Crystals, couture and cosmic alignment – how one writer tried energy healing to upgrade her wardrobe (and manifest Real Housewives-level wealth)
It’s 10 o'clock in the morning and I’m lying on my sofa covered in crystals while an energy healer clasps my left foot. This isn’t the strangest thing I’ve done in the name of woo-woo – from psychic readings in Greece to chakra realignments at Glastonbury, I’ve always had a soft spot for the esoteric – but it is the first time I’ve done anything like this in my own home. And actually, I feel calmer than I have in months. “Take a deeeep breath iiiin,” Nieve Tierney intones, as all outside sounds – the violent crunch of a bin lorry, a man barking into his phone, the relentless squawking of parakeets – begin to drift away into nothingness. “Aaaaand breathe out.”
We’re not just here for a random jolly – although admittedly it doesn’t quite feel like “work”. We’re here because Tierney has a book out in April – The Fashion Oracle: An occult guide to what to wear inspired by Chanel – and I’m hoping that she might be able to help me with my wardrobe choices. It might seem like a reach – turning to alternative therapies when you can’t decide what shoes to wear – but Tierney assures me that this whole thing is more about stepping into who you want to be. Which brings us neatly back to the energy healing. She promises to clear away all blockages and energy leaks – an hour-long process involving crystal healing and whole body reiki – after which I’ll be in a better position to make decisions more generally. Who am I? I think, as Tierney sprays me in something floral. And who do I want to become?
Tierney hasn’t always been a reiki master. She worked for 15 years in the fashion industry – as a brand strategist and graphic designer – roles that are about as far from the “healing realm” as one might get, bar stockbroker. Reiki was what she turned to as a means to avoid burnout. And then, in 2020, she decided to train in the practice herself. “It just felt like something I’m meant to be doing,” she tells me. “I kind of haven’t looked back.” Years later, her client roster is “maxed” (she has a long private client list, some of them remote, as well as a residency at Soho House). The book, which combines her love of fashion, Coco Chanel (who was obsessed with the esoteric) and energy healing, was a way to reach more people.
But back to my wardrobe, which at the moment is sagging under the weight of a million pairs of jeans and vintages tees (I’m hoping she won’t ask to “cleanse” it or anything – no one should be subjected to that). I inform Tierney of my overarching intention: I’d like to make more money – as in, I’d like to be rich rich. Real Housewives rich. Driving a Lambo sort of rich. How might my wardrobe choices somehow manifest that? She gets out the book (which, by the way, is illustrated by Joanna Layla, and is to be used more for divination purposes than straightforward reading), and asks the question while flicking the pages. I’m instructed to tell her when to stop. She lands on the “seductress” archetype.
“Pay attention to the fabric of materials that drape the body like a second skin,” Tierney reads from the book, glancing up at me. “To embody the ‘seductress’ is to lean into your powers of allure and sophistication with just enough mystery so as not to give everything away. It’s about captivating attention effortlessly, commanding respect and leaving an impression wherever you go.” I mentally scan my wardrobe for anything soft and sexy. Didn’t I have a cashmere sweater crumpled at the back somewhere? Could I get away with wearing a little off-the-shoulder slip to work? And – wait – what does all of this have to do with me becoming wealthy?
“You’re basically just going to seduce the hell out of abundance,” Tierney explains. I see myself from above for a moment. Sometimes, the things I do for work are really off-piste. “You’re just going to signal that confidence of luring it in, and calling it in,” she continues. In other words, I need to sort of flirt with the universe, and opt for something quietly sensual. Not my usual Uggs and jeans, then. “I feel like stepping into the seductress isn’t something you’d overtly do,” Tierney says, reading my mind. Instead, she suggests that I wear “something that feels sexy, like silk or cashmere. Or it may just be about showing a bit of lace.”
Photo: Shaun Laurens
Tierney is firm on the idea that deciding what to wear needn’t be about throwing money at something new (I’m guilty of this – whenever I feel like I need a refresh, I just end up buying another version of the same thing). Instead, she wants us to look at what we’ve already got, with new eyes. And to just generally be more intentional about what we’re wearing, which in turns makes us more intentional about what we’re calling in. “The book gives you guidance on what to wear, but through the lens of what energy you wish to evoke,” Tierney says. “Then, you’re moving throughout that day with an energy that you’ve consciously crafted, as opposed to just wearing a label to make you feel special.”
This idea – of being intentional – is what lingers with me after Tierney leaves. I realised I’d been engaging in some sort of stylistic sleep-walking (black turtleneck, rinse and repeat), without thinking in much depth about what I was projecting to the world around me (I just wanted to be comfortable while typing!)
But, if I wanted to be wealthy – Real Housewives wealthy – then I needed to up the ante a little. I needed to approach my wardrobe in the same way I might approach a lover, as opposed to, I don’t know, a pile of old junk that I’m scrabbling items from every day. “What am I signalling to the world around me?” Tierney had asked earlier; an example of a question I might ask myself. “So for you, it’s like: I’m ready for abundance. Bring it on.”
The Fashion Oracle by Nieve Tierney is available to pre-order.
Originally published by Vogue.co.uk