I’m Laying Down a Challenge: Dress Like You Mean It

I’m ushering a new era into my life, and like any good pattern-breaker or behavior-starter knows, one way to hold yourself accountable and encourage yourself to keep taking acting on a said plan (or era) is to share it with your friends, family and world.  With that in mind, hello world!

Here’s the scoop: Anyone who knows me knows I love a bright color or fun pattern.  Polka dots are my “neutral”, it’s rare that I meet a red, pink or purple that I don’t like, and I find most dresses to be as comfortable to wear as pajamas.

That said, I also work from home most of the time, and just like many a personal habit or relationship, you get comfortable.  Sure, you start with big dreams.  Dreams to wear your “big girl clothes” even when you’re at home, to put your makeup on and do your hair before you land at your desk.  After all, as Katie, my biz partner at Tin Shingle says, “Looking good is feeling good”. I promise I had the highest or intentions to look good because, you know, I wanted to feel good.  But over the course of a few years things changed…Sure I “worked it” when I was at work meetings or events, but at home it was a different story. One day I realized that if you were to ask my colleagues and family – who I tend to speak with  daily via FaceTime – they’d be able to point out how far I’ve strayed in terms of wardrobe choices lately.  I’ll save you the research and tell you that I’ve even created a name for what I was doing:

Mullet Dressing: That, my friends, is all business on the top, with yoga pants or “comfy cozies” on the bottom.

Mullet Dressing: That, my friends, is all business on the top, with comfy cozies on the bottom. Click To Tweet

 

And Mullet Dressing was on a good day.  Sometimes I would just continue wearing my gym clothes the entire day, whether or not I actually went to the gym.  Bonus points for me, many of those ensembles were bright and fun, but they’re gym clothes, and after the business of the gym in the morning,  I’m in the business of making big, beautiful, passionate and purposeful things for myself and others.  That type of day deserves more than yoga pants and a t-shirt.

Before I go any further let me assure you that this isn’t the story of the day I started wearing business suits again or brought back “business casual” at home (the word alone makes me shiver).  And this isn’t a story about labels, shopping or my “#OOTD” (outfit of the day).    But this is about a moment where I acknowledged to myself that if I’m trying to live in the present and live my best life that I want every part of the present and every part of my life to make me feel awesome.  I want my outside to look like the way I feel inside: radiating with passion and purpose and alive with excitement.  I want to catch glimpses of myself in the mirror and smile, not think “meh”.  I want to make time for myself to get ready for work, even if work doesn’t take me outside of the home other than to run errands.  I am going to allow myself to feel even more bad-ass, joyful, comfortable and amazing because I’ve made the space in my day for myself to  dress in a way that reflects those feelings. While having this realization I started writing my new plans down. “Dress Like You Mean It!!” read one of the bullets in my notepad.  And the new era was born.

Do not be under the illusion that I’ve decided to burn through credit cards and drape myself in Chloe dresses.  This has nothing to do with price tags or designer labels.  Heck, I didn’t even need to go shopping to make it happen, I had plenty of neglected “happy clothes” sitting in my closet because I’d been buried at my desk wearing my grab-whatever-is-close-to-me gear.

I’m no stylist, I’m not fashion blogger, I’m not an editor or a fashion expert by any stretch of the imagination.  I will openly admit that I read Vogue for the articles, not the style tips and photos.  So why is my new #DressLikeYouMeanIt plan so important to me?  Because I do know what feels good and I know I deserve to feel that way as much as possible. I know that little things just as much as big things bring me joy, and the compounding of seemingly little things I do – what I read, how I dress, how much I make time for self-care, how I spend my free pockets of time,  all add up to big parts of how I live.

YOUR TURN:

Are you ready to #DressLikeYouMeanIt as well?  Are you already doing it? Let me know how it’s going in the comments below.  I also encourage you to share your sartorial adventure via Instagram and Twitter!  Be sure to use the hashtag so I don’t miss it!