The Styling Game: Some Rules & Regs
By Clinton Von Clarkson
You can put an ensemble on two people, with the exact same look & body type, but end up with two completely different outcomes. I guess there are lots of other factors that could make the outcomes different, but I believe the biggest is each person’s intestinal fortitude, their inner strength, their chutzpah!
We hear things like,”It’s not the clothes that make the man, it’s the man that makes the clothes” or “They can pull that look off, because they’re so confident”. Ah ha! There’s the magic word. Confidence.
Every person has to find that self assurance within them-self, but a few Rules & Regulations that everyone should use while standing in between those never ending racks in the thrift store, behind the locked door of a department-store dressing-room, or in front of their very own closet:
1. Just because it was seen on a celebrity, worn on a TV show, or in a movie doesn’t mean it is meant for you. My friends can attest, one of my biggest style peeves is when someone purchases a piece because they saw it on a celeb, without taking their own preferences into consideration.
2.If you don’t like it in the store, there is a 94.5% chance you won’t like it when you get home. Not to completely through out the idea, that sometimes you just need to get the item home & physically see it on you, worked with your wardrobe, but usually, that isn’t the case.
3. Don’t be afraid to try new looks. For the fashion timid & non-risk taker, take it one piece at a time. When you get that item home or if it is already there, introduce it to the rest of your closet by trying it on & swapping with looks you already wear. If you have questions ask your fashionable peers ( or ask me).
4.Whatever look you are going for, when that outfit is on your body, you should feel it! Say, you’re going to an interview for that higher paying gig, you want your ensemble to say,” trendy professional”. Look the part. Going on a date & want to exude sex appeal while still hiding some of your cards. Look the part. Meeting your significant others parents for the first time, & want to emanate ,”I know we moved-in together & hid it from you for months, but I’m in love with your child & I respect you”. Look the part!
5. The most importante rule… “Do you!” (notice the exclamation point) It has become one of the most popular phrases of a generation, & I can see why. Simple. Direct. To the point. It is also the title of a National Bestseller, by Russel Simmons, explaining exactly what it means (featured on Oprah). In an over simplified summation: “Follow your bliss”. If your not hurting anyone else, or putting yourself in harms way, why not? Everyone has a freak flag. Do you let yours fly?
My sister is the queen of this last rule! I have dressed her for random occasions over the years, & as Sex in the City or Gossip Girlish I try to make her, she just doesn’t feel it. She is not that girl, & I love her for it! She always has to snap me back into reality & make me remember who I’m shopping for. When I find that place between both of our ideas, & I see her light up, I know, “This it it!”
Courage comes from unique places, for all of us. I’d like to share with you one of those places I tap into for that energy source, that gumption. It’s a quote, by Marianne Williamson, I try to live by everyday:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
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