Christmas is my favourite season of the year. It's a time for giving, sharing, and spreading love to all our dearest families and friends. It's time to get together, wine, feast, and make merry. Christmas is also a time for everyone to dress up! Some don our Sunday best to attend church, some deck out in our glitzy outfits to head to a party, and perhaps a few of us adventurous ones would whip up a Santa/Santarina get up! Have you decided what you're going to wear today?How many times has this happened to you - you stand in front of your wardrobe (which looks like it's going to explode anytime), browse through all your skirts/dresses/blouses, pick some of them out and put them against yourself in front of a mirror, try some of them on, and then repeat this whole cycle again and again for x number of times (where 'x' is defined by how much time we have)? And how many times has this ritual ended with you thinking, 'I've got nothing to wear!'
Now I'll be the first to admit, this happens to me almost everyday. And it seems like I'm not the only one. One of my girlfriends is consistently late because she takes a long time to figure out what to put on everytime she has to step out of the house; another tells me while her wardrobe balloons, her choices are still limited because she finds herself always buying similar style outfits. "My clothes all look the same.. it's as if I bought them in bulk or something." "I don't want to be caught wearing the same outfit twice." "I want to try something different, but am afraid it'll go wrong."
When it comes to fashion, is there a right or wrong? Are we on the right track if we religiously follow the in-season styles that those (stick-thin) models are parading down the runway for Fall/Winter 2010? Or will we be said to be 'boring' if we stuck to our own personal style, and dress 'safely'? What exactly is style?
Imagine wearing a sequined party frock to a hiking outing, or jeans to a job interview, flip-flops to a black-tie event... There's an appropriate outfit for every occasion. Different situations call for a different ensemble. There are many external factors that will determine this ensemble - day vs. night, indoors vs. outdoors, sedentary vs. active, casual vs. formal, celebratory vs. sombre... And there are certain 'fashion rules' that we should abide by in view of these factors, so that we don't look out of place and fit in. Sure, we should dress to the occasion, but we should not let the occasion stifle our own styles and preferences.
"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." - Mark Twain
Our personal style is much as a fashion statement (or lack of), as it is a social statement. I truly believe that what we choose to put on everyday (e.g. clothes, accessories, hair, make-up...) is an extension of our personalities, preferences, and what we want the world to know about ourselves. I've seen teenage girls struggling in 3-inch high stilettos on their prom night - what's the point if your feet are going to hurt so much that the grimace on your face is going to be captured on photos later? You have to be comfortable in what you wear - that's what I call a 'personal style'. You have to love yourself enough to know what you'll be comfortable wearing - know what your strengths are (is it toned arms, slender legs, flat tummy, perky ass, nice boobs, or your 24" waistline?). Unfortunately, women don't give ourselves enough credit most of the time.
Oops, I've got to go start my ritual... Let's raise our glasses, and toast to loving ourselves, looking past our flaws, and flaunting our assets! Merry Christmas!
