“Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have more important offices than merely to keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us."
-Virginia Woolf
When you get dressed in the morning, do you push aside your favorite clothes and put on the clothes you like least?
I’ve totally done this - sometimes for weeks on end. It always makes me wonder: What exactly am I saving my nicer clothes for? Why in the world am I choosing to spend the majority of my time wearing my least favorite clothes?
When you wear clothes that you love, that you feel good in, that light you up - you are sending yourself the message that your day is worth that great outfit. You are worth that great outfit. You are worth that great outfit NOW, not on some mythical future day.
Last Wednesday I woke up with a serious case of the winter/pandemic blahs, to the point where I considered staying in bed all day. When I finally dragged myself out of bed, my first instinct was to wear my grubby clothes - like baggy sweatpants and a grey zip hoodie I usually wear for cleaning or walking my son to the bus stop.
I had to fight hard against that instinct and get dressed for real.
I put on a black dress with bell sleeves, which I had never worn because I was “saving” it! The dress made me feel like a modern Miss Minchin from A Little Princess (the 1995 version, otherwise known as the best version, but I digress). I put on burgundy tights and burgundy booties. I put on a pair of gold hammered hoops, a black and ivory porcelain pendant, and my wedding and engagement rings. I took six minutes to apply a simple face of makeup that made me look much more fresh-faced than I felt, complete with a little eyeliner and a matte lip pencil. I refreshed my hair with a little curling foam but kept it big and wild. By the time I was done, I was having fun.
And you know what? As I wore that outfit, I began to feel better. I began to feel as good as my outfit, which was pretty great (if I do say so myself.)
This simple act of wearing the nice clothing and accessories I already owned completely turned my day around. My husband and I took a daytime jaunt to the art supply store, and had an impromptu lunch with a friend at a little cafe. All day long I was happy I’d just gotten dressed, instead of doubling down on my bad day with my bad clothes.
Even as a professional stylist, it’s easy for me to forget that the act of getting dressed can be a powerful ritual. Getting dressed can be a downright magical act, with the power to transform not only your mood, but your actions and how other people approach you.
If this magical tool has been lost to you in the pandemic fog of 24/7 pajamas (and I’ll be honest, it certainly was for me), I invite you to wear your spiciest, most thrilling outfit tomorrow - the outfit you’ve been waiting for an occasion to wear. Because tomorrow is the occasion. YOU are the occasion.
I’ll be joining you.