Trusting yourself when it comes to your personal style
There once was a girl named Jessie. Jessie loved to play with her dolls, she loved to sing, dance, and would often act out scenes from some of her favorite movies. Each morning when she woke up, Jessie’s mother would carefully choose an outfit for her to wear to school. Her mother would pick an impeccable well-matched set from the dozens of pretty clothes that she bought for her daughter every month. There was only one problem, Jessie never actually liked any of the clothes her mother chose for her.
When Jessie became a teenager, she gained more autonomy; she began going out with her friends after school to shop or participate in social activities. She was able to attend parties on the weekends and eventually she even learned to drive. A whole new world of opportunity opened up for Jessie to explore who she really was in the universe of clothing and fashion.
Later, after high school graduation, Jessie one of the first things she thought about as she prepared herself for college life was how she would look on campus. How would other students perceive her and how did she want to be perceived? Certainly not as a small town girl, she thought. She immediately decided that she would now be referred to as ‘Jess’ and as she began packing for her eventual move, she proceeded to plan out her favorite looks for each semester and season. She thought about necklines, fit, colors, fabrics, and textures. She spent hours deciding what should go with what to create the perfect outfits.
What Jess knew deep down is that based on her appearance, others would be likely to arrive at quick albeit often inaccurate decisions about who she is. She wanted to be understood despite knowing that the rash ’book cover’ judgment would probably be difficult to overcome.
As humans, we inevitably make split-second assessments about someone based on where they’re from, their body type, their presumed age, their race and even based on the way they speak or their accent. Clothing gives us a huge opportunity to correct some of the initial assumptions. The way we dress allows us to display ourselves as we really are.
Clothing gives us the opportunity to highlight interesting or attractive things about ourselves, and in the process we can clear up the misconceptions.
A woman engineer or computer scientist, for example, might be thought of as detached, introverted and maybe even awkward, but through her personal style, she can speak about different aspects of her personality (playful, confident, adventurous, …), without uttering a single word. Fashion, personal style and clothing allows us to give an important introduction to ourselves. This helps to explain why it was so important for Jess to spend so much time obsessing over what she would wear on her new college campus, in front of hundreds of strangers, whereas getting dressed to hang out at a friend’s house took her less than 15 minutes. Our friends already know who we are and won’t be looking for clues about our personality in our clothing.
So how do we know if what we’re wearing is the proper reflection of who we are? Quite simply, we know when we put it on and it makes us feel happy. The good feeling you emanate just by wearing clothing that harmonizes with you will be felt by everyone you meet, whether they realize it or not. My plea to you is simple: don’t underestimate the power and importance of what you wear and make the best of every opportunity to express who you really are. Your happiness is worth it.
Exciting News!
Our new LandryDay Personal Style App is coming soon! Your very own personal stylist will be available with fashion tips, trends and ideas on how to look and feel your best.
