Why you have to love your clothes. Last week we spoke about HOW EXERCISE MAKES YOU HAPPY and this week I’d like to follow up with a similar thought, but pertaining to clothing. For me, pretty fabrics, beautiful cuts and skillfully put together looks make me happy. I know that if I leave the house wearing something I really love I stand a little taller, maybe I strut a little and I project an overall more positive attitude.
It doesn’t even have to be anything fancy. I recently bought an embroidered tshirt that just makes me smile every time I put it on with jeans and sneakers. I layer a couple of my favourite gold necklaces to dress it up a bit and I’m good to go.
I think that we don’t pay attention to that enough. I think that much too often, we walk into a store and buy whatever we see on the rack because it’s on sale or we saw someone else wearing it and we don’t really love it.
WHY YOU HAVE TO LOVE YOUR CLOTHES
We already know that what we wear can affect our performance at work or our behaviour. There’s a lot of psychology behind it and many studies have been done proving that when, for instance, you wear a suit to work it makes you behave in a more professional manner.
I find that in North America we are under a lot of pressure to achieve perfection. Whose idea of perfection, I’m not really sure, but some bizarre Hollywood, airbrushed, people-who-are-paid-to-look-a-certain-way, is what comes to mind. On the one hand we love the carefree, beachy summer vibe or the effortless style of French women, yet on the other hand we spend hours trying to achieve this look. My thought is that there must be a middle ground to all this. Different lifestyles dictate different styles or looks, but I’m sure we can capture the best of all worlds.
When you don’t care for your appearance it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll look frumpy and older and honestly, I can’t think of anyone who wants that. You may not consider yourself a fashionista and you may not spend hours each day pampering yourself, but that does not mean you can’t look great.
Your must reads are: STYLE HABITS THAT MAKE YOU LOOK OLDER and BEAUTY MISTAKES THAT MAKE YOU LOOK OLDER don’t worry, none of these tips are hard to adopt!
I do find it funny that in North America we spend much of our time trying to imitate how European (usually French) women dress. Having spent just over four years living in Europe, I noticed that there is a big fascination with how North American women dress. While there are differences in how we dress and using all of Europe as a whole is not really fair, since it’s just like comparing the East and West coasts of North America, there is a lot we can learn from each other.
In the end it’s about perception. As a general rule, women in Europe might wear less makeup and due to smaller living spaces they have less clothing, so their pieces tend to be more versatile. Do they spend less time thinking about clothing and putting outfits together? No.
Your must read is: EUROPEAN VS AMERICAN BEAUTY to better understand what I’m referring to, you read is: HOW WHERE YOU LIVE INFLUENCES YOUR STYLE
When I recently made the move from Europe back to North America, I ruthlessly threw out about 90% of my clothing. Some of the pieces didn’t fit me anymore, some simply didn’t fit my lifestyle or the image I wanted to present. Although I haven’t finished replenishing my wardrobe, I’m so much happier with what I have to choose from. For the first time ever, I think, I really like almost everything I own. The biggest difference I’ve found is that I feel 100 times more confident when I leave the house.
What all of this really comes down to is how you feel about yourself and how you want the world to see you. Are you hiding and disappearing or are you walking out with your head held high and a big smile on your face? You decide.
Continue the conversation on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE PLEASE SHARE IT
AND JOIN MY FREE LIBRARY
