The wardrobe that deserves to be worn
Founder Tania Cottew shares the personal story behind Ask Elemi: changing bodies, wardrobe overwhelm, treasured clothes and the wish for a stylist who feels like a best friend sitting on the bed.
Relearning how to dress a changing body
Allergy-driven inflammation can change Tania’s body significantly from one day to another. After decades at a consistent size, she had to relearn how to dress with comfort and confidence through unpredictable changes.
Moving house revealed the full scale of a wardrobe collected over a lifetime and made clear that buying more clothes was not the answer.
Beautiful clothes deserve to be worn
Since her teens, Tania has collected vintage, silk, linen and designer pieces from op shops. Ask Elemi began as a way to catalogue those clothes and discover new ways to wear them.
Her wardrobe includes two wedding dresses worn again as ball gowns, a restored vintage debutante gown, treasured family pieces and more than one hundred scarves.
Your best friend sitting on the bed
Tania designed Elemi to feel like a warm conversation with a trusted friend: someone who knows your real wardrobe, listens to how your body feels and helps you find something that works without judgement or pressure to shop.
The name Elemi comes from an essential oil Tania loved and a former persona associated with glamour, individuality and dressing as herself rather than following fashion.
Cared for, listened to, understood
Ask Elemi aims to ease decision fatigue on ordinary mornings and help people rediscover confidence in clothes they already love.
Tania’s message to anyone defeated by her wardrobe is simple: do not stress or panic. There is something here we can work with.