nail polish, hair dye, tank tops, and short shorts were not allowed. My parents were not the ones holding me back. They encouraged creativity and self-expression. But the school and church culture I was part of was very insular, and there was a lot of quiet policing of women’s bodies and presentation. I attended a religious school with a graduating class of about twenty students, so there was very little exposure to outside style or experimentation.
As a kid, I was a tomboy and spent most of my time outdoors. Nature was my earliest influence. I was always drawn to its color, movement, and pattern. In middle school, late-90s pop culture and teen magazines started to trickle in, but access was limited, and fashion was not a major focus.
In high school, my version of rebellion showed up as trying to look sexy and show more skin. At the time, that felt like pushing back. It was less about personal style and more about testing boundaries.
I did not truly begin to find my sense of style until my twenties, largely through thrifting and vintage. That was the first time clothing felt like a choice rather than a limitation.
Now, my inspiration is much more internal. I dress to my mood, to make a statement, and to push against what is considered acceptable for different situations. Rebellion no longer looks like showing skin or trying to look hot. It looks like bigger shapes, bold color, and letting go of the idea of being flattering. I am far more interested in intensity, play, and expression.
In many ways, that evolution ties directly back to my upbringing. After years of subtle rules about how women should look, I am inspired by shaking off expectations entirely. I dress to feel something, to take up space, and to be bold, while still feeling fully myself.
DC: Have you noticed your style evolving as the Chelsea Gets Dressed project grows?
CGD: Style, to me, comes from within. I do not approach getting dressed through formulas, rules, or external systems. I do not use Pinterest for outfit inspiration, and I am not interested in recreating someone else’s look. While I consume content and am occasionally inspired by a color, a silhouette, or a single piece, I work hard to keep my internal compass intact and ask what actually feels right.
I genuinely see getting dressed as art. It is a daily canvas. What I wear reflects my mood, my joy, my curiosity, my imagination, and sometimes my angst. There is real power in that. Because of that, rigid styling rules or quick hacks give me an immediate ick. No shade to anyone who finds those helpful. My own creative process has always been intuitive. I like to drop into a zone, anchor on one piece, one color, or one feeling, and build from there.
As Chelsea Gets Dressed has grown, the biggest evolution has been trust. Trusting my instincts. Letting go of the need to explain or justify choices. Allowing play, experimentation, and even failure to be part of the process. I hope what people take from my work is permission. Permission to ignore the rules, to try something unexpected, to learn their own body and preferences, and to notice what makes them feel radiant.
The goal of an outfit, for me, is not to replicate someone else’s art. It is to create your own.
DC: When did you realize that color affects your mood, your communication, and your interaction with the world?
CDG: It’s hard for me to pinpoint a single moment. It has been more of a gradual understanding that revealed itself over time. Earlier in my career, I worked as a freelance stylist, photographer, and art director, and during that period, I had far more creative freedom, both professionally and personally. That is when I really began noticing how deeply color shaped my inner world.
For a stretch of time, I intentionally chose a “color of the year” for myself. Each year, I selected the color I felt drawn to and fully committed to it. I wore it, surrounded myself with it, and embodied it. Looking back, that practice was probably my first clear indication that color was not just visual for me, but emotional and energetic.
I was also spending time in creative and festival spaces, including Burning Man and local iterations, where play, costume, and self-expression were encouraged. Those environments gave me permission to explore color more freely and more boldly. I even developed an alter ego called the Purple Priestess, which started as something playful and eventually evolved into a character I embodied for tarot readings and events.
After leaving the religious community I was raised in at a young age, I spent many years exploring my own sense of spirituality rooted in intuition, reflection, and connection to nature. Over time, I began to notice how color and energy mirrored my internal experiences. I followed those instincts without needing to fully explain them.
That intuition showed up powerfully during the births of my children. I focused on specific colors and energies during labor, only to be surprised when my expectations shifted in the moment. With my son, I thought his energy would feel green, but what came through unmistakably was red, which later became his favorite color and reflects his personality. With my daughter, I focused on yellow, and she has always carried a bright, sunny disposition.
I do not claim to have answers or explanations. I simply trust my gut. Color has become one of the ways I listen to myself and interact with the world.
DC: In addition to your signature vivid looks, where else do you find yourself adding so much color to your life?
CGD: Lately, I have been actively trying to un-beige my home. Somewhere between the pandemic and becoming a mother twice, I drifted into an all-white, cream, and neutral world. At the time, I think it felt calming, or maybe aspirational, like proof that I had my life together while everything felt overwhelming. Simplicity became a way to cope.
That neutrality slowly seeped into my personal style as well. I wore mostly black, white, browns, and beiges. Part of that was practicality, but part of it was disappearing. I was uncomfortable in my body, overwhelmed by motherhood, and focused on optimizing for survival rather than expressing.
At the end of 2024, my husband and I made a very intentional decision to get my spark back. Looking back, that spark was color. I realized how muted I had become, both visually and emotionally.
That shift has shown up everywhere. Yes, in my clothes, but also in my home. I am choosing art that feels personal and weird! I am embracing imperfect, layered spaces. I am adding colorful rugs, pillows, and objects with stories. Now I am moving into paint and color on the walls and even the ceilings.
Color, for me, is not about decoration. It is about feeling alive and saying SOMETHING.
DC: Why did you start Chelsea Gets Dressed? And what is your ultimate message to your community?
CDG: Chelsea Gets Dressed started with a very honest moment between my husband and me. At the end of 2024, we did our annual New Year’s Eve tarot reading, and he told me something that landed deeply. He said, “I want you to get your spark back this year.” He shared that he felt like he had been watching me fade a bit, not fully myself. It came from a place of love, and he was right.
So we made a plan together. It included a few things, but at the heart of it was joy. I realized how much I used to love getting dressed, and how disconnected I had become from that part of myself. In February, I started the account almost as an experiment. I thought, what if I document getting dressed every day and see if that joy comes back?
What happened next surprised me. The joy came back quickly, and then it multiplied. What started as a personal practice turned into something shared, and the trajectory has been wild in the best way.
My ultimate message to my community is simple. I want people to find their own truth, their own joy, their own color, and their own sense of aliveness again. I want them to feel the freedom that comes from trusting themselves and expressing who they are without apology.
What fuels me now are the messages from women who tell me they feel braver, more playful, more themselves. Women who are dressing louder, bigger, more colorfully, and caring less about what anyone thinks. That has been the real gift of this whole experience.
I feel more alive now. I feel happier, more energized, more aligned. And if Chelsea Gets Dressed can help even one person reconnect with their own inner light, then it has already done what it was meant to do.
DC: If you were speaking to young creators, what would you tell them?
CGD: I would tell them to remember that what you create is you. You can be inspired by others, study techniques, learn tools, and admire craft, but at the end of the day you have to follow your own internal guide. If what you are making does not feel true to you, it will never be sustainable.
You cannot show up day after day without honesty. Without letting your raw self be part of the work. I truly believe that.
Some people approach creation very strategically, and that works for them. For me, everything comes from tapping into an inner well each time I create. I want it to feel fun. I want to dance, build an outfit, chase a feeling, follow curiosity. It has to come from joy and play, not from executing something I saw somewhere else. The moment it starts to feel like imitation, I lose interest completely.
It has to feel right. That may sound simple, but it is my truth. I hope every creator finds the thing that lights them up, that tickles their brain, and gives them energy rather than taking it away. That is where the magic lives.
Follow Chelsea at @chelseagettingdressed. Her voice and her art is powerful and necessary. Thank you, Chelsea, for participating in DomaChroma.