Contemplating STYLE

Just had a little bit of an "ah ha" moment.

Dale and I had been talking about Allison's college acceptances this week, and when I said I didn't think she'd fit in that well in Santa Cruz, he said "why not, she dresses the part." Set me to thinking a little about the way we dress versus who we are. Then this morning in my email, I got my Brenda Kinsel [bkinsel@brendakinsel.com] newsletter, and she's talking about knowing your personal style before you go shopping to avoid those purchases of "loved it in the store, but it's not me."

Her suggestion is to pick something that you love, and describe it in detail, using descriptive words. Then either write down what you've said, or have someone else write it down as you describe it. Look at the descriptors and decide whether or not that describes how you think of yourself, and if that is your style. Voila, you will know what type of garments you should be purchasing to maintain your personal style, which will always make you feel good about how you look and what you're wearing.

So now I'm sitting here thinking about what I own, and what I love, and the two don't match up very well. I don't have much in my closet right now that I love because I think I am mostly dressing either to 1. cover my body, or 2. hide the weight. So I never feel all that great. Need to do this exercise with a lot of thoughtfulness to determine what it is I love and what it says about what I should be sewing instead of what I am sewing.

As I'm thinking about garments I have loved dearly, two spring to mind. One a wild tropical print silk shirt that always made me feel fabulous. It was in dark forest-ey colors of browns, greens, and had some purple tropical flowers that were about the size of my palm. Although I didn't wear it when I needed to feel professional, whenever I put it on, I was happy. Second was another floral print shirt that I wore as a light weight jacket. So obviously floral is my style. Need to determine what that says about me and where I go from there! :P}}

Just got a call from Nicole. She's home for the weekend, and is coming over for a visit, so I need to move my day forward! Off to the showers!