Developing personal style
I saw this dress in an add for White House | Black Market and thought, “Ooo, I want that dress.”
Then, after thinking about it, for you know, a split second, I thought, “I don’t need a dress like that! What is wrong with me?!”
Nothing’s wrong with me. I just want a pretty dress, and a pretty occasion, and an excuse to look pretty and act pretty. Apparently, the print ad worked on me. Sometimes, you just want to dress up.
I’m almost done reading Valerie Frankel’s Thin is the New Happpy. I really liked the blurb of it that was in Self, and hey, what’s one more inspirational weight-loss book? Woo-hoo!
I don’t like it as much as I thought I would, but it’s not bad. Surprisingly (to me), my favorite chapter is the one in which Frankel describes when Stacy London, of What Not to Wear fame, comes over to her home and goes through her closet (this surprises me because it made me like London – I’ve always been weary of her after seeing the show).
Frankel is resistant about getting rid of her old, non-fitting, sloppy clothes. She thinks caring about fashion is superficial.
London goes on to tell her that caring about fashion for the sake of having the newest “in” item is superficial, but there is a difference between caring about fashion and having personal style. Having personal style can make you feel empowered, confident, and secure. It can make you respect yourself. It can express who you are on the outside.
Yeah, I am not explaining it very well, but it really clicked with me. I get what she is saying, because I do feel better about myself when I dress nicer. Even if it means wearing a nice top instead of a t-shirt with jeans. Or wearing some nice shoes on the weekend. Or pants that fit to work.
But I have to be careful. Because I am only now beginning to be excited about fashion, and don’t have a base of essentials to build on. I have to be careful not to buy things, like the dress above, just because it catches my eye.
I need to work on developing my own personal style first. I think I’m getting there. Slowly.
Themocracy
You DO need to buy the dress, and then you two and me & E. need to find a place to go all dressed up! 🙂
I totally get this. The stuff I bought to wear into the office is not like anything I’ve worn before. A lot of it is very fitted and a lot of it is also very feminine. I realize I must be feeling totally different, not only about me but about this job vs. others I’ve enjoyed less in the past, and that’s pretty cool!
i really like that dress!! i can so relate to what you’re saying… recently i’ve been borrowing nice clothes to wear when dc and i go somewhere and to my surprise, dressing nicer makes me feel pretty… i never knew (or thought) that was possible. i have discovered that i don’t mind dressing up like i thought i did… especially since it makes me feel good- and dc’s compliments when i dress up make me feel even better! when i get close to where i want to be weight-wise i hope to build up a nice (well, better than i have now) wardrobe!!!
=^..^=
I can totally relate to this feeling. I used to have personal style. When I was single. And only needed to think about myself. But, then I started dating Sweets and then we got a dog and there was no more room for personal style. I think this past year has been the bottom for me. Because I realize that I feel better about myself (even if I’m not where I want to be weight/health wise) when I dress better. Because I work in a very casual work environment, the spectrum of what I can wear is great. But, I made a little pledge to myself just before the wedding that I will begin dressing like I care. Doesn’t mean I have to lose the comfort of clothing … but it does mean I will buy and wear clothing differently going forward. So far, I wore nicer outfits twice this week … and am loving it!!
diane – That’s so great! I think our opinion about who we are / where we are, can show it how we dress ourselves. Why dress up for a job you don’t care about? I am excited that you are so excited about this transition. So… where are the four of us going to go all dressed up?!?!
CourtneyInControl – And I think when you are dressing nicer and feeling prettier, you are also more confident and happy. I bet soon you will be doing well on your weight loss and have to buy a few new pieces 🙂
Nilsa – It’s so easy to not care. I wasn’t for a long time. After I got married, I thought, what the hell do I care how I looked? I am not sure what changed, but I feel so much better now. I am happy you do too 🙂
I’ve despised clothes shopping for years, because it was often so hard to find the things I wanted to wear in my size. It still is, but it’s getting easier, and I’ve found myself even taking a little interest. But I’m not allowing myself to buy much clothing until I get closer to my loss goals, because I still shrink right out of everything I buy… so yes, patience is important. 🙂
Jillian – Doesn’t it feel great to rediscover the pleasure of clothing? I am going through the same thing. I didn’t think I would ever find myself caring about personal style!