What we wear has a major impact on both how we feel about ourselves & how the world perceives us…
THE SCIENCE (and magic) OF FASHION
…And there’s actually scientific evidence to back that up. Numerous studies have been done on the topic, all with similar findings. For example, Professor Karen Pine, an expert in fashion psychology (yes, that is a thing) from England found a powerful connection between our emotional state and our choice of clothing. She has conducted extensive research in this area and as a result has said, “We know our clothes affect other people’s impressions of us. Now research shows what we wear affects us too. Putting on different clothes creates different thoughts and mental processes… clothes can change [our] mood and thoughts.”
However we don’t really need scientific studies to tell us what we already know. Think about it…most of us played dress up in some form or another when we were children, right? Why did we do that? We did it because we knew on some innate level that by simply putting on that one special piece or that one special outfit…magic would happen. And it did.
For me, the magic was in one special dress. When I was around 7 years old, my grandma gave this old party dress that she didn’t want. It was this beautiful iridescent blue/lavender/pinkish tulle confection. When I would put it on, it hung off of me & drug on the ground, but I. Did. Not. Care.
It was pure magic. I was pure magic. I could do anything I wanted because I was an amazing beautiful badass fairy princess. I would march off to the woods, my dress dragging through the dirt & twigs, find my favorite tree for the day, climb up as high as I could go & spend the day reigning over my kingdom. That dress taught me that I could look beautiful while simultaneously kicking ass & taking names. Nothing could hurt me. I f*cking had it all & I knew I was destined for greatness. All because of one hand me down dress. And that my friends, is the power of a good outfit.
DRESS FOR YOUR SOUL
I’m currently enrolled in a personal stylist training course since styling is going to play a big role in my business. Of course I know how to put together a cute outfit, however I felt that if I am going to be providing styling as a service to my peeps then it was my responsibility to learn all of the in’s & out’s and technical details.
I have already learned SO much & every bit of the material makes absolute sense & will ultimately be an invaluable resource for my clients. This week we’re studying personality types & that got me thinking. While all of the tips I’ve learned thus far for choosing the cut, style & fabric of pieces based upon one’s body shape & type is accurate, valuable & important, for myself personally those things have never mattered a lot.
I’m more of a vibe dresser…I dress based on my moods, feelings & crazy whims in my brain. Bonus points if the outfit happens to flatter the lines of my body, but that’s never been a priority. The outfit I’m wearing here is a perfect example. Totally not physically flattering in a conventional way, but I really wanted to wear my baggy Aerosmith tee shirt dress with a red flannel because it makes me happy & speaks to my little rebel girl soul.
And while I realize that many of my clients will feel more comfortable following more structured styling guidelines, I also realize that there will be women like me, women who want to wear something simply because it’s “them”, cut of the waistline be damned. What about the rebels amongst us?
That’s why I came up with dressing for your soul or intuitive styling if you will. I think that how our clothing makes us feel is just as, if not more important than whether or not it works well with our somatotype & bone structure. We need to seriously consider what feeling an outfit invokes in us, what thoughts it conjures up & does it really resonate with both who you are & who you want to be.
Yes, I want to look good in my outfits, but it’s more important to me to dress for my soul. It’s more important to me that more days than not, I feel like the badass little girl sitting in a tree with dirt on her face, wearing a sparkly tulle party dress knowing to her core that she was born to conquer the world.
THE LINK UPS
Check out the weekly link ups I participate in for even more good reads & style ideas…
Dress: Similar; Shirt: Similar; Boots: Similar
