Sunday, February 24, 2008

Over at Wardrobe Oxygen....

Ms. Allie reflects on how to make style truly our own...


A New Look on Fashion

In thinking about the issues brought up in this wonderful post, it occurred to me that women need to start thinking in terms of "mindful" dressing. That, to me, means dressing according to both your tastes and your lifestyle.

This will mean putting aside the current focus on what some random celeb is wearing or carrying now or what the so called "Fashion" press and elite declare is the style of the moment and putting a laser focus on what you are wearing and carrying now! You maybe surprised to realize that, while your present wardrobe may not have all the style you might desire, it probably still says volumes about what types of clothes you have been inclined to spend your dollars on -- what you, yourself really like when it comes to what you wear.

I'm certainly finding that to be the case as I struggle to clean out my closet (yes, I'm finally tacking THAT job - and I'll be posting on how that's working for me at a later date!). While the clothes I'm tossing or giving away may be too small, worn out or just plain out of date, watching my past style choices parade before my eyes as I sort through them is proving to be an unanticipated education on what my past and current self likes to wear - in other words, my personal style.

What have I discovered so far? That there is a surprising consistency of style in my choices - I aways sort of thought that my closet was something of a patchwork of styles but I find that is not the case. And,if I used a style icon to define the types of things I've purchased, it would be some mixture of Kate Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn and a dash of Jackie O. I won't go into detail (I'll save that for another post) but I will say that it's been interesting!


Try it yourself -- you may find that you're pretty comfortable with what you already like. Yes you might need to change up some of your color choices, work more diligently on fit issues and admit to yourself that you're going to have to find another way of dealing with your narrow shoulders than linebacker shoulder pads...oh wait, maybe that last one is my issue....

My point is that I will bet you will find that your choices have a certain logic to them that makes sense in the context of you're own tastes and what you need your clothes to do for you in your life. That's not to say that some of that can't use rethinking - everyone can use the infusion of a fresh approach on a regular basis - but you may just find that your confidence level increases a bit as you think about why, for better or worse, you have purchased what you have in the past. It can definitely help you think more clearly about what you purchase in the future and how it fits into your life and thus to take real control of your fashion life!

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