Not my strongest suit
February 25, 2008 – 3:59 pmOne of my favorite bloggers, Heather at dooce.com, recently started a style section on her blog, where she takes a photo every day of something in her home or wardrobe that defines her personal style. She showcases things from china to clocks to earrings to antique vases she finds in thrift shops, all that you could find in her home on any given day. These are the things that define her on a visual level and after years of figuring out who she is, she is proudly showcasing that sense of personal style.
While I am sure we all could go around and take pictures of things in our homes that are of eclectic and artistic nature, I personally don’t feel a lot of it defines my own personal style because I really feel like I am still trying to figure mine out.
Sometimes, when I am out shopping, I’ll see an outfit and think "That is very Sarah." In the year and a half that I have known her, I have come to know at least a portion of her fashion sense and what suits her. Jewelry too. I see things that I think are very Carey or very Kristen or even very much my mother. But as for me . . . I really feel that I haven’t completely found what is my style. I still feel like my style is a combination of what is A. Appropriate for work/home/married life. B. Fitting to my body C. Fitting within my budget. And really, that style isn’t all that different from high school. Shamefully, I can admit that there are things still in my wardrobe that I wore in high school. Specifically, a sweater I actually wore in my senior pictures. I guess it isn’t too shameful, since I do get compliments on it, but yeah. I really don’t feel that says a lot about my personal style when I am choosing to wear things I bought back in 1998.
It’s not even that I would call my clothing style "classic" or "preppy" but more "devoid of definable personal style". Even my brother has a particular style. I see things in stores that are very ‘him’. This weekend, we went into an Army Surplus store on Saturday where he found a really different, but fitting within his personal style, jacket. I couldn’t do that. I wouldn’t think to do that.
I do know my jewelry fashion style, which is simple, elegant and versatile. I don’t wear a lot of rings, I don’t wear big earrings, I don’t wear too many different necklaces. But I think a lot of that comes from my not wanting to spend a lot of money on cheap jewelry. If I am going to spend on necklaces, earrings etc . . . it has to last.
I don’t know how to carry that into a wardrobe that I like. A wardrobe that I would want to wear and build on and am excited to own. You know that show "What NOT to Wear". I need a show like "What style is you". I know what looks good on my body. I just don’t know how to build an actual wardrobe out of empire waists and Long and Leans and no t-shirts.
It’s a big ol’ mess. And I know that this all is going to shift and change and become sharpened as I start school and have to actually build an image. I used to work with a woman at the Clinique counter in CA that really piled on the makeup. It worked for her and she made it look good, but for a lot of customers, it was too much and they weren’t always easy about sitting down in her chair and letting her try something on them. People come to you to cut and color their hair because they like the way you do your own. People trust you with their own personal appearance when they admire and like what you yourself dress in. Who wants to go to a high school student for their hair?
This is just one area that I feel kind of lost and know that I need to figure it out and ‘find’ myself.
